Chapter Three: The Pillar of the Family

The old lady’s words astonished me beyond measure.

I knew quite well the family situation of my old squad leader; if he were to get married, it would be both unexpected and yet entirely reasonable.

When I was a soldier, I never met any of his relatives, but he once told me that his only surviving close kin was an elder brother named Zhao Haikun. This brother married early but remained childless all these years. By now, he must be over forty. Besides him, the Zhao family consisted solely of my squad leader, Zhao Haipeng.

Because of his military service, Zhao Haipeng never had a chance to date, which became a major concern for the family. He even confided that every time he returned home, his brother and sister-in-law would pressure him to marry, to go on blind dates, leaving him somewhat traumatized. To escape, he avoided going home as much as possible.

Yet I always felt there was more to the story...

Still, he said he looked forward to married life. If possible, after finishing his service and settling down, he would find a woman he loved and spend the rest of his days with her. He promised to invite the whole squad to his wedding banquet.

I remembered those words deeply! Whether he forgot or not, I could not afford to forget—for I was waiting for the wedding gift money.

Later, we were abruptly and inexplicably discharged from the army. Unlike the usual ceremony, our squad received only a hurried order to disband—no flowers, no applause, only soldiers holding their heads high.

Heads unbowed by defeat.

Afterward, the squad leader returned to his hometown, continuing the family tradition of working away from home to earn a living. Until one day, he called me and told us to find him at the Zhao family house in southern Shandong. Only then did I realize he had returned home—and that he had something urgent to attend to.

That urgent matter turned out to be marriage. But judging from his voice and tone, it seemed more like being forced into it.

Ah, well! No matter—the fact that he’s “off the market” is a good thing. The squad leader is nearly forty, and honestly, who cares about appearances? Even if she’s ugly, just turn off the lights at night and life goes on.

So I smiled brightly at the old lady, both for his happiness and mine. After so many days, finally some good news—surely a sign of good luck!

Ecstatic, I thanked the old woman and, with Red Leaf, turned to head back to the pickup truck.

I couldn’t wait to share the news with Zhao Hong and discuss how much money we ought to give.

But just as we turned to leave, the old lady, laughing, called after us: “Take care! Son, come say goodbye to your big brothers—they’re soon... to set out on their journey!”

Her raspy voice made me shudder.

What did she mean by us ‘soon to set out on our journey’? And she was alone—where was her son?

Startled, Red Leaf and I turned back to stare at the black-robed elder.

At the same time, we noticed the old lady waving a white dough figurine at us, swaying it in farewell.

The “white dough man” had somehow lifted a hand, as if... it was truly waving goodbye!

Was her “son” the doll in her hand?

I looked at the withered old woman and her eerie white dough figurine, a chill running through me as if cold water had been poured over my head.

“Let’s go!” Red Leaf tugged at my hand, equally uneasy. “That old lady isn’t normal—treating a dough doll as her child...”

Her words snapped me out of it, and the two of us dashed out of the alley as if fleeing a plague, heading for the pickup.

Near the truck, I spotted Zhao Hong and immediately relayed the squad leader’s wedding news.

Zhao Hong’s face mirrored mine: excited and incredulous.

He said, “That squad leader! Getting married and not telling us—he keeps secrets too well. Does he think we’re strangers?”

With a grin I replied, “Isn’t it obvious? Probably his wife isn’t much to look at, and he’s afraid we’d expect too much—so he kept it under wraps.”

Zhao Hong waved it off. “Getting married is a good thing! Who would fault him? Let’s not dwell on it. We’d better get to his house before we miss the wedding games.”

Following the old lady’s directions, we drove toward the southeast corner of the village.

About three minutes later, we arrived at the mouth of a narrow lane.

Beyond this point lay the squad leader’s home—the pickup couldn’t go further.

The alley wasn’t deep, but had a bend; inside sounded lively. Though I couldn’t see anyone, the shouts and music were clear as day.

The sounds were so distinct that I instantly recognized them as wedding music, the clinking of cups and the laughter of guests.

Standing at the lane’s entrance, I peered inside.

It seemed the squad leader… was truly getting married.

For a moment, I imagined the whole village celebrating him, with the squad leader wearing a bright red flower, standing beside his homely bride, eagerly awaiting our arrival.

Excited, Zhao Hong suddenly tapped my shoulder. “Should we call him?”

I stopped him. “He won’t have time to answer. Let’s go straight in. Red Leaf and A Si can watch over Wang Hou and the car.”

So Red Leaf took the unconscious Wang Hou to park, while Zhao Hong and I, counting the gift money, headed into the alley.

Soon, we rounded the corner and came to the gate of a large courtyard.

There, in front of the gray-tiled, red-brick courtyard, I saw a man with graying temples.

He was curled up in a wheelchair, wearing a black suit, hunched over, staring at us in surprise.

His expression mirrored ours.

That… was my squad leader!

Why was he in a wheelchair? What happened to his legs?

The old, frail body of the squad leader was completely unexpected, so much so that in that instant, we felt both the joy of reunion and a deep sorrow and shock.

After more than three years apart, we had all changed. The squad leader had aged and grown ill, and we… were no longer children.

The feeling chilled my heart and stung my nose.

But we were men—once soldiers—so we did not cry.

In silence, everything was understood without words. Meeting again, it felt as if the bugle call rang bright and clear…

Expressionless, we walked up to him, exchanged glances, and suddenly knelt!

Then, in his complicated gaze, we embraced his broken body, weeping, venting, wailing.

As we wiped our tears, we poured out all our pent-up sorrows, sharing the hardships and longing of three years apart.

Through sobs, I asked, “Squad Leader! How did you hurt your legs? Why didn’t you tell your apprentice?”

The squad leader began, “Actually—”

Zhao Hong interrupted, “Yes, Squad Leader! Why hide everything from us? Even marriage—you couldn’t tell us?”

“This—”

“Squad Leader, you’ll have a wife now! You must live well. Your leg injury will heal slowly—have faith!”

“I—”

“Squad Leader! Tian Buer’s right—don’t worry if your wife’s ugly! It’s all the same with the lights off. My second uncle always says, a wife who bears children is a good wife—anything else is nonsense…”

“Hmm?!”

…We had no idea how long we cried.

Finally, when our sobs lessened, the squad leader awkwardly patted our backs and said, “Um… You must have mistaken me for someone else. I… am not Zhao Haipeng.”

“What?” I lifted my tear-filled eyes, bewildered, staring at the man in the wheelchair.

How could that be?!

Once we stopped crying, the man in the wheelchair quickly explained, “I’m Zhao Haikun… Zhao Haipeng is my younger brother. He’s the squad leader you’re talking about, right?”

Hearing Zhao Haikun’s words, I felt instantly petrified!

What a blunder!

To be fair, Zhao Haikun looked just like my squad leader—practically cut from the same mold. But on closer inspection, there were differences.

Compared to my memories, Zhao Haikun was much older and thinner.

Most importantly, he was in a wheelchair.

If not for three years apart, and my overwhelming emotions, I wouldn’t have made such a mistake.

Now, I’d made a fool of myself. If Wang Hou and the others found out, they’d surely tease me mercilessly.

Yet, Zhao Haikun was far more gracious than we were embarrassed. He laughed and eased the awkwardness, then returned to his weary demeanor, pointing at me, “You must be Tian Buer? My brother’s been talking about your visit. It’s good you came… The Zhao family is glad.”

His words gave me the perfect excuse to recover.

So I nodded quickly, laughing, “Yes! Uncle, where’s Master Zhao Haipeng? I heard he’s getting married today? The whole village is here? I want to see him!”

Zhao Haikun slowly stretched out his arm, pointing to the doors behind him. “He just finished the ceremony. Go inside—you’ll see him. I’ll take you in.”

His words cheered me up again, and we pushed his wheelchair into the gray-tiled, red-brick courtyard.

Inside, the first thing we saw were seven or eight banquet tables crowded with guests.

Just as the old lady had said, on this special day, the whole village had come to the Zhao family courtyard for the feast. Instantly, I felt the lively atmosphere wash over me.

Yet amid this “wedding” cheer, I noticed many discordant elements.

Because of these, my mood quickly shifted from festive to astonished, and then from astonished to horrified!

What shocked me most was the huge white banner in the courtyard, written in bold black characters: “Congratulations to Zhao Haipeng and Wang ‘so-and-so’—A Fortunate Ghost Marriage!”

Ghost marriage?! Was my squad leader really in a ghost marriage? Did that mean… he was dead?

At that moment, Zhao Haikun, sitting calmly in his wheelchair, suddenly said, “Second brother died three days ago. You didn’t get to see him one last time.”

“Three days?” I repeated, confused. “The squad leader died three days ago?!”

Expressionless, Zhao Haikun nodded. “Today is the third day. After the ghost marriage, he’ll be buried tomorrow.”

Hearing this, I felt as if thunder had struck me; I collapsed on the spot.

How could this be?!

If the squad leader died three days ago… who called me yesterday afternoon? And the most crucial question—he said he had urgent matters to attend to, asked for help, and then, without warning, was just… gone?

Faced with the squad leader’s death, my heart twisted in agony. Staggering, I called out in the midst of the banquet, under the astonished gaze of the guests, using the “language of the fire temple”!

Grief-stricken, I could only shout in the traditional chant for sending off the “abbot” of the temple, toward the massive white banner:

“The pillar of my temple! Has fallen!”