During the Ming Dynasty , there was a Yongsheng Village south of Xianhe Town, Cangnan County. The villagers were industrious and simple, living a life of peace with the world by fishing. Young men often met to go to the sea together. One of the men was named Wang Dahu. A bizarre thing happened to him. Because of this incident, his life changed.
Wang Dahu lives up to his name. He is 35 years old and is not yet married. There are many young girls in the village, but no one wants to live with Huzi. They all think that this man is missing a muscle and looks like a tiger with a tough head. This kind of man cannot live a good life. He only smiles stupidly when he meets anyone and does anything. Everyone nicknames him Huzi.
Although Huzi is tough-minded, he is actually not stupid at all and is willing to help others. The elderly people in the village have difficulty moving, so Huzi will share some of the fish and shrimps brought to them, and everyone likes him better.
It is said that Huzi is honest and kind, but his mother is quite domineering and domineering. Any trivial matter becomes as big as a watermelon in her mouth. People in the village whisper behind their backs that Huzi's inability to marry a wife is related to his mother's personality.
Huzi's father went fishing in the sea when he was a child. Encountered heavy rains from typhoon and , the fishing boat ran aground and sank, and no one was able to fish it out.
Huzi was only six years old that year, and Huzi began to depend on his mother, Mrs. Li. Fortunately, Mrs. Li was also quite industrious and was good at growing vegetables. She set up a stall selling vegetables at the intersection of the village to make a living, which made Huzi grow up.
Now that Mrs. Li is almost seventy years old, she can no longer do the work of weeding and digging in the fields. Seeing that her son is already 35 this year, the men in the village who are younger than him are all hugging her fat son. Looking at her son again, Mrs. Li is anxious day and night, not thinking about food and tea. If she doesn't urge him to get married, she may not be able to have a grandson in the end.
Although Huzi is not as good at growing vegetables as Li, he went to sea with his father when he was a child. His father taught him some fishing techniques, so he can catch good fish. He knows his mother's suffering in his heart, so he can only swallow it silently.
In recent years, probably due to the large-scale fishing by the villagers, the number of fish and shrimps has gradually decreased, and the climate has changed. Many men return empty-handed after going to the sea, but Hu Zi always returns with a full load.
On this day, the strong wind had just passed. Many men were afraid of encountering something in the sea and did not go into the sea. Only Huzi dragged the fishing net onto the fishing boat.
His fellow villagers advised him not to go there for the sake of safety. In recent years, only a handful of fish and shrimps had been caught, and he was afraid that he would no longer be able to rely on fisheries. Huzi didn’t think so. He still had a mother and a life to live on. He had to support this family and was the last to go out to sea alone.
As expected, it was as the villagers said. No matter how good he was at catching tiger cubs, he used all the methods his father taught him, but in the end he only caught a few.
Just when he was about to give up and collect the boat, the water surface not far away was sparkling, looking like small fish and shrimps coming out to feed.
Huzi was overjoyed. There were no fish or shrimps anywhere. This was it. He skillfully opened his arms and swung a big net out. With a "swish" sound, the big net covered the sparkling sea.
After a big meeting, Huzi closed the net excitedly, thinking that this time it would be a good harvest, so he couldn't help but work hard.
But when the big net was put on the boat, I was dumbfounded and realized that I could count the fish and shrimps inside with my fingers. The fishing industry is getting worse and worse these days, and I am afraid that before long we will be as hungry as outside.
Huzi sighed and looked at a turtle lying in the big net. It was covered with barnacles. Huzi touched the shell on it. It looked like it was a few years old, probably a thousand years old.
I was thinking about my mother, whose health at home was getting worse day by day. She hadn’t caught any fish or shrimps, and it was hard to do business when she got home. Her mother hadn’t had a bite of meat for a long time, so she planned to take the old turtle back and cook a pot of soup for her mother to replenish her body. Huzi didn’t stay long, collected the net and returned home.
"Huzi is back". As soon as he landed, Aunt Zhang from the same village came up to him with a smile. Huzi knew that Auntie Zhang's legs and feet were not flexible. She came to wait for him this time because she knew that his fishing skills were better than anyone in the same village. Auntie Zhang knew that every time Huzi came back, she would share some fish and shrimps with her.
Seeing Huzi come back with only a turtle this time, she smiled and shook her head, and was no longer embarrassed to ask Huzi for it.
After seeing Aunt Zhang leave, Huzi looked at the turtle in his hand, watching the turtle curl up and staring at him with bright eyes, as if he wanted to say something to him.
Huzi then thought about it, of course the thousand-year-old turtle has spirituality. Why was he so offended and still thinking about making soup? Thinking of this, Huzi came to the beach, opened the net, and released the turtle back into the sea.
Strangely enough, the old turtle slowly swam into the sea, looked back at the tiger, and then slowly sank into the water.
After returning home, Mrs. Li looked at Huzi who returned empty-handed, and then saw that the days without fish and shrimps were getting worse day by day, and she couldn't help but sigh.
After dinner that day, Huzi couldn't sleep, so he came to the beach alone to enjoy the breeze. He walked silently on the beach, kicking the stones on the shore carelessly with his feet. The fishy smell of the sea blew in the face with the sea breeze, and he felt extremely enjoying it.
At this moment, a slight cry came from the dim coast. Huzi took a closer look and saw a person sitting on a stone not far away. From the clothes and hair accessories, if you look carefully, it should be a woman.
If it hadn't been for the moonlight, Huzi might have been frightened half to death by the sudden black shadow and crying sound in front of him. He patted his chest and walked forward.
In the dim night, he slowly came to the girl. Huzi rarely had contact with girls. This was not the first time that he wanted to comfort a girl, but it was really embarrassing for him.
He still stepped forward and asked: "Where is the girl from? Why are you crying here at night? Could it be that you are in trouble and do you need help?"
To be honest, Huzi was almost incoherent at that time. Fortunately, the girl listened to his words, raised her head slightly, nodded to him, and rolled up her sleeves to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"The little girl came from outside to escape. My parents suddenly became seriously ill and left me on the way. Now I am alone with nowhere to go." After the girl finished speaking, she wiped away her tears and sniffed again, looking aggrieved.
He was so confused that he didn't know how to comfort the girl, so the two fell into silence for a while.
"Brother, can I stay at your house for one night? I can do any farm work. I don't eat and drink for free." The girl hurriedly stepped forward with a helpless tone, asking Huzi to let her stay for one night.
"It's okay to stay overnight, but my house is bare, so I'm afraid I'll wrong the girl." Huzi scratched the back of his head and took a long time to utter a sentence.
Of course, the girl didn't mind it, so she followed Huzi back home.
Huzi’s mother looked at the girl her son had brought back and giggled happily. She held her shoulders and looked at her 360° over and over again while making a sound of praise. This Huzi was extremely embarrassed.
"My name is Bai Lian. I fled from the east. My parents have left me. I beg my aunt and brother to take me in. I will do all the farm work in the future. I will not live and eat for free."
Bai Lian repeated this sentence nervously, fearing that Li and Hu Zi would drive her away if she didn't work.
"What kind of work are you doing? From now on, you can just follow my Huzi." Li was unambiguous and directly expressed his thoughts. Huzi was even more embarrassed and at a loss next to him.
Bai Lian was not angry. Instead, she covered her red face with a shy look. She nodded towards Mrs. Li and glanced at Hu Zi. The two looked at each other. Hu Zi was suddenly startled. Bai Lian's eyes were watery. He seemed to have seen this look somewhere before, but he just couldn't remember it.
Huzi patted his forehead. Maybe he was overthinking it and packed up a room for Bailian. She would live here in the future. The two of them were still a little unfamiliar. After all, it was the first time they met. Seeing a beautiful girl looking at him like this, Huzi's face suddenly turned red to the root of his neck. He found an excuse and ran out.
Since then, Mrs. Li's health has also improved a lot. She goes out all day long to show off to everyone. She now has a daughter-in-law. Looking at her figure, it seems that she will give birth to multiple children, and she is waiting to have a fat grandson in her old age.
Li's illness has improved a lot, and his hands and feet have become much more agile. After a period of contact, Hu Zi and Bai Lian gradually began to develop a good impression. The saying that love grows over time is absolutely true.
Half a year later, the two got married naturally under the witness of the villagers, and they were very loving.
The two of them lived peacefully for about a year. Time passed day by day. Seeing that there was no movement in Bai Lian's belly, Li became anxious and felt a little anxious in her heart. She complained about Bai Lian from time to time.
Bai Lian is kind-hearted by nature and doesn't pay too much attention to her mother-in-law's complaints. She works harder and respects her even more.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Li was so angry when she saw that Bai Lian was weak. When she went out, she was laughed at by the villagers. This made Mrs. Li even more angry, and she took it out on her daughter-in-law.
Many times, Hu Zi had to go out for several days to make a living. Bai Lian could only live at home with her mother-in-law. At this time, Mrs. Li began to make things more difficult for Bai Lian.
Bai Lian goes out early and comes back late every day, working in the fields. She also cooks and washes clothes for Mrs. Li. She also deliberately finds things for Bai Lian to do from time to time. Her originally delicate and smooth little hands have become rough and rough.
No matter how carefully Bai Lian took care of her, she was not in Li's eyes and was often criticized and insulted by her for no reason.
On this day, when she learned that Hu Zi had returned home, Li Shi started to show off her courtesy to Bai Lian again, and even boiled the bath water for Bai Lian, looking like a treacherous person.
Huzi, who was kept in the dark, thought that his mother and wife were getting along harmoniously, so he didn't care about Bailian, who had calluses on his hands.
Bailian felt bitter, but for the sake of Huzi, she was unwilling to tell her husband the whole story. She was worried that her presence would affect the relationship between the two. Instead, she swallowed the bitterness alone and accepted Li's hypocrisy with a smile.
Bai Lian wanted to take a bath. Hu Zi hadn’t seen his wife for a long time. He just wanted to get along well with his wife and give her a hard-working wife a bath. But Bai Lian refused to do anything. Seeing Hu Zi’s persistence, Bai Lian got a little angry and kicked Hu Zi out of the bathroom.
Huzi shook his head, but he was a little strange. In all the years they had been together, his wife had never asked him to help with bathing or massaging. Even every time she took a bath, she would intentionally or unintentionally push him away, or secretly take a bath while he was not at home. At first, he thought Bai Lian was shy or something, but now he felt more and more strange.
Just like that, Huzi deliberately said that he was going to get some folk remedies, but in fact, he secretly stood outside the door of the woodshed and heard the sound of Bailian adding water to the bucket, and then it became quiet.
Bai Lian stayed inside for a long time. Hu Zi felt a little strange. He walked over gently and saw no sign of Bai Lian through the crack in the door of the woodshed.
He called several times outside, but Bai Lian didn't respond. There was nothing in the woodshed, only the steaming tub, and Bai Lian was nowhere to be seen.
Hu Zi was afraid that something would happen to Bai Lian, so he pushed the door in without authorization. He searched all the hiding places in the woodshed, but did not find Bai Lian.
Just when he put his head into the bathtub, the scene in front of him scared him so much that he took a few steps back. He saw a turtle suddenly appear in the mist-shrouded bathtub.
And this turtle, with the barnacles on it, the moss-covered shell, and the big, charming eyes, this is the turtle he released.
However, the turtle in the tub did not notice the tiger outside, and soaked leisurely in the water.
How could this turtle appear in Bai Lian's bathtub? Then where did Bai Lian go? He had been outside the door and never saw her come out. A closer look revealed that there was a necklace around the turtle's neck. It was the necklace he had made for Bai Lian in the store with his savings on the wedding day.
But Huzi didn't want to believe anything. This turtle spirit couldn't possibly have anything to do with her white lotus. He must have planned to stew it into soup that day, so the turtle spirit held a grudge and ate his wife.
Huzi ran out of the woodshed, hid a big hairpin that Bailian carried with him, and quietly closed the door. He held his head and stared in the yard. His mother, Mrs. Li, came over and asked Bailian. Huzi hesitated for a long time and lied to his mother that Bailian went to the fields after taking a bath.
After saying that, Huzi stood up, calmed down, and told his mother that he wanted to go out. Huzi didn't go anywhere, but went straight to a ruined temple in the nearby village.
Because he had heard someone say that there was a very powerful Taoist priest who had no fixed abode and often slept in this ruined temple, so he came to try his luck and see if he could find out anything.
Huzi walked into the temple, only to find an old man with white hair, wearing a blue shirt and a large mantle, wearing a pair of dark blue thick cloth shoes with an upturned head, and a hundred whiskers on his right arm, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the temple.
Huzi swallowed, wandered at the door of the temple, and finally walked in with heavy steps. Seeing him explaining his purpose, the Taoist priest wanted to see what the other person was carrying so that he could know whether he was a monster.
After hesitating for a while, Huzi handed the hairpin to the Taoist priest. The Taoist priest took the hairpin and took a look. His face suddenly changed and his pupils dilated.
Seeing this, Huzi knew the seriousness of the matter, and his heart kept beating along with it.
"If you have any questions, Taoist priest, please tell me directly. Is my wife Bai Lian in danger?" Huzi's voice was slightly trembling. He was really afraid that something would happen to Bailian.
I saw the Taoist priest shaking his head, staring at the hairpin in his hand and saying: "Your wife is not a human being, nor is she a good person. She was transformed by a thousand-year-old turtle spirit. Fortunately, she did not hurt you, but as time goes by, your energy and spirit will be damaged. Humans and monsters have different paths, and your fate should be over."
"After all, they are animals. If they stay with humans for a long time, they may not always be kind. They will also pretend to be kind and deceive others' good intentions."
Hearing this, Huzi went limp and sat on the ground, his eyes dull. He never thought that after so many years of love, Bailian turned out to be the turtle spirit. To say he was not afraid would be a lie.
Before leaving, the Taoist priest gave Huzi seven yellow talismans and repeatedly told him to burn a yellow talisman to ashes every midnight and then soak it in water. He must drink it while watching the white lotus. This will weaken the turtle spirit's vitality. After seven days, he will definitely come to subdue the turtle spirit and prevent her from harming the world in the future.
Hu Zi took the yellow talisman and returned home in despair. Before he entered the house, he heard his mother yelling in the room. When he looked carefully, he saw his mother with her hands on her hips gesticulating at Bai Lian in front of her. Bai Lian was crying quietly with her head tilted to one side. When her mother saw Bai Lian crying, she scolded her even more vigorously.
Huzi was not surprised. Could it be that his mother treated Bailian like this when he was not at home?
Bai Lian has always been very kind to him and his parents. Although he is a demon, he is not like the Taoist priest said.
Huzi's heart began to waver. He didn't want to believe that such a submissive wife could be transformed into a turtle spirit. Maybe Bailian is not as harmful to the world as the Taoist said?
But Huzi soon gave up this idea. I remember that the Taoist priest also said that demons like to disguise. Maybe Bailian has been pretending all the time, maybe.
Thinking of this, Huzi went back a little way, coughed a few times on purpose before entering the house, and found that his mother, who was originally arrogant and domineering, now greeted Bai Lian with a smile, and Bai Lian was sitting next to her obediently. Everything seemed harmonious.
Huzi couldn't believe anything he said. Her mother had always treated Bai Lian like this when he wasn't paying attention. Now that he secretly knew Bai Lian's true identity, he didn't seem to have such pity anymore.
When he saw him coming home, Bai Lian came over to greet him warmly, but when Hu Zi thought of the turtle in the bathtub and looked at his wife's face, he involuntarily avoided Bai Lian's extended hand. Unintentionally, he saw a scar on Bai Lian's thin white wrist, as if it had just been beaten with a branch. Hu Zi felt a pain in his heart, and then disappeared. He remained expressionless, talking to Bai Lian without saying a word.
Bai Lian thought Hu Zi was too tired, so she didn't think much about it. She turned around and happily went back to the kitchen to cook. In Bai Lian's eyes, as long as Hu Zi was around, she would never complain no matter how hard or tired she was.
When sleeping at night, Huzi took another quilt, with the purpose of sleeping separately from Bailian and lying on the same bed as a turtle spirit. For Huzi, it still took some courage. In order not to scare the snake, Huzi listened to the Taoist priest and pretended to be calm, but there was always a big gap between him and Bailian when sleeping.
Huzi pretended to be asleep at night, but in fact he closed his eyes on purpose. After Bailian fell asleep, he quietly got out of bed, took out one of the yellow talismans given to him by the Taoist priest, went to the side room, burned it with a candle, crushed the powder of the yellow talisman and soaked it in water. On the pretext of pouring water for his wife, he tricked Bailian into getting up and drinking the yellow talisman's gray water.
The same thing happened on the second and third days. On the fourth day, Bai Lian didn't get up until three o'clock in the morning. When she saw her son going out, Mrs. Li started to make things difficult for Bai Lian and directly dragged Bai Lian out of bed.
At this time, Hu Zi hid not far away and peeked quietly. He saw his mother pointing at Bai Lian lying on the ground and punching and kicking her. Bai Lian did not retort and allowed her mother to abuse her. Hu Zi suddenly felt a pain in his heart and felt that he was so sorry for his wife. At this time, Bai Lian looked weak and lay limply on the ground without saying a word.
Mrs. Li scolded and blamed a woman who raised a white-eyed wolf and couldn't bear children.
"Enough"! Huzi couldn't stand it anymore, so he rushed into the house and yelled at his mother. This was the first time he yelled at his mother like this. Seeing that she couldn't hide it anymore and pretended no longer, Li simply sat down on the ground, patted her thighs and burst into tears.
Huzi was too busy to care about his mother, so he hurriedly picked up Bailian and put her gently on the bed. At this time, Bailian was sweating profusely, her face was pale, and her breathing was rapid. Huzi found large and small healed scars on her body. The painful Huzi hugged Bailian and said sorry.
It was the first time that Mrs. Li saw her son so angry, so she didn't dare to make any more trouble, got up and walked out of the house dejectedly.
Huzi couldn't hold it back. When he saw that Bai Lian was somewhat sober, he told Bai Lian everything about what he saw in the woodshed and the matter of finding the Taoist priest.
Bai Lian's eyes were stunned at first, then turned melancholy. Instead of blaming her, she moved and leaned on the edge of the bed. She wanted to tell Hu Zi all this.
It turns out that Bai Lian's family lives in the sea. In recent years, food has been scarce. Her parents can only come to the sea every day to find food. Unexpectedly, one day they meet a Taoist priest wearing sheep's clothing, who deceives their parents' trust.
But when the parents were unprepared, the Taoist priest used magic to seize the thousand-year-old spirit beads from Bai Lian's parents. The parents who had the spirit beads taken away have now returned to their original shapes, no different from ordinary turtles, and do not dare to appear on the sea again.
Bai Lian appeared on the sea that day, just to look for her parents. Unexpectedly, she was captured by Hu Zi. Fortunately, Hu Zi was kind-hearted and finally released Bai Lian.
Bai Lian was grateful and deliberately appeared in front of Hu Zi that night. Firstly, she wanted to repay Huzi for saving her life, and secondly, she wanted to find the Taoist priest to avenge her parents and regain the spirit bead.
said that Bai Lian's eyes were full of tears. Hu Zi saw it in his eyes and felt pain in his heart. He knew very well that he had ignored Bai Lian these past few days. The two had been in love for so many years, but they could not be worth a word from the Taoist priest.
Bai Lian touched her slightly bulging belly and told Hu Zi that she was four months pregnant. Hu Zi cried with joy and cried bitterly while holding Bai Lian.
Huzi came to the beach and threw the remaining three yellow talismans into the sea without hesitation. He knew that it was precisely because he drank the fragrant ash water that Bai Lian's body was so severely damaged that he wished he could give himself a few slaps.
Huzi listened to Bailian's words. He firmly believed that even if his wife was a demon, there were good demons and bad demons in the world, as well as good people and bad people. The two planned to work together to subdue the Taoist priest.
As expected, after Bai Lian stopped drinking the Huang Fu Hui water, her body quickly returned to normal. Bai Lian and Hu Zi secretly colluded in order to lure out the Taoist priest.
At midnight on the seventh day, the Taoist priest arrived as promised. Looking at Bai Lian lying dying on the bed, the Taoist priest soon revealed his true face.
"You stinking Taoist priest, it's because you took away my parents' thousand-year-old spiritual pearl. Today I want to seek justice and avenge them." Bai Lian stared at the Taoist priest in front of her.
"Hahaha, you evil beast, what can you do to me? Why is Huangfu Huishui so powerful? Don't talk about your parents', I will also settle on yours"! The Taoist priest shook his fly whisk, stroking his long white beard and laughing wildly.
Huzi finally understood that the Taoist priest in front of him wanted to use him to seize the thousand-year spiritual pearl from his wife. Fortunately, he finally told the truth to his wife, otherwise he would really have fallen into the Taoist priest's conspiracy this time.
At this time, the angry Bai Lian got up from the bed. The Taoist priest saw that Bai Lian was fine and panicked for a moment. Bai Lian also took the opportunity to take the initiative to attack. After several back and forths, mortals will always return to mortals and evil will never prevail against good. In the end, Bai Lian, who has a thousand years of Taoism, captured the Taoist priest in a few blows.
The unarmed Taoist priest returned the spirit beads of Bai Lian's parents. Bai Lian took the spirit beads in his hand and looked back like a tiger, with a bit of melancholy and helplessness in his eyes.
Then the white lotus turned into a wisp of white smoke and disappeared into the night sky, followed by the tiger, crying loudly and calling his wife's name.
Until he chased him to the beach and watched a wisp of white smoke sink into the sea.
He remembered that Bai Lian told him that she would have things to complete, and when the time was right, they would naturally meet again.
In the days to come, Huzi would come to the beach for a long walk every day when he came back from work. He hoped to see Bailian one day. He had a lot to talk to Bailian. He just wanted to stay with Bailian for the rest of his life.
Huangtian paid off. Three years later, Huzi was walking on the beach kicking pebbles carelessly. When he looked up, a familiar figure appeared not far away, holding a child beside her.
The story is over!
