Chapter 77 Old Drunkard

The rain in Jinling was very fine. In the grey sky, the commercial streets were shrouded in mist and rain.

It is vague and misty, like fog but not fog.

Wandering between the tiled eaves of the houses, I felt a bit gloomy at dusk.

Peddler traders wearing straw raincoats and hats walked by in a hurry, and sedan chair bearers carrying sedan chairs suddenly left from the streets and alleys.

But this gloomy scenery, coupled with the deep red color of the sedan chair, did seem a bit weird.

In a yard in the street, Granny Zhang prepared today's wontons and carried her carrying pole to set up her stall.

Although the family was busy during the New Year, they could not live off their savings. Granny Zhang wanted to go back to Jinling while there were more people and earn some money to supplement the family expenses. So she got up early in the morning when it was still light, prepared the dough and stuffing, and put in some firewood to heat the soup.

The load was quite heavy, and the pole was bent under the weight. The two ends were tied with thick hemp ropes, which made a creaking sound when walking.

If there was no one on the street early in the morning, all you could hear would be your own footsteps and the creaking of the shoulder pole.

When she opened the door and left home, her daughter-in-law and son were still sleeping. Granny Zhang looked relieved, and walked towards the street with her back bent.

She is happy these days, with a filial son and a virtuous wife. The family is reunited and happy, and I don't know how many people will envy her if she tells others about it. The only thing that makes Granny Zhang a little regretful is that her daughter-in-law has not been able to conceive. But thinking of her virtuous wife, she feels a little comforted.

After all, the couple had only been married for a short time, so they shouldn't be too anxious. With this in mind, Granny Zhang carried her load and walked out of the East Alley. When she passed the fork in the road, she saw the drunk hunchbacked man in the mist and rain.

The man walked unsteadily, like a tumbler swaying from side to side. Granny Zhang approached and saw that it was the old drunkard from the Cheng family in the east.

This old drunkard from the Cheng family is good at everything, he is hardworking and capable. When Granny Zhang was a few years younger, someone came to propose marriage to her, and she also thought about marrying him, but in the end she gave up after thinking it over. After all, there is only the wrong name, not the wrong nickname.

Although there were rewards such as chastity arches during this period, how many people could endure being a widow in this life? And how many people could get it even if they endured until the end?
But the reason why this old drunkard was called an old drunkard was because he was addicted to alcohol. He had to drink for every meal. He often got drunk in the restaurant and had to be sent back home.

But the old drunkard was lucky, having two sons and a daughter. His daughter married a businessman and lived a comfortable life. His two sons were also very hardworking and had made some achievements outside, so the old drunkard never lacked money for drinking.

Granny Zhang was used to seeing drunk people coming home so early in the morning. She would approach the old drunkard and say hello: "Old Cheng, you just came back? How much did you drink?"

When the old drunkard of the Cheng family heard this, water dripped down his confused face. He raised his head to look at Granny Zhang, but her face was like dough. It seemed to be soaked in something, and he could barely see the facial features clearly.

Granny Zhang naturally didn't care and just thought he was soaked by the rain.

The old drunkard waved his hands at him and mumbled something: "Drink, no, no. I, I didn't drink much."

"You're so drunk, but you still say you didn't drink much. Can you find your home?" Granny Zhang asked kindly.

"Home?" The old drunkard was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly realized something and said drunkenly. "Yes, where is my home? Where is my home? I can't find it no matter how hard I try."

Watching the drunkard from the Cheng family leave her side and smelling the stench of alcohol on him, Granny Zhang could only sigh and shake her head. If the Cheng family members didn't like drinking so much, perhaps the two of them would have been able to get together.

Granny Zhang walked away carrying her load, without even noticing where the old drunkard had passed. Countless drops of water dripped from his body, forming a curved trail of water.

The traces of water lasted for a long time until they were finally covered by drizzle and then slowly disappeared.

The clouds and mist became thicker and thicker, and a few gusts of cold wind blew, and pedestrians stood tiredly in their jackets, feeling timid in the chilly weather. Walking in the mist seemed to be like a ghost.

Granny Zhang found a good place to stay at the corner of the street, sheltered from the wind and rain. She set up her stall and started to light the stove and cook.

There were not many people passing by, and there was no business this early in the morning. Granny Zhang sat in a chair in a daze, feeling as if she were in a dream. She has been like this lately, and she is a little more tired than usual. She often misidentifies things at home, so much so that her son thinks she is old.

She didn't sleep well that night. She always felt like something was crawling on the bed like a centipede, and it seemed to crawl onto the bed and linger on her body. Every time she woke up at this time, there was nothing else in the empty room. Granny Zhang was left looking around blankly, feeling anxious.

Maybe it's because he's old and mentally depressed.

Granny Zhang thought so, and her son also advised her to do less. Recently, her son found a job as a waiter in a restaurant, so he could save some money.

This made Grandma Zhang happy, thinking that her son was finally going to succeed. She was also happy that she had the energy to live a better life.

What puzzled her was that there were fewer neighbors visiting her recently, and the nagging grandmothers who usually came to visit her rarely went out. Or when they went out, they would avoid her and would only stammer when asked why. Granny Zhang always felt that this was very strange, but she didn't know what was strange.

Just as I was thinking about it, a guest came to the door.

He is a coolie wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat. He usually does heavy work such as carrying goods. He is a miserable person.

The other party came up, put down five copper coins, and asked for a bowl of wontons.

Granny Zhang put the wontons into the pot one by one, one, two, three... Granny Zhang counted them and suddenly felt that the wontons in her hand were like little human heads, laughing and shouting in her hand, and then fell into the pot with a miserable cry.

In the end, they all turned into evil spirits, floating on the water and demanding their life from Grandma Zhang.

"Give me back my life."

"Give me back my life."

"Give me back my life!"

……

"Grandma, what's wrong with you?" The guest's words woke up Grandma Zhang. She stood there in a daze, staring blankly at the wontons in her hand. Each one was big and plump, and they were all good things she had made herself.

As for the head she saw and the cry for life she heard, they seemed to be hallucinations caused by her poor mental state and the illusion that she had not rested well.

Granny Zhang smiled and put the wontons into the pot one by one. After covering the lid, she chatted with the guests while waiting for the wontons to cook.

The customer was a regular customer who usually came a lot. His dark face was battered by the wind and the clouds, and his brows were furrowed so that his forehead could be wrinkled into the shape of a "川" character.

After the conversation started, the guest complained to Granny Zhang. She said that she had five kids and seven or eight mouths to feed at home, and they were all hungry every day. She was a laborer who worked until she died moving things at the dock, but she could only feed her family. Recently, her eldest son fell in love with a girl in the village, but unfortunately the girl's family wanted two taels of money as a gift. Her family couldn't afford so much, and she was worried about what to do.

Listening to these nagging words, Granny Zhang thought of her daughter-in-law at home. She felt satisfied and comforted the guest, saying don't worry. Life will go on. At most, she can sell a few plots of land. She can't let her son be single.

As they chatted like this, they eventually talked about the old drunkard in the Cheng family.

"What a pity for him." The guest shook his head.

"Why is it such a pity?" Granny Zhang asked subconsciously.

"Don't you know? This old drunkard got drunk a few days ago, slipped and fell into the water and drowned." The guest sighed.

"Ah? Drowned?" Grandma Zhang was stunned.

(End of this chapter)