"Ni Loach, are you sure you remember correctly? Uncle Zhao's wife is really also named Xiulian?" I looked at Ni Loach with some suspicion.
Seeing that I didn't believe what he said, Loach became anxious and said, "You can rest assured. I clearly remember that Uncle Zhao's wife is indeed named Xiulian."
Judging from Loach's confident look, what he said must be true.
I looked towards the kitchen inadvertently, and Xiulian was busy in the kitchen at this time.
The Xiulian in front of me actually has the same name as Zhao Dayu's wife who has been dead for decades. Thinking about Zhao Dayu's ambiguous attitude towards me today, I became more and more convinced that things were definitely not as simple as we saw.
While Loach and I were discussing Xiulian, Zhao Dayu came back from outside.
The night has fallen now, and the light in the room is very dim.
Zhao Dayu walked in with a bottle of wine in his hand. He was obviously in a good mood and was humming a tune all the way.
"The room is so dark, why don't you turn on the lights?" Zhao Dayu said with a smile, and then turned on the lights in the room, and the room suddenly became much brighter.
At this time, Xiulian also walked out of the kitchen and said softly to us, "The rice is ready, you can eat."
Then we started to get busy. Niliu and I went into the kitchen to bring out the dishes, and Zhao Dayu set the table.
After everything was done, we gathered around the table and started eating.
The dinner was very sumptuous, including chicken, fish, meat and eggs, which are the best ingredients you can find in the countryside.
Xiulian's cooking skills are also good. I tried every dish and it tasted quite good.
The atmosphere during dinner was very harmonious. Zhao Dayu still talked a lot and would clink glasses with me and Ni Loach from time to time.
Xiulian advised Zhao Dayu to drink less, saying it was bad for his health.
Zhao Dayu waved his hand. He was already a little drunk and said that my words were slurred. "It's okay. Dongfang and others came to see me today. I'm happy!"
Then he said to me and Loach, "Dongfang, Lin Qiu, you are no longer outsiders. There is no need to be polite here. You can eat what you need and drink what you need."
After he finished speaking, he picked up the cup and drank the wine in one gulp.
"Xiulian! I really didn't expect that I would see you again. Even if you ask me to die after today, I am willing to do so!" Zhao Dayu obviously drank too much and kept talking drunkenly.
"What are you talking about!" Xiulian rolled her eyes at Zhao Dayu, "You are still very young now and you can live for many years!"
"Xiulian..." Zhao Dayu said softly, looking at Xiulian tenderly, and then grabbed Xiulian's hand, "Xiulian, I..."
Zhao Dayu wanted to say something else, but Xiulian used her peripheral vision to glance at Ni Loach and me, signaling that Ni Loach and I were still here!
Zhao Dayu smiled apologetically at me and Loach, "I'm getting older, and I can't even drink anymore! I just had a few drinks and I'm already talking nonsense!"
I also smiled at Zhao Dayu, but I didn't care in my heart. Zhao Dayu was not talking nonsense, it was clearly his true feelings.
Then Zhao Dayu continued to greet us to eat and drink, but just when I picked up the chopsticks and prepared to pick up the food, the room suddenly went dark and the power went out!
"Why did it suddenly get dark? Is there a power outage?" Loach said to himself.
"I'll get the street lamp!" Xiulian said.
"No, I have a way." I said confidently.
I have a lot of candles in my yellow cloth bag, and they come in handy now!
I took out a candle from the yellow cloth bag, lit it and put it on the table.
"Ah..." Xiulian suddenly let out a scream as soon as the candle was placed on the table, and tried to block the light of the candle with her hands.
"What's wrong?" I asked in a panic, and quickly became alert.
Xiulian looked at me timidly, obviously frightened. "You...can you blow out the candle? I...I...are afraid of fire!"
Xiulian said she was afraid of fire, which didn't make me think. Could this be the reason why she screamed just now?
"Dongfang... you should blow out the candles first! Xiulian said she was afraid." Just when I was distracted, Zhao Dayu urged me.
I came to my senses immediately and blew out the candle in one breath.
After blowing out the candles, I heard Zhao Dayu and Xiulian exhale at the same time.
Then through the moonlight outside, I saw Zhao Dayu stood up from his seat, "I'll get the street lamp!"
Because there was no light source and the room was pitch dark, we couldn't do anything but wait for Zhao Dayu to come back quickly.
We didn't wait long before Zhao Dayu came back. He put the street lamp on the table and we ate by the light of the street lamp.
Although I was eating food, my mind did not stop thinking. I kept guessing about the relationship between Xiulian and Zhao Dayu's dead wife.
Zhao Dayu's wife is dead. This is certain. So what is the connection between Xiulian and Zhao Dayu's wife?
Because all I was thinking about was Xiulian, my eyes would always look towards Xiulian unconsciously.
Looking at Xiulian's face, I was suddenly stunned. With the help of the light of the street lamp, I suddenly discovered that Xiulian's face could no longer be described as white. It was simply pale. How could a normal person's skin be so white?
Looking at Xiulian's face, I accidentally saw the row of paper figures standing in the corner.
My heart suddenly trembled because Xiulian's facial features were extremely similar to those of the paper doll.
Especially under dim light.
It’s like all paper figures are modeled after Xiulian, and it’s like Xiulian is a paper figure.
This discovery made me breathe quickly, and I was slightly distracted. The cup in my hand fell to the ground without holding it tightly.
"Ah..." Xiulian was sitting next to me. The water glass that fell on the floor spilled all the water on her, causing her to panic.
"What's wrong?" Zhao Dayu asked hurriedly.
"The water accidentally splashed on me." Xiulian said softly.
"Dongfang, can you be more careful?" Zhao Dayu said to me slightly sternly.
I looked at Zhao Dayu with some surprise. He is famous for his good temper in our Zhaojia Village. He usually smiles with everyone he sees, but it is really rare to see him like this now.
I thought to myself that this Xiulian is really difficult to take care of. Forget about being afraid of fire, is she still afraid of water now?
But it was my fault after all, so I smiled awkwardly at Zhao Dayu and Xiulian, then bent down to pick up the cup.
The water cup fell next to Xiulian's feet. When I went to pick up the water cup, I happened to see Xiulian's legs from the corner of my eye.
The blue trousers Xiulian wore were a bit too short. When she sat down, the legs of the trousers lifted up partially, exposing her calves.
I was shocked when I looked at Xiulian’s exposed calves. It wasn’t because of how beautiful Xiulian’s calves were, but because I saw that underneath Xiulian’s blue pants, there was actually white paper. Her entire legs were covered with white paper.