Volume 1: Wind Rises in the Mountains and Swamps Chapter 28: Returning Home
"Excuse me, old man! Do you know Lin Kaishan's family?"
Under the big tree at the entrance of the village, an old man wearing a Confucian shirt sat alone on a stone. His face was thin and had a bookish air.
"Lin Kaishan...?"
The old man held his long beard in his hand, raised his cloudy eyes, and looked at the visitor.
Seeing that the strange young man's clothes were shabby but his features were clear, he pondered for a moment and said slowly: "I heard that Lin Kaiqu had an elder brother named Lin Kaishan. However, Lin Kaishan died long ago. You can go to Lin Kaiqu's house and ask. It’s at the west end of the village, with the blue stone courtyard wall.”
The old man's voice was slightly hoarse and his tone was very soft, with a slight tremor, as if he was talking about something that had happened for a long time.
"Thank you, old man!"
Lin Yi leaned over and bowed in thanks.
Watching the young man's thin but upright figure leave, the old man whispered to himself, does Lin Kaishan have any descendants?
…
A low earth and stone courtyard wall surrounds three adobe houses. There is a small side room on the east side of the courtyard, which should be a kitchen room. The chimney on the roof is smoking. On the west side of the courtyard, under a big tree, there is a stone table made of stone flakes and several wooden low benches.
The courtyard was quiet.
Lin Yi stood at the courtyard gate and looked inside.
"Who are you looking for?"
A teenage girl, wearing a patchwork floral dress, walked out of the kitchen with several bowls in her hands. Her fair face had a straight nose and a pair of black and white eyes, looking at Lin Yi curiously.
"I..." Lin Yi didn't know how to speak. He looked away from the little girl and moved back.
A man of medium height in his thirties walked out of the house. He was dressed in old blue and gray coarse cloth clothes. He had thick hands and feet, a short beard, and a dark complexion. He looked like an honest man from the countryside. Seeing someone coming, he was stunned, grinned, bowed slightly, and said in a gentle tone: "Who are you looking for, little brother?"
Lin Yi's throat was a little choked and his mouth was dry. He stared at the middle-aged man and said one after another: "My father Lin Kaishan! My name is Lin Yi."
The middle-aged man's smile condensed on his face, his mouth was half-opened, and his chest rose and fell rapidly.
He stretched out his hand and pointed at Lin Yi, opened his mouth again and again, walked a few steps closer to the courtyard door, widened his eyes, and looked at the visitor carefully.
After a while, the man suddenly turned around and shouted loudly: "Tui'er's mother——!"
"Here it comes! Here it comes!" Then a woman came out of the kitchen. She was dressed in a commoner dress and had a hairpin, and she was clean and tidy. She took a few steps forward, her eyes full of doubts, and her big eyes were quite similar to that girl's.
"Tui'er's father, is this-?"
"Remember what I said, my eldest brother had a one-year-old child in his early years? Mother Cui'er, look at this -!" The middle-aged man was a little incoherent.
"Could it be -?" The woman lowered her head and pondered for a while, then raised her head and looked at Lin Yi up and down.
The latter still stood quietly outside the courtyard.
"Brother, I have seen him too. This young man's facial features are somewhat similar to his. Oh my God... Cui's father! Could it be..." The woman raised her hand to her forehead and exclaimed.
"Haha! That's right!"
The man slapped his thigh fiercely, walked through the courtyard gate in two steps, grabbed Lin Yi, his eyes were red, and said excitedly: "I am Lin Kaiqu, Lin Kaishan is my eldest brother, my eldest brother and sister-in-law died in the early years, and only my eldest nephew does not know Finally, I heard that I was rescued by a group of people. My child, are you Lin Yi? "
The man finished speaking in one breath, his expression a little uncontrollable, and he held Lin Yi's hand and it started to tremble.
Lin Yi took a deep breath, took a step back, and bent down deeply.
"Nephew Lin Yi, I have met my uncle! I have met my aunt!"
The man responded with a "hmm", and the woman also shed tears. She quickly wiped them with her sleeves, and with a smile on her face, she said hurriedly: "Nephew, come in quickly! Cui'er! Let brother come in quickly. Home."
The girl named Cui'er responded crisply, happily put the bowl on the stone table, and ran to Lin Yi.
She pulled Lin Yi's sleeve and said with joy on her face: "Brother, I'm home, come in quickly!"
Back home...!
Lin Yi's nose felt sore and his eyes felt hot.
"This is your sister Cui'er, haha! She's home, Xiaoyi, come in quickly!" The man laughed innocently, his eyes filled with emotion and love.
This man is Lin Yi's biological uncle. The woman's surname is Zhang, and she is Lin Yi's aunt. The girl's name is Cui'er, she is twelve years old and is the couple's only daughter.
…
The family sat at the stone table under the big tree and had dinner.
Lin Yi ate silently.
The food was simple, but what he ate was delicious.
Cui Er happily added food to her brother.
Lin Kaiqu and his wife looked at their nephew with joy while eating.
They never thought that their eldest brother's child would come to their door many years later. The couple felt very happy when they saw that their nephew's clothes were shabby, but his eyebrows were high, and his words and deeds had the calm appearance of an adult.
A brother was suddenly added to the family. Although she didn't know what happened, Cui'er was still very happy. This brother's gentle smile made her feel close to him.
Cui'er kept adding food and vegetables to the side, and then stared at Lin Yi with a pair of beautiful big eyes full of curiosity and joy.
Lin Yi was also in a dream, feeling the affection between his uncle and aunt, and feeling their fiery gazes. He ate in silence, feeling the sincere yet unfamiliar family affection.
In this world, the only relative is Master. After the master left, Lin felt lonely.
Somehow, this place that Master mentioned often affects me.
Xiaotian'ao - is where he was born, this is his home! He did not hesitate, nor did he think about it. After three years of mourning for his master, he came here by himself following the call in his dream. He found his real relatives in this world.
His aunt said that he looked a bit like his parents, but he had no idea what his parents looked like. Lin Yi had never thought about how to prove that he was a descendant of the Lin family. And Lin Kaiqu and his wife did not suspect each other's origins. After a moment of surprise, they happily accepted this nephew.
This was so natural for Lin Yi and his wife.
In addition to the blood relationship that was difficult to give up, perhaps they were all poor people, they believed in the existence of family affection in this world, and believed in the preciousness of family affection!
...
After dinner, the family entered the main room.
An oil lamp lit up the warmth of the whole room.
Facing the concerned eyes of his uncle's family, Lin Yi roughly recounted his experiences over the past ten years. In fact, there was nothing much to say, that is, the days with the master were mostly spent in the mountains. In his opinion, those were common things, but for his uncle's family, they were special.
"Xiao Yi knows martial arts? Wow! Not easy!" Lin Kaiqu heard that Lin Yi followed his master to learn martial arts, and he praised him.
Poor people learn literature, but rich people learn martial arts. Who has the spare money to learn martial arts in a poor family? Martial arts are only for rich people.
"Some Taoist skills are not worth mentioning!" Lin Yi shook his head and said modestly.
"Brother! Are you a Taoist priest now?" Cui'er asked curiously. Lin Yi smiled, not knowing how to answer.
"Your brother is not a Taoist priest anymore. He will marry and have children in the future and live a good life!" Lin Kaiqu said loudly, and looked at Lin Yi with a smile.
It has always been a pity that he has no son. Now that he has seen his nephew, Lin Kaiqu believes that God has opened his eyes and the Lin family finally has a successor.
Cui'er's eyes have become crescents, and she looks at Lin Yi with a smile. It seems that this brother can't get enough.
Lin Yi's expression was a little embarrassed, and he just smiled without saying anything.
"Cui'er's father! May our ancestors bless our nephew Xiaoyi and let him come back safely. Xiaoyi is now sixteen years old, so we should find an honest family and find him a wife who is satisfactory and can make a living!" Zhang answered from the side, and Lin Kaiqu also nodded and hummed to show his agreement.
"Big brother and my family still have two or three acres of mountain land, and my family of four can barely make a living, but the original big brother's house has been in disrepair for more than ten years and is not suitable for living..." After Zhang finished speaking, a little anxiety flashed across her face.
"It's okay, Cui'er will live in the same room with us, and Xiaoyi will live in the west room!" Lin Kaiqu still said in a gentle voice.
"Okay! Brother will live in the west room. I'll help brother clean up!" Cui'er jumped up.
"Sister, wait a minute!"
Lin Yi was still silently feeling everything he had never experienced before. Seeing this, he came to his senses, quickly reached out to stop Cui'er, and asked softly:
"Uncle! Aunt! Can I go and have a look...?"
"Let's see tomorrow! It's getting late..." Lin Kaiqu glared at Zhang with some reproach.
Lin Yi slowly stood up and said, "I hope uncle will understand Xiaoyi's eagerness!"
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ps: The plot of going home is a bit... But who can avoid these!
The weather will get worse in the next two days. I sincerely wish friends who are going home a safe journey!
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