Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Mr. Xu, who had been scolded by his wife, left the house in a fury and decided to take a walk around the village.
However, he soon realized that everyone in the village was treating him much nicer than they had before. They seemed much kinder than usual; even those whom he did not see eye-to-eye with were greeting him.
“What’s going on?” Mr. Xu mumbled to himself as he wondered what was happening.
“Brother Yue, let me ask you something!”
Mr. Xu was extremely curious about this situation and decided to look for Mr. Yue, who usually played chess with him.
As soon as he found Mr. Yue, who was sitting under the old walnut tree, Mr. Xu voiced his doubts.
When Mr. Yue heard the question, he laughed and exclaimed, “Oh Brother Xu, I guess you still don’t know about it!”
“Know what?” Mr. Xu asked in confusion.
Mr. Yue smiled and replied, “Yesterday morning, when Old Xun went hunting for rabbits in the mountain, he saw green smoke coming out of your ancestors’ grave!
“Your youngest son will be going for an exam soon, right? Well, congratulations brother! Your son will definitely pass his exam this time!”
As Mr. Yue continued to chatter on happily, Mr. Xu was lost, unable to believe what he was hearing. If he hadn’t known Mr. Yue personally, he would have screamed at him for being nonsensical.
Green smoke coming out of his ancestors’ graves? That was just dumb!
For the past few years, Mr. Xu had heard of stories of families who had green smoke come out of their ancestor’s graves as well, but all these families continued living as they usually did.
“Brother Yue, that’s it?” Mr. Xu soon calmed down and said, “Others may not know about my ancestors’ graves, but shouldn’t you know better? Stop it with all this rubbish. Why are you playing along with the rest of them? It’s such a waste of time!”
Mr. Yue laughed even louder.
“Wasn’t it you who asked me what was wrong?” Mr. Yue raised his eyebrow, staring at Mr. Xu as he continued speaking, “Brother, there’s no one buried at the ancestor’s grave, but you still bring your sons there every year. If I hadn’t gone and dug both the graves beside you, I wouldn’t believe that there is no one buried there!”
“Eh…” Mr. Xu sighed. “I wasn’t a filial child and don’t deserve to pray to my ancestors. Forget it, let’s not talk about it!”
Initially, Mr. Xu left the house because he was in a bad mood, but after hearing all of this, his mood got worse. He didn’t even feel like playing chess with his brother.
“Brother, don’t think too much about it. You’ll get over it soon!”
When Mr. Yue saw the depressing look on Mr. Xu’s face, he decided to comfort him.
At that moment, Mr. Xu turned around, raised his eyesbrows and said to Mr. Yue, “Oh, Brother Yue, I almost forgot. Please tell your wife that it may not be possible for my wife to be the Quan Fu Ren* at your daughter’s wedding.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Mr. Yue asked, panicking.
“Hehe! Brother Yue, my wife is pregnant. If you count the days, she might not be suitable for the role during that time!”
“What…?!”
After hearing Mr. Xu’s explanation, Mr. Yue was stunned.
Brother Xu’s wife was pregnant?! Oh my god!
Mr. Yue stared at Mr. Xu, who was already waving goodbye to him from a distance and couldn’t help but think of what Old Xun had said about green smoke coming out of their ancestor’s grave.
This couldn’t be true, could it?
*TL note: The Quan Fu Ren is a woman who is said to be living a blissful life with both parents alive, a loving husband along with numerous children. They are usually asked to attend another girl’s wedding as a sign of good luck.