Chapter 27.4: The Fog Breaks

Although they hadn’t gone as far as to use drugs, getting caught in a police raid at a porn theater was humiliating enough.

After Panzi and Leizi finished their IV drips and returned home, their uncles gave them a harsh thrashing with rattan canes to “help them sleep better.”

Still, Li Zhuiyuan could tell the two brothers were loyal to a fault. Even after getting beaten, they hadn’t snitched that he had gone to the theater with them.

Once Li Weihan left, Li Sanjiang called for Runsheng and together they pushed a cart loaded with paper effigies to the Zhao family, who were holding a funeral that day.

Li Sanjiang invited Li Zhuiyuan along for the meal, but he declined, using the excuse that he needed to focus on studying at home.

He spent the entire day in his room doing handcraft work—mainly preparing materials.

The little puppy was also let out of its cage to stretch its legs. However, when it tried to approach Ah Li and was met with a sudden chill from her body, it backed off and eventually returned to its cage to sleep on its own.

In fact, since the night before, aside from whining in the morning to signal its water bowl was empty, it hadn’t made a peep. Li Zhuiyuan even suspected that, even without the medicine, once it matured a bit more, it might not roam at all—too lazy to bother.

Originally, he had only planned to let Ah Li help with simple tasks, but once he saw how quickly she picked things up and how meticulous her work was, he officially considered her his crafting partner.

To some extent, he even had to admit that Ah Li’s handiwork skills surpassed his own.

The two of them spent the entire day immersed in their work. Compared to studying together, this felt more interactive—though it left Ah Li a mess.

Before dinner, Li Zhuiyuan wiped Ah Li’s hands and face with a towel, but there wasn’t much he could do about her soiled clothes.

As Liu Yumei picked up her chopsticks to eat, she was shocked to see her filthy granddaughter come down the stairs hand in hand with an equally grimy boy. She nearly snapped her chopsticks in half.

Her granddaughter had always been a clean freak, obsessed with staying spotless. Yet here she was, not caring one bit.

Rationally, Liu Yumei knew this was all positive development, but emotionally, it was hard to accept. This scene—it was like her pampered daughter suddenly declaring she wanted to marry a poor boy and live a hard life.

And she wasn’t just saying it—she meant it.

Liu Yumei quickly composed herself. During dinner, she noticed her granddaughter wasn’t just burying her head in her food anymore. She’d take a few bites, then glance at the boy across from her, her body subtly swaying.

This slight movement rattled Liu Yumei all over again… Damn it, this boy really was working his way in.

After dinner, Li Zhuiyuan decided not to push Ah Li with more work. Instead, he spent the evening sketching new designs on his own.

He walked her back to the east room, then went upstairs. After a session of horse stance practice on the rooftop, he returned to his room and began drawing.

Late at night, he stepped out to wash his face and noticed his great-grandfather’s room was empty. Hearing the TV downstairs, he headed down and found Runsheng watching while munching on incense-cooked meat.

“Runsheng-ge, where’s my great-grandpa?”

“Still at the banquet, probably drinking.”

Li Sanjiang hadn’t invited Runsheng to sit at the table. Instead, he packed a separate meal for him, and Runsheng ate alone in a corner before heading home to watch TV.

“Oh, I see.”

“Xiaoyuan, wanna watch TV with me?”

“No thanks, Runsheng-ge, you go ahead. I’m heading back up.”

Back in his room, Li Zhuiyuan drew a few more diagrams. Feeling exhausted and seeing it was past midnight, he decided to call it a night.

Grabbing his washbasin, he checked his great-grandfather’s room again—still no sign of him.

He went downstairs and found Runsheng fiddling with the TV antenna while flipping channels.

“Runsheng-ge, Great-Grandpa still isn’t back. Think he got drunk and crashed at their place?”

Li Zhuiyuan knew his great-grandfather loved to drink—banquets were always a chance to go all out.

“No idea.”

“Come with me to check, just in case. If he’s drunk, we’ll carry him back.”

“Alright.”

Li Zhuiyuan fitted batteries into a flashlight. The Zhao household wasn’t far, but the country road at night was treacherous.

As they neared the Zhao house, they saw that although the tent was still up, the lights had mostly been turned off—clearly, the banquet had ended long ago.

But as they stepped into the courtyard, they saw a single light still glowing under the big tent. Beneath it sat three people, still drinking. One of them was Li Sanjiang.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t help but marvel—his great-grandfather must’ve found fellow boozers and was now chatting away, ignoring the hosts as they packed up.

Runsheng, not even close yet, raised his hand and shouted, “Great-Grandpa, the banquet’s over—let’s head home!”

Li Sanjiang turned his bleary gaze toward them and waved. “It’s fine. I told the host I was worried their child might get lost coming home late, so I’m staying a bit longer to keep vigil. The host was thrilled—brought out more cold dishes and extra wine for us.”

Then he began introducing his drinking buddies. “See that? That’s my great-grandson—good-looking, smart, charming. Don’t mistake him for the tall, dumb one—that one’s from the Shanpao family.”

Li Zhuiyuan stepped closer, intending to apologize to the hosts and take his clearly inebriated great-grandfather home.

Earlier, he’d assumed the lighting was too dim, which was why he hadn’t seen the faces of the other two. But now, standing right next to them, he still couldn’t see their faces. Just sensed that they looked rather young. Maybe they were cross-generational friends?

He casually swung the flashlight toward them.

In that instant—

A chill raced through him.

One of the men at the table was Brother Bao.

The other looked vaguely familiar—young, maybe a little older than Runsheng, but Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t quite place him.

The flashlight beam lingered on their faces, then drifted naturally to the Spirit Hall’s center—where it landed squarely on a black-and-white photo.

The funeral being held today was for that man.

And now, he was at the table…

Eating at his own memorial feast.