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Lian Hua thought her father, being well-traveled and knowledgeable, must surely know, so she brought up the topic at the dinner table, asked her father if there were ghosts in this world. Were they frightening? Why had she never seen one?

Her father firmly told her there were ghosts, such as water ghosts by the water’s edge that would eat people and were very dangerous. He warned her not to get close to rivers, lakes, and streams because water ghosts could drag little children into the water.

She was confused at that moment. The ghosts her father described didn’t seem to match what her classmate had told her. How come these were in the water? Her classmate had mentioned ghosts in the houses of the deceased.

By rivers and lakes, she had been there before but hadn’t seen any; could she have missed them?

Wanting to be sure, she asked her father again what ghosts looked like, but her father hesitated and couldn’t say anymore.

Just as she was about to ask further, her mother put down her chopsticks, glared fiercely at her father, and then scolded him harshly, cautioning her not to be afraid.

She taught her that as long as one behaves well and does nothing dishonorable, whether there are ghosts or not should not be terrifying.

After saying this, her mother was still worried about her and thought for a moment before telling her that most of the ghosts in this world were just people pretending to be mysterious, merely to satisfy their own desires.

She told her not to be afraid, but that her father was right in telling her to stay away from rivers and lakes.

Her second elder brother was nodding continuously during this. As soon as their mother finished speaking, he thumped his chest and boasted that if there were ghosts, he could handle ten of them and told her not to be afraid.

Realizing their mother’s displeasure, her second elder brother quickly added that their father and mother were right, it was indeed wise to stay away from bodies of water.

If she wanted to go near them, he said he would teach her to swim first. This led their mother to immediately knock him on the head, and he dared not speak anymore.

Her third elder brother, after the second had finished, was still recovering from a cold and coughed twice. After his cough subsided, he gently asked her which classmate had told her this, intending to invite them over for a visit so he could properly host them.

No sooner had her third elder brother spoken than their mother smiled gently at him, prompting him to quickly agree that his father, mother, and second brother were right, it was correct to stay away from lakes and rivers.

After finishing his words, he pretended to cough to avoid his mother’s gaze and dared not say more, but he winked at Lian Hua behind their mother’s back.

She understood the meaning of that wink; he meant to tell her later which classmate it was, and he would help her scheme against him.

That was unnecessary, as that classmate usually played well with her, and the teacher liked to scold her the most during class, and next to her, that classmate.

They sympathized with each other, heroes appreciating heroes, so of course, she couldn’t bully them.

Moreover, she was capable of taking care of it herself even if she wanted to bully.

But having heard all this, she still didn’t know if ghosts existed. She still wanted to find out whether ghosts or teachers were more formidable. If ghosts were more formidable, she could use that to scare the teacher later, which was very important!

But since her father had said there were ghosts, and her mother had scolded him for it, that likely meant there were no ghosts.

However, her mother hadn’t explicitly said there were no ghosts, only that she needn’t be afraid. By now, she was no longer afraid.

After all, she had her second elder brother; she hadn’t been very scared, and he had said he’d fight the ghosts for her, making any little fear she might’ve had vanish. She almost wished a ghost would appear just to satisfy her curiosity and give her brother something to fight.

She was loyal; tomorrow she would tell her classmate not to be afraid of ghosts. If they were scared, her second elder brother was there.

But how would she handle scaring the teacher, her cherished scheme? There was only advice about staying away from lakes and rivers; no other answers.

Confused, she was troubled!

During that time, her eldest brother was also at home. He usually didn’t talk much, but seeing her troubled and puzzled, he gently patted her head and patiently started explaining everything to her.

Her elder brother, well-read as he was, first explained to her what the ancients perceived as ghosts, citing from the "Book of Rites", "All beings must die, and upon death return to the earth; this is called a ghost," meaning that eventually, all beings must pass, and their physical bodies will return to the earth, leaving behind a soul referred to as a ghost.

She didn’t quite understand the former part, but grasped some of the latter explanation.

Seeing her intrigued, her elder brother then began telling her a few interesting ghost stories, mesmerizing her, and making her realize that most ghosts are benigh which alleviated any of her fears.

Just as she thought she understood, her elder brother shifted the conversation, telling her that one should not discuss bizarre phenomena, for there are innumerable aspects of life to study without delving into the matters of souls after death.

He asked her if she was not troubled daily by deciding whether to listen to stories with the child next door, visit the tea gardens, pick fruits, or watch their kitchen aunty cook, among other things.

She exclaimed loudly, feeling that although she seldom saw her elder brother, he understood her deeply.

She always felt that there wasn’t enough time for play.

Being only one person, she wanted to do many things; planning to listen to stories meant she couldn’t visit tea gardens, which frustrated her.

Her elder brother ruffled her hair, saying that was precisely the point; with so many enjoyable activities, why bother fretting over insignificant things?

She found that to make perfect sense, and after school, in an attempt to ponder over this issue, she did not play much.

Her elder brother slightly smiled at this, concluding that she and her classmates were still too young to distinguish truth from fiction. Ghosts were unimportant to them and they need not think too much about it; they should focus on their studies.

In the world, no one has ever truly seen a real ghost; it is all conjecture, and hard to say whether ghosts exist or not.

He believed even more that what people call ghosts are specters of the human mind. What’s frightening is not ghosts, but the human heart itself.

And with that, the commotion over ghosts was dismissed.

Of course, there were a few minor follow-ups.

The first minor sequel was that because she ponders too intensely, she missed the homework assigned by the teacher in class... and consequentially had her palms struck by the teacher...

The second was that her second brother, who was a man of his word, secretly taught her how to swim in the river...

The third sequel happened when her classmate went home and asked his mother, who scolded him by twitching his ear.

She was very averse to discussing ghosts, questioned where he had overheard such things, and warned him not to eavesdrop on adults’ conversations in the future.

His questions remained unanswered, and Lian Hua ceased to care.

In comparison with her classmates, she felt fortunate; her family was open about matters of ghosts, not treating them with secrecy or concealment. Hence, even as she grew up, she was not as fearful of ghosts as others were.

Lian Hua sat on the bed hugging her knees, reminiscing about the past, surprised that she still remembered the incident so vividly after all this time.

She missed her father, mother, elder brother, second brother, and third brother dearly. She wondered where they were and how they were now.

So many years had passed; were they still the same as before?

Did her father still imitate Doctor Hou by growing a beard, was her mother still strict, her elder brother still spoke little, how was the second brother’s martial arts, was the third brother still frail?

Probably not, their Nannan had changed a great deal; they must have changed too.