20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 691: Secret [Part ]

After reading the telegram, Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but sigh, looked out the window, and asked thoughtfully, "Has anyone cleaned Yansheng's grave recently?"

Hu Xiaoyan nodded and said, "During the Ghost Festival last month, you were not at home, and Xifeng brought people to sweep the area."

"Where are Dad and Second Uncle?"

"How could I forget what you said? I have already sent people to offer sacrifices."

Jiang Lianheng sighed for a while and finally felt relieved.

As early as the year of Xinhai, when the Jiang family had just started their business, they found a place near a mountain in the northeast corner of the provincial capital suburbs and bought land to bury their adoptive father and others.

When buying the land, it was Liu Yansheng who helped in geomancy and selected the best cemetery location.

What a pity that fate played such a trick on him. He never expected that ten years later, he himself would be buried there.

The cemetery is far away from the provincial capital, and a round trip takes about a whole day, so it is naturally impossible to go there to worship often.

Besides, the dead are the most important and should be buried in peace. Things of the living are so troublesome, why bother to bother the dead souls and complain?
Jiang Lianheng waved his hand and said, "Forget it. Mid-Autumn Festival is a day for family reunion. Let's not talk about those unlucky things."

Hu Xiaoyan responded, of course she meant the same thing.

So the couple hurriedly chatted for a while and tried to cover up the sad things of the past.

The night outside the window was getting darker, and the sound of fireworks could be heard faintly. I guess Jiang Ya and the others would be back soon.

Jiang Lianheng was busy with socializing from morning to night. At the banquets, he could only get enough water to fill his stomach. He stayed in the study for a while. Once the effect of the alcohol wore off, his stomach started to growl. He stood up and asked the servant to bring him a bowl of hot noodle soup, and then went downstairs to eat.

Nothing compares to noodle soup with garlic, no matter how delicacies from land and sea.

Jiang Lianheng ate a big bowl of soup and began to sweat all over. He asked someone to bring him a basin of hot water. He sat alone in the living room, soaking his feet and smoking to sober up and relieve his fatigue.

After smoking two cigarettes, there was a commotion in the courtyard.

You don't need to look, just listen to the clear voice and you will know that Jiang Ya and others are back.

Everyone was chatting and laughing, and until they walked into the living room, they were still vying to recall the spectacular fireworks display.

Jiang Ya was holding a fan in her hand. When she saw her father, she hurried over and said, "Look, I won this by guessing the riddles. I'm not giving it to you. Just take a look at it. This is a gift for my mother."

"You still know you have a mother?" Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but frown and scold, "They all went to see the lantern festival, why didn't you stay at home and spend time with your mother?"

I wanted to scold my daughter, but Jiang Ya is not someone who can be easily bullied.

Upon hearing this, the girl's eyes widened, and she immediately retorted: "Hey, how dare you say that to me? You haven't been home for a few days, why don't you spend some time with my mother?"

"I..." Jiang Lianheng cleared his throat and pretended to be calm, "I have a social engagement recently and can't get away. How can you, a little brat, compete with me?"

"You're lying. You haven't been home for more than half a month!"

"I was, I was out doing business, I wasn't thinking about making money, what do you wear and eat, you have nothing to eat and clothes, what are you still guessing riddles for?"

Jiang Ya responded exaggeratedly, squinting at the ceiling, and said sarcastically, "Oh, so you went to live with my third aunt to do business?"

It’s hard to say about the situation in other families, but just taking the Jiang family as an example, when the daughter confronts her father, everything goes as planned.

As children grow up, they become harder to deceive.

Jiang Lianheng was almost choked to death. After a long while, he didn't know how to respond. He simply showed his fatherly dignity, slammed the coffee table, and shouted, "You bastard, how dare you talk to your father?"

Jiang Ya was not willing to be outdone, and raised her finger and said, "If you can't win the argument, just curse!"

"If you scold me, I will beat you up!"

"Grandma——"

Jiang Ya turned around and ran, hiding behind Xu Ruqing, making a face with her nose sticking out fearlessly.

Xu Ruqing said in a somewhat reproachful tone, "Xiaodao, you too, the child just went to see the lantern festival and came back very happy, why are you so mean to her?"

"I wasn't mean to her, I wasn't mean to her, I was just teasing her!" Jiang Lianheng hurriedly said with a smile, "Aunt, I think it's getting late, you should go to bed early!"

Seeing this, everyone said, "Yes, yes, yes, there are firecrackers outside these two days, so hurry up and go back home early!"

Jiang Ya was very proud, and hurriedly followed Xu Ruqing, saying with a smile: "Aunt, can I help you upstairs?"

Xu Ruqing smiled, and before leaving, she turned around and praised Jiang Lianheng: "Look, this child is so sensible!"

"Yes, yes, she is too sensible, and ordinary people can't manipulate her." Jiang Lianheng's face was stiff with a smile, but he was helpless.

When everyone reached the stairs, Sister Hua patted her son on the shoulder and reminded him quietly, "Chengye, go talk to your dad!"

Jiang Chengye held the small inkstone, came to his father, and said timidly: "Dad, I'm going to sleep, you should rest early."

"Well, is this the prize you won?" Jiang Lianheng stretched out his hand and said, "Give it to me and let me see it!"

Jiang Chengye nodded in response and obediently handed over the small inkstone.

Jiang Lianheng played with it for a while, then asked, "Does school still teach calligraphy?"

"No." Jiang Chengye shook his head.

"Then what are you doing with it?" Jiang Lianheng frowned and asked, "You can't even write calligraphy, and you still have an inkstone. Isn't this a completely useless thing?"

Jiang Chengye stood there in a daze, as if he had done something wrong, or as if he was the inkstone in his father's hand. He didn't know how to respond for a moment, so he secretly glanced at his mother.

Seeing this, Sister Hua came over to help and said, "He liked it, and the answer happened to be an inkstone, so he chose this one."

"Really?" Jiang Lianheng returned the inkstone to his eldest son. He rarely looked at him coldly, but patted his shoulder heavily. "As long as you like it, it's a good sign. Son, our Jiang family has produced scholars before. Maybe you will become the top scholar now!"

Jiang Chengye was terrified and quickly took it and nodded in agreement.

Seeing that his eldest son had nothing else to say, Jiang Lianheng was also a little tired, so he waved his hand and said, "Okay, you two can go back to the house, I'll rest for a while."

Sister Hua responded quickly and took her son upstairs.

Jiang Lianheng lit another cigarette and soaked his feet quietly until the water temperature gradually cooled down before he was ready to call for the servants to come and wipe his feet.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I looked up, I saw half of a bun showing at the corner of the wall.

Jiang Lianheng knew that it was his daughter hiding over there and observing secretly, but he had no idea what the girl was planning, so he simply kept quiet and just leaned on the sofa and pretended to take a nap.

After a while, Jiang Ya really tiptoed out and slowly approached the sofa.

When she walked to the coffee table, Jiang Lianheng opened one eye and asked faintly, "Why are you coming to my place instead of going to sleep?"

The voice came suddenly and scared Jiang Ya.

Fortunately, the girl immediately calmed down, put her hands behind her back, and asked with a smile: "Dad, you didn't sleep?"

"I'm not asleep yet. I'm just thinking about something!"

"What are you thinking about?"

Jiang Lianheng snorted coldly and threatened deliberately: "I was just thinking about how to beat you later, and you just happened to be here."

"Hit me?" Jiang Ya hesitated a little, leaning against the end of the row of sofas, blinking and asking, "Can you bear it? If you hit me, won't you feel bad?"

"Damn it, you little bastard, you're really good at arresting people!" Jiang Lianheng couldn't hold it in anymore and laughed, "What on earth do you want from me? If you have nothing to do, come and wipe my feet!"

Jiang Ya was obviously reluctant, and came over reluctantly, with her hands behind her back, but said, "Dad, let someone else wipe it for you. I want to perform a magic trick for you."

Doing magic?
Jiang Lianheng was stunned: "This is new. When did you learn to do magic tricks?"

"I just learned it recently, it's amazing, I'm not kidding!" Jiang Ya said excitedly, "If you want to see it, I can show you!"

"No, I don't want to watch it. Go upstairs and change it for your stupid mother!"

"Hey, you said you wanted to see it!" "Hey, what's wrong with you, girl?" Jiang Lianheng laughed, "What's the matter, do you still want to force the sale?"

Jiang Ya was like most children. Whenever she learned something new, she couldn't help wanting to show off in front of adults. She immediately started to act like a spoiled child and stuck to her father, begging him, "Hey, I've changed everything for everyone else, but you haven't. Please let me change it for you!"

"Okay, okay, don't dawdle!" Jiang Lianheng pushed his daughter away and said, "If you want to change, then change, but I have to say something ugly first. If you don't practice well and fail halfway, don't blame me for not supporting you or making fun of you!"

Jiang Ya was very excited. She stretched out her right hand and spread out her palm, saying, "Look, there is a candy here."

"Did you conjure this up?" Jiang Lianheng teased her deliberately.

"I haven't started to change yet, look carefully, there's a candy here!"

"Yeah, I saw it."

"Put your hand out!" Jiang Ya put the candy on her father's palm. "This is for you first. Don't eat it. Put it in your pocket. Do you believe I can make it disappear?"

Jiang Lianheng put the candy in his pocket as requested, and said with a forced smile, "Okay, I've got it in my pocket, you go ahead!"

"Finished it? Then take your hands out!"

"Can I not take it out?"

"No, I can't do it like this." Jiang Ya was a little anxious and nervous. "This trick is called 'Telekinesis'. You have to put the candy in your pocket and take it out with your hand so that I can perform the trick. But I am tired from playing today, so I have to use a prop. Look, this is not a pencil, this is the 'Kunlun Sacred Tree'..."

The girl was too young and didn't know how to adapt. She just kept copying and pasting the words and continued speaking without noticing that her father's face was gradually changing, and his expression was gradually turning from relaxed to stern.

Jiang Lianheng stared at Jiang Ya and listened to her finish her words. Finally, he suddenly interrupted and asked, "Girl, have you seen anyone recently?"

Jiang Ya was startled, her cheeks flushed, her eyes dodged, pretending not to hear, she handed the pencil to her father, stepped forward, and said affectionately: "Here, hold this with both hands, do you feel anything? Raise it higher, raise it higher..."

"Now, are you turning it over?"

Jiang Lianheng looked straight ahead and asked suddenly, which frightened Jiang Ya so much that she quickly pulled her hand out of her father's pocket.

"What do you mean?" The girl was a little flustered. "I, I haven't started to change yet!"

"So it's not turned over?" Jiang Lianheng let go of the pencil, stretched out his palm vertically towards his daughter, and saw that the candy seemed to be covered with glue and was firmly fixed in his palm.

From the father's perspective, the girl's skills were so low that she was still eight feet away from the door, let alone entering!

Jiang Ya's eyes widened, and she suddenly realized that her father had lied to her. She felt embarrassed and became furious.

"What's wrong with you? Didn't I tell you to put the candy in your pocket? Why did you take it out again?"

As he said that, he reached out to grab the candy.

Jiang Lianheng immediately grabbed the candy in his palm and didn't give it to her. Instead, he asked, "Jiang Ya, I was asking you a question just now. Have you seen anyone recently?"

"Give it back to me!" Jiang Ya couldn't get it back, and stamped her feet in anger, "Give me back the candy, or I won't change for you!"

"It's easy to get candy. Tell me, who taught you this trick?"

"I...my classmate taught me how to change, what's wrong?"

"You're pretty tight-lipped." Jiang Lianheng already had the answer in his mind, but he still threatened and lured him, "Tell me, who taught you this trick? Tell me, and I'll buy you whatever you want. If you don't, I'll tell your mom that you're asking for a beating for secretly eating candy in the middle of the night, right?"

Jiang Ya was caught off guard and stood there for a long time. She still refused to give in and said, "My classmate taught me this. If you give it back to me, I won't change it for you!"

"What's your classmate's name?"

"You don't recognize me even after I tell you. Give it back to me, give it back to me!"

Jiang Ya was anxious, even a little angry and embarrassed. When she saw that she couldn't snatch the thing away, she immediately pounced on her father, scratching and clawing him, and even bit him with her teeth in a rage.

Seeing this, Jiang Lianheng was not in a hurry and just tickled his daughter's ribs.

Jiang Ya couldn't stand it anymore. She was angry and amused at the same time, and her stomach hurt. However, she still refused to give in and refused to reveal any information.

After struggling for a while, Jiang Lianheng suddenly raised his hand and gave up, stuffed the candy into his daughter's pocket, smiled with satisfaction, and said, "You little bastard, you are so stubborn. Okay, okay, I'll give you the candy back, and go back quickly!"

Jiang Ya was panting, her hair was messed up, and her eyes were full of unwillingness and annoyance.

Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but chuckled twice, but asked: "Why are you glaring at me? What's wrong, are you dissatisfied?"

"I don't accept it!" Jiang Ya's face flushed, and she said angrily, "You wait for me... you wait until I grow up!"

After that, he turned around and left. When he reached the corner of the stairs, he turned back and added: "I will never play with you again!"

Jiang Lianheng smiled but said nothing, still sitting on the sofa without any expression.

Jiang Ya was so angry that she ran towards the stairs. However, after taking a few steps, she suddenly felt something was wrong and reached into her pocket to feel around.

It would have been better if she hadn't touched it. When she stretched out her hand, she suddenly realized that there was no candy in her pocket, but a bunch of smelly socks that her father had just taken off.

"Big liar, I'm so mad!"

Jiang Ya turned around quickly, ran back to the living room, threw her socks on the sofa, and asked angrily, "Where's my candy?"

"What candy?" Jiang Lianheng said incoherently, "Didn't I just return it to you?"

Jiang Ya came over immediately, but saw a piece of shiny candy-coated food on the coffee table in front of her father. She got angry immediately and even spoke with a crying tone. It was not because of the candy, but because she could not stand being teased again and again.

"You stole my candy!"

"I do not have."

Jiang Lianheng's cheeks tightened, and he made a "gulp" sound, as if he had swallowed something. He opened his mouth wide and said to the girl, "Ah - look, there's nothing in my mouth!"

"Why are you like this?" Jiang Ya was about to cry. "You are an adult, why are you fighting with a child for food?"

Seeing this, Jiang Lianheng didn't dare to tease her anymore, so he quickly hugged his daughter and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, it's just a piece of your candy, I'll compensate you with a whole bag tomorrow, is that okay?"

"I don't want it, I just want the candy I just had!"

"Hey, don't be like this. I'm your father after all. Can you give me some face?"

"If you don't give it to me, you're a big liar. Give the candy back to me!"

"Do you really need that piece of candy?" Jiang Lianheng pondered, "Well, then, check your pocket to see if you have any."

Jiang Ya snorted coldly: "Why are you looking in my pockets? There's only your stinky socks in my pocket!"

"Did you turn that pocket over?"

"I've already checked it out. If it's not there, then it's not there. Don't try to trick me again..."

As she was speaking, Jiang Ya was suddenly stunned and hurriedly fumbled in her left pocket. To her surprise, there was indeed a candy in her pocket, but it had no sugar coating. The sugar coating was right on the coffee table!
"You...you didn't eat it?" The girl finally woke up from her dream and asked, "When did you open it, and...when did you put it in my pocket?"

"The method cannot be passed on lightly, so how can I tell you casually?" Jiang Lianheng pretended to be profound and said lightly, "Girl, next time you have practiced it well, show it to me, so as not to embarrass yourself."

"Who said I didn't practice well? It was you who didn't cooperate with me. My mom and the others didn't notice it."

"That's because they're praising you. I'm not that easy to fool."

As he spoke, Jiang Lianheng leaned forward, as if he had some sudden idea, and suddenly suggested: "Girl, your classmate...his tricks are all old ones. Dad will teach you a new one. You go back and practice it well. When you are familiar with it, you can perform it on your classmate and scare him. How do you think?"

A child is a child after all. He just said, "I will never play with you again," but now he has forgotten everything.

"That's fine, but..."

Jiang Ya hesitated and stammered for a long time before she said, "Dad, actually... the magic trick I performed for you just now was not done by my classmate..."

Before he could finish his words, Jiang Lianheng raised his hand and interrupted him:
"You don't have to tell me who taught you. Even if I tell you, I won't know who taught you. I'm just asking you, do you want to learn?"

(End of this chapter)