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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 47: Good and Evil Will Be Rewarded
Many years ago, Li the Cripple built a house for a family with the surname Wang in a village in a neighboring county. At that time, the Wang family was extremely wealthy, being the only household in the village with a net worth of over ten thousand yuan. It is important to note that in the late 1980s, having over ten thousand yuan was quite impressive. The Royal Family, impressed by Li the Cripple's skills, sought him out to help select a piece of Feng Shui land to build the Yang Residence.
The wife of the Royal Family, Lin Family, was responsible for hosting Li the Cripple every day, providing him with fine wine, meat, vegetables, and rice. This was done not only to express gratitude but also to prevent him from "playing tricks" while building the house. "Playing tricks" refers to intentionally tampering with Feng Shui to harm the homeowner. Therefore, Lin Family would serve him pork offal and buy fish; since it was summer, they even bought beer, making for a lavish spread.
Logically speaking, such hospitality from the host should be considered thoughtful and warm, as treating a craftsman like an honored guest every day is not something every family can manage.
However, Li the Cripple was proud of his abilities and felt that all of this was expected. Moreover, he noticed that Lin Family would kill a chicken every day but only served chicken offal at mealtime; he never saw any actual chicken meat.
It is worth noting that serving chicken offal is entirely different from serving chicken meat. While offal is indeed a meat dish, it cannot compare to chicken meat.
Chicken meat happened to be Li the Cripple's favorite food. Seeing Lin Family kill chickens but not serving any meat made him unhappy since he could not voice his displeasure when it was not offered to him; he just felt a bit resentful inside.
As such, with Li the Cripple feeling dissatisfied, it was natural that he would not put his heart into his work, let alone expect him to do an excellent job.
A few months later, after the house was completed, Lin Family not only rewarded Li the Cripple with a generous sum of money but also sent him home with a load of gifts. Still feeling unsatisfied, Li the Cripple left without expressing thanks. Halfway home, he felt hungry and decided to set down his load to take out something to eat.
However, when he opened his food box, he was stunned because it was filled with many cured chicken legs and pieces of chicken meat. This was Lin Family's thoughtful gesture for him to take home for the New Year.
Li the Cripple felt very ashamed; he had wrongly judged the Royal Family. He then realized that Lin Family had been preparing the chicken meat for him all along so that he could take it home entirely. Thus, Li the Cripple carried back the chicken meat gifted by Royal Family and Lin Family and celebrated a bountiful New Year at home.
Although this happened more than ten years ago, Li the Cripple still feels very guilty and has been unable to let it go.
Hearing this, I sighed at the Royal Family's warmth and generosity, but I also had a question. For anyone with a bit of conscience, this would indeed make them feel guilty, but Li the Cripple couldn't possibly be seeking my help just to express his inner remorse, could he?
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but guess a little. I tentatively asked him, "Sir, if you want me to help you, could it be that when you were building the house for the Royal Family, you did something... well, you know?"
Sure enough, Li the Cripple sighed in self-reproach and replied, "Yes, I regret it deeply."
It turns out that Li the Cripple was upset because when he was building the house for the Royal Family, he mistakenly thought that since he only saw chicken being killed but didn't get to eat any meat, the Royal Family must be stingy despite their wealth. Therefore, he deliberately served them chicken offal while keeping the meat for himself. As a result, he really tampered with the construction.
When he was installing a beam in the Royal Family's hall, he intentionally reversed one of the wooden beams so that the tree's head was facing up and the tail was facing down. This way, without me asking further, it was clear that the Royal Family would be in trouble; their fortune and descendants would be negatively affected. Some may not understand what this reversal means; to put it plainly, if you want your family to thrive and live in such a house, it will only lead to a decrease in descendants instead of prosperity. As for wealth, it would only flow outwards uncontrollably—there would be no chance of accumulating wealth.
This kind of harmful trickery on someone else's beam is truly malicious. Speaking of this, I recalled another similar story about a carpenter who intentionally sabotaged a door for his host due to poor hospitality, turning it into a door that would bring misfortune. The term "door of misfortune" itself indicates how harmful it is; living in such a house could lead to complete family extinction. There’s an old saying in the industry: "Better to build ten graves than one door," because just a slight alteration to something like a door or beam can ruin an entire family. Later on, I encountered a similar situation myself, but I'll set that aside for now and return to the main topic.
After hearing Li the Cripple recount everything that happened, I was completely stunned. This Li the Cripple is truly wicked! Just because they didn't serve you chicken meat, you went ahead and harmed them like this? It seems your old age and disability are indeed retribution.
However, even though I cursed him inwardly like this, I couldn't let him know. I still asked him, "You tampered with the beam because you mistakenly thought the Royal Family was stingy; that's understandable. But when you later realized they kept the chicken meat for you, why didn't you go back and fix the beam?"
I had to ask him this because some people are like that—they have too many thoughts or enjoy seeing oddities. And because of such reasons, there are indeed many who tamper with houses. So while I felt that Li the Cripple was truly malicious for doing this to someone's house, I wasn't particularly surprised. However, once he realized he had misunderstood his host, he should have corrected his mistake; otherwise, wouldn't that just mean harming them for no reason?
Li the Cripple sighed again: "At that time, I really wanted to go back and fix the beam. But... I don't know why; I just didn't have the courage to face it. I was afraid that if I admitted what I'd done, the Royal Family would blame me. So in the end, I went straight home and kept this matter hidden in my heart for over ten years without being able to let it go. Every time I think about how well the Royal Family treated me and sent so much chicken meat home for New Year while I harmed them instead, my heart has never been at peace—it's filled with guilt."
Seeing Li the Cripple's self-reproachful expression made me realize he must be suffering greatly. If one wants to live comfortably and peacefully, they must first have a clear conscience; otherwise, they might worry about ghosts knocking on their door at midnight.
At this point, I had more or less figured it out. Li the Cripple must want me to help him find the Wang Family and correct the door beam.
As I expected, Li the Cripple continued, "Originally, a few years later, I thought about going back to admit this mistake again, but at that time my left foot Mysterious acted up, so I couldn't go that far. Now, I just want to ask you for help in finding the Royal Family, saving them and also saving myself, a person deeply in debt."
The Li the Cripple in front of me was over sixty years old, with Old Man white hair. Seeing him repent so sincerely in front of me, a Young Man, was truly pitiful. So, I nodded and agreed to help.
Then, Li the Cripple told me that the Feng Shui of the Royal Family Yang Residence was chosen by him. At that time, he put a lot of thought into selecting that spot for its excellent Feng Shui, which gathered wind and energy. As long as the Beam was replaced, the Royal Family would be able to turn their fortunes around in a few years.
Looking at this remorseful elder before me, I couldn't help but sigh inwardly. It really is true that skills do not distinguish between good and bad; it is the heart that differentiates between kindness and evil. If you use your skills for good and accumulate virtue, you will reap rewards; if you use your skills to harm others, you will ultimately face retribution. Perhaps for this elder before me, the retribution was not only for his leg but also for his restless heart!
However, it seemed that Li the Cripple had already received his due punishment and had come to a great realization. With a heart full of repentance, I naturally could not refuse to help. So I agreed to assist him, and Li the Cripple gave me some money. I did not refuse and accepted it directly; after all, I was doing this for him, and being alone out here, I indeed needed financial support.
After confirming the specific address of the Royal Family, I left the village and headed towards the county where they were located. However, upon arriving at the Royal Family, I discovered that something serious had happened…
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