Chapter 1

"Little bastards, it's time to eat, wooo la la la la~"

Cui Guiying, wearing an apron, held a bowl in her left hand and a ladle in her right, calling out as she tapped the edge of the porridge vat.

Li Weihan, who was sitting beside her and filling his water pipe with tobacco leaves, kicked her on the backside and cursed irritably:

"Are you out of your mind, calling them piggies?"

Cui Guiying glared at her husband, then heavily placed a stack of bowls in front of him and spat, "Pfft, pigs aren't as noisy or as hungry as they are!"

At the call, a group of children ran in from outside. Among them were seven boys and four girls, the oldest being sixteen and the youngest only three.

Li Weihan and his wife had four sons and one daughter. After their children grew up, they had moved out and started their own families. Usually, only their eldest son, who lived nearby, would bring his three-year-old twins over to be looked after.

But when summer vacation arrived, whether it was for convenience or because they felt they hadn't taken advantage of their parents' generosity, everyone sent their own children over.

Once you took in the eldest son's children, the other families felt obligated not to be left out, and suddenly the house was like a school.

The couple hadn't even had time to savor the sweetness of having their grandchildren all around them before the family's rice bin was visibly running low.

As the saying goes, teenagers can eat their parents out of house and home. Including the girls, they were all in their growth spurt and could eat a lot. Their bellies were like bottomless pits. Cui Guiying's family had to serve their main meals in vats, and one vat wasn't enough; there was still a pot warming on the stove.

Although the couple already had many grandchildren, they weren't old. And according to the current rural custom, as long as you were still physically able to work in the fields, no matter how old you were, you weren't entitled to receive meals from your children unless you were bedridden due to illness.

"Don't grab, don't grab, you're all reincarnated hungry ghosts, line up!"

The children came forward with their bowls to be filled, and Cui Guiying was in charge of ladling the porridge.

The last to arrive was a ten-year-old boy. He was wearing denim overalls, fashionable sandals on his feet, had fair and tender skin, and a shy expression.

He seemed a bit out of place compared to his siblings, who were all grubby and sniffling from playing.

"Little Yuanhou, come, I'll put yours here to eat."

"Thank you, Grandma."

Cui Guiying smiled and patted the child's head. He was the only grandson among the large group of grandchildren, but now he wasn't considered an outsider anymore.

The child's name was Li Zhuiyuan. His mother was Cui Guiying's youngest daughter, who was the first university student in Siyuan Village's history.

The youngest daughter was admitted to Beijing University. After graduation, she stayed in Beijing to work. She also found her own partner. Before getting married, she brought him home once. He was a fair-skinned, refined city dweller.

Cui Guiying couldn't remember his exact appearance because she and her husband had been quite reserved in front of their son-in-law that day and hadn't dared to look too closely.

Later, their daughter became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Due to the long distance and her busy work schedule, she hadn't returned home. However, ever since her daughter graduated and started working, she had sent money to her parents every month without fail.

The money sent before her marriage was saved by Li Weihan and his wife. They had gritted their teeth and not touched a cent when their four sons got married. When their daughter brought her fiancé home, Li Weihan pushed back the betrothal money offered by her fiancé and returned the money their daughter had sent, plus interest.

They had wanted to be more generous and add some of their own money, but with their four sons' weddings happening first, no matter how tightly the couple tightened their belts, they couldn't squeeze out any more funds.

This matter had always left the couple feeling guilty. Returning the money their daughter had given them meant that as parents, they hadn't contributed anything when their daughter got married, which was truly embarrassing.

As for the money their daughter sent every month after marriage, the couple saved it all. Their sons, instigated by their wives, tried to get their hands on this money with various excuses, but Li Weihan had pointed at them and cursed them away.

Half a month ago, their daughter sent their son over with someone in military uniform, along with a letter and some money. The letter stated that she had divorced, her work situation had recently changed, and she could only entrust her son to her parents for a while.

The daughter also mentioned in the letter that after the divorce, she had changed the child's surname to hers, and this grandson had now become a direct grandson.

After arriving in the countryside, Li Zhuiyuan not only didn't feel uncomfortable but quickly adapted. He spent his days playing with several village children and had a great time.

The main meal today was sweet potato porridge. It tasted sweet but wasn't very filling and was digested quickly. Even after eating several large bowls until his stomach was round, he would feel hungry again after running around for a while.

Moreover, eating too much sweet potato porridge and sweet potato strips over time could really damage the stomach, causing stomach acid to rise even when not hungry.

Li Zhuiyuan, however, wasn't tired of it. He quite enjoyed the "communal dining hall" atmosphere, and he also had a great fondness for the various pickled vegetables and pastes that Cui Guiying made.

"Grandma, why aren't we going to Grandpa Big Beard's place for a banquet today?"

The question came from the son of their second uncle, whose nickname was Huzi, and who was nine years old this year.

Cui Guiying lightly tapped Huzi's head with the end of her chopsticks and scolded, "You little bastard, that was held because his mother passed away. Do you think they hold banquets every day?"

Huzi rubbed his head and said, "Why not? It would be great if they did every day."

"What nonsense are you spouting, you little bastard? Even if his family wanted to hold one, there wouldn't be enough people dying every day to line up for it."

"Slap!" Li Weihan heavily tapped the table with his chopsticks and cursed, "You're an adult, what kind of nonsense are you saying to a child."

Cui Guiying also realized she had spoken out of turn. Instead of retorting to her husband, she used her spoon to scoop a piece of preserved sauce into Li Zhuiyuan's porridge bowl. The sauce contained some crushed peanuts and a few meat bits, and there were some in the spoonful she had just taken.

Li Zhuiyuan stirred the sauce a few times with his chopsticks, diluting the color, and tender white meat bits floated on top of the porridge.

The children had sharp eyes and were most persistent about fairness, not scarcity. Huzi immediately said, "Grandma, I want meat too, like the kind in Yuanzi ge's bowl!"

"Grandma, I want some too."

"Me too."

The other children chimed in.

"Go, go, go!" Cui Guiying scolded them impatiently. "It's understandable for the younger siblings to make a fuss, but Panhou, Leihou, Yinghou, you older ones, why are you joining in? Behave yourselves. What we're eating today was bought with the money Little Yuanhou's mother gave. Your parents haven't contributed a single grain of rice, and you still have the nerve to fight with him for it!"

Pan Zi, Lei Zi, and Ying Zi lowered their heads, looking a bit embarrassed. The younger ones exchanged glances and smiled, moving past the issue.

Grandma hadn't been subtle about it, and they had conveyed her message to their families, but their parents had instructed them to play dumb.

At this moment, Shitou, who was eight years old and from the third son's family, asked, "Is Little Yellow Oriole still here?"

Cui Guiying asked, "Who is Little Yellow Oriole?"

Huzi replied, "Grandma, Little Yellow Oriole is the one who danced and sang at Big Beard's house yesterday. Her singing was so beautiful, and her dancing was great too."

"Is that so?" Cui Guiying had been busy washing dishes in the back kitchen yesterday, so busy she couldn't stand still. She didn't have the leisure to go to the front to watch the funeral troupe's performance after the meal.

Her husband, Li Weihan, hadn't gone either. He used the excuse of going out on the boat, but in reality, he was at home. The reason he didn't go was embarrassment; after all, he had already sent Pan Zi, Lei Zi, and the five children Yuan Zi, Huzi, and Shitou to the feast. It would have looked bad for him, an adult, to go eat too.

The five children not only ate themselves but also brought back quite a bit, especially the hard dishes that were portioned out per person at the table. Li Zhuiyuan, imitating his older brothers, tore off a piece of the red plastic tablecloth spread in front of him and used it to wrap food.

When they returned home, they would distribute it to their younger siblings who couldn't attend the feast. Watching their younger siblings eat made them feel like generals returning from a victorious battle.

Lei Zi said, "Her singing is really beautiful, and she's pretty too. She told us all to call her Little Yellow Oriole."

Pan Zi nodded, "She's really nice. She's good-looking, and her clothes are nice too. I want to marry someone like her when I grow up."

Cui Guiying lowered her head and asked Li Zhuiyuan beside her, "Little Yuanhou, is that right?"

"Mm-hmm." Li Zhuiyuan put down his chopsticks and nodded, "Pretty."

Rural funeral troupes preached the importance of being presentable in both public and private.

When performing rituals, they could don Taoist robes and Buddhist sashes, chant scriptures, and perform ceremonies with an air of immortal grace and dignified bearing.

After the midday feast, they also had to organize a cultural performance, including singing, dancing, acrobatics, and magic. They had to do whatever they could.

For families with substantial wealth who liked to show off, they would also hire specific funeral troupes for an evening show. However, before such performances began, the adults would send the children home to sleep.

Little Yellow Oriole's surname was Xiao. Her real name was Xiao Huangying, and her stage name was Little Yellow Oriole. She was actually not young, in her thirties, and divorced.

In terms of her singing and dancing skills, they were actually just mediocre. But she knew how to dress up, wearing bold and fashionable clothes. Her tight black qipao had a high slit, revealing a large expanse of white leg. Combined with her friendly and enthusiastic stage presence...

To describe her using the most vicious curses of the village women, which also served as the highest praise, she was—seductive.

Nowadays, very few families in the village had televisions. People often squeezed together on benches to watch, but they couldn't even get a spot. Therefore, in the countryside where the winds of fashion had not yet blown in extensively, Little Yellow Oriole's "seductiveness" was a crushing blow to the surrounding village girls and wives.

It not only captured the souls of the men but also drove the young boys wild.

At this moment, a figure appeared at the entrance of the main hall. It was their neighbor Zhao Simei. She and Cui Guiying had been "sisters" for many years. When their children were young, they used to sit on the porch and gossip whenever they had free time.

"Have you eaten?" Cui Guiying asked. "Come, add another pair of chopsticks."

Zhao Simei quickly waved her hand and smiled, "Oh my, I'd be too embarrassed to come to your place to freeload. Look, you're only having congee here."

"This congee is comforting for my stomach; I just love it. Come, let me serve you a bowl. No matter how much we scrape the rice bin, we won't be short of food for you."

"Alright, alright, I've already eaten. Hey, did you hear? The head of the funeral troupe just took people to Big Beard's house to cause trouble. They say they smashed things and almost got into a fight."

Hearing this, Cui Guiying immediately picked up her bowl and chopsticks and stood up, shoveling congee into her mouth as she moved towards the door. "What happened? Did Big Beard not pay the full amount?"

"It's not about the performance fee. Someone from the troupe went missing."

"What, missing?" Cui Guiying slurped her chopsticks. "Who went missing?"

"A woman, the one who was so seductive. The way she shook her hips yesterday, it was as if her anus was about to show."

"Was it Little Yellow Oriole?" Pan Zi asked.

The other children also pricked up their ears.

"It seems to be her, that seductive tramp," Zhao Simei said with great schadenfreude.

"How did she go missing? Have they found her?" Cui Guiying asked.

"They say someone saw that seductive tramp from the troupe following Big Beard's youngest son into the small woods by the river last night. Afterward, she didn't return to the troupe, so the troupe went to their door to demand her."

"What about Big Beard's son?"

"He was at home, but he said he didn't know anything, that it didn't happen. But quite a few people in the village saw him and that slut entering the woods."

"And the woman?"

"Who knows? She's gone. The troupe leader came to demand the person this time, but Old Beard's family insisted they hadn't seen her and claimed that seductive tramp ran away on her own."

"Then what happened?"

"Old Beard's family paid the troupe leader a sum of money, quite a bit."

Cui Guiying immediately patted Zhao Simei's arm and raised her eyebrows, "There's something going on!"

Zhao Simei immediately patted Cui Guiying's arm back and tilted her chin, "You bet!"

Old Beard used to be the deputy station chief of the grain station in town. That was a lucrative position. Even though he was retired now, except for his youngest son who was idle, his other sons all had positions in town. In this village, even the village chief's family wasn't as influential as his.

Therefore, for Old Beard to be willing to pay money to settle the matter, there must be something fishy going on!

"After they paid the money, did the troupe leader leave?"

"He left."

"And the woman, they're not looking for her anymore?"

"Looking for what? The troupe already packed up their gear and took a truck to the next venue."

"Oh dear." Cui Guiying shook her head. "I hope nothing bad happens."

"Who knows."

"People, really."

"You know it."

Hearing this, Huzi and Shitou suddenly started crying:

"Wuwuwu! Little Yellow Oriole, Little Yellow Oriole!"

"My Little Yellow Oriole, Little Yellow Oriole is gone, wuwu!"

Seeing this, Zhao Simei almost laughed out a snot bubble. She pointed and said, "See? Your two grandsons are quite the sentimental types."

Cui Guiying shot her a look and said, "Don't you have a granddaughter? Why not match them up?"

"Heh," Zhao Simei snorted, pointing at Li Zhuiyuan. "It's not impossible to become in-laws, but it has to be with your Little Yuanhou. That way, my Little Yuanhou can follow him to Beijing and enjoy life."

"Go, go, go, stop dreaming."

Li Weihan had finished eating. He wasn't interested in the old women's gossip and it wasn't convenient for him to interject. He just silently picked up his water pipe and opened the matchbox, only to find it empty.

Li Zhuiyuan put down his chopsticks and ran to the back of the stove to get a box of matches for Li Weihan.

Li Weihan didn't take it. Instead, he moved his pipe towards Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan smiled and took out a match. "Scrape," "scrape," "scrape." It took him a while to strike a flame. He then carefully used his other hand to shield it and moved the match down to the pipe bowl.

Li Weihan took several puffs, drawing out the smoke. He was satisfied, a smile on his face.

Back then, his own daughter also liked to light his pipe for him, saying that when she grew up, she would buy him boxed cigarettes.

"Phew."

Li Zhuiyuan blew out the match, dropped it on the ground, and stomped on it several times with the sole of his shoe.

Pan Zi spoke up, "Grandpa, shall we go out on the boat this afternoon to pick lotus pods?"

Li Weihan glanced at the bland food on the table and nodded. "Lei Zi, you come too. Bring the net, see if we can catch a few fish for Grandma to make soup."

Hearing this, Huzi and Shitou immediately forgot about Little Yellow Oriole and shouted, "Grandpa, I want to go too, I want to go too!"

The other children followed suit, shouting along, afraid they would miss out on any fun.

Li Weihan looked around sternly and cursed, "Grandpa tells you, there are Water Monkeys in this river. They specifically drag people into the water and drown them to be their substitutes, so they can reincarnate themselves."

The children were immediately scared and dared not speak.

Shitou, a little unconvinced, asked, "Why can the older brothers go?"

Pan Zi and Lei Zi were older children, sensible now, and they helped their grandfather scare the younger siblings:

"Brother is strong, the Water Monkey can't pull me."

"I'm a good swimmer, the Water Monkey can't catch me."

Li Zhuiyuan wasn't scared. He wanted to go too, but he was too embarrassed to ask. He could only lower his head and touch his small hands, occasionally peeking at his grandfather.

Li Weihan said, "Little Yuanhou will go too."

Huzi immediately protested indignantly, "This is unfair! Yuanzi ge is only a year older than me."

Shitou chimed in, "Yeah, Yuan ge isn't even as strong as me, how can he fight Water Monkeys!"

Li Weihan slowly exhaled a smoke ring and gave a very reasonable explanation that even the children found believable:

"Little Yuanhou came from outside. Our local Water Monkeys don't know him."

The houses in the village were mostly built along the water, with their main doors facing the road and their back doors facing the river.

When washing vegetables or clothes, one only needed to carry the things out the back door, walk down a few bluestone steps, and they would reach the riverbank.

Those who were thrifty would often set up a net in the river section by their homes, raising ducks and geese within the net enclosure.

The old Li family's boat was tied to the persimmon tree by the back door. After untying the rope, Li Weihan got on the boat first and steadied it with a bamboo pole.

Pan Zi, carrying a fishing rod, and Lei Zi, holding a fishing net, jumped onto the boat one after another.

Li Zhuiyuan, carrying a small bamboo basket on his back, was caught by Li Weihan and brought onto the boat.

"Everyone sit tight, we're setting off!"

As the bamboo pole on the water surface repeatedly lengthened and shortened, the boat began to move.

Pan Zi and Lei Zi were already used to it. They both lay lazily on the boat. Li Zhuiyuan, however, sat up straight and tall, watching the water grass floating by and the dragonflies flitting past.

"Here, Yuanzi." Pan Zi handed him a small handful of fried beans.

He was the eldest son, and his home was nearby. He would often go home to get some snacks, but his mother had warned him to hide them and eat them himself, not to share them.

On the contrary, Li Zhuiyuan's mother, when sending Li Zhuiyuan back with someone in military uniform, had also sent a large bag of snacks—biscuits, meat floss, canned fruit, and the like. Two days ago, she had mailed another large bag, which Cui Guiying had locked in the cabinet and distributed to all the children in fixed portions daily.

"Thanks, Pan Zi ge."

Li Zhuiyuan took them and put a bean into his mouth. These beans were called "fist beans" locally, which were actually broad beans. They were stir-fried with shells, some spices, and salt, making them very fragrant to chew.

However, Li Zhuiyuan didn't like to eat them. They were too hard, and he couldn't bite them, which could easily chip his teeth.

So, while his two older brothers were crunching "crack, crack, crack," Li Zhuiyuan put a bean in his mouth and let it dissolve like candy.

"Come one verse, thousands of little brothers, drifting on the road; come one verse, thousands of little brothers, tonight Liangliang will shine."

Pan Zi started singing.

"You're singing it wrong," Lei Zi chuckled. "That's not how you sing it."

Pan Zi said dismissively, "Hmph, if you think you can sing it, then you do it!"

Lei Zi mumbled a few times with his lips and scratched his head. "I only remember the melody."

Li Weihan, who was poling the boat, asked, "What are you singing? I can't understand it."

Pan Zi replied, "Grandpa, it's what Little Yellow Oriole sang yesterday. It's called Yue Opera."

"Yue Opera?" Li Weihan seemed a bit surprised. "Was that Yue Opera just now?"

Lei Zi said, "No, Grandpa, it's Cantonese Opera, from Guangdong and Hong Kong."

"Oh, I see. You two sing it properly for Grandpa to hear."

Lei Zi said, "Pan Zi can't sing it. He can't even remember the lyrics. He's far from as good as Little Yellow Oriole was yesterday."

Actually, Little Yellow Oriole's singing wasn't very standard either, but for mainland China nowadays, there wasn't much difference between standard and non-standard. They couldn't understand it anyway; all they wanted was that confident tone.

Pan Zi pointed at Li Zhuiyuan and said, "When Little Yellow Oriole was singing yesterday, I saw Yuan Zi singing along. He knows how to sing it."

Li Weihan said, "Little Yuanhou, sing it for Grandpa."

Li Zhuiyuan said shyly, "I only know that little bit."

"Sing it, sing it," Lei Zi urged. "Yuan Zi, forget Cantonese Opera, he even knows English songs."

Li Zhuiyuan had no choice but to start singing:

"Though thousands of songs may drift on my road in the future; though thousands of stars may shine brighter than tonight's moon.

That's all I know. Mom likes this song and plays it often at home."

Lei Zi looked provocatively at Pan Zi. "Hear that? The lyrics you sang were wrong."

Pan Zi rolled his eyes at Lei Zi.

The brothers chatted as they talked, and the boat finally reached a wider part of the river.

Pan Zi went to help his grandfather with the pole, while Li Weihan started looking for fishing spots and tidying the nets. Lei Zi set up his fishing rod.

Li Zhuiyuan was not assigned any tasks. He continued to sit there with his small bamboo basket on his back, watching his grandfather and brothers work, then looking at the water weeds and the jumping frogs on the river surface.

As he watched, Li Zhuiyuan leaned forward in confusion.

Li Weihan had been keeping an eye on his "grandson." Seeing him like this, he immediately reminded him, "Little Yuanhou, sit further inside. Don't fall out!"

Li Zhuiyuan pointed at the river ahead and asked, "Grandpa, Brother, there's a clump of black water weeds there."

"Where?" Lei Zi followed the direction Li Zhuiyuan was pointing. "Huh, you're right, it's black."

"Where is it, where is it?" Pan Zi was at the stern, helping to pole the boat and couldn't see clearly, so he actively pushed the pole to bring the boat closer to that direction.

Li Weihan didn't pay much attention at first. He was busy untangling the fishing net. When he heard Li Zhuiyuan and Lei Zi still chattering about it, he finally looked up in that direction. The moment he saw it, he froze.

That clump of blackness, slender yet diffuse, scattered yet not separated – it wasn't water weeds at all, it was clearly human hair!

Now, because Pan Zi kept pushing the boat closer, the distance to that area was even shorter. The underwater part was also faintly visible: the black patterns, white buttons, and graceful curves...

Because Li Zhuiyuan was sitting, it was Lei Zi, standing next to him, who first saw the underwater part. Lei Zi immediately shouted:

"Grandpa, that's a person! Someone fell in the water! Pan Zi, hurry and pole over to save them!"

The stories of Water Monkeys could no longer scare these older kids. Their pure and kind nature made them instinctively think someone had fallen into the water, and their first reaction was to go and rescue them.

"Nonsense!"

Li Weihan suddenly roared. This grandfather, who was stern with the children but more often kind, was rarely so agitated. Veins bulged beneath his rough, chapped skin. He immediately threw the fishing net onto the boat, walked towards the stern, and shouted to Pan Zi:

"Change direction, change direction! Give me the pole, don't go closer!"

Their boat had been in this area for a while, and they hadn't heard any commotion of someone falling in. Now, it was even calmer with no ripples. How could a rescue be needed? That person must have been long dead!

But logically, even if they encountered a drowned corpse, they would at most feel unlucky, not this terrified.

However, Li Weihan knew that they could only get far away as quickly as possible.

Because the area was dense with waterways, close to both the river and the sea, a person drowning wasn't a rare occurrence. Basically, every village or neighboring village would have someone who specialized in retrieving bodies from the water.

It wasn't usually their main occupation, but the choice of person was quite fixed. One reason was bad luck, and the other was taboos. Those who weren't experienced practitioners with a lineage would truly be unwilling to touch it.

Siyuan Village had a body retriever named Li Sanjiang. By seniority, Li Weihan had to call him Uncle.

Li Sanjiang had no children. He was too lazy to farm the land allocated to him by the village, instead renting it out for a meager living.

But he wasn't living hand-to-mouth like a lazy person. He did two things: making spirit money and retrieving bodies. Both brought in considerable income, much more than farming that small plot of land. Therefore, although he lived alone, he had wine and meat every day and lived quite comfortably.

Many years ago, Li Weihan rented Li Sanjiang's land to help his four sons get married. He had truly taken advantage of the man, so when body retrieval was needed during that period, Li Weihan would also help his clan uncle.

Although Li Sanjiang never let him on the boat to touch the bodies, always having him set up an altar on the shore with chicken and dog blood, after many times, he learned some of the tricks of body retrieval from Li Sanjiang.

In the jargon of this profession, a floating corpse was called a "dead float."

Normally, people who drowned would soak in the water for a few days, gradually decompose, and then float up. Due to the structure of the pelvis, male corpses often floated face down, and female corpses face up.

After most "dead floats" went through a fixed process, Li Sanjiang would retrieve them and bring them back to shore to be handed over to the family. But during one drinking session, Li Sanjiang had solemnly said that there were two exceptions that he was rather afraid to retrieve.

One type is a dead float with a whirlpool around it, meaning there's a leak or mud trap nearby, and it could capsize and suck them in, boat and all.

As for the second type, even Li Sanjiang would tremble and feel his scalp go numb upon seeing it...

It's the kind that leaves only hair floating on the water's surface, standing upright at the bottom of the river!

This signifies immense resentment and an unwillingness to rest in peace, determined to drag someone down with them!

Li Weihan remembered that time at a dinner table when Li Sanjiang, with bloodshot eyes, told him very seriously:

"Hanhou, remember, if you see this kind of dead float on the water, don't think about anything else. Go as fast as you can. If you're too slow, it'll keep you!"

Therefore, upon discovering it was an upright dead float, how could Li Weihan not be terrified? Not to mention, he had three grandsons on the boat with him right now!

Pan Zi, still very curious, clearly hadn't grasped his grandfather's instructions. As his grandfather rushed over to grab the bamboo pole, he stumbled, causing the pole to also stab sideways into the mud, making the boat tilt severely to the right.

Such a tilt wouldn't be much for someone experienced with boats. For example, Lei Zi, standing at the edge of the boat, quickly leaned over and grabbed the side, regaining his balance. But Li Zhuiyuan, sitting there, lacked this experience. After his upper body was thrown forward by inertia, he "plop" sound fell into the water, precisely on the side facing the dead float.

The river water was very clear, and with the bright afternoon sun, the visibility underwater was excellent.

Li Zhuiyuan, who had just fallen in, was instinctively flailing, but he was immediately stunned by the sight before him.

Just as Brother Lei Zi had said, a person was standing in the water. And this wasn't just anyone; it was Little Yellow Oriole, whom they had been talking about at the dinner table today!

She was still wearing the black qipao from her performance, with white floral buttons and a slit up to her waist, and those red high heels on her feet.

The water flowed smoothly. Under this gentle current, her arms swung back and forth rhythmically, and her legs swayed back and forth.

It gave the impression that she was walking underwater.

She was waving her hands, swaying her hips, showing her legs, tiptoeing, and singing...

Even underwater, she was still embodying that provocative posture that village women both envied and detested.

"Though a thousand songs may echo in the future, drifting on my path afar..."

In his ears, he seemed to hear Little Yellow Oriole's slightly accented Cantonese again.

Accompanied by the singing, Little Yellow Oriole slowly turned around, gradually facing Li Zhuiyuan.

Her long hair floated diagonally upwards, like a black umbrella, and the powder on her face was even thicker than yesterday, her lips a more vibrant red.

Suddenly, She smiled.