Chapter 26 Part 1
Wu Heng was slightly taken aback. Had he promised Li Hao and his friends that he would definitely use their new well?
Did the Li family’s well have a towel for drying hair, freshly baked pastries, and a convenient ladder?
No!
So why wouldn’t he use Shi Xuan’s? His new friend even provided transportation and excellent service.
Wu Heng ignored Li Hao’s resentful voice message and quickly got up to wash.
Today was the Hungry Ghost Festival, second only to the Lunar New Year in importance for Nan Nuo village. The festival lasted three days, and the festive atmosphere had already filled the village since yesterday.
Although he knew Wu Heng was mentally sound now, You Jin was still worried he would starve, so he brought him a bowl of ciba (glutinous rice cake) filled with brown sugar and a boiled egg early in the morning.
His grandfather was still missing, not even returning for the Hungry Ghost Festival.
While eating the ciba, Wu Heng received a call from his father, Wu Su. “Don’t worry about your grandfather, he’s fine. Something came up at work, and I can’t come back for the festival. Heng Heng, do you know where our Wu family’s ancestral grave is? Go there by yourself…”
Wu Su then became worried. “No, no, I’m afraid you’ll burn down our ancestral grave, let’s skip visiting the graves this year.”
Wu Heng, happily drinking sweet rice water, a Hungry Ghost Festival specialty in Nan Nuo village, replied, “Dad, I know, don’t worry.”
Wu Su was surprised. Had Wu Heng truly become normal?
The Shi family was a strange and unusual place, full of rules and restrictions, even limiting their internet access. His life as a steward wasn’t easy either.
It was the Hungry Ghost Festival again. While other families visited their ancestors’ graves, the Shi family invited Taoist priests to perform rituals for their young master.
“Steward Wu, the Taoist priests have arrived.” Wu Su covered the phone and nodded at the servants, then said to Wu Heng, “Be careful when you visit the ancestral graves, don’t get lost. Next year, at the latest next year, I’ll resign and come home.”
Wu Heng hung up, washed his bowl, folded some joss paper ingots, took some raw meat from the kitchen – a whole pig’s head, a whole chicken and duck, along with some fruits – and set off.
Nan Nuo village was a minority village, unlike big cities where burning joss paper was prohibited. Early in the morning on the Hungry Ghost Festival, joss paper would fly in the air, and the smell of burning paper filled the streets.
Wu Heng changed into his ancestral worship attire, a white short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and put on a large, snake-shaped silver earring in his left ear, a symbol of adulthood. In Nan Nuo village, unlike the official legal age, sixteen was considered adulthood.
Following the route in his memory, Wu Heng went to the foot of the back mountain. While setting up the offerings, he bumped into Officer Wang Jun and several other police officers.
“Be careful not to start a fire. Arson is a serious crime,” Wang Jun called out to the young man ahead.
As Wu Heng turned around, Wang Jun was surprised to see it was him and quickly stepped forward, thanking him. “Doctor Wu, it’s you! My daughter’s fever really subsided these past few days.”
Initially, just trying it out, he had placed the triangular folded money in his daughter’s pajama pocket, and her fever subsided in the middle of the night. This morning, she was bouncing around the house, full of energy.
Wu Heng smiled. “Officer Wang, open up that folded money and take a look.”
Wang Jun was surprised that Wu Heng knew he still had the money. He took it out and unfolded it, seeing that the coin inside had rusted, and the 100 yuan bill was limp and damp.
Wang Jun clearly remembered that the coin was fine when he gave the money to Wu Heng. How could it have rusted so badly in just a day or two?
The other officers felt a chill run down their spines.
Wu Heng continued setting up the offerings. “The yang energy in that 101 yuan is depleted, spend it. And don’t go to the south side of the mountain today.”
The officers exchanged glances and nodded.
Wu Heng finished the ancestral worship quickly, and after the fire died down, he carried the offerings back to Chengde Medical Clinic. On his way back, he noticed a lively atmosphere at the Lai family’s courtyard.
You Jin had taken a day off, and the clinic was quiet. Wu Heng figured no one would come to the clinic today.
This was also a Hungry Ghost Festival custom in Nan Nuo village. No consultations today, except for emergencies, for fear of encountering wandering spirits and hastening their demise.
Wu Heng decided to start a live stream, and the viewers quickly poured in.
Seeing the netizens asking about Wang Qiang, Wu Heng said, “It’s still early, I’ll connect with her after sunset.”
[Why does the treatment have to be in the evening? Is Doctor Wu Heng really going to fight her parents? Won’t that bring bad luck?]
[Although I’m also angry, a shaman doctor is still a living person, it’s best not to provoke the dead. That girl’s parents don’t seem kind.]
[Exactly, even tormenting their own daughter after death, they might be malicious ghosts. Streamer, just cure the patient and don’t get involved in their affairs.]
[I trust Heng Heng! Did you go to worship your ancestors today? Your outfit is so unique and exotic!]
Amidst the compliments from his appearance-obsessed fans, Wu Heng connected with a new patient. A young man with a beaming smile appeared on the screen.
Smiling so brightly, he seemed to be in a good mood, unlike the previous patients who all looked worried.
He Yunxiao was wary, wondering if this was a prank. The young man cleared his throat and said, “Hello, Doctor Wu Heng, I connected with you today to ask if you can perform checkups.”
Wu Heng: “…”
“My girlfriend and I plan to register our marriage today, but we’re both too busy to go to the hospital for a premarital checkup. I saw online that you can take a pulse remotely, so I was wondering if you could do the checkup, hehe.”
[Wow, that’s clever, using the streamer as a checkup institution! This seems like a good idea, just seeing Wu Heng, instead of running around different hospital departments, and having to take time off work.]
[Registering their marriage today? Isn’t today the Hungry Ghost Festival? Not very auspicious.]
[Brother, congratulations on your marriage, wishing you happiness!]
The young man beamed. “Thank you for your blessings, everyone. My girlfriend, Xiao Li, and I are modern people, we don’t care about auspicious dates. Since she’s free to register our marriage today, we’ll do it today.”
“Premarital checkups aren’t mandatory now, and she didn’t really want to go, but I wanted to give her a sense of security. I wanted to show her that I’m healthy, with no hidden illnesses, so she can marry me without worries.”
The netizens were showered with dog food (internet slang for public displays of affection), their comments filled with envy.
The young man then turned to Wu Heng. “Doctor Wu, can you take a look?”
Wu Heng nodded. “Yes. Your physical condition is better than ninety percent of men. You don’t smoke, drink, or stay up late. Your… functions… are normal, and all your organs are eighty percent new.”
The young man was overjoyed. This was the incredibly popular shaman doctor who cured even Fan Tutu, whose illness couldn’t be diagnosed even after two months of hospital visits.
Wu Heng paused, then added, “But premarital checkups should be done by both parties. Your girlfriend probably wouldn’t dare to do one.”
The young man was taken aback, his voice laced with anxiety. “Doctor Wu, what do you mean? Does my girlfriend have some hidden illness? I’m on my way to pick her up for our marriage registration, can you examine her carefully later?”
Wu Heng shook his head. “Because your girlfriend isn’t human.”
[??? Holy crap, what does “not human” mean? A spirit repaying a favor? This is the correct way to repay a favor, marrying him, haha, He Yunxiao must be crying in the toilet.]
[As long as it’s not a spider spirit or a rat spirit, I can accept a cat spirit or a fox spirit~]
[Today is the Hungry Ghost Festival, could it be… that?]
[A bit scary, shouldn’t watch this kind of live stream during the Ghost Festival.]
The young man’s face darkened. “You’re saying my girlfriend is a demon? It’s only 5 p.m., the sun is still shining brightly, she dared to go register our marriage with me at this hour. What demon or ghost isn’t afraid of sunlight?”
Wu Heng: “July is known as the Ghost Month, and the Hungry Ghost Festival is the day with the weakest yang energy in the year. Even stronger spirits can wander around during the day.”
The young man was speechless, unable to refute Wu Heng’s words, only repeating “nonsense” and “charlatan shaman doctor” before abruptly ending the connection.
Wu Heng didn’t mind and asked He Yunxiao to post the product link. “First batch of mosquito repellent ointment, fifty percent off, one per person, 2,000 yuan each, first come, first served, only five hundred available.”
The netizens’ eyes lit up. The product sold out in two seconds.
Those who managed to snag one were overjoyed, those who didn’t almost rolled on the floor in frustration.
Wu Heng took the live stream camera and walked outside, the ethnic village of Nan Nuo capturing the netizens’ attention.
This was Village Chief Zhou Dagui’s ultimate goal in having Wu Heng live stream, attracting tourists and boosting the local economy.
The Hungry Ghost Festival atmosphere was strong in the village. Wu Heng carried the camera towards Grandma Lai’s house, showing the netizens many interesting sights along the way.
Arriving at the courtyard, Wu Heng saw Grandma Lai burning joss paper for her grandson in advance.
Wu Heng put his phone aside and walked towards the fire.
The shadowy figure who had just arrived saw Wu Heng standing by his pile of money: “…”
Damn, trying to steal an Yin messenger’s money again?!
Grandma Lai, seeing that the ashes weren’t swirling, was surprised. “Strange, strange, he’s busy with his duties tonight, why hasn’t he come to collect the money yet?”
Duties in the underworld were numerous, especially on a night like the Hungry Ghost Festival. Grandma Lai had wanted to send her grandson some money in advance, but he hadn’t come to collect it.
“Never mind, I’ll burn it for him later.”
The shadowy figure by the wall hesitated. He desperately needed money!
Wu Heng checked the time on his phone, figuring it was almost dusk at Wang Qiang’s place, and returned to Chengde Medical Clinic, connecting with Wang Qiang.
Wang Qiang and her roommates, each carrying something – some with joss paper and gold ingots, others with offerings – were on their way to Wang Qiang’s parents’ graves.
Wang Qiang had taken the day off, and her roommates, afraid she would be scared going to the graves alone, also took the day off and accompanied her.
Wang Qiang touched the talisman hanging around her neck, feeling slightly reassured.
A small gray snake had delivered the talisman, slithering through their dormitory window, startling them all.
Wearing the talisman, Wang Qiang hadn’t dreamt of her ghost parents for the past two days, and she no longer had the urge to pee standing up, nor was there any blood in her urine. It was as if everything was back to normal.
She carried a large bag of joss paper, including over a hundred gold ingots.
A young boy in white, about ten years old, had delivered the ingots, his face sullen, the same little gray snake perched carefully on his head. Wang Qiang and her roommates assumed he was Wu Heng’s younger brother.
She had carefully examined the ingots, noticing that two of them seemed slightly burnt, the rest were identical.
[Sob sob sob, this is true friendship, accompanying their roommate to the graves on the Hungry Ghost Festival, knowing her ghost parents are causing trouble. Who still says girls are only good for backstabbing and drama?]
[Wang Qiang’s character must be good, otherwise her roommates wouldn’t be here with her.]
[Is this the back mountain of the village? Seems like a burial ground, so remote and scary.]
The comments were filled with concerns for their safety, and Wang Qiang and her friends actually felt reassured reading them.
“Oh, I was wondering who this was. Da Yong’s daughter, Qiang Qiang, right?” The middle-aged woman seemed to have just returned from visiting the graves, carrying an empty basket as she looked at Wang Qiang and her friends, laughing.
“The Da Yong family’s lineage is broken, can they even use the joss paper burnt by a girl?”
