Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 250

Blind Zeng groped around for a long time, digging a big hole in the potato next to him, but still couldn't find his crutch.

This crutch is his lifeline. It not only helps him walk when he has difficulty, but it's also his blindfold.

Blind people walk without guide dogs or similar tools; they rely entirely on a cane to probe for potholes or uneven surfaces.

Of course, even if guide dogs existed in this day and age, Zeng the Blind couldn't afford one. Besides, the place he lived in was full of ditches and slopes, so it wouldn't matter if he had one; he was still going to fall into the ditch anyway.

The ditch is merciless... I've been using my strength to advise Blind Zeng to stay home.

Although darkness didn't affect Zeng the Blind much compared to daytime, it did affect Zhou Yuren...

Zhou Yuren also couldn't see Zeng the blind man's guide cane. He said, "Brother Guochen, are you looking for that cane? It might have fallen down. Don't look for it anymore. I'll find it for you tomorrow at dawn and bring it to your home."

Blind Zeng shook his head: "No, I don't have that stick. I can't find my way, and I'm likely to fall into a ditch..."

Zhou Yuren looked bewildered: You had a guide cane, but that didn't stop you from falling in...

Zhou Yuren repeated himself that he would help Blind Zeng find the right person during the day tomorrow, but Blind Zeng just wouldn't agree.

Zhou Yuren didn't know why the blind man was so stubborn about finding that guide cane, but he wouldn't budge until he found it.

Helpless, Zhou Yuren took a flashlight and looked around. After about ten minutes, he finally found the small bamboo stick that Zeng the blind man had used in a jujube grove.

The reason it's called a bamboo stick is because the top of the stick is made of jujube wood from a jujube tree, and a small piece of bamboo is tied to the bottom.

Zhou Yuren didn't understand this either, so he handed the stick to Blind Zeng. Blind Zeng touched it and then said, "Let's go up."

There was a ditch, and naturally there was a path leading up to it. Zhou Yuren and Blind Zeng stumbled and struggled for more than ten minutes before finally getting up from the bottom of the ditch.

Blind Zeng, who had just climbed out of the ditch, sighed, "Alas, I foresaw this when I left home today; I knew I'd face a hurdle in my life. And it came true..."

Since the blind man was said to be able to predict the future, Zhou Yuren took the letter as fact and comforted him, saying, "Brother Guochen, once you get through this hurdle, everything will go smoothly from now on."

Blind Zeng shook his head: "When I calculated it, I knew I would face a major hurdle and a minor hurdle today. I don't know if the one I just experienced was the minor one or the major one..."

"It's alright, whatever it is, let's go home first." Zhou Yuren helped the blind man Zeng walk home.

Blind Zeng said, "No, no, I'll walk by myself."

So the blind man left on his own.

Zhou Yuren also planned to go home. When he arrived at his door, he saw Zhou Chunwen and Zhao Dage still outside, so he said, "It's quite cold. Go back inside."

Zhao Da'e and Zhou Chunwen shook their heads and refused at the same time.

Zhou Chunwen pointed into the distance: "Dad, look what Blind Zeng is doing?"

"He's home... Hmm?..." Zhou Yuren turned around and saw that Blind Zeng had taken the wrong turn again, ending up at the door of Widow Li's house, the one above his own...

Widow Li has a big yellow dog that runs around all day without being leashed, but it's always been very well-behaved.

Sometimes that big yellow dog would disappear for days, and other times it would just lie down in the middle.

Today, that big yellow dog lay down in the middle.

Because Zhou Yuren's house was on fire, the dog kept lying there biting. Later, when everyone left, the dog became scared and didn't make a sound.

Then the blind man went over and started poking around with his stick, eventually poking at the yellow dog...

The big yellow dog was stunned for a moment, then opened its mouth and bit down on Blind Zeng's leg...

The mournful cries echoed through the desolate mountains, sending chills down Zhao Da'e's spine.

"Hiss... This yellow dog usually seems so listless, why is it acting up today?" Zhao Da'e asked, somewhat puzzled.

Zhou Chunwen shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.

Although Zhao Da'e was also an "outsider," this wretched yellow dog would often come over and bite her whenever it saw her. At first, Zhao Da'e was very afraid of it. Later, every time the yellow dog came over, Zhao Da'e would stop and scold it, or directly bend down to pick up a stone to hit it. After hitting it a few times, the yellow dog would bite a couple of times when it saw Zhao Da'e in the future, but it would not actually bite her.

Zhao Da'e knew that there was indeed something wrong with the dog in front of Widow Li's house.

It even bit someone.

The village chief, who carried a cane, visited Widow Li several times, saying, "Your yellow dog bites people..."

Widow Li then said: "It's good that people bite, especially shameless old geezers like you..."

After that, the village chief didn't dare to go to their house to ask.

It's said that widows attract a lot of gossip. The village chief, who was over seventy years old and not necessarily a particularly upright person, didn't want Widow Li to get involved.

As for the others, no one dared to say anything. After all, even the village chief got slapped when he tried to speak up; anyone else would likely get scratched if they did...

She's a real widow, so what if her dog bit her? It was the right thing to bite...

Who told you to loiter around someone's doorstep? If you didn't, would you get bitten?

Someone here will definitely say, "Oh, doesn't that yellow dog also go out for a walk?"

Those are truly clueless outsiders.

As the saying goes, a dog relies on its master's power.

This yellow dog is incredibly arrogant and takes advantage of its owner. It's a large male, and if there's a smell outside, it won't come home for a long time, but it usually returns after dark. Widow Li doesn't feed it much, but it doesn't starve...

On the road, for example, when Zhao Da'e came to Zhou Yuren's house, it made no sound. It only bit when Zhao Da'e passed by Widow Li's door.

Just like back then, when Accountant Yao came to cause trouble, he didn't pass by there, so the yellow dog didn't bite Accountant Yao.

As soon as the crowd passed by, it didn't dare to make a sound and ran away with its tail between its legs.

Just then, Blind Zeng came over.

The yellow dog got excited...

(Yellow dog: Damn it, you think you can scare me? No way...)

I don't know if it was because Blind Zeng was too weak, or because Widow Li's yellow dog was too powerful.

After Zeng the blind man was knocked down, the yellow dog bit him even more fiercely.

Blind Zeng held the stick in his hand and started hitting the yellow dog.

The yellow dog turned and bit Zeng the blind man's arm, dragging him along as it did so...

The blind man cried out in pain, like a wolf howling and a ghost screaming...

Several people listened with trepidation.

Zhao Da'e asked timidly, "Uncle, are you just going to watch the show?"

Zhou Yuren frowned: "I didn't want to, but Blind Zeng just said that he has two major and one minor hurdle in his life today. I'm thinking, Blind Zeng is really damn good at fortune telling! He even predicted two hurdles... He fell into a ditch one minute and got eaten by a yellow dog the next..."

Zhou Chunwen couldn't help but give a thumbs up and praised, "This old Zeng is really awesome. I've heard him say since I was a child that he can tell fortunes. I was even wondering if a fortune teller could tell his own fortune. It's said that a doctor can't heal himself, and a diviner can't divine for himself. This blind Zeng has already surpassed that level and is heading towards becoming a semi-divine being."

There are many fortune tellers or spiritual masters in Northeast China.

This system is also extremely complex, giving rise to many different schools of thought. Some of these were later referred to as "spirit mediums," while others incorporated elements of a shamanistic or god-like system.

A fortune teller who is accurate is called a "half-immortal." A fortune teller who claims to be possessed by something calls himself a "great immortal."

Actually, fortune telling is a very mysterious thing; if you believe in it, it exists; if you don't, it doesn't.

Zhao Da'e is an atheist, and she prefers to accept the kind of fortune-telling that involves older people offering advice and guidance.

Simply put, it means when you encounter something upsetting, you find someone to talk to and offer some advice. You might know they're just saying nice things on purpose, but it will still make you feel better.

This is a better definition of the industry.

Zeng the Blind was actually quite famous. In his previous life, Zhao Da'e remembered that when the old man Zhao Tingxu was terminally ill, Zhao Tiesheng even went to Zeng the Blind for a reading.

The hurdle mentioned here has a slightly mystical feel to it.

This hurdle is something you can overcome, or you can not.

So this thing exists if you believe in it, and doesn't exist if you don't.

For example, the time Zhao Tiesheng consulted Blind Zeng about his elderly father Zhao Tingxu's condition and how long he could hold on.

The blind man once told Zhao Tingxu, who was in a vegetative state, refusing to eat or drink, and brain dead, a thorny point: "Your father may not make it through the New Year."

As it turned out, the old man really didn't make it through that year.

Of course, the blind man didn't treat real illnesses... He even advised people to go to the hospital when they were sick and not to seek treatment from random doctors in desperation.

"Wait... you guys, since Blind Zeng knew he had two hurdles, why did he still go out? Was it to fulfill his prophecy?" Zhao Da'e asked, somewhat puzzled.

If you stay at home, you won't fall into a ditch or get bitten by a dog, right?

Zhou Yuren shook his head: "Big Goose, you don't understand. You have to overcome any obstacles. Even Sun Wukong knew about the eighty-one tribulations on his journey to the West, but he still went on his pilgrimage anyway, didn't he?"

That makes sense.

"Oh dear, the goose!" Zhou Chunwen had a good impression of Blind Zeng, and she said disdainfully, "What do you know? At home, he might have faced other hardships. Maybe the house would collapse, maybe he'd be struck by lightning, maybe he'd choke to death on a steamed bun. Anyway, if he had that kind of life, he'd have trouble even drinking cold water, right? If he's out here, he can at least hide for a while. Out there, he'll only suffer a little..."

Zhao Da'e gasped: "At most, you'll suffer a little bit? The old man was almost bitten to death by dogs..."

After Zhao Da'e's reminder, Zhou Yuren realized: "That's right, we should save him first! Otherwise, Blind Zeng won't just be getting through this, he'll be facing a calamity..."

Zhou Yuren rushed over, grabbed a shovel, and smacked the yellow dog...

Just then, the yellow dog saw Zhou Yuren coming over, carrying a weapon, and let out a howl, scaring the dog so much that it ran away as fast as it could...

And so, Zhou Yuren's shovel struck Blind Zeng in the face...

Blind Zeng fainted immediately...

Zhao Da'e watched from afar and felt a pang of heartache: This blind man Zeng is really unlucky today. His first appearance was truly "stunning".

Zhao Da'e said he was too tired, mainly because he couldn't bear to look at the miserable state of Zeng the Blind, so he pulled Zhou Chunwen back into the house to sleep.

The two went inside and warmed up for a while. Looking at Zhou Chunhong, who was sleeping like a log, they fell into deep thought...

"Big sister, do you think if someone comes and carries my second sister away, will she even know?"

Zhou Chunwen shook his head: "It's unlikely. The whole village is awake, but she's perfectly fine. People like that usually live to a ripe old age. I'm not like that; I worry about everything."

Zhao Da'e chuckled. Everyone usually has something to do, busy with this and that. Although sometimes Zhao Da'e didn't understand why life was always so hectic, and didn't know exactly what he was busy with, he only felt that life had some meaning when he was busy.

When Zhou Chunhong wasn't busy, she would do whatever someone asked her to do. If no one asked her to do anything, she would sleep.

And he also has a good mindset.

"Go to sleep, today's task has been perfectly completed," said Zhao Da'e.

In fact, after tonight, everyone will know that Accountant Yao broke his leg.

Whether Accountant Yao would be scared away by the beating, Zhao Da'e didn't know, but he estimated that she wouldn't come looking for trouble anytime soon. After all, it takes a hundred days to recover from a serious injury, and it would be at least several months before Accountant Yao could move again.

Next, Zhou Tianfu's matter will become the focus of the Zhou family.

However, Zhao Da'e wasn't too worried about this. Since it wasn't his turn to get married, he decided to torment Zhou Yuren first and let him experience the "joy" of having a "son."

After daybreak, Zhao Da'e woke up very late, and by the time he got up, the sun was already high in the sky.

There was no one inside. I went out to take a look and found Zhou Chunwen gesturing wildly and talking to Cheng Jinxi in the yard.

Seeing Zhao Da'e approaching, Zhou Chunwen beckoned her over and said, "Da'e, Da'e, let me tell you something. Isn't Accountant Yao awesome? I heard that Accountant Yao was recognized as a Good Accountant for his act of bravery in the village and received a big award. His wife is showing him off to everyone in the streets..."

Zhao Da'e was completely bewildered: "What kind of heroic act?"

"Accountant Yao's wife said: Accountant Yao broke his leg while trying to put out a fire at Zhou Yuren's house..."

"Holy crap! This is some serious nonsense. Who breaks their leg while putting out a fire? And nobody actually believes that?"

"Some people believe it..."

“That’s right.” Zhao Da’e nodded. “That’s better.”

Even Zhao Da'e had to give a thumbs up to Accountant Yao's "brilliance." Not only did he successfully avoid embarrassment, but he also gained fame, even though he broke a leg...

What a ruthless person!

The Zhou family will definitely not admit that they hit Accountant Yao in the leg; they will have to go out and say that Accountant Yao was injured while fighting the fire.

Then it must be true.

Accountant Yao suddenly transformed into a good person.

Cheng Jinxi said, "Hehe, that bastard is shameless. I heard he's in the county hospital now, had surgery, and will probably be hospitalized for a month or so. I wonder if he'll come after our family again."

"Probably not," Zhao Da'e said. "But who knows? Whatever."

Zhao Da'e exchanged a few more words with Cheng Jinxi and Zhou Chunwen, then went out to visit the old house.

Also, it's been a long time since I've gone to the market or anything like that. The food at home has decreased drastically. We're out of snacks, out of fruit, and we should probably buy some rice, flour, and cooking oil.

But the important thing is to check whether Zhao Tiegang went to his aunt's house first.