The story of Rose starts with being a brother

Chapter 535 Heavenly Palace on the Clouds (Part 1) Zhang Wei's Wedding (Part 1)
My name is Zhang Wei, and I am an orphan.

But I'm not entirely an orphan, because I found my dad.

In Zhangjiatun, a place near Changbai Mountain in Northeast China, I finally found my roots.

My father's name is Zhang Laoshuan. Actually, this is not his real name, but ever since he suffered a stroke more than 20 years ago and almost didn't make it, he has been called Zhang Laoshuan.

Everyone in the village called him that, and over time, Zhang Laoshuan became synonymous with my father in the village. As for his real name, perhaps it was a sequela of his stroke, and he himself forgot it.

There was a reason why my father suffered a cerebral thrombosis.

More than 20 years ago, the whole country was undergoing changes, and the entire Northeast economy was facing the challenge of transformation. Although the wave of layoffs had not yet fully taken off, as the saying goes, ducks are the first to know when the river warms in spring. As the eldest son of the Republic, some potential signs had already emerged. Even the slightest change in treatment in the factories could alert some people.

At that time, the reform movement was in full swing, and developing the economy was a consensus of the whole society. The designer acquired a piece of land in the south, and countless people flocked to that land.

My father was educated and was the smartest among his peers when they lived in the village.

After learning a lot of news from newspapers and radio, my dad made a major decision—to go south and make money!
Actually, it's not entirely true that he made this decision on a whim. My father had a plan. My grandfather had a cousin in Jiangzhou in the south. He could go to Jiangzhou first to check out the situation before continuing south.

Our branch of the family from Northeast China migrated here when my great-grandfather ventured to Northeast China in his early years, while another branch remained in Jiangzhou.

Later, when I went south to visit relatives, I also found my distant cousin. However, according to the lineage, he should be considered the cousin of my distant uncle's aunt's nephew.

It sounds complicated, but that's how the family is arranged according to seniority. In reality, we're not related by blood at all, since we've been separated by several generations and are now beyond the fifth degree of kinship. But that's a story for another time.

When my father made this decision, he naturally faced dissuasion from my grandfather and other people in the village. After all, my father had a secure job in the factory, so why would he bother going south?
But my dad is not only shrewd, he's also incredibly stubborn and refuses to listen to any advice.

In the end, there was no other way, so my family had to pull strings to get my father a leave of absence without pay. After all, at that time, there was a wave of people going into business, and the government supported it, so they created this system.

After everything was prepared, my dad took my mom and me, who was only two years old, onto a green train heading south.

At that time, my parents were very excited. Looking at the newspaper reports about the rapid changes in the South, our whole family began to dream about the future.

However, fate is unpredictable, or rather, the business collapsed before it was even halfway done. Although my father didn't die, I did.

To be precise, I'm gone.

No one knows the specifics of the situation at the time, but we do know that the tickets for the Beijing-Guangzhou line were sold out. My father wanted to visit Shanghai, so he bought tickets for the Beijing-Shanghai line and planned to transfer there after arriving in Shanghai.

Back then, Shanghai was one of the most attractive cities in the country.

However, it was this decision that caused me to lose my train station in Shanghai.

Back then, the train station was a chaotic mix of people: those coming from the south, those going to the north, those rushing to their destinations, those reselling goods, and those stealing... My mother carried me and followed behind my father, struggling to move forward through the crowd.

However, just as the train arrived at the station, and my father, carrying a burlap sack, pushed through the crowd to board the train and asked my mother to hand me over, the surging crowd knocked my mother's hand away...

What happened after that became a nightmare for my parents, and no one in the village could get any more information from them.

All I know is that when my parents were brought back, my mother was already somewhat mentally unstable, and my father looked like he had aged a lot.

In those days, family planning was a national policy. In terms of procedure, if your only child was lost, you had to wait several years before you could have another one, but there was always hope.

Unfortunately, my parents were in a bad state back then...

A few years later, my mother passed away, and my father suffered a stroke. Although he survived, he was left with brain damage, and that's how the name Zhang Laoshuan came about.

It wasn't until more than twenty years later, just recently, when I returned here to visit relatives, that I was squatting in a cornfield taking a dump when Widow Wang from the village entrance saw the birthmark on my buttocks. Only then was I able to be recognized as a member of my ancestors.

Perhaps even God didn't want our family line to be severed, so after more than twenty years of separation, I was able to reconnect the Zhang family line.

I still remember how my dad looked when he received that paternity test report; he was trembling so much that he almost thought he had suffered a recurrence of cerebral thrombosis.

In the twenty-odd years I've been an orphan, I've wondered more than once why my parents abandoned me, sold me because they couldn't afford to eat, or simply didn't want me anymore?

I've hated them too, but I miss them more than anything.

Now that I know all this, I feel a little better; at least they didn't do it on purpose.

Moreover, after I came back, my dad's overall energy and spirits improved a lot.
Now I'm a lawyer, which is a respectable job. Although I don't earn much money, it's enough to make my dad so happy that he talks about me to everyone in the village over and over again.

After all, it was something I had lost and then regained, and besides, I've become successful.

The only slightly embarrassing thing for me is that I'm in my twenties and still can't find a girlfriend, let alone a wife.

My father also felt that since his son had come back, he, as the father, had to help me find a wife, in order to make up for the debt he had owed me for the past twenty years.

Actually, I'm not in a hurry. Although I've always had a bad reputation when it comes to women, I always feel that as a lawyer, I should pursue free love rather than arranged marriages.

But seeing how eager my dad was, I hesitated for a moment but still agreed.

After all, it's just the two of us left at home, and letting him hold his grandson is a source of hope for the rest of his days.

However, I also told my dad that this can't be forced, and that I'm not willing to marry just any woman.

Although I'm poor, I grew up in a big city, so while I don't have the disrespectful attitude of a country bumpkin, I'm still a little picky about women from the countryside.

After all, these days, all the outstanding girls are heading to big cities.

As for my idea, my father naturally told me not to worry, because he felt that I was successful and he would not make me suffer or make me compromise on anything. Otherwise, how could this be considered making up for the lost fatherly love?
So my father turned down some people in the village who offered to be my matchmakers. He knew perfectly well what kind of girls were left in the village!

I look somewhat like my dad when he was young; we were both considered handsome young men in the surrounding area. I've seen photos of my mom, and she's also beautiful, so naturally my dad had to maintain our family's good genes.

Time passed slowly, and while I was preparing for the bar exam at home, my dad would occasionally try to find me a wife.

But after several months, there was still no progress. Occasionally, my father would take me out to meet the girls he had found, but it almost always failed. Either I didn't like them, or they didn't like me.

As I said before, these days all the outstanding girls go to the big cities, leaving only...

Just as I was about to advise my dad to put the matter on hold, he excitedly strode into the house and said to me, "Dapao, a beautiful girl has taken a liking to you!"

Well, my nickname is Zhang Dapao. In the era when I was born, names like Jianjun Jianguo (meaning "building the army and building the country") were everywhere. My grandfather almost made this my formal name, but my mother persuaded me against it, thinking that the name Zhang Wei (meaning "Zhang Wei") was more cultured.

That being said, I was skeptical of my dad's claim that a pretty girl had taken a liking to me, since I had failed several times before. But my dad insisted that I go and meet her first.

So I tidied myself up and went with my dad to meet the woman.

It's quite a coincidence that the girl I went on a blind date with also lived in Shanghai. Her marriage was a major problem for her family. When she went back to her hometown for a break, her family urged her to go on blind dates. After looking around, they found that I was the best match.

After all, just as outstanding girls flock to big cities, so do men, leaving behind a diverse range of bachelors in the countryside... truly a testament to species diversity.

The village where they live isn't too far from my home; it's just a short walk along a mountain road.

The girl I went on a blind date with was named Jian Ning. The moment I saw her, my heart started pounding.

She has long, glossy black hair, big eyes, long eyelashes, and a sweet and elegant smile, like a spring breeze blowing across Lugu Lake or autumn rain soaking Jiuzhaigou.

In short, I fell in love with her at first sight. I've mentioned before that I'm not popular with women, but I'm quite handsome. In big cities, a handsome guy's lack of popularity with women has little to do with economics; the main reason is that my emotional intelligence is a bit low.

In short, I'm not good at talking. I often only exchange a few words with girls before they say they're going to the bathroom or that there's a gas leak at home. Some even throw alcohol in my face.

So when I saw Jian Ning, I was very nervous, afraid that I would also make her run away.

To my surprise, Jian Ning and I got along quite well. We are both from Northeast China, and we have lived in Shanghai the most in the past, so we have a lot in common.

And surprisingly, my brain worked perfectly when I was chatting with her!
Jian Ning said she's an archaeologist and rarely interacts with young men. I guess that's why she was able to keep the conversation going; otherwise, I would have realized I'm a bit clumsy with words.

She's three years older than me, but that's okay, as the saying goes, "A woman three years older is a lucky charm!" We get along very well.

The chances of finding such an excellent and compatible girlfriend through matchmaking in one's hometown are no less than winning the lottery.

When they learned that we had both taken a liking to each other, my father and Jian Ning's family were overjoyed. My father was naturally delighted, but Jian Ning's family had been very worried about her in the past. A few years ago, they even let her find someone herself and were very selective about the matchmakers. As a result, she was almost thirty and still hadn't settled down, which made her family very anxious.

I felt like I'd won the lottery when I met Jian Ning, and Jian Ning's family felt just as lucky.
After all, my qualifications are far superior to those ugly and unattractive matchmakers.

Remember, for a man, "pretty boy" is actually a compliment!
Besides, my job is quite respectable, and even though I don't have much savings right now, I have a promising future.

So very quickly, after only three dates with Jian Ning, our two families had already set a date for our wedding to be held on the eighth day of the eighth lunar month.

Although Jian Ning and I both felt it was a bit too fast, our relationship was blossoming at the time, and our respective careers didn't allow us to delay too long. We thought we could go back to Shanghai to work together later, so we didn't say anything more.

Besides, my family is really pressuring me.

And so the wedding arrangements proceeded smoothly.

However, an unexpected event occurred just as the wedding date was approaching.

"Boom boom boom!"

In the evening, there was a knock on my front door. My father and I were preparing a banquet in the main room when we heard the knock. My father put down what he was doing and went to open the door.

"Aunt Chen? What brings you here?"

After hearing my father's voice, I looked over curiously. Standing at the door was an old lady with gray hair and a wrinkled face. I remembered her; according to seniority, I should call her Aunt Chen.

Aunt Chen lived at the east end of the village. The reason I remembered her was when my father and I had just reunited. She looked at me and said some strange things.

At that time, my father took me to visit people in the village, but when we passed by Aunt Chen's house, my father did not take me in. He just shouted at the door that his son was back, and then asked me to call out to Aunt Chen. At that time, Aunt Chen was watering vegetables in the yard, and I don't know if she heard me.

Although I found it strange, I didn't think much of it until the next day when I was planning to take a good look at my hometown, which I hadn't seen for more than 20 years, and I unexpectedly ran into Aunt Chen on the road.

I greeted her and called her Aunt Chen, and Aunt Chen, who was walking slowly with a cane, turned her head and stared at me.

Her gaze made me uncomfortable; it felt like she was scrutinizing something when she looked at me.

Eighty-year-old Aunt Chen was in good spirits. Her hair was gray, but her wrinkled face was unusually thin. Especially her eyes, when she stared at me, it was hard to tell whether they were sharp or sinister. In particular, when the corners of her mouth were stretched into a smile, it looked like a snake with its mouth split open.

After looking at me for a while, she said, "You have both good and bad luck. You're a poor, lonely star, but you're also tough. You're protected by the gods. Shuanzi, you're destined for five deficiencies and three lacks. Do you want to be with me?"

"..."

I was in a pretty good mood at the time, but her words made me instantly angry.

What kind of "lacking money, a lonely star, five deficiencies, and three lacks" nonsense is this? It's like cursing someone!

But looking into her eyes, for some reason I didn't dare to get angry anymore, so I decided not to argue with this old woman.

So I suppressed my anger, shook my head, refused her, and then turned and left.

So my impression of her wasn't good either.

I didn't tell my dad about this, otherwise it would seem like I was trying to stir up trouble as soon as I got back.

However, I later heard from others that this Granny Chen was a shamanic disciple of the Chang family.

The northeastern region outside Shanhaiguan Pass is different from the area inside the pass. In terms of folk beliefs, the area inside the pass is mostly in Taoism, Buddhism, and Christianity, which came from Europe and America.

Of course, people have also heard that the Five Immortals of Northeast China are the five families of Hu, Bai, Huang, Liu, and Hui, but in fact, Bai Xian is also known as Hedgehog Xian, Hui Xian and Rat Xian are external families of immortals and there are not many of them. Liu Xian is a collective name for Chang Mang Xian.

In Northeast China, people generally recognize the four pillars of the Hu, Huang, Chang, and Mang families, and with Qingfeng included, they are the five major families.

However, I didn't feel anything after learning that this Granny Chen was a shaman from the Chang family. After all, I'm a lawyer and I don't believe in these things at all.

I, Zhang, have only ever believed in the God of Wealth!

Unexpectedly, as the wedding date approached, this Aunt Chen suddenly came to their door.

"Shuanzi, listen to me, your son's wedding date needs to be changed."

Aunt Chen's opening statement immediately made my father frown.

"Why? The date was chosen long ago, and the banquet has been prepared."

Aunt Chen glanced at me with her sharp, sinister eyes, and said in a low voice, "That day isn't a good day, and the tuberculosis patient from the Liu family on the west side of the village is probably going to die in the next few days."

When my father heard this, his heart skipped a beat. That old fool Liu from the west had been suffering from tuberculosis for half a year and was clearly not going to make it.

Granny Chen is the only elderly woman in the village who can "see things," so you can't disbelieve what she says.

But after thinking for a moment, my father said, "Aunt Chen, it's not uncommon for weddings and funerals to fall on the same day. It's nothing to worry about."

“That’s someone else. Your family is a little different.”

My dad was silent for a long time, then turned to look at me. Just as he was about to say something, I spoke up directly: "Dad, why are you looking so down when it's my wedding? Everything is almost set up. I'll call Jian Ning later to talk about it."

Although there was a distance between the entrance and the main room, the courtyard was quite quiet, and since I have good hearing, I naturally heard what Aunt Chen was saying.

I didn't have a good impression of her to begin with, and now she's here trying to ruin my wedding and scare people. If it weren't for my father's reputation, I would have kicked her out long ago.

Hearing my words, my father understood my attitude. He turned around, sighed, and said to Aunt Chen, "Aunt Chen, it's not that I don't listen to advice, but the date was set by me and my in-laws. We've invited all the relatives and friends. This date... can't be changed! Besides, what are the chances that the dates will coincide? Maybe Old Liu can hold on for a while longer?"

Aunt Chen didn't say anything more after hearing this, but just glanced at me again, then turned around and walked away with her cane hunched over.

I vaguely heard her sigh.

However, to my surprise, the next evening, firecrackers and wailing suddenly rang out from the west side of the village, followed by the sound of horns and cymbals.

That tuberculosis-ridden bastard from the Liu family has passed away.

And what's more, the date of the other party's funeral happened to coincide with my wedding date, both being three days later!
(End of this chapter)