Chapter 463: This Feng Shui Is Not Simple

“Wang Yong…”

Xiong Ying was taken aback, stopped what she was doing, and looked at Shui Miao in disbelief. “Shui Miao, how do you know about that Wang Yong?”

“Uh…”

Shui Miao scratched his head. “Grandpa, I remember one time you were talking in your sleep—you cursed Wang Yong, saying he was a grave-robbing rat.”

Shui Miao made up this excuse on the spot to cover for himself.

“Did I really say that in my sleep?”

Xiong Ying frowned. “When did I say that? How come I don’t remember?”

“Grandpa, how can you remember what you say in your dreams?” Shui Miao smiled. “So, Grandpa, did I guess right? Is that person you’re looking for really named Wang Yong?”

“Yes… yes…”

Xiong Ying thought maybe he really had revealed the name in his sleep. Wang Yong was indeed a grave robber, and he had never told Shui Miao about him. But Xiong Ying was puzzled—he had no idea he even had the habit of talking in his sleep.

Seeing his grandfather’s confusion, Shui Miao quickly changed the subject and chatted about everyday things.

The turtle was simmering slowly in the pot.

Since it was still early, Xiong Ying rode his bicycle to buy some cigarettes and alcohol, planning to visit the Third Grandma in the afternoon.

Chen Bing brought the clothes home and told Shui Miao’s parents the good news that he had finally woken up.

Chen Bing’s parents were honest and kind-hearted people. Upon hearing that Shui Miao had regained consciousness, they were overjoyed. They gathered some eggs from home and even caught a hen, asking Chen Bing to bring them over so Shui Miao could recover properly.

Shui Miao was just pulling out his grandfather’s notes, flipping through them to see if they matched what he already knew, when Chen Bing arrived with the hen and eggs.

Shui Miao quickly put the notes away.

As it turned out, the contents of the notes were exactly the same as what Shui Miao already knew.

Chen Bing had been staying here for over a month and had never seen Xiong Ying’s notes before. Curious, she asked Shui Miao what they were. Shui Miao whispered that they were his grandfather’s Feng Shui notes and that he was secretly learning from them so he could have another way to make money in the future.

Chen Bing was rather dismissive of this.

In the rural areas of Northern Jiangsu, Feng Shui masters were also known as “Geographic Masters.” Their job usually involved being invited to a family’s funeral to choose a burial site. They’d get a meal, a pack of cigarettes, and maybe a hundred yuan at most. If there were many funerals, their income could be decent. But nowadays, people were opting for cemeteries—rows of pre-built tombs where ashes were simply placed in a plot. There was no need for a Geographic Master anymore, so the profession wasn’t profitable anymore.

“Shui Miao, look how good my parents are to you. Sometimes I feel like you’re their real son.”

Chen Bing joked, looking at the hen and eggs.

Shui Miao took a deep breath and said seriously, “Your parents are my parents too. I promise you, within half a year, I’ll make you rich.”

“Right, like you’ve been doing nothing but sleeping for days and all you’ve learned is how to brag,” Chen Bing laughed and muttered, “Riches… I’ve been dreaming of getting rich. Look at Lin Haiyang—driving his car, his hair all slicked up, that’s the life!”

“Pfft, that’s nothing. Bro will get you a BMW and have girls clinging to you all day,” Shui Miao declared confidently. “Six months. That’s all I need.”

“Yeah, right. If you can get me a Flying Pigeon bike, that’d be great. BMW? Maybe a donkey,” Chen Bing scoffed, then suddenly her eyes gleamed mischievously. “Hey, you keep calling Sister Xiao Tang’s name in your sleep. Did you two… you know… in your dreams?”

“Hey! What are you talking about!”

Shui Miao grabbed an egg to throw at Chen Bing, but she quickly ran outside laughing. “Come on, don’t deny it! The other day in your dream, you even had a wet dream!”

“Ugh!”

Shui Miao felt his head spin. It seemed he had made quite the fool of himself during those days of unconsciousness.

※※※

It wasn’t long—less than an hour—before his grandfather returned on his bicycle.

He had bought two bottles of Yanghe Daqu liquor and a pack of Hongmei cigarettes. For a rural family, this was already a generous gift.

Seeing that Shui Miao was in good spirits, Xiong Ying went to the kitchen to check on the turtle soup.

The stove was wood-fired, with residual heat still simmering the pot, which had been bubbling for over an hour.

Everyone had a bowl of the soup. Though it was seasoned only with salt, the flavor was incredibly rich and delicious.

After finishing the soup, Xiong Ying added another spoon of cold water to the pot, then closed the door. With the gifts in hand, the group headed toward the Third Grandma’s house in Lizhuang Village.

Walking along the rural paths, Shui Miao was already planning in his mind when he would go to Haishi City to take care of his mother. But before that, he needed to find a way to get some money quickly. He had to make sure Grandpa, Chen Bing, her parents, and Xiaoxiang were all taken care of—everyone deserved a happy, comfortable life.

Chatting casually, they soon arrived at Lizhuang Village.

Lizhuang had about a hundred households, and over 95% of them were surnamed Li. The village was a chaotic maze of tightly packed houses with no order. Anyone unfamiliar with the place would find it easy to enter but hard to leave.

When they were kids, Shui Miao and Chen Bing rarely played in Lizhuang. Not only were the houses disorganized, but there were also packs of stray dogs—sometimes over a dozen—chasing after anyone who passed by. Even now, they still felt a bit uneasy, scanning the surroundings for any sudden appearance of dogs.

Xiong Ying, however, was very familiar with the place. He led Shui Miao and Chen Bing through a series of turns and arrived at a house built on a raised plot of land. Shui Miao looked around and immediately noticed something strange about the house’s Feng Shui. Almost every neighboring house had corners pointing directly at it. What made him especially uneasy was a large haystack to the west of the house (in the countryside, dried rice straw was stacked into mountain-like piles for fuel, but these haystacks were also favorite hideouts for weasels), from which a foul smell was wafting.

“Stop looking around like that. People might think you’re a thief,” Xiong Ying whispered to Shui Miao before taking the liquor and cigarettes from Chen Bing and walking toward the house with a big smile.

Clearly, this was the Third Grandma’s home.

Chen Bing and Shui Miao followed behind. Chen Bing paused and whispered, “Why are you looking around like that with those wide eyes?”

“Nothing. Just never been here before. Just looking around,” Shui Miao didn’t tell the truth because once he did, Chen Bing would keep asking questions, not believing him in the end and accusing him of lying. So it was better not to say anything.

In fact, Shui Miao had already spotted major Feng Shui issues with this house.

The house was facing multiple corners from surrounding buildings—this was known as “corner sha,” like being surrounded by spears. Life here would definitely be stressful. Fortunately, the house was built on a raised plot, which was a sign of future success for descendants. Though that successful descendant might face opposition from many, at least they would make it out. Another benefit of the raised plot was that the tightly packed houses could easily accumulate both good and bad energy. The higher elevation allowed the heavier negative energy to flow away, leaving behind positive energy for prosperity.

But what made this house even more problematic was the large haystack to the west. Haystacks represented wood, while the west represented metal. Metal overcomes wood, which symbolized talent and fortune. This indicated that the descendants of this family would definitely not succeed through education. The foul smell from under the haystack made Shui Miao suspect that if the descendants were male, they might be gangsters running nightclubs. If female, they might be involved in the sex trade—perhaps even a madam.

“Oh my, come in, come in! Please, sit inside!”

A middle-aged woman in her fifties came out warmly, grabbing Shui Miao and Chen Bing’s arms and pulling them into the house.

She was very hospitable, dragging them inside and quickly preparing tea.

The west-facing door was open. As Shui Miao entered, his eyes first landed on an elderly woman with white hair and sunken eyes sitting on the sofa, chatting happily with Grandpa Xiong Ying. Then he noticed a photo frame on the wall. Inside were many photos, one of which showed a group of young men in black clothes. In the center was a muscular, intimidating man wearing dark sunglasses, flanked by a group of thin followers. Definitely a gang boss.

“Shui Miao! Shui Miao! The Third Grandma wants to see you!”

Xiong Ying hurriedly came out to call Shui Miao into the room.

Shui Miao said “Okay,” and followed his grandfather inside. As he walked in, he smiled and looked up at the Third Grandma—and to his surprise, her expression suddenly froze!

“Huh!”

The blind Third Grandma actually stood up abruptly!