Old lady Gao is sick.

Old lady Gao in bed**. Several famous doctors were invited, and the strange medicine and the strange medicine were put together in the medicine jar, boiled into bowls of thick black bitter water, and swallowed into the old lady's stomach. A day or two passed, and the doctor said that the illness did not matter, but the old lady took the medicine, and the illness worsened. On the third day, the old lady suddenly insisted on refusing to take the medicine, and later after the persuasion of Keming and Juexin, he drank a little bit. Keming sat at home for several days, accompanied the doctor to see the old lady, took care of the old lady and took medicine, and he didn't even go to the law firm. Anyway, there is a secretary to take care of it, and he has already instructed the secretary to ask another lawyer, Chen Kejia, to help if there is something. Ke'an sometimes writes and writes poems at home, sometimes goes out to watch plays, or goes to the "Jinling High Residence" to play. Keding took advantage of the old lady's illness and couldn't control him, so he hid in the "Jinling High Apartment" all day long to play cards and laugh with women. He was only at home in the morning and evening, and according to the rules, he went to the old lady's room once in the morning and evening. The old lady's illness did not bring a big commotion to the family. People are still laughing, crying, arguing, fighting. Even the few who are troubled by his illness think that his illness does not matter, regardless of the fact that his illness is getting worse day by day, or more appropriately, his body is weakening day by day.

For the old lady's illness, medicine did not have much effect. People resorted to superstition. In some people, it is often the case that when their faith in people begins to waver, they turn to God for help. This so-called divine help is not as simple as making a wish, asking for a lot, and so on. It has a very complex form. These are all thought up by simple brains, and only simple brains can understand, but now they are all put forward by Aunt Chen, who cares about the old lady, and is supported by the wives, and is presided over and pursued by the so-called "familiar with the books of the sages".

Originally, a few Taoist priests beat gongs and drums in the hall and chanted mantras. In the dead of night, Aunt Chen worships the Bodhisattva alone in the patio. Although Juehui didn't understand what trick she was doing, he could see her movements clearly in the glass window: nine sticks of incense were lit on a shelf with incense, and a pair of candles were placed. She knelt down and stood up, got up and knelt down again, I don't know how many times she did it in succession. One night, two nights, three nights. …… The result was - "Holy! Juehui scolded like this. You're only worthy of this kind of thing! ”

But here comes another trick. This is the sacrifice of the three brothers Keming, Ke'an, and Keding. It was also in the dead of night that an offering table was set up in the patio to replace Aunt Chen's incense stand; On the table there were large candles, coarse incense, and offerings of fruit. The ceremony was much more solemn, and the three masters of the officiating priest were so serious that they became funny. They also bowed down, but it was done quickly, and they didn't deliberately drag it out like Aunt Chen. But Juehui still used the mood of watching Aunt Chen bow down to see his three uncles bowing. His criticism is the same – "Hell! And he did know that a few hours ago, Ke'an was still in the theater watching his favorite Xiaodan Zhang Bixiu act, and Keding was still playing cards and drinking in the "Jinling Gao Apartment", and now they were kneeling here and reciting the prayer that they were willing to die first in their father's place.

Just when Jue Hui was thinking, "Your methods are nothing more than that", a new trick came again. This trick is indeed very fresh in Juehui's eyes, this time it is not "seeing ghosts", but "catching ghosts", ,—— inviting a wizard (Duangong) to come to the house to catch ghosts.

One night, just after dark, all the doors of the Gao family were closed tightly, and the entire mansion immediately became an ancient temple with no human traces. I don't know where a pointy-faced wizard came. He wore a strange vestment, and he held rosin in his hand, and he sprinkled pink fire along the way, just like he did on the stage. The wizard ran around the yard, making all sorts of miserable and astonishing screams and gestures. He went into the patient's room, where he jumped, screamed, knocked everything over, and even sprinkled powder under the bed. Regardless of the patient's increased pain in bed due to noise and fear, and louder**, the wizard continued his work zealously, and became more and more zealous, even making threatening gestures towards the patient, causing the patient to scream in fright. The room was filled with thick black smoke, erupting fires, and the smell of rosin. This went on for almost an hour. So the wizard roared out. It took some time before there were voices in this mansion.

But here comes the trick again. It is said that this ghost hunt is nothing more than catching the ghost in the patient's room, which is not enough. There are ghosts everywhere in this mansion, and there are many ghosts in every room, so I decided to hold a big cleaning the next night to catch all the ghosts in every room. The sorcerer said that only after the ghosts were caught could the old lady's illness be cured.

There are also people who don't believe this statement, and there are people who don't approve of the second ghost hunt, but no one dares to come out against it. Neither Keming nor Juexin approved of such an approach. But Aunt Chen was too adamant about it, and the wives agreed, and Ke'an and Keding also said, "You might as well give it a try." Keming nodded reluctantly. Juexin didn't dare to say a "no". Although Jue Hui had courage, no one listened to him. So the second burlesque was performed again at the scheduled time. Every room was subjected to that comical, and at the same time horrific harassment. Some people dodged, children cried, women sighed, and men shook their heads.

Jue Hui sat in her room. Although separated by a wall, he could almost "see" the commotion in his sister-in-law's room with his ears. At the same time, he heard a terrible scream. His heart was filled with anger, and he felt that his body was too crushed to move. He had to stand up and get rid of the weight of his body. He couldn't give in, he couldn't let something like this happen before his eyes. He made up his mind, closed the door and waited.

Soon the wizard walked to the door of Juehui's room. The door was shut. In this mansion, only these two doors are tightly closed. The wizard knocked on the door, and Su Fu, Zhao Sheng, and Yuan Cheng also helped knock on the door, but it was useless. They began to pound on the door, also called "Third Young Master", but it was useless. Jue Hui shouted inside, "I won't open it." There are no ghosts in my house! He simply went to the bed, lay down, covered his ears with his hands, and did not listen to the cries outside.

Suddenly, someone was outside banging loudly on the door. Jue Hui stood up from the bed, his face flushed, as if he saw Ming Feng's hair scattered and tear-stained face. He was enraged. He walked to the door and shouted, "I won't open the door!" What are you going to do with this nonsense? ”

"Third brother, open the door quickly," was the voice of his third uncle Keming.

"Third Young Master, open the door," it was Aunt Chen's voice.

He thought, "Okay, you've moved the rescuers," and angrily agreed, "I'm not going to open it!" He turned and walked inside. He clenched his fists and took a few steps around the room. He felt like his brain was about to explode. He read several times in succession: "I hate! I hate! ……”

The voices outside refused to let go of him, but still chased after him one by one, each higher than the other, and the people outside were also shouting angrily.

"Third Young Master, you don't care about your grandfather's illness? Don't you hope your grandfather's illness will get better sooner? You haven't opened the door yet! …… You are so unfilial to him! Among those voices, Jue Hui noticed Aunt Chen's shrill voice. The voice came at him with an irresistible force. He was wounded, and his anger increased as a result.

"Third child, you have to understand things, everyone hopes that grandpa is well. You are a sensible person, quickly open the door......" Before Ke Ming's words were finished, another voice sounded again.

"Third brother, open the door quickly, I have something to tell you," this is Juexin's voice.

Jue Hui thought bitterly, "You say the same thing! It's not enough that you've been a coward yourself! He couldn't bear the thought. He felt like his heart was about to burst.

"Okay, I'll open it for you," he said to himself, and went to open the door. As soon as the door opened, several reddened and angry faces appeared. Some people want to rush in, and the wizard is naturally the first.

"Slow down!" Jue Hui stopped them, and he stood in the doorway, as if guarding a pass. His face turned red. Anger seized him and enthusiasm encouraged him. He completely forgot that these people were his elders. Angry and contemptuous, he asked, "What are you going to do?" His hateful gaze swept across the faces of the crowd.

Everyone was at a loss for what to do with his question. Keming and Juexin were embarrassed to say the word "ghost hunting", and they didn't believe in ghost hunting methods at all.

"Catch ghosts for your grandfather," Aunt Chen, who was full of scent, stepped forward and called the wizard in.

"Ghost hunting? Hell you! Jue Hui spat this sentence into Aunt Chen's face. I said, you don't want to catch ghosts, you want grandpa to die early, you are afraid that he will not die of illness, you have to kill him alive and scared to death! He scolded desperately.

"You ......" Keming couldn't go on when he said the word "you", he was so angry that his face changed and he stammered and couldn't go on.

"Third brother!" Jue Xin came out to stop Jue Hui from speaking.

"Are you too embarrassed to speak? You're not shy! Juehui fixed her eyes on Juexin's face and said, "You have been reading books for more than ten years, but I didn't expect you to be so nonsense!" A person is sick, but he looks for Duangong to catch ghosts. Even if you faint, you shouldn't joke with Grandpa's life. I saw with my own eyes last night that Duan Gong scared Grandpa like that. You say that you are a filial son and grandson, and he is sick, and you still refuse to let him be quiet! I saw the ghost hunting trick with my own eyes last night. I said, "I must see how you murder him in the name of ghost hunting," and I did. It's not enough for you to mess around all night. It's going to be a mess tonight. Well, whoever dares to enter my room, I'm going to give him a mouth first. I'm not afraid of you! Jue Hui said a lot of words in a rage, and he didn't notice that his tone was too heavy. In normal times, such a thing might cause him a lot of trouble. At this time, because his tone was too heavy, he won the victory. He stood in the doorway, his body very firm, and he blocked the door with one hand to prevent anyone from entering. His countenance was unusually serious, and his eyes were very proud. He felt that he was justified and did not take them seriously at all, and he thought, "Why should I exalt you if you want to do such a shitty thing yourself!" ”

Keming blushed with shame. He understood that Jue Hui was telling the truth. He, a Japanese student and a well-known barrister in the provincial capital, naturally does not believe in the method of "catching ghosts". He also knew that this method was not beneficial, but in order not to cause trouble and quarrel at home, and to gain a reputation for "filial piety" outside, he actually did what he was unwilling to do. At that time, he really did not think about the peace of the patient, he did not think about the patient at all, and he saw with his own eyes yesterday what kind of effect the method of "ghost hunting" had on the patient. …… Now he has no reason and no courage to scold Juehui. He pointed at Juehui, said a few words of "you" in succession, then turned around and walked away silently.

Juexin was angry and regretful, tears flowed on his face, and he didn't wipe them off. As soon as he saw Keming leave, he also slipped away.

Aunt Chen always relied on the prestige of others on weekdays, but now when she saw Keming leaving, she seemed to have lost her backer, and she didn't even say a word. She believes in the "ghost hunting" method, and she cares about the old lady's illness. She didn't understand Juehui's words at all. She hated Juehui, and Juehui made her lose face in front of people. But there was no old lady present, and even Keming walked away, she would not take advantage of Juehui by herself against Juehui. She scolded Juehui perfunctorily, then twisted her body and walked away with a face full of shame. But in her heart, she cursed this grandson who was not filial to her grandfather.

As soon as Aunt Chen left, the rest of the people dispersed in a hurry, and no one came to cheer for the wizard. Although the wizard muttered for a while, and although some of the maids secretly made dissatisfaction with Juehui, this time Juehui "won a big victory". This was completely unexpected by him.