Chapter 97: Offering Sacrifices To the Ancestors
“Weiwei, this young man’s driving skills are not bad. You did not find the wrong person.”
“Although they have repaired this road many times, the mountain rocks here are scattered and there are often landslides. The road is still not easy to walk on.”
Shen Xiaoxiao listened to her Third Uncle’s praise of 19 and secretly held her tongue. Well, she had to admit that 19’s driving skills were indeed not bad. On the way, he drove steadily. It would take them at least three hours to get to the old house, after pa.s.sing this seemingly easy road, there were only a few small rural roads.
The mountain roads were slippery and narrow due to the recent heavy snowfall. It was a test of skills. It would take them at least half a day to drive in with just Third Uncle and Shen Xiaoxiao.
19 drove all the way here. They entered the village in just three hours.
The village had a very strange name, ‘Hera Village’. Later on, it was called ‘Hao Hao Village’.
Third Uncle mentioned that this village was rumored to be a branch of the the Hera family. The most famous and most familiar celebrity of their ancestors was the Empress Dowager Cixi, who was robbed of her tomb after her death.
Of course, Third Uncle also said that it was a legend. After all, it had been more than 100 years, and many things were unclear. In addition, Third Uncle was the adopted son of the Shen family, not the son of the first wife. Old Master Shen rarely mentioned these things to Shen Jinwen.
However, although the ancestors had such a famous person, they could not stop the changes of history. Even in the side branches, for the sake of living, there were many people who went out of the city to work. Now that the new year was approaching… The number of people who came back from working outside the village also increased.
Once they entered the mountain village, they could see that each household was surrounded by smoke from cooking. They were all smiling, and it was extraordinarily lively.
They drove straight in from the back of the village, took a detour, and parked the car in the village committee office compound in the middle of the village.
Every household with a car parked there. They deliberately drove an off-road car in the city today. It was neither eye-catching nor outstanding. There were more than ten cars parked here, and their cars parked there were extremely ordinary.
“Third Uncle, the villagers seem to have returned for the New Year?”
The meaning behind Shen Xiaoxiao’s words was that there were too many people and too many eyes. If these people saw them coming back to wors.h.i.+p their ancestors, it would be bad if Gu Yuehua heard about it.
How could Shen Jinwen not know what Shen Xiaoxiao meant? He directly said to Shen Xiaoxiao, “You don’t have to worry about that. They never come back to wors.h.i.+p their ancestors. They go to the cemetery.”
With that, Shen Xiaoxiao naturally understood. Back then, although the Shen family’s ancestral grave was buried on the back mountain of this mountain village, and Shen Xiaoxiao’s grandfather was also buried here, when Shen Xiaoxiao’s father pa.s.sed away, it was Gu Yuehua who arranged his funeral.
In order to make it convenient to pay respects, and because Gu Yuehua did not like to return to places like the countryside, she ignored Shen Jinwen’s objection and buried father Shen in the cemetery.
However, Third Uncle still set up a cenotaph for Father Shen next to his hometown, next to Old Master Shen.
The Shen family’s old house was at the mountain corner of the village, and it was also at the top of the village. In Third Uncle’s words, their old house was good, and it was in the position of the dragon’s head, so the Shen family in the entire village was the most developed.
The Shen family paid for the construction of the road outside the village. However, after Old Master Shen and Shen Xiaoxiao’s father, the head of the Shen family, pa.s.sed away, and the mistress remarried, some rumors about the Shen family in the village gradually faded away.
Since the head of the Shen family had died, the Shen family naturally could not protect the villagers. Although Third Uncle had come back to visit the grave every year, he had less contact with the villagers.
However, this had reduced a lot of trouble.
The old house was a four-door house that occupied a large area. However, because it had not been occupied for a long time, it was somewhat dilapidated.
Although the old house was renovated every year and the villagers were paid to help clean it up every week, the old house was still badly rundown.
The large iron gate creaked and the snow piled up in the courtyard on one side. Someone had cleaned it up and the roof of the house had also been cleaned. It looked clean, but the depression and solemnity inside could not be stopped.
19 took the things in their hands and consciously checked them out. Not only did they have to pay tribute to their ancestors, they would also stay here for the night. Today, they would pay tribute at the old house, and tomorrow, they would go up the mountain.
So when 19 took the things and left, Third Uncle turned to Shen Xiaoxiao and asked, “This young man is not an ordinary driver, right? He seems to have some skills. Is he a veteran?”
Shen Xiaoxiao was stunned. Third Uncle had good eyesight. Shen Xiaoxiao did not hide it from him and said to him, “Yes, he has some skills. A friend from abroad helped me find him. He’s quite skilled and loyal.”
“Loyal? It’s good that he’s loyal. However, you still have to be careful. In this world, there is no such thing as good without a reason, and there is no such thing as evil without a reason.”
Third Uncle’s words made Shen Xiaoxiao’s heart sink. Yes, there was no such thing as good without a reason in this world.
Yan Kuan was actually really good to her. Even if it was just for show, Yan Kuan was really qualified. Not to mention anything else, just the thoughts he spent on Shen Xiaoxiao and the existence of 19 had long exceeded Yan Kuan’s obligations.
However, it was precisely because of this that she was even more confused as to why Yan Kuan would treat her so well. It was so good that she could not help but wonder what his purpose was?
“Third Uncle, I know. I won’t easily trust a person and I won’t be easily deceived. It’s just a win-win situation.”
When Shen Xiaoxiao said this, Shen Jinwen thought that Xiaoxiao meant that she had spent money to hire a bodyguard and that the goods were settled.
However, Shen Xiaoxiao herself knew that what she meant was that she had sold her dignity and body, and Yan Kuan had given her all of this.
All of this would also disappear completely when she lost her value and Yan Kuan lost his interest.
This realization suddenly made Shen Xiaoxiao feel very depressed. Even her chest felt a strong sense of pressure, making it difficult for her to breathe.
The ancestors of the Shen family actually did not rank much. The only people who ranked higher were grandfather Shen’s father and grandfather.
Perhaps the people in this village were all like this. Their ancestors all started in that area.
The ancestral hall appeared to be too quiet and quiet. It carried an old and rotten aura. The air was filled with the faint smell of incense and gray smoke. The dim candles were set off by the yellow light, making it even more strange and peaceful.
“Third Uncle, why don’t you turn up the light bulb a little? It looks so dark here.”
“Miss, I’ll go change the light bulb.”
“Wait a minute…”
19 was just about to change the light bulb when he was stopped by Third Uncle. He even made a gesture to 19 to go out first. After all, this was the ancestral hall. It was not good for outsiders to follow in.
19 looked directly at Shen Xiaoxiao. Shen Xiaoxiao naturally understood what her Third Uncle meant. She said to 19, “Go and stand guard outside.”
19 then respectfully retreated. His actions made her Third Uncle think twice. This person was not just a hired bodyguard, right? Xiaoxiao had so many trump cards that even he did not dare to imagine.