HCB Chapter 452 Hating Hurricanes
Chapter 452 Hating Hurricanes
"How was it? Did it work?"
Xu Anyang got up early and ran over, just in time to see Xu Yiyi carrying out warm goat milk.
Before Xu Yiyi could answer, Xu Anyang looked up and caught sight of his parents standing beside him, their brows furrowed and faces grave. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, instantly extinguishing the joy on his face.
His smile froze, and he could no longer utter a word.
Xu Honglian followed closely behind.
She carried a small basket of freshly picked vegetables and stepped into the yard with great anticipation.
When Xu Anyang saw her come in, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he just lowered his head with red eyes.
Xu Honglian's heart sank suddenly, and the forced ease she had been putting on vanished instantly.
She put down her basket, walked quickly to Xu Anyang's side, and asked softly, "Didn't the soul-calling work?"
Xu Anyang shook his head, "He's probably really frightened. Wu Yuan looks much better than yesterday. We'll just have to wait and see in a few days..."
Xu Anyang's words came to an abrupt end.
Because he saw that Xu Yiyi's face was unusually calm, which was more heartbreaking than any loud crying.
Grandma and Uncle have recovered, but Ah Si is still wiping away tears.
"Heaven is truly blind!"
Asi said fiercely, "What a good child, why do you have to make him go through all this?"
"Come back with me, I need to go to the Temple of Tanah Lot to pray."
After crying her fill, A-Si ordered Xu Pinghai to go out with her.
Xu Honglian could no longer hold back and pulled Xu Yiyi into her arms before she could even speak.
Her own tears streamed down her face first, her voice choked with sobs: "You've suffered so much...you've really suffered so much..."
At such a young age, her father passed away, and her mother ran away.
Just when things were finally looking up for the family, Wuyuan encountered this kind of trouble.
It's just that God is blind!
Xu Yiyi leaned quietly against Xu Honglian's chest, as if the torrent of tears had nothing to do with her. She gently patted Xu Honglian's back, as if to comfort her, or as if to confirm that she had not collapsed.
……
Have you heard?
Rulan sneaked back from outside and winked at Xu Ming, who was brushing his teeth with a willow twig.
The two exchanged a glance.
They all returned to the house without prior arrangement.
"Wu Yuan is mute!"
Xu Ming paused in his chewing of the willow branch. "Really mute? Didn't you go to see a doctor yesterday?"
Rulan glanced at him and scoffed, "Do you think doctors are omnipotent? You've really gone mute!"
Her tone carried a hint of schadenfreude.
"You didn't see it, when A-Si came back her eyes were swollen and she looked dejected. I guess Xu Yiyi was even worse off."
Xu Ming chuckled, "I really didn't expect that!"
"Right! I never expected this, I really never expected it. If you ask me, your brother's family is really unlucky. It's always one thing or another that happens."
Ru Lan clicked her tongue in delight and went out of the house to hang the clothes to dry.
In the next room, Grandpa Xu listened to the two whispering and silently took a puff of his pipe.
The sun had just climbed onto the eaves when a gust of wind blew away the gloomy clouds.
The speckled hen in the coop was stretching its neck and clucking.
Asi stood leaning against the fence, his gaze sweeping back and forth among the chickens.
The morning light tinged the chicken feathers with a pale gold, and she watched it with such concentration that she didn't even notice Xu Pinghai walking up behind her.
"What are you standing there for?" Xu Pinghai patted her shoulder.
Asa turned to look at him, her eyes still showing thoughtfulness in the fine lines around her eyes: "I'm thinking about which chicken to catch."
She paused, then said, "It's better if she's fatter, after killing the Goddess of the Sea."
Xu Pinghai raised an eyebrow, his hand pausing as he arranged the incense and candles.
On ordinary days, when she went to worship the sea god, she would only prepare some incense, candles, and fruit, and at most add a fish.
This is the first time I've been so serious about it.
"So willing to part with it?"
He couldn't help but ask.
Following her gaze, I saw that this speckled hen was the best at laying eggs, which could be sold for a lot of money.
Asa stared intently at the chickens in the coop and let out a long sigh.
“This time is different.” Her voice was soft but firm. “We must pray properly and ask the sea god to bless our Wuyuan so that it can speak and grow up healthy and without illness.”
Xu Pinghai also sighed, feeling truly uneasy.
The speckled chickens in the cage, unaware of the danger, were still pecking at the broken rice.
Ah Si had already squatted down and, with a swift movement of his wrist, caught the fattest yellow-feathered chicken.
The chicken wings kicked up fine dust, leaving claw marks directly on her blue cloth skirt.
"Let's choose this one."
She stood up, the chicken squawking mournfully in her hand, "Prepare more offerings so that the Sea Goddess may hear us."
Xu Pinghai said no more and silently went to find the bamboo basket for holding incense and candles.
Ah Si pressed the chicken into the wooden bucket, turned around, went into the kitchen, and came out with a knife.
After a flurry of activity, they left carrying two baskets of offerings.
When they were halfway there, they picked up the two elderly people again.
The group headed towards the Sea God Temple in the county town.
Xu Yiyi continued to clean up the garbage that hadn't been cleared away yesterday.
Watching her work with such skill, Xu Anyang hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.
"Stop looking. If you really have nothing better to do, help me clean up the house in Sanchuan Sihai."
Xu Yiyi forced a smile and said calmly.
"You don't have to laugh if you don't want to."
Xu Anyang's tone was filled with heartache.
"Should I cry? I don't want to."
As Xu Yiyi spoke, she carried out the basins and jars that Er'er used to store water.
Xu Honglian tugged at Xu Anyang's sleeve, signaling him to stop talking.
He then joined Xu Yiyi in getting busy.
"Sister Yi, how about we wait until my father comes back before we deal with the roof?"
Xu Anyang reluctantly supported the frame, somewhat disapproving of Xu Yiyi going up.
"Hold on tight."
Xu Yiyi ignored his words and climbed onto the roof on her own.
Sanchuan, Sihai, and Wuyuan sat in a row in the courtyard, feeling somewhat depressed.
"Third Brother, do you think Wu Yuan really can't speak anymore?"
Sihai's hand touched Wuyuan's chubby cheeks, which felt tingly and numb.
This caused the child to keep hiding.
"Definitely. Wuyuan is just scared. He'll be able to speak once he's not scared anymore."
Although my younger brother still couldn't make a sound when he woke up, his complexion was much better than yesterday.
"I hate hurricanes."
Sihai pouted angrily.
"They blew our house into a mess and scared Wuyuan."
The child listed the evidence of the damage caused by the hurricane's landfall.
Xu Yiyi repaired the missing tiles and then sat on the roof, lost in thought.
The sea breeze whistled past, instantly waking me up.
You can see Lao Lu's figure coming from afar.
Perhaps disgusted by the muddy ground, the old man suddenly leaped into the air and stepped onto the rooftops of other people's houses as he walked.
In the blink of an eye, he was sitting next to her.
"You didn't even tell me when something happened. I'm practically a grandfather of Wuyuan."
The old man looked down at the courtyard below, where Wu Yuan and his two older brothers were playing around.
He seemed to be in relatively good spirits.
"how do you know?"
Xu Yiyi spoke calmly.
"Isn't that obvious?" Old Lu scoffed. "The weather has cleared up since today. Even though you haven't come to the restaurant yet, everyone knows something's happened."
So Lao Lu hitched a ride on a boat from the dock.
I heard about this as soon as I arrived on the island.
Old Lu said, "Let's pack our things!"
Xu Yiyi looked at him with a face full of doubt.
Why are you packing your things?
Old Lu then dusted off his clothes and squinted, "Of course I'll take you to the prefectural city! I know a doctor who's quite skilled; shall we go and take a look?"
Xu Yiyi perked up instantly: "Is it reliable? Don't let it be like yesterday, when I went to Tong'an Hall last and the doctor took out needles to prick Wu Yuan without saying a word."
A smile crept across Lao Lu's lips.
"That's really reliable."
If it weren't for Wu Yuan, he wouldn't have been willing to go back and beg for help.
The thought of being harassed again after going back is giving me a headache.
Xu Yiyi scrutinized him with a skeptical attitude.
"Oh, don't worry, do you really think I'm such an unreliable person?"
The old man said helplessly, "He's never serious."
When faced with a real problem, the credibility of what they say becomes lower.
"That person's medical skills are comparable to Wu Yunzhi's, except that he doesn't know how to use poison."
After all, geniuses who are proficient in both medicine and poison are rare.
"Since we can't contact Wu Yunzhi and Er'er while they're out there, let's try someone else! It's not a bad deal."
Old Lu spoke with great effort.
Seeing how much confidence he had in that person, Xu Yiyi finally agreed.
"Hey! That's more like it. If all else fails, just go to Lin Ke and I'll agree to his request."
Old Lu said it casually, without any reluctance.
You should know that when Lin Ke asked him for help before, he refused outright.
"Hurry up!"
In the blink of an eye, Xu Yi felt a blur before her eyes and a gentle breeze caress her face.
Upon closer inspection, the old man was already standing steadily on the bluestone slab in the center of the courtyard, his hands behind his back.
"Wow……"
"Wow!!"
"Wow!"
Hearing a chorus of exclamations, Old Lu raised his head with satisfaction.
"Grandpa Lu! You're really amazing."
Sihai's eyes lit up instantly, and he ran up with his short legs and hugged him tightly.
"Grandpa Lu?"
Grandpa Xu, who was outside, felt inexplicably annoyed by this address; it sounded particularly grating. He tilted his head and looked disdainful.
Xu Yiyi came down from the roof just as he entered the room.
"What are you doing here? Came to see us make a fool of ourselves?"
Xu Yi's eyes held a hint of hostility.
Grandpa Xu smiled.
"Don't speak so harshly, I'm still your grandfather."
Grandpa Xu emphasized the last two words.
To everyone's surprise, as soon as she finished speaking, Xu Yiyi's eyes turned mocking.
"Grandpa? I can tell you're getting old and quite forgetful."
Xu Yiyi couldn't help but roll her eyes and said, "If I remember correctly, a few months ago you said that we should keep to ourselves and have no connection whatsoever!"
Grandpa Xu was not annoyed after hearing this, and went straight to Wu Yuan.
She looked down at the child in front of her.
Thinking to myself, Xu Yiyi really knows how to raise children.
She managed to raise several children to be fair-skinned and chubby.
"Really unable to speak?"
Grandpa Xu took a puff of his pipe and asked.
Sanchuan, standing beside him, was staring intently at him.
He was just about to reach out to touch it when Sihai slapped his hand away.
Grandpa Xu raised an eyebrow as he looked at his hand, which had been slapped red.
"Why are you just like your father, all strong and energetic?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sanchuan could no longer hold back.
"What are you doing here? You're not welcome here, get out!" Sanchuan angrily pointed to the door.
Seeing Sanchuan lose his temper, Grandpa Xu was momentarily dazed.
Everyone says that Sanchuan is the least like Xu Yinli.
But it is actually similar, like Xu Yinli when he gets angry.
It's just that Sanchuan has always been gentle and rarely gets angry, so people have never seen him get angry.
Old Lu, who was standing to the side, gave Xu Yiyi a look, pointed at Grandpa Xu, then pointed to his own temple, his eyes filled with doubt.
Xu Yiyi shook her head.
"No need to shout so loudly, I'm not deaf."
Grandpa Xu picked at his ear with a look of impatience, and then, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he picked up Wu Yuan.
After groping around Wu Yuan's neck for a while, he quickly put him down.
Old Lu was just about to snatch it back.
Grandpa Xu clicked his tongue. "His throat is fine; it's a psychological problem."
"Hold him more! Maybe he'll get better someday," Grandpa Xu instructed Xu Yiyi, turning to her.
Hold him more often to make him feel safe.
Who knows, he might be able to speak up soon.
"What's it to you? You're just crocodile tears. You didn't care when the child needed you, but now that the child doesn't want you anymore, you have to come crawling back and make yourself a nuisance."
Old Lu snorted coldly and started cursing at Grandpa Xu.
“It has nothing to do with you. I’m talking to my own granddaughter, and it’s none of your business to interfere.”
"what!"
"cut!"
Old Lu was so angry he laughed.
"Don't you feel ashamed to say that? Has your own granddaughter or the people from Sanchuan and Sihai ever called you 'Grandpa' since you came in? No!"
Old Lu said smugly, "But you can call me Grandpa, so in terms of kinship, you are the outsider."
Thank goodness Old Lu doesn't have a tail behind him, otherwise he'd be wagging his tail high right now.
Grandpa Xu squinted his eyes. "Do you really want to die?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Old Lu struck out with a palm, but it was easily deflected by Grandpa Xu.
"You're no better than me in martial arts, and you dare to talk back even though you can't beat me?"
Xu Yiyi tensed up for a moment, and then saw Sihai run into the house and take out his small bow and arrows.
The kind with arrowheads.
"Get out of here, or I'll shoot you dead."
Sihai grinned and said, while Sanchuan also stood on the same side as Lao Lu.
“Let’s go! For the sake of Grandpa, I don’t want to cause too much trouble with you, but if you insist on making things difficult for us, I don’t mind having a fight with you.”
Xu Yiyi immediately ordered them to leave.
Grandpa Xu chuckled to himself, "Interesting!"
He gave Xu Yiyi a meaningful look one last time, then turned and left.
"I think he might really have something wrong with his head."
Old Lu's eyes darted around for a moment, and he finally came to this conclusion.
"You guys are all so critical of him, and you still say it's interesting? Either the hurricane damaged his brain, or his brain got too waterlogged and bloated!"
Xu Yiyi shrugged; she had never understood Grandpa Xu's thought process.
He was the one who promised to be a stranger back then.