Chapter 79 Izumo Villa
Chapter 79 Izumo Villa
Ning Zhe's hometown, Qinzhou, is located in the south of the Yangtze River. Apart from Yanzhou, which is located on the coast, it is the southernmost prefecture in the country. His destination this time is Yunzhou, located in the Yellow River Basin in the inland Central Plains. It is the hometown of saints and the home of the country's highest institution of learning. It is a place with a strong cultural atmosphere.
Ning Zhe's grandparents' greatest expectations were, first, that he could marry a decent wife and have a few children, and second, that he could be admitted to Yunlu Academy in Yundu, the capital of Yunzhou, which could be considered a place on the list of successful candidates.
Now Ning Zhe is indeed going to Yundu, although he did not get in through admission.
After getting on the plane, Ning Zhe checked the two invitations he had received again.
A white invitation is for Zhang Yangxu.
A black invitation is for Yu Ziqian.
"This is the first time I've received an invitation. I didn't expect it would be from a dead person." Ning Zhe shook his head. He felt as if he had given his first kiss to a female corpse.
He put away both invitations, leaned back in his first-class seat and squinted his eyes.
Domestic customs are reserved and implicit. In his impression, only happy events such as housewarming, marriage, and the full moon of a child's birth are suitable for large-scale invitations. Funerals such as the death of an elderly person are usually spread by word of mouth among neighbors, relatives and friends. People who are not close friends and relatives usually do not attend the funeral.
But after Ji Bochang's death, his children sent out invitations to all walks of life. Even Zhang Yangxu, who had no personal relationship with the old man and only bought a few of his calligraphy works, received an invitation. This is really curious.
What is even more intriguing is that Yu Ziqian also received an invitation.
Yu Ziqian was not a collector. He spent all his money on prostitution, gambling, and other sensual pleasures. How could he have such noble sentiments as collecting calligraphy and paintings? He had no private contacts with any great calligraphers at all.
After much thought, there is only one reason why Yu Ziqian, a stranger, received the invitation - he is a promoted person.
Ji Bochang died, and his children invited the promoted person to attend his funeral, and at the same time invited a large number of unrelated people to cover up the arrival of the promoted person.
"Being able to obtain the contact information of the person who has been promoted means that there is a high probability that there is also a person who has been promoted in their family..." Ning Zhe closed his eyes and quickly sorted out his messy thoughts: "And this person is likely dead."
The death of the ascenders will unfold into a strange event on a macro scale, and Yu Ziqian is likely to be the person invited to help deal with this strange event.
But the problem is that there is no difference in the wording of the two invitations received by Zhang Yangxu and Yu Ziqian respectively. They are just two polite invitations. The only difference is the color of the invitation paper, one is black and the other is white, and the names of the recipients are different.
As for whether there are other people who received the black invitation, no one knows.
"I hope I can meet other ascenders at the funeral..." Ning Zhe sighed softly and said to himself.
He did not go there to solve strange events. Ning Zhe's goal was to get in touch with as many experienced Ascenders as possible and obtain more knowledge and information related to strange events from them.
At this time, there were less than 2 hours left before the plane landed at Yundu International Airport. Ning Zhe put on a silk eye mask and took advantage of this time to lie down on the bed to catch up on his sleep.
Ji Bochang's children are currently in the Chuyun Villa where the old man lived during his lifetime, taking care of their father's funeral. Ji Bochang had three sons and two daughters in his lifetime, of which the two older sons and one daughter have already started their own families and are no longer in the country.
The youngest pair of children are twins he had in his old age. The brother and sister were born on the same day and are not yet 20 years old. The younger brother Ji Yunying takes his father's surname, while the older sister takes her mother's surname, Shi Yurou.
The old man's funeral was handled by Shi Yurou, Ji Yunying and their mother; their brothers and sisters were nowhere to be seen.
"Sister, do you think it would be strange if we couldn't see our elder brother and the others when the guests arrived?" Ji Yunying was a handsome young man, tall and thin like a bamboo pole. Most male college students who lacked exercise were like this.
He and his sister leaned on the handrail on the second floor of Izumo Villa, looking at the vast lake in the distance, and said, "Father passed away. It's okay that my eldest brother and his family didn't see him for the last time because they were abroad, but as children, they didn't even come to the funeral. In the eyes of outsiders, it's not a good family tradition."
"It's already this time, and you still care about what others think?" Shi Yurou turned around and looked at her silly brother with a smile. Her soft and graceful figure was like a piece of fine silk, holding a charming face that was totally inconsistent with her young age. She was as enchanting as a poppy.
"That's true." Ji Yunying didn't dare to look directly at his sister who had an extremely beautiful face. He turned and left the balcony and walked into the study on the second floor.
Ji Bochang's study is decorated in traditional Chinese style, with wooden doors, windows, wooden floors, dragon carvings, wind carvings, and Chinese bamboo and martial arts trees.
Autumn water dotted orchids, water lilies contained spring tea. A wide mahogany desk was wrapped in warm old pulp, and the pens, inkstones, and inkstones were placed in an orderly manner on the desk.
According to the customs of Yunzhou, the items that an old person loved and used frequently during his lifetime would either be buried with the deceased or simply burned to avoid being used by tomb robbers. However, Ji Bochang's situation here was a little surprising. None of his belongings were touched and they were all kept in good condition.
"Outsiders will probably think that we don't want to burn these things because we think they are valuable." Ji Yunying walked around the long table and sat down on the armchair made of thin and soft branches that her father often sat on when he was alive.
Shi Yurou walked slowly to the opposite side of Ji Yunying and sat sideways on the table.
She casually pulled out a piece of snow-white paper and put it in front of her eyes to examine it carefully. Then she shook her head and put the paper back in its place, sighing softly, "What are you afraid of? We will just tell you the truth."
It was not that they were greedy and reluctant to burn the things in the study, but that old man Ji Bochang had personally instructed them not to move around without permission and that everything in the room must be kept as it was.
Ji Yunying pulled out a brush from the ivory stand, held it between her fingers and twirled it deftly, saying, "But even if we tell the truth, will the guests believe it? Who would believe that a dead person lying in a coffin got up and walked away in the middle of the night?"
He then muttered in a low voice: "If I hadn't seen the surveillance video with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it..."
"Who told you to sleep during the vigil? Otherwise, I wouldn't have to show you the surveillance." Shi Yurou smiled, snatched the brush from her brother's hand and tapped him on the forehead: "Okay, let's go. The guests will arrive tomorrow, and we still have a lot to do."
"Oh..." Ji Yunying reluctantly put the brush back on the shelf, pushed the armchair made of twigs back to its original place, and the brother and sister went downstairs together.
Outside the window, the vast lake was rippling with ripples, and gusts of breeze blew over the hills, stirring up layers of green waves in the lush mulberry trees surrounding Izumo Villa.
(End of this chapter)