“Ah Gong! Ah Gong! You’re back!”
Mei Zhuyu had just lit three incense sticks when he heard a little girl’s high-pitched voice calling from the courtyard. Moments later, the sound of hurried footsteps approached. He inserted the incense into the burner and turned to see a round-eyed little girl jumping over the threshold, followed closely by a wobbly white goose.
The goose, with its short legs, couldn’t quite make it over the threshold. Seeing this, the little girl turned around, skillfully tugged at the goose’s neck, and pulled it inside. With a beaming smile, she rushed towards Mei Zhuyu, leaping onto his lap and sweetly calling out “Ah Gong,” before turning to the incense altar and shouting “Ah Po” (Grandma).
Upon seeing the little girl, the stern expression on Mei Zhuyu’s face melted away, replaced by a warm and affectionate smile.
The girl was his youngest son’s daughter, a cherished granddaughter, as she was the only girl among the three brothers’ families. Mei Zhuyu, as her grandfather, doted on her immensely.
“Yuan Yuan, why are you here so early? Didn’t you sleep a little longer?” Mei Zhuyu gently patted his granddaughter’s head.
The little girl climbed onto the couch beside her grandfather, swinging her little legs as she held his hand. “I missed you, Ah Gong. Next year, when you go to Changxi Temple to play, can you take Yuan Yuan with you?”
“Ah Gong isn’t going to play; he’s going to do important work,” Mei Zhuyu gently punctured his granddaughter’s little scheme. “Besides, you don’t miss Ah Gong; you just want to go out and play.”
The little girl pouted, looking pitiful as she said, “When Ah Gong isn’t in Chang’an, I see those monsters, and I get so scared that I can’t sleep at night.”
Her sincerity made it seem as if she had truly been frightened, but Mei Zhuyu knew better than to take her words at face value. He sighed helplessly and said, “When Ah Gong isn’t around, did you take off the peach wood charm I made for you?”
The little girl hesitated for a moment, then quickly blinked her eyes, trying to charm her way out of it. “Yuan Yuan has been very good!”
Mei Zhuyu tapped her forehead. “You must have thought it was fun and took off the charm to see the monsters. You’re still young; don’t get too close to them.”
The little girl buried her head in his arms, wriggling her chubby little body and acting cute.
Mei Zhuyu had no choice but to pick her up, weighing her in his arms. “Were you really scared? You seem to have lost some weight.”
The little girl finally looked up, wrinkling her nose as she said, “I had nightmares at night and couldn’t sleep well. I want to stay with Ah Gong and not go home to sleep!”
Mei Zhuyu thought for a moment and said, “Ah Gong will go check if any monsters are hiding in Yuan Yuan’s room to scare you.”
His youngest son’s house was very close, so Mei Zhuyu didn’t even ride a horse; he simply carried his granddaughter and walked out of the Mei family residence. He walked slowly, waiting for the wobbly white goose behind them, listening to his granddaughter chatter about recent events. After turning a corner, they arrived at San Lang’s house.
San Lang was on duty today and wasn’t home. The house was in chaos because of the runaway little girl, and before Mei Zhuyu even entered, he heard the anxious voices of the servants inside. “Have you seen Yuan Niang? Where could she have gone so early without eating anything?”
“Is she hiding somewhere? Doesn’t she usually love to sneak into that garden in the back?”
“I’ve looked; she’s not there!”
“Did you see the big goose? Yuan Niang takes it with her wherever she goes; why don’t you call for it?”
“I haven’t seen the goose either… At least with the goose around, we wouldn’t have to worry about anyone bullying Yuan Niang…”
“Could she have gone to the old house to find Mei Gong? I heard Mei Gong returned to Chang’an last night.”
“Oh, that’s quite possible! I’ll go over there and ask!”
Just as the servants were talking, Mei Zhuyu walked in carrying their little Yuan Niang, with the honking goose trailing behind. The older servant let out a sigh of relief, her face lighting up with a smile as she came forward to greet him.
Mei Zhuyu was usually stern, and aside from little Yuan Niang, his other sons and grandchildren were afraid of him, not to mention the servants. With Ah Gong as her protector, Yuan Niang was completely unafraid of her mother’s scolding and dragged her grandfather to her room to look for monsters.
Mei Zhuyu took a quick look around his granddaughter’s room, sighing inwardly many times. This little girl was the only one in the Mei family who inherited his and Wu Zhen’s abilities, and her personality resembled Wu Zhen’s in some ways; she was a true little troublemaker.
In the corner, there was a small porcelain jar, and under the bed and in the cupboard, there were small spirits, clearly collected by the child for fun. Although these spirits weren’t as powerful as monsters, too much contact with them could be harmful, especially since this child hadn’t learned any spells from him and didn’t have Wu Zhen’s experiences.
Finally, he reached the bedside, lifted the little girl’s pillow, and reached out to grab something from it, pulling out a flowing, colorful piece of material.
The little girl’s eyes lit up immediately upon seeing that Ah Gong had found something, and she quickly rummaged through the cupboard to pull out a clay jar, jumping up and down as she said, “Ah Gong! What is this? Can I keep it?”
If it had been another mischievous child wanting to keep such things, Mei Zhuyu would have taken it away without a second thought. However, since it was his beloved granddaughter asking, the biased grandfather could only indulge her and place the item into the little clay jar as she wished.
“This is a type of spirit called ‘Evil Nightmare,’ which breeds in human hair and later resides in pillows, often feeding on nightmares. If there’s an Evil Nightmare hidden in your pillow, it will easily cause you to have bad dreams.” Generally speaking, if a person is overly worried during the day, that negative energy will seep out at night, allowing Evil Nightmares to breed in their hair.
Another possibility, like with Yuan Yuan, is that she naturally possesses spiritual power and, being still young and unable to control it, easily attracts these little creatures.
“If you keep it in this jar, it will die soon,” Mei Zhuyu said.
The little girl hugged the jar, her expression turning disappointed. “Ah? No! I want to keep it, Ah Gong!”
After a while, the little girl was all smiles, following her grandfather as he went to get a red cinnabar pen to draw a talisman on the clay jar, hoping to help the Evil Nightmare live a little longer inside.
Seeing his granddaughter so happy with the jar, Mei Zhuyu could only say, “Next time you want any little spirits, just tell Ah Gong. Don’t go catching them yourself; you’re still so young. What if you encounter something stronger? Ah Gong is afraid you might get hurt.”
The little girl knew that Ah Gong must have seen the jars where she kept her little spirits, so she stuck out her tongue and placed the new jar alongside the others.
“Ah Gong, Yuan Yuan wants to go out to play. My father and mother won’t take me out; you’re the best!”
“Where do you want to go this time?” Mei Zhuyu asked.
“To the music house!” the little girl replied without hesitation. “I want to see many beautiful Persian ladies dance!”
“…Yuan Yuan, how do you know about this? Have you seen it before?”
The little girl immediately sold out her uncle, Mei Ruozhuo. “It was last year during the Lantern Festival when my uncle took me to see it! It was beautiful!”
Mei Zhuyu’s eldest son had been sent to Suzhou this year as a governor. When he went to Changxi Temple, he also visited his son’s family along the way. In front of him, this eldest son always acted very seriously, but privately, he could be quite unrestrained, taking his little niece to visit brothels and music houses.
The old grandfather felt a bit regretful for not having properly scolded his son this time, but facing his granddaughter’s big eyes, he… agreed.
First, he bought her the flatbreads she wanted to eat from a nearby food stall, then took her to drink the creamy milk from the Li family restaurant, which Wu Zhen had loved the most, filling the little girl’s belly before taking her to see the beautiful Hu Ji ladies she had been longing for.
The little girl was full of energy and hadn’t seen her grandfather for a long time, pulling him around to see everything. Mei Zhuyu felt sorry for his granddaughter being cooped up at home, so he took her wherever she wanted to go, making her face light up with a radiant smile.
After a day of fun outside, when they returned home, the Mei family residence was bustling with activity, as two of his sons who were still in Chang’an had brought their families to gather for dinner.
“Ah Father, this child Yuan Yuan is quite troublesome. You must be tired after taking care of her all day,” his third son said, feigning a stern expression as he scolded his daughter. “What are you doing clinging to your grandfather like that? Get down!”
The old grandfather couldn’t bear to see anyone scold his little granddaughter, so he glared at his son with the same fierce expression. “Yuan Yuan isn’t as troublesome as you.”
Mei Sanlang, who was being scolded by his father, thought, “…” He had known his father would say this, so why did he come to provoke him?
Mei Erlang also came over. He resembled Mei Zhuyu the most in personality and Wu Zhen in appearance, always cleaning up after his older brother and younger brother’s mischief.
The wives of Erlang and Sanlang brought their sons over to call for them. A group of little boys, each with different personalities, stood before their stern grandfather, obediently lowering their heads, just like their father.
Seeing her cousins and brothers, the little girl couldn’t help but cover her mouth and giggle. Although her brothers were usually mischievous, they all behaved like well-trained little rabbits in front of their grandfather.
Noticing his little sister laughing, the boys exchanged secret glances. They didn’t dare to act cute like their sister in front of their grandfather; otherwise, they would surely receive the same treatment as their father and be scolded.
After a lively family dinner and some casual conversation, everyone gradually left, but little Yuan Yuan stubbornly refused to go. “I want to sleep here with Ah Gong!”
Mei Sanlang thought his little monkey was too noisy and didn’t want to disturb his father’s rest. However, the third wife advised, “Since their mother passed away, Father has been living here alone; it’s quite lonely. Let Yuan Niang keep him company.”
Mei Sanlang paused, recalling their mother who had passed away a few years ago. He sighed and allowed his little girl to stay.
That night, as Mei Zhuyu was preparing to sleep, he suddenly heard a loud knocking at the door. It was his granddaughter outside, banging on the door. “Ah Gong! Ah Gong!”
“What’s wrong? Can’t you sleep?” Mei Zhuyu asked as he put on his clothes and opened the door.
The little girl dashed in like a little puppy, running straight to the adjoining study. “I want to see the shadow paintings!”
The so-called shadow paintings were on a blank wall in the study, where there were shadow insects that Wu Zhen had thrown in long ago. Every year, Wu Zhen would add some more, often taking him to see the shadows at night. In the past, only he and Wu Zhen could see them, but now, there was a little granddaughter added to the mix.
The grandfather and granddaughter sat on the couch watching the shadows, with the window wide open and incense burning beneath, the smoke curling gently in the air.
“Ah Gong, I want to hear the pipa,” the little girl said after a while, sitting cross-legged.
“It’s getting late. I’ll play you a tune, and then you need to go to sleep, okay?”
The little girl thought for a moment and held up two fingers. “Two tunes.”
Taking down the pipa, Mei Zhuyu touched the small character ‘Zhen’ carved on the side, lowered his eyes, and began to play.
The little girl rested her chin on her hand, listening. Her parents, uncle, and brothers all thought Ah Gong didn’t like songs and dances and didn’t play any instruments. Only she knew that Ah Gong could play the pipa and played it very well. He had said it was taught to him by Ah Po when she was young, and he had only played for her before.
After playing two tunes, Mei Zhuyu patted his granddaughter’s head. “Now go to sleep.”
The little girl pouted, “But I still can’t sleep.”
Mei Zhuyu: “…”
“Ah Gong, I want to hear a story. If I hear a story, I can sleep quickly!”
As a result, while telling the story, the little girl became drowsy and hadn’t fallen asleep yet, but Mei Zhuyu had already leaned back on the couch and dozed off.
With a soft click, it sounded like the window had been nudged. The little girl woke up, rubbed her eyes, and looked over, just in time to see a translucent tabby cat slip through the wall.
“Kitty!” the little girl exclaimed happily.
“Shh—” the tabby cat hushed her, and the little girl immediately covered her mouth, glancing cautiously at her grandfather, who was sleeping with his eyes closed. She climbed down from the couch and squatted in front of the tabby cat. “Kitty, when will you take me to see the monsters again?”
The tabby cat flicked its tail and smiled. “I’ll take you to see them again on your birthday, but you must listen to your Ah Gong.”
“Okay!” the little girl readily agreed.
“Good child, now you should go rest.”
Once the little girl happily left, the tabby cat nimbly jumped onto the couch and nestled into Mei Zhuyu’s arms.
A wrinkled hand covered the tabby cat, and a voice came from above her head. “Are you going to sneak her off to the monster market again?”
The tabby cat realized he hadn’t fallen asleep and tried to deny it. “I was just teasing her; don’t worry, I won’t do anything reckless~”
Mei Zhuyu sat up, looking helpless. “You’re not deceiving your granddaughter; you’re deceiving me.”
“I’m not deceiving you; I’m just coaxing you.”
Mei Zhuyu shook his head and lay back down. “Forget it.” After all, it’s all been a lifetime of deception… or coaxing.
The man and the cat leaned against each other, and outside in the courtyard, the night-blooming cereus suddenly blossomed quietly.
“This year’s cereus has bloomed,” a gentle voice said. She knew that Mei Zhuyu must have hurried back to accompany her to see this year’s cereus.
Mei Zhuyu remained silent, gazing at the cereus in the courtyard, gently stroking the cat in his arms.
This year’s flowers bloomed beautifully as well.
(End of the text)