The *Di* has four sections, with each section corresponding to a different level.

However, the current brightness had long exceeded the limits of what these sections could measure or express.

Finally,

The dazzling light receded, and the temperature of the *Di* returned to normal.

Chen Xiyuan stood dazedly on the *bazi*.

In a trance, she felt as if she had just woken from a dream, yet she was absolutely certain that this was reality.

She raised her head, looking once again at the door to Uncle Li’s bedroom on the second floor.

Then, her gaze shifted to the little brother’s room next door, and then moved downward, sweeping across the west and east rooms.

At this moment, Chen Xiyuan finally understood why the Old Madam chose to live in seclusion here instead of staying in either of her two ancestral homes.

Chen Xiyuan raised the *Di* and tapped her forehead.

At this moment, she wasn’t wondering or pondering why Uncle Li possessed such a “miraculous sight”; instead, her heart was filled with regret and self-reproach.

“Sigh… I shouldn’t have invited Uncle Li to my house.”

An elder in the family is like a treasure. Uncle Li’s unbelievable situation could even be considered a human auspicious sign.

How was her repeated invitations earlier any different from poaching someone else’s treasure mountain right in front of them?

What if he got bumped or bruised along the way…

No.

Chen Xiyuan stared at the *Di* in front of her again, recalling the terrifying brightness from just now.

Under normal circumstances, it would indeed be quite difficult for Uncle Li to get bumped or bruised.

But what if Uncle Li was invited to my Chen family, and my grandfather, upon seeing him, took a fancy to him and detained him?

No, no, for safety’s sake, I can’t invite Uncle Li to my house again. This matter must stop here.

Shaking her head, Chen Xiyuan walked into the east room, took a bath, changed into a new set of clothes, and lay on the bed, her feet crossed.

The moonlight filtered through the screen window, illuminating her face. Miss Chen frowned slightly, still deep in thought.

As she pondered, she drifted off to sleep.

In the early morning, Li Zhuiyuan woke up a quarter of an hour earlier than usual. After washing up, he went to Cui Cui’s house and brought A-Li back.

He was very busy now, with many things to organize and plan, and he also had to start “teaching” Zhao Yi’s subordinates today.

But the young man still chose to sit on the rattan chair on the terrace with the girl, playing chess in the morning light, before Aunt Liu called them for breakfast.

“Breakfast is ready!”

Aunt Liu’s call signaled the beginning of the official day.

“*Zhiya*”

The door to the east room opened, and Chen Xiyuan stepped out, stretching.

Aunt Liu was puzzled; why hadn’t this girl come out to crack sunflower seeds with her this morning?

“Were you too tired yesterday?”

“I was thinking, and didn’t sleep well.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“I just couldn’t figure out what I was thinking about.”

“Hehe, so are you going to eat your fill today?”

“Yes! Hehe, if I didn’t sleep well, I definitely have to eat well.”

“All right, everything’s prepared for you. The fire in my stove hasn’t even gone out yet, I’ll go make it for you now.”

“Thank you, A-Jie, you’re so kind.”

Li Sanjiang came down for breakfast. Although he had been drunk for two consecutive nights, his spirits were still high this morning.

Picking up his bowl and taking a mouthful of porridge, Li Sanjiang asked Uncle Qin:

“Li Hou, have the paper effigies from Lu Hou’s family in the west been delivered?”

“I delivered all of them yesterday afternoon.”

Li Sanjiang then turned back and called out to Aunt Liu in the kitchen:

“Ting Hou, did the convenience store call this morning?”

“No.”

Li Sanjiang tapped the rim of his bowl with his chopsticks and shook his head:

“Then there’s nothing more.”

Today, Li Sanjiang had to attend a funeral ceremony at a Lu family in the western village. That family was very stingy, asking him to find a funeral band to play music, but they offered too low a price.

Yesterday, he contacted a funeral band, and as soon as they heard the price, they said if they could make it, they would call him back tomorrow morning.

Since there had been no call by now, they definitely couldn’t come.

Li Sanjiang looked at Lin Shuyou: “You Hou, are you coming with me to the ceremony today?”

Lin Shuyou nodded: “Alright.”

So, the performers were settled.

Immediately, Li Sanjiang looked at Chen Xiyuan:

“Little girl, you can play the *Di*, right?”

Chen Xiyuan put down her chopsticks and nodded while quickly chewing her food.

“Then how about you come with me today to earn some extra money? You just play the *Di* next to You Hou while he performs.”

Chen Xiyuan swallowed the food in her mouth and replied:

“Okay!”

Li Sanjiang smiled.

With so little money, a complete funeral band certainly couldn’t be hired. Two people would be enough. Besides, he had witnessed You Hou’s performing presence once he put on his makeup.

Aunt Liu came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of small wontons, a smile on her face. Sure enough, everyone who came to this home ended up being used by Uncle Sanjiang like a mule.

After dinner, Li Sanjiang had Lin Shuyou ride the tricycle, carrying him and Chen Xiyuan, and they set off.

Tan Wenbin went to Da Huzi’s house to notify Zhao Yi’s people to come for class; Runsheng rode a tricycle to Xiting Town to visit Grandpa Shan; Aunt Liu went to town to buy groceries; A-Li went upstairs to her room to repair her talismanic armor.

Li Zhuiyuan sat alone on the *bazi*, waiting for class to begin.

Just then, Uncle Qin walked out of the west room, came to the well, drew a basin of water, rinsed his feet, then pulled over a stool and sat down in front of the young man.

Usually, unless it was mealtime, Uncle Qin was almost never seen at home. He always had endless chores and would not allow himself to rest during the day.

Li Zhuiyuan took the initiative to ask, “Uncle Qin, is something wrong?”

Uncle Qin lowered his head, rubbing his hands together in front of him. After a moment of hesitation, he said:

“Xiaoyuan, don’t overwork yourself.”

“Uncle Qin, I’m not tired.”

“You’re not the only one in the family. I know you’re under a lot of pressure with all these rules now, but things can be broken down.”

“Mmm.”

“Those things that aren’t directly your responsibility, nor directly Uncle Sanjiang’s, you can assign to Aunt Liu to do. And, well, me too.”

“I understand, Uncle Qin. I will.”

Uncle Qin smiled and asked, “Then, is there anything?”

“Uncle Qin, I have nothing for now. Perhaps next time, is that alright?”

Uncle Qin nodded, a little disappointed.

Just then, Li Zhuiyuan saw Zhao Yi and his subordinates appear on the path, walking towards them.

Uncle Qin glanced over, stood up, and said:

“Xiaoyuan, actually, I still have some use.”

“Uncle Qin, I know.”

“You might not know…” Uncle Qin seemed to want to offer an explanation, “You haven’t really seen…”

Uncle Qin was waiting for the young man to say he had seen it, so he could continue his explanation.

But the young man merely nodded and said:

“I haven’t indeed seen it, but I can know, because I’ve been teaching Runsheng.”

The words caught in Uncle Qin’s throat, choked.

Finally, he could only sigh, turn around, pick up his hoe, and go to work in the fields.

When they encountered Zhao Yi’s group, Zhao Yi immediately gestured for his subordinates to stand on both sides of the road, making way for Uncle Qin.

As he passed through them, Uncle Qin’s gaze lingered on Chen Jing for a moment longer.

Chen Jing looked at Zhao Yi and asked, “Brother Yi, is he very powerful?”

“Yes, very powerful, though I haven’t witnessed it myself.”

“Uh…”

“If I had witnessed it, you wouldn’t be seeing me now.”

After a self-deprecating remark, Zhao Yi raised his arm to greet Li Zhuiyuan:

“Good morning, Teacher Li!”

Sitting on the tricycle, enjoying the gentle breeze, Li Sanjiang habitually reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarette case, but seeing Chen Xiyuan sitting opposite him, he pushed the case back in.

“Little girl, is the weather always very hot where you are?”

“Actually, summer is fine, not necessarily hotter than the inland, but winter is indeed warm and very comfortable.”

“Oh, you have coconuts there, right?”

“Yes, they grow on the side of the road, lots of them.”

“Your grandfather really loves to drink? How’s his drinking etiquette?”

“As far as I remember, Grandpa has never gotten drunk.”

“Are you bragging?”

“Truly not.”

“Heh, I don’t know why, but last night I had a dream. I was drinking with a white-bearded old man for a long time. His wine seemed endless; he’d finish one jar and bring out another, and they weren’t even the same flavor.

It’s all because of you, telling me your grandpa has a lot of stored wine, so much so that I dreamed of him, hehe.”

“Hehe.” Chen Xiyuan simply smiled.

Yesterday, she would have certainly said that this meant Uncle Li had a connection with her grandfather, and would have continued to suggest Uncle Li go to Hainan.

“In my dream, I also saw my little You Hou, standing alone by the sea, with a huge typhoon raging around him, even the trees were toppled. The waves on the sea were terrifyingly big.

I called out to little You Hou, telling him to come back quickly, careful not to be blown into the sea by the wind. As I was calling, I heard Ting Hou calling me for breakfast.”

“Actually, the wind isn’t that strong where we are, not that scary, and little brother is very obedient and safety-conscious. He definitely wouldn’t go to the beach in that kind of weather. Uncle Li, you can rest assured.”

“Indeed.”

Lin Shuyou, who was pedaling the tricycle, said: “Uncle Li, they’ve started the prize draw again up ahead, blocking the road.”

Chen Xiyuan was immediately startled: Prize draw?

Uncle Li’s drunken words from last night floated in her mind.

Li Sanjiang: “Then let’s get off and walk slowly.”

Lin Shuyou: “Uncle Li, are you going to draw one?”

Li Sanjiang licked his lips, shook his head, and said, “I’m embarrassed to draw again. Let’s not draw. It’s not easy for the organizers to cheat a little money.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiyuan breathed a sigh of relief.

On the prize-drawing platform, a black car with a red ball hanging from it was displayed—an old trick.

On the periphery, staff wearing banners were handing out prize slips. Due to the large crowd, to improve efficiency, they simply stuffed them into people’s pockets. Lin Shuyou received one.

However, because Uncle Li said he wasn’t going to draw, he didn’t bother to take it out and look at it.

As soon as the three entered the crowd, a bald, pot-bellied man in a suit, leading two staff members, pushed through the crowd and approached.

“Uncle, Uncle, come, have a cigarette, have a cigarette!”

He had seen Li Sanjiang from the stage earlier. They were old acquaintances, so he quickly came down to stop him.

“Manager Liu, long time no see.”

“Yes, Uncle, long time no see. Are you here for another prize draw?”

“No, no, just passing by.”

“It’s crowded here and hard to walk. Come, I’ll clear a path for you.”

“Thank you, Manager Liu.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Manager Liu slipped two packs of cigarettes into Li Sanjiang’s pocket.

Li Sanjiang: “How can I accept this? I can’t take it, I can’t take it!”

“Uncle, you are my dear uncle. It’s only right for me to show my filial respect with two packs of cigarettes!”

Immediately, Manager Liu winked at his two staff members, who, one on each side, practically squeezed Li Sanjiang.

In these times, only a few organizers of rural prize draws didn’t manipulate the system to control costs, and yet, accidents had repeatedly occurred with this particular uncle.

Those who often do bad deeds are usually the ones who believe in ghosts and gods the most, and are also the most superstitious. He felt that this uncle was simply bizarre and needed to be sent away quickly.

Because of a few mishaps that had occurred here, the big boss himself had even come today to oversee things.

“Hahahaha, I won, I won, I finally won!”

At this moment, someone in the crowd shouted, holding up their prize ticket.

The nearby crowd immediately surged towards him, forming a small human tide.

Manager Liu, walking ahead, was only focused on watching Li Sanjiang. Without realizing it, he was jostled by the crowd and lost his balance. If he had actually fallen, he would certainly have been trampled several times.

Li Sanjiang: “Little girl, quickly, help him, help him!”

Chen Xiyuan used the *Di* to prod Manager Liu, altering his fall trajectory, and he eventually landed sprawling in the tricycle that Lin Shuyou was pushing.

Although a bit disheveled, he was fine.

However, Manager Liu was a bit stout, and getting out of the tricycle in that position was difficult. He tried several times but failed, only managing to get out with the help of his own staff.

His struggle caused a white prize ticket, originally tucked into the inner pocket of his suit, to slip out and fall onto Lin Shuyou’s white opera costume, which was in the tricycle.

At that moment, the person who had just loudly claimed to have won, suddenly burst into tears:

“One year, my one year’s salary, only won me a bar of soap!”

For a moment, everyone around laughed, some very loudly.

Manager Liu finally saw Li Sanjiang out of the crowd. He and the two staff members remained standing there, ready to watch Li Sanjiang leave.

Li Sanjiang waved goodbye to him, and Manager Liu also waved back with an enthusiastic smile, but his lips were moving, muttering in a voice only he and the two beside him “could hear”:

“Damn it, why isn’t this old beast dead yet? It’d be best if everyone in his house fell into a latrine and died a perfectly neat death!”

Li Sanjiang didn’t hear; he was about to get in the car.

Chen Xiyuan, already in the car, her face darkened.

Lin Shuyou, who was tidying up his opera costume, which had been messed up by the fat manager sitting on it, glanced over. He had heard it too.

Then, a prize ticket fell out of his costume.

Lin Shuyou picked it up with one hand, saw that it hadn’t been scratched, and with a rub of his fingertip, the winning red characters appeared.

Li Sanjiang, now in the car, asked curiously, “Hey, You Hou, when did you buy a prize ticket?”

Lin Shuyou glanced at it and said, “Uncle Li, we won, first prize!”

Li Sanjiang touched the two packs of cigarettes in his pocket, waved his hand, and said, “Never mind, never mind. We didn’t buy it, and we don’t know who dropped it. Ask around and give it back to them.”

At that moment, the person who had just shouted that his year’s salary only won him a bar of soap suddenly rushed out of the crowd, pulled a knife from his bosom, and charged at Manager Liu.

There was nothing to be done, all the other men in suits were on the stage, and Manager Liu was not only below, but also closest to him.

“Cheater, cheater, you are all cheaters, you stole my money, stole my money!”

Manager Liu only managed to turn his head to see the man charging towards him, and then felt a chill down his back. Before he could fully process it, the man pulled the knife out and continued to stab wildly.

The two staff members beside Manager Liu were scared senseless and dared not intervene, leaving only Manager Liu himself. He ran forward, stumbled after a few steps, and fell to the ground. The man rushed up and stabbed him two more times, this time in the chest.

Li Sanjiang instinctively shouted, “Someone’s going to die, quick, save him!”

After shouting, Li Sanjiang immediately reached out and grabbed Chen Xiyuan and Lin Shuyou in front of him:

“There’s a murder! Get away quickly, don’t go near!”

His initial thought to save someone was genuine, but then, in the next instant, he feared the two young people might not know better and actually run to save someone, getting hurt themselves.

Uncle Li truly lived up to his reputation as a corpse salvager; his strength was immense, so much so that Chen Xiyuan and Lin Shuyou couldn’t break free to help.

After the man had no more strength to stab Manager Liu beneath him, he threw the blood-soaked knife, covered his face, and burst into loud sobs.

A death had occurred, and the police from the town’s police station quickly arrived, securing the scene.

Because Manager Liu had been in close contact with Li Sanjiang before his death, and he died not far from the three of them, all three were brought back to the police station to give statements.

The case was very clear, but such prize draws were a grey area at the time. For the true organizer of this prize draw, Manager Liu’s death was just that, but if the killer really called them cheaters… then the others involved couldn’t escape responsibility, as a death had occurred, making the impact different.

Therefore, when Lin Shuyou said he had won a prize and produced the ticket, the prize draw organizer at the police station seemed to see a savior. He immediately patted his chest, promising that, no matter what, they would arrange for their prize to be redeemed immediately.

Moreover, witnessed by the police officers, the organizer, despite Li Sanjiang’s refusal, practically begged him, leaving Li Sanjiang’s contact information.

After leaving the police station, it was just past noon. The funeral activities wouldn’t start until the afternoon, so they could still make it if they hurried. Lin Shuyou pedaled the tricycle extremely fast.

Li Sanjiang didn’t bother about Chen Xiyuan; he was smoking, frowning, still lamenting how a death had occurred. He felt sorry for the deceased Manager Liu and even more for the impulsive killer.

Chen Xiyuan didn’t mind the smell of smoke wafting from Uncle Li. Her mind was only filled with shock at the terrifying good fortune of Uncle Li.

Upon reaching Lu Hou’s house, Li Sanjiang first got off to explain to the hosts and arrange the afternoon’s work. Chen Xiyuan and Lin Shuyou waited behind for the cue to enter and perform.

Chen Xiyuan looked at Lin Shuyou: “Uncle Li’s luck is truly terrifyingly good.”

Lin Shuyou: “Huh?”

Chen Xiyuan: “Isn’t it?”

Lin Shuyou rubbed his nose. If someone else said that, he wouldn’t have a problem, but Chen Xiyuan saying it gave him the feeling that a crow didn’t know it was black.

Chen Xiyuan: “A-You, don’t tell me you never noticed how good Uncle Li’s luck is before.”

Lin Shuyou: “Uncle Li has indeed always had good luck, but this time Uncle Li didn’t draw any prizes.”

Chen Xiyuan: “Isn’t this just luck coming, and you can’t stop it? By the way, is the first prize a car?”

“No, the very top one should be the special prize, which is a car. The first prize is usually a travel package. Oh, right, I have the prize list in my pocket.”

Lin Shuyou pulled the list out of his pocket, glanced at it, then immediately looked up at Chen Crow.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you sure you didn’t secretly draw this prize?”

“Of course not, uh, could it be…”

“Sanya luxury seven-day family trip.”