Two or Three Events in the Last Days 012
Chapter 12: Le Le woke up
Zhao Zhiwen asked curiously, “What are you going there for?”
Because of the nature of the goods sold there, ordinary people rarely visited that place. Aside from when there was a death in the family, they would only go before the New Year to buy supplies for ancestral offerings.
Jing Lin had never intended to hide the matter of talisman paper from Zhao Zhiwen’s family, but he had no plans to explain it in detail yet. He simply pointed above his head and said, “I feel like there’s something extra in the air.”
Zhao Zhiwen looked at Jing Lin with a “don’t scare me” expression. Zhao Chenghuai also looked at him.
The Zhao family knew that when Jing Lin was young, he had been close to Old Zhang and all his mysterious practices. They also knew a little about what Old Zhang used to do. So when Jing Lin said this, they did not doubt him. Instead, they believed him and believed that something really had changed in the air.
“Then is this thing good or bad?” Zhao Zhiwen asked.
“It’s hard to say,” Jing Lin replied.
It truly was hard to say. What had appeared in the air should have been spiritual qi that ordinary paper could not contain. For him, the appearance of spiritual qi might be beneficial in certain areas, such as drawing talismans, but for other people, that was not necessarily the case. Otherwise, why had the power remained out for so long? It was almost certainly related to the sudden appearance of spiritual qi.
By now, of the ten thousand yuan Jing Lin had started with, only a little over two thousand remained. He planned to keep one thousand yuan for talisman paper and save the rest for clothes, bedding, and other necessities for himself and Le Le.
When Jing Lin said he wanted to use the money to buy talisman paper, Zhao Chenghuai did not object. Although the money had been lent to him, given the current situation, it was practically no different from a gift. Once it was in Jing Lin’s hands, how he spent it was his own business. Besides, Zhao Chenghuai had always known that Jing Lin was someone who planned carefully.
Accompanying Jing Lin to the paper effigy street, they found that many of the shops had already closed, with only a few still open.
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Jing Lin casually entered one of them. The owner was an elderly man with a receding hairline, sitting bored at the entrance, fanning himself and swatting at mosquitoes. The moment he saw Jing Lin, he perked up and hurried over eagerly.
“Young man, what would you like to buy? Everything in the shop is on sale right now. The more you buy, the bigger the discount.”
The old man was anxious. All the neighbors and friends he knew had been spending their days stockpiling supplies at home. He alone was still guarding his shop, hoping to earn some money, while the rest of his family focused on gathering food. The past few days had left him so restless that he could barely sit still.
Jing Lin got straight to the point. “I’d like to buy some yellow talisman paper used by Taoist temples.”
Hearing this, the old man immediately replied happily: “Young man, you’ve come to the right place! On this whole street, my talisman paper is the best there is. None of the other shops can compare. Almost every Taoist priest around the county comes to me for their supplies.”
As he spoke, the old man dragged out a cardboard box from a nearby corner. It was filled with strips of yellow talisman paper about three fingers wide. The paper looked smooth and well-made rather than rough.
The old man enthusiastically continued his sales pitch.
“You can use this talisman paper with complete confidence—it’s even safe enough to swallow! Sure, it costs a bit more than ordinary yellow paper, but you won’t have to worry about any problems if someone eats it. Oh, and do you need cinnabar ink? If you buy a lot, I can give you a discount on that too!”
“We’ll see,” Jing Lin said.
Then he asked, “Do you have a brush here? Could I borrow it for a moment?”
He wanted to test whether the paper worked. If it could hold spiritual qi, that would be ideal. If not, there was no point in wasting money on it.
“Yes, yes, of course.”
The old man walked over to a counter near the corner of the shop, opened a drawer, rummaged around, and pulled out an ordinary brush he normally used. He also prepared some ink.
Jing Lin took a sheet of yellow talisman paper from the box and spread it on the counter. Holding the brush, he stood quietly for a moment to focus himself before beginning to draw on the paper.
As Jing Lin drew the talisman, Zhao Zhiwen and the others watched from the side. Although they could not understand what he was drawing, they felt that his expression and demeanor were unusually serious and did not dare interrupt him.
The old man, however, chattered nonstop beside him.
“Not bad, little brother! That curve is smoother than one drawn by a Taoist priest I know. Ah, and that hook stroke has real presence!”
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Fortunately, Jing Lin’s entire focus was fixed on the brush tip. He did not hear a single word the old man said.
When he lifted the brush to finish the final stroke, Jing Lin held his breath and concentrated. He did not hear the familiar sound of spiritual qi dispersing.
His heart immediately leaped with joy.
Looking closely at the completed talisman, he saw a faint stream of light flowing slowly along the inked lines. It was weak and subtle, but it was there.
It had worked!
Jing Lin was thrilled inside, though his expression remained calm. He set down the brush, casually folded the talisman, slipped it into his hand, and asked the old man, “How much do you charge for this paper?”
“One yuan per sheet.”
Seeing a sale within reach, the old man grinned from ear to ear. He did not dare inflate the price. When he noticed Jing Lin frown, he quickly explained, for fear that the young man thought it was too expensive.
“Little brother, I’m really not overcharging you. Before all this, I sold these for two yuan a sheet. At your price, only old friends and longtime customers could buy from me.”
Since the yellow talisman paper here was genuinely useful, Jing Lin had no intention of passing it up, even if it was expensive.
“Didn’t you say the more I buy, the bigger the discount? If I spend one thousand yuan on yellow talisman paper, how much can you lower the price?”
One thousand yuan!
In the past, the old man would not have cared much about an order of that size. But circumstances were different now. A thousand yuan could still buy quite a lot of supplies.
After doing some quick calculations, he figured that if the paper did not sell, he could not exactly eat it. So he made an offer.
“For one thousand yuan, I’ll give you thirteen hundred sheets. How does that sound? Don’t try to bargain any further—that’s the biggest concession I can make!”
Jing Lin considered it for a moment before nodding.
“All right. Let’s do that.”
The old man immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Even if the paper could not be eaten, it could at least be used for patching walls. It might be a bit rough for other purposes, but it was still better than giving it away for free.
Before long, the shopkeeper counted out thirteen hundred sheets, packed them up for Jing Lin, and then proudly brought over a box. Opening it, he held it out toward Jing Lin.
“This brush has a peachwood handle, and the tip is made from pure wolf hair. It’s perfect for drawing talismans! Even after the discount, it’s only two hundred yuan. Want one?”
Jing Lin waved the offer away.
Not to mention peachwood—the brush his grandfather had left him had a jade handle and was also made with genuine wolf hair. Its quality was far beyond anything this shopkeeper was recommending.
As for the cinnabar ink, however, Jing Lin persistently pestered the old man until he agreed to throw in a bottle for free.
After finishing their purchases, Jing Lin and the others rode home beneath the setting sun and the deepening evening sky.
When they arrived, a wonderful surprise was waiting for Jing Lin. Le Le had woken up.
“Uncle!”
The moment Le Le saw him, he jumped off the chair where he had been sitting beside the door, helping Zhou Yu sort vegetables, and ran over on his short little legs.
“Le Le!”
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Overcome with excitement, Jing Lin stopped his bicycle and practically leaped off it. He scooped Le Le into his arms, checking him over from head to toe.
His nephew, who had slept for several days, had truly awakened. It was not a dream.
Zhou Yu stood up with a smile.
“He woke up not long after you left. The first thing he did was say he was hungry. I cooked some porridge for him. He ate two big bowls and still wanted more. I was afraid he’d overeat, so I didn’t give him any extra.”
Jing Lin gently stroked Le Le, who was clinging tightly to his neck with his cheek pressed against his own. Still immersed in the joy of seeing him awake, he said, “That was the right thing to do. Thank you, Aunt Zhou.” He repeated his thanks several times.
Seeing that Jing Lin was so happy he barely knew what was going on around him, Zhao Chenghuai laughed, nudged him aside, and wheeled the bicycle under the eaves of his own house.
In July, it did not get dark there until after eight o’clock. Although it was already dinnertime, the sky was still bright. Everyone was delighted that Le Le had awakened. Zhou Yu had already gone to the fish pond earlier and caught two fish. They had been cleaned and prepared, simply waiting for everyone to return.
Among the Zhao family, Zhao Chenghuai was the best cook when it came to fish. He had never subscribed to the old-fashioned idea that men should stay out of the kitchen. Zhou Yu handled most of the everyday cooking, but whenever there was a holiday or guests came over, Zhao Chenghuai was the one who took charge.
That evening, he prepared braised fish, boiled fish slices, and fish head soup made with leftover tofu from lunch. Together with several simple cold dishes, the group enjoyed a hearty meal.
Le Le’s appetite was far larger than usual. He ate a huge bowl of rice, drank a bowl of soup, and practically finished the plate of sugared tomatoes by himself. Even then, he still wanted more, as though he were trying to make up for everything he had missed during the days he had been asleep.
Jing Lin had only just recovered from the joy of seeing him awake and was immediately alarmed by his appetite. After checking his stomach and confirming that he was not overly full, he relaxed somewhat, though he still refused to let him eat any more.
After dinner, they returned home.
Jing Lin lit a homemade kerosene lamp and asked while tidying up, “When you were asleep, could you hear me calling you?”
Le Le sat on the sofa, reading a children’s storybook Jing Lin had given him to keep him entertained.
“Yes,” he replied quickly with a nod. “I could hear you. I was just so sleepy. No matter what, I couldn’t open my eyes.”
“Did you feel any pain at all?”
“Nope. Just sleepy.”
This definitely had something to do with spiritual qi, Jing Lin thought.
Le Le’s awakening had left him far too excited to sleep.
A few days earlier, he would have washed up and gone to bed after dinner. Instead, that night, he took out several sheets of the newly purchased talisman paper and sat on the sofa, preparing to draw talismans.
What he intended to create was a basic spirit gathering array. It was the simplest array he knew. Its purpose was to gather the surrounding spiritual qi into the formation.
A complete spirit gathering array required seven talismans: six formation nodes and one formation core.
With ordinary-quality talismans, the gathered spiritual qi could be maintained for five days. Medium-quality talismans could maintain it for ten days. High-quality talismans could sustain it for over a month.
At present, however, the quality of the spiritual qi contained within Jing Lin’s talismans could only be considered average. Both the paper and the ink were merely average mediums. To improve the quality of the spiritual qi, he would need better materials. Unfortunately, he did not yet have the means to acquire them.
Since he had already drawn one talisman that afternoon in the shop, he only needed six more. All six were completed smoothly in a single stroke sequence. The entire process took less than ten minutes.
His plan was to set up the spirit gathering array in the vegetable garden behind the house. However, it was already late, so he decided to wait until morning.
After heating a large pot of water on the wood-burning stove and washing away the day’s sweat from both himself and Le Le, he took Le Le and went to bed.
At dawn the next morning, breakfast was already prepared. Le Le was still asleep, and Jing Lin nervously woke him up while he was still groggy. He was terrified that after waking yesterday, Le Le might somehow fall back into that strange sleep again today. Le Le did not fuss or complain. When his uncle called him, he simply rubbed his eyes and obediently got up to wash.
After breakfast, Le Le carried a small stool to the backyard and sat beneath the eaves. There, he watched his uncle jumping around from place to place and covered his mouth as he quietly giggled.
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: 2 of two for the week. Yay, he woke up 🙂
Translator: Miiya
Editor: MushroomKnight73
Proofreader: Yume
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