Heavenly Eyes

CHAPTER 6

Section 11: Drowning

After that, I never saw Mr. Wei again.  

But I don't know if it's because I could see those strange things again, but my mind seemed to have opened up, and my studies became surprisingly sharp.  

I went from being at the bottom of the school to being among the top students in my grade.

 

My teachers and parents said that I had been at the bottom before because I had just transferred from a rural elementary school and my academic foundation was too weak to keep up.

Now, with their help, my grades have improved significantly.  

Although that's what they say, I still feel that studying has little to do with effort.  

Like my younger brother, who people call a ‘genius’—he doesn't seem to study much, yet he always gets top marks on exams.

 

But there's one good thing about getting good grades…

Before, when I sat alone in the corner, people said I was banished to the frontier; now they say I'm aloof.  

Before, when I stared out the window, people said my head was empty; now they say I'm contemplating life.

 

They don't know that the reason I stared out the window was because it's sweet potato roasting season again.  

I'm not there, so I wonder if Li Zhuangzhuang will give the roasted sweet potatoes he was supposed to give me to other girls.

Luckily, although my parents forced me to stay in the city for school, they let my brother come back to the countryside with me to visit Grandma during summer vacation.  

They drove us there personally and brought Grandma many gifts, making the lonely old woman quite popular in the village.  

My mother, who had been estranged from Grandma for over a decade, finally reconciled with her because she was too busy with work.

After six months, Li Zhuangzhuang seemed to have grown taller. He wasn't laughing as carelessly as before; his skin was tanned from sports training, making his eyes appear even more striking.  

When he stared intently at something, he seemed much more profound.

Actually, he was thinking:

 

“Should I buy soda or bubble gum with my allowance? Or both!”

 

We went to the small forest by ‘Dead Man's Gulch’ to offer incense to Uncle Abao.

 

Uncle Abao was a little angry and asked me why I hadn't come for so long.

 

I cried and told Uncle Abao that I was taken away to study.

I go to school in the morning and can only come home at night.  

Even when I get home, I can't rest; there's after-school tutoring. Weekends are no rest either; I have piano lessons and math Olympiad classes that Mom arranged.

 

Uncle Abao, a ‘little hat’ who has been dead for twenty or thirty years, was even scared away.

 

“It's so terrible! So terrible!”

Li Zhuangzhuang was used to my strange behavior since we were little. My younger brother also didn't seem surprised.

 

I asked my brother, “Chenchen, aren't you scared?”

 

My brother shook his head and said, “Not scared, ah. Chenchen only came because he saw older sister!”

 

I didn't quite understand what Shen Chen said. I just thought it was a child's nonsensical talk.

 

That summer, I had a lot of fun playing at Grandma's house with Shen Chen.

When school was about to start, Shen Chen did all three of our homework assignments. (T/N: This poor little baby, lol)

Young Shen Chen worried so much for us.

 

Me: “I know how to do the problems, why should I write them?”

 

Li Zhuangzhuang: “I don't know how to do the problems, why should I write them?”

What I never expected was that this was the first and last summer vacation I spent with Shen Chen and Li Zhuangzhuang.  

Near the start of school, Li Zhuangzhuang had an accident while swimming in the river with some friends.  

Three days later, his body was recovered by a fishing boat in a river channel dozens of kilometers away.

The body was in a terrible state, pale, with teeth clenched, and two dark handprints on the ankles.

 

People said that Li Zhuangzhuang was taken as a substitute by a water ghost.

 

His grandfather and father, both with white hair sending their black-haired son away, cried until they fainted several times.

 

At such a young age, I was completely bewildered by my first encounter with death and separation.

I couldn't imagine that Li Zhuangzhuang, my best friend since childhood, who had been running wild in the mountains just a few days ago, was gone.

 

Li Zhuangzhuang, who had been so full of life, was now locked in a small box.

 

I wanted to open the coffin and see what he looked like, but Grandma and Li Zhuangzhuang's grandfather held me back desperately, saying that Li Zhuangzhuang's dead face was ugly and they were afraid I would have nightmares if I saw it.

My brother also held me back, shaking his head at me: “Older sister, don't look.”

 

Many former teachers and classmates came to offer condolences.

 

Among them, I found Shao Lanxuan, whom I hadn't seen in a long time.

 

He looked very different, but I still recognized him at a glance.

I cried and told him, “Shao Lanxuan, Li Zhuangzhuang is dead.”

 

Shao Lanxuan's eyes were a little red, but his expression was unusually calm for his age.

 

“I know.”

 

I wanted to say something else, but Shao Lanxuan pressed my head against his chest.

 

“Cry.”

I, who had held back my tears for several days, couldn't stop them at that moment, and cried uncontrollably.  

That day, I cried for a whole morning at the funeral home. When Li Zhuangzhuang was cremated, I put his favorite sweet potatoes in his coffin. 

Shao Lanxuan left in the afternoon; a very impressive car came to pick him up.

Before he left, he gave me his phone number and said I could call him if I needed anything.  

Chenchen gripped my hand and said to me, “Sister, I don't like him.”

Section 12: Footprints

On the seventh day after Li Zhuangzhuang's death, his grandfather and father set up a memorial hall at home.

 

We burned a lot of paper clothes, shoes, toys... for Li Zhuangzhuang.

 

Li Zhuangzhuang's grandfather and father missed him so much that they spread a thick layer of ash on the floor of the main room.

 

“Zhuangzhuang Come back and see your father/grandfather” (T/N: They wailed at the same time, not a translation mistake.)

“You left so suddenly, how will Dad/Grandpa live on?”

 

Grandma placed a peeled hard-boiled egg on the altar and covered it with a bowl.

 

At night, the main room was suddenly filled with gusts of cold wind, and the candles and paper money scattered all over the room.

 

Chenchen and I huddled together in the corner, staring intently at the ash on the floor.

 

Then, on the ash that had been spread flat, a line of tiny footprints gradually appeared. Each footprint was only as long as a finger, exactly like the ones we had burned for Li Zhuangzhuang, and they were heading towards the altar.

The room was too dark, I couldn't see clearly. I wanted to lean forward to look, but Chenchen held me back tightly.

 

I don't know how long it lasted, but eventually the strange occurrences in the room ended.

 

Everyone looked at the footprints on the floor, too shocked to speak.

Grandma lifted the overturned porcelain bowl, and I saw that the once smooth surface of the hard-boiled egg had countless marks scratched into it by something with a fingernail.

 

That night, after falling asleep, I vaguely heard someone scolding me in my ear and pulling at my braid.

 

When I opened my eyes, I saw Li Zhuangzhuang standing in front of me, looking just as he did before.

I stared at him in surprise: “Li Zhuangzhuang? You... you aren't dead, are you? I'm not dreaming, am I?”

Li Zhuangzhuang rapped my head: “Idiot, of course you're dreaming! I just wanted to ask, what were you thinking putting sweet potatoes in my coffin?”

 

Li Zhuangzhuang was so bad, even in death he was still bullying me.

 

I felt particularly wronged: “Because you liked eating roasted sweet potatoes the most, and I was afraid you wouldn't have any to eat down there…”

Li Zhuangzhuang said: “Thank you! I really thank you!”

 

That night, I talked to Li Zhuangzhuang for a long time.

 

I asked him if he would be reincarnated, if he would become someone else and forget me.

 

Li Zhuangzhuang said he would be staying in the river for a long time and couldn't be reincarnated yet.

 

He said he wouldn't forget me.

I said, “Doesn't that mean it's the same as Uncle Abao? When you're bored, can you go play with Uncle Abao and the ‘little hats’?”

 

Li Zhuangzhuang shook his head: “It's too far, I can only stay here.”

 

Hearing him say that, I felt even sadder.

 

Since he was little, he was all alone. Now that he's dead, he's still all alone.

After the funeral, Li Zhuangzhuang's father went back to working in the city.

 

Li Zhuangzhuang's grandfather, however, started to have some mental problems.

 

He would always stand under the big tree by the river and shout at people: “Help! My grandson fell into the river, quickly go save him!”

 

Li Zhuangzhuang would be beside him, saying: “Grandpa, stop shouting.”

But he couldn't hear.

 

He only knew that his beloved grandson had fallen into the water, and he had to save him.

 

During that time, I went to the river every day to keep Li Zhuangzhuang company.

 

But all good things must come to an end. School was about to start, and my parents came from the city to pick us up.

 

For the first few years, I went back every winter and summer vacation.

Later, my parents brought Grandma from the countryside to live in the city, and Chenchen and I became increasingly busy with our studies, so we rarely went back.

 

And my best friend, Li Zhuangzhuang, remained forever in his hometown, in that river.

——The End of Part One——

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