Corpse Retriever

”Runshenghou, stop the cart up ahead.”

Runsheng halted the tricycle, bent down, and pulled up the brake handle.

Li Sanjiang dug into his pocket and pulled out some cash without counting it, handing it to Runsheng. ”Go buy some buns over there, and get me a bottle of liquor from the shop next door.”

”What, liquor this early in the morning?”

”Just go. Why all the damn questions?”

”Alrighty.”

Runsheng returned with the buns and liquor.

Li Sanjiang bit open the bottle cap, spat it out with a flick of his head, then lifted the bottle and took a hefty swig.

”Ugh... ugh... haaa...”

That morning gulp hit too hard. He had to chomp through several buns just to settle it.”Why aren’t you eating?”

”Grandpa, I left in a hurry this morning, didn’t bring any incense.”

”Then why’d you buy so many buns? They’ll be cold by the time you get back.”

”Still good cold. They’re meat buns!”

”Go, go, go—let’s head home.”

”Alright, sit tight, don’t go tumbling off after that drink.”

Li Sanjiang gave him a glare and took another swig from the bottle.

He was about to bite another bun when a liquor burp escaped him. Suddenly, his expression dimmed, and tears welled in his eyes. He turned his head and used Runsheng’s vest to wipe them away.

Runsheng glanced back. ”Grandpa, shouldn’t you be happy? Why are you crying again?”

”Happy? My ass.”

”Didn’t Little Yuanhou get registered under your household? Isn’t that something to be happy about?”

”What good is my household registration? Can it compare to a city one? Can it compare to a Beijing one?”

”What’s so great about a Beijing registration?”

”What’s great? It’s like a carp finally leaping the Dragon Gate, only to jump back down and turn back into a carp.”

”Being a carp’s not so bad. This way, Little Yuan doesn’t have to leave.”

Li Sanjiang sighed and slapped himself twice.

He’d been called to the civil affairs bureau by the village head first thing in the morning. As soon as he walked in, he was surrounded by staff, paperwork shoved in front of him. They said Little Yuanhou’s mother had requested it—to transfer the kid’s registration to his household.

He found it baffling. Sure, he genuinely cared for the boy, but he’d never do something that might ruin his future!

But they said something seemed to have happened to Little Yuanhou’s mother, and the kid’s registration had to be sorted. If he didn’t sign, the papers would be returned, and the boy would be left without official registration—unable to even attend school.

With the mix of cajoling and pressuring, he’d ended up signing in a daze.

Now, even with the booze in him, the breeze cleared his head a bit. Even if the kid couldn’t stay with his Northern Grandpa, he should’ve been registered under Li Weihan! What was the point of putting him under himself?

Sure, the kid was staying with him, but what did that mean?

Well… now it did mean something.

Li Sanjiang looked down at the bag by his feet, which held the household registry and related documents.

”Goddamn, when did government work get so efficient?”

He pulled out the registry, flipped it open, and stared at the new name added under his own.

His heart was a swirl of emotions. The old Li family had finally produced a golden phoenix who flew all the way to Beijing and even laid an egg—only for that egg to roll right back home:

”Slogged for decades, and in one night, back to square one.”

…

”Just one night, and everything’s back to how it was.”

Liu Yumei held a teacup in her hands. The tea had gone cold, but she hadn’t taken a sip.

Staring at her unmoving granddaughter sitting on the doorstep, a bitterness filled her mouth. Drinking the tea only made it worse.

Last night, she’d cried tears of joy. If she’d known, she would’ve saved some. Now, she couldn’t cry even if she wanted to.

She looked up at the second-floor balcony where the boy sat in a rattan chair, engrossed in a book, occasionally glancing down at A Li when flipping a page.

Liu Yumei wanted to scold him: ”You little brat, stop just looking!”

If it were an ordinary spat between kids, they’d just huff, ”Hmph, I’m not playing with you anymore!” and ignore each other in a sulk. That’d be normal.

But Liu Yumei knew this wasn’t that. Her granddaughter wasn’t like that, and that boy—so smart and composed—wouldn’t be either.

So what had really happened?

After much hesitation, Liu Yumei stood up and entered the main house.

Usually, she never came in, much less went upstairs. But today, she had no choice.

A Li had been steadily improving, only to suddenly regress. Her heart felt like a stone heated red-hot then doused with cold water—ready to shatter from the pain.

She had to find out what happened. She wasn’t playing favorites—if she could get answers from A Li, she wouldn’t have moved in here.

As she approached, the boy stood up with his book in hand.

”Little Yuan, Grandma wants to talk.”

”Grandma, please have a seat.”

Liu Yumei sat in A Li’s old rattan chair, casting a glance at the boy’s book. It looked like gibberish—she couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

”Reading?”

”Yes.”

Li Zhuiyuan politely placed the book beside him, turning slightly to show he was listening. He’d been reading The Liu Clan’s Art of Observing Qi.

”What happened between you and A Li?”

”Grandma, it was my fault.”

Last night had shaken him deeply—because of what Li Lan said on the phone.

He lowered his head, looking at his bandaged palm.

He was A Li’s balcony—the place she had finally dared to step onto to explore the world. But yesterday, she found bricks on it, hinting it might be sealed off.

Imagine her despair last night, seeing the wound on his palm.

She’d lived like a prisoner in a pitch-black well, and one day, someone lowered a rope and chatted with her from above. Just as she gathered the courage to climb out, that person started climbing down instead.

Li Zhuiyuan understood. Because her eyes had been full of him, his fall hit her all the harder.

No—she’d come upstairs last night to accompany him. She wasn’t afraid of his sadness; she couldn’t bear to see him give up.

Like Li Lan—giving up and letting herself rot.

She had seen him as her light. And he had extinguished it.

”Bah, what’s the point in picking apart who’s to blame now. What Grandma wants to know is—Little Yuan, is there a way to get A Li back to how she was just days ago? Can you do that?”

”There is.”

Liu Yumei’s face lit up. ”Really? How?”

”Not yet, Grandma. I need some time.”

”You need time… to do what exactly?”

”Read.”

”Read?”

Liu Yumei frowned slightly. She suspected he was brushing her off. But then she remembered—hadn’t A Li started approaching him back when he was just quietly reading upstairs?

Could it be… her granddaughter liked scholarly types?

Liu Yumei pondered. Was it because she dressed A Li in traditional clothes and liked old plays like Romance of the Western Chamber?

”Grandma, A Li’s already gone back to her room.”

”What?” Liu Yumei looked down—A Li was still sitting on the doorstep, unmoving. ”She’s right there.”

”I need to get her to come out again. Only then can I properly apologize.”

Liu Yumei didn’t quite get it, but the boy spoke so methodically, she felt oddly reassured.

”Then read well.”

”I will, Grandma.”

She headed back downstairs.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up The Liu Clan’s Art of Observing Qi again. These glyph-like characters—take your eyes off them for a second and you had to start from scratch.

After reading another page, he looked down at the girl.

He felt no resentment over her sudden ”departure.” In fact, he cherished this feeling of being needed.

At last, he had a mask he could never take off.

Li Lan, the thing you failed to find—I found it.

Back downstairs, Liu Yumei seemed more at ease. She brewed herself a fresh pot of tea.

Just then, Runsheng pedaled up the ramp with his tricycle.

”Grandpa, we’re home. We’re home, Grandpa—wake up, wake up.”

Liu Yumei stepped forward. ”What’s wrong?”

”Great-Grandpa’s drunk.”

”Oh my, out drinking morning liquor again?”

”He kept drinking and drinking… till he passed out.” Runsheng pulled out the empty bottle. Not a drop left.

”You carry him upstairs.”

”Okay.”

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