The third day, people from the neighboring village came again asking Zhang Enpu to check on something, saying they needed to perform the "Floating Gauze Lantern" ritual. Young Master Liu found this strange and asked Zhang Enpu what a Floating Gauze Lantern was. Zhang Enpu simply smiled and said he would know when they got there. The location was, once again, by the pond in front of Yisuo’s house. All the fish that had floated up the day before had been netted by Uncle Yisuo and sold cheaply at the market, and the diesel oil floating on the water had been drained away. The villagers had already gathered there, awaiting the arrival of Master Zhang Enpu and his apprentice.

Zhang Enpu arrived at the pond’s edge, nodded to them, signaling that they could begin. He then lit an incense stick and planted it in the earth beside the pond. Next, he took some paper money, ignited it, tossed it into the air, and mumbled something under his breath that Young Master Liu couldn't quite make out. Zhang Enpu moved to the opposite side of the pond and repeated the actions. Once everything was prepared, Zhang Enpu descended the steps into the pond, right where Yisuo and the others had bathed two days prior. Yisuo’s parents laid a sheet of straw paper on the water's surface, placed five white gauze lanterns on top of it, and Zhang Enpu, holding a large handful of lit paper money, scattered it onto the pond, saying, "Poor child, hurry to reincarnation, start anew. Go, go, go in peace. Stop looking for stand-ins, accrue some virtue for your parents."

The burning paper money instantly extinguished the moment it touched the water. Immediately afterward, Zhang Enpu instructed Yisuo’s parents, "Release them!"

Only then did Yisuo’s parents slowly push the white paper holding the gauze lanterns toward the center of the pond.

The action performed by Yisuo’s parents was called the Floating Gauze Lantern ritual. The gauze lantern was composed of two parts: the shade and the wick. The shade was made of white paper, and the wick consisted of a cotton string soaked in kerosene, affixed with cooked glutinous rice—it was essentially the same as an ordinary river lantern, yet subtly different.

The white paper used to support the lanterns was straw paper. Straw paper was vastly different from ordinary paper; it was much stronger and nearly impossible to tear. It was rarely seen nowadays, arguably difficult to purchase. One would only encounter it when compiling genealogy records or performing the Floating Gauze Lantern ritual. Every few decades, when the ancestral records needed updating, new straw paper would be made, though the craft for making it was now seldom seen. As for why five lanterns were placed on the paper, it was because Yisuo had died at the age of five. If a person in their seventies or eighties had drowned, seventy or eighty lanterns would be used, and the area of the straw paper would correspondingly need to be widened. As the lanterns were pushed to the center of the pond, the straw paper, now soaked, began to sink, while the lanterns remained burning atop the water. Those on the bank watched the center of the pond, silently mourning for Yisuo, until finally, even the lanterns floating on the surface slowly descended, extinguishing one by one until they vanished from sight.

After the lantern floating, under Zhang Enpu’s direction, Yisuo’s father tossed a duck into the pond with a weights tied to its leg. In the Northeast, there was a saying: a person who couldn't swim was like a weight, sinking immediately upon hitting the water, whereas a duck was a master swimmer. The duck thrown in quickly submerged. Soon, strings of bubbles began rising from the pond—the duck’s breath. These bubbles drifted erratically, clearly indicating the duck was struggling desperately underwater. Despite being an animal skilled in water, no matter how hard it thrashed, the duck was doomed to drown. Throwing a duck into the pond was a sacrifice to the water ghosts, intended to appease Yisuo’s resentment, to bring some balance to his spirit, giving him a companion below, thereby ensuring no further misfortune would befall the pond.

Strange things happen every year, but that year seemed to have an abundance.

Too many strange occurrences marked that year. First, the case of Old Baldy’s house where the Wine Immortal passed through, immediately followed by Little Mazi losing his soul from fright. China boasts a long history of brewing. Shuowen Jiezi states: "In antiquity, Yi Di made jiu-lao (fermented mash). Yu tasted it and found it delicious, thus ostracizing Yi Di. Du Kang created shu wine (millet wine)." Counting from the time of Yu, alcohol has existed in China for five to six millennia, developing in tandem with Chinese civilization. Ancient Chinese texts contain numerous records of wine, from the Book of Songs to Dream of the Red Chamber; wine is indispensable in three thousand years of literature and history. Legend holds that the downfall of the Xia dynasty under Jie and the Shang dynasty under Zhou were both caused by excessive drinking. The oldest existing wine in China was unearthed from a Shang Dynasty tomb. Archaeologists in the Xinyang area of Henan discovered ancient wine in a sealed bronze you (a ritual wine vessel) from a Shang tomb in Tianchao, Mangzhang Township, Luoshan. Despite over three millennia of hydrolysis, alcoholysis, and ammonolysis, the strong aroma of the ancient wine had not entirely dissipated—a truly baffling miracle.

Wine is often called a corrosive poison, yet despite this reputation, countless people adore drinking it; living in a perpetual state of inebriation might not be such a bad thing after all. Wine is an essential component of any feast, whether for joyous or somber occasions.

Old Baldy in the village was particularly fond of drinking. He claimed that as a child, he often stole wine from home, inevitably resulting in a good spanking when discovered. Of course, Old Baldy’s wife also brewed wine. Old Man Liu once said that Sister Bai's brew tasted excellent, and many villagers often traded rice with her family for it.

Genuine mountain liquor, true rice wine. However, trouble brewed just as winter was approaching that year.

One morning after breakfast, Old Man Liu said to Young Master Liu, "Da Shao, later ask your mother to measure out one sheng of rice and go to Sister Bai’s house to fetch some wine." Young Master Liu readily agreed, knowing he could then go play with Gou Dan afterward.

When Young Master Liu arrived at Old Baldy’s house, he found Sister Bai busy by the stove behind the house, having started brewing since dawn. Seeing the wine jug in Young Master Liu’s hand, Sister Bai smiled and said, "Da Shao, go play first, but don't wander far. The wine won't be ready until noon. I’ll call you when the dripping starts."

Hearing the wine wouldn't be ready until noon only made Young Master Liu happier; he now had the whole morning to play. As noon approached, Young Master Liu grew hungry and figured the wine should be ready. He and Little Mazi went behind the house to watch Sister Bai brew. By the stove, Sister Bai occasionally dipped a ladle into the dripping spout, tasted a bit, shook her head, and poured it back. Knowing the wine wasn't fully matured yet, she and Little Mazi returned to his house to play.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Young Master Liu heard Sister Bai calling his name from behind. He and Little Mazi went back to the stove. Young Master Liu cheerfully handed over the wine jug, and Sister Bai laughed happily, saying, "It’s been a long time since I’ve made such fragrant wine!" Once the jug was full, Young Master Liu took it home for lunch.

Two or three hours later, Old Baldy rushed into Young Master Liu’s house, gasping for breath, and told Old Man Liu, "Brother, hurry up and check! Something strange has happened!"

Old Man Liu, who was chatting with Zhang Enpu, asked him, "Brother Bai, what exactly is the strange matter?"

Old Baldy wheezed, "The wine, the wine."

Old Man Liu pressed on, "What about the wine? I was just about to say, Sister Bai's batch today was exceptionally fragrant, truly so." Zhang Enpu nodded in agreement, having apparently sampled some as well.

Old Baldy urged, "Brother, quickly bring out all your wine jars to borrow for holding wine, hurry!"

Without a word, Old Man Liu took Old Baldy to search for jars in their home. Soon, they found two large jars—the ones Wang Chunhua had washed a few days ago, intending to use for pickling kimchi in a fortnight. Old Man Liu said, "Brother, is this enough?"

Old Baldy replied, "I don’t know if it will be enough."

Young Master Liu and Zhang Enpu, standing nearby, were stunned and exclaimed in unison, "What, still not enough?"

"Didn't Sister Bai never lend jars when she baked wine before? What's wrong today?"

Old Baldy told Old Man Liu, "Brother, I don't know what’s happening today; the wine just keeps dripping endlessly! I filled every jar in the house and still it wasn't enough. Isn't that bizarre?"

Old Man Liu’s family rushed to the stove area behind Old Baldy’s house. As soon as she saw Zhang Enpu, Sister Bai exclaimed, "Celestial Master Zhang, today is truly strange; the wine keeps dripping without end! I filled all the jars in my house and it still wasn't enough. Isn't that weird?"

Zhang Enpu observed the several already-full jars near the stove and said to her, "It is indeed a bit strange. I’ve been staying here for a while, and as far as I know, you usually only manage to fill two or three jars when baking wine."

Sister Bai nodded repeatedly, "That's right." Old Man Liu pondered for a moment and asked her, "Sister, did you perhaps use too much rice, or too much bingyao (yeast starter)?"

Sister Bai quickly shook her head, "No, I used the exact same amount of rice and bingyao as usual. It’s truly strange." She then turned to Old Baldy, "Husband, quickly change the jar."

Seeing this, Old Man Liu stepped forward to help, assisting Old Baldy in moving the full jar aside to replace it with one of the jars just brought from their house.

Young Master Liu asked Zhang Enpu, "Master, what exactly is going on here?"

Zhang Enpu thought for a moment, then spoke to the crowd with a joyful expression, "No wonder, so that’s what it is!"

The adults asked him, "No wonder what?" Zhang Enpu replied with visible excitement, "This is the Wine Immortal passing through!"

"The Wine Immortal passing through?" Several people were shocked.

Young Master Liu asked Zhang Enpu, "Master, could it be such a coincidence?"

"It must be the Wine Immortal passing through!" Zhang Enpu nodded. "I have heard of such things before; the situation is exactly as it is now. Old Mr. Bai, I never expected the Wine Immortal would choose your home to pass through."

Old Baldy and Sister Bai were completely bewildered.

Little Mazi then asked Young Master Liu, "Da Shao, what is the Wine Immortal passing through?"

Young Master Liu explained, "The Wine Immortal passing through means the Wine Immortal has descended to the mortal world as a guest. Such an event is rare, entirely dependent on fate. The Wine Immortal is the great deity in charge of all wine under heaven. When the Wine Immortal visits a mortal home, and if the homeowner happens to be brewing wine at that exact moment, the Wine Immortal will cast a spell on the wine pot, causing the wine to drip endlessly from the pot until the host has absolutely nothing left to contain it. As long as you pour water onto the pot, wine will flow from the funnel below, and the wine dripping out will be more fragrant than any batch ever brewed before. The wine flows ceaselessly, like a mountain spring. But the most crucial point is that you must not waste the wine, even if you run out of jars at home and must borrow from others. Therefore, when the Wine Immortal is passing through, someone must stay nearby to watch. If the wine is wasted, the Wine Immortal becomes displeased and will stop providing the wine."

Old Man Liu listened with great interest, finally understanding why this wine was more fragrant than usual. He asked Zhang Enpu, "Brother Zhang, what if there are truly no more jars to hold the wine? Wouldn't it just spill onto the ground?"

Sister Bai nodded in agreement, "Yes."

Zhang Enpu laughed heartily, "I'll tell you the rest later, alright?"

The crowd naturally nodded repeatedly.

Zhang Enpu instructed Old Man Liu, "Brother Liu, quickly go back and fetch every wine jar you have."

Old Man Liu and Old Baldy went to retrieve jars. Little Mazi, however, circled the wine stove, jumping and chanting, "Oh, oh, so much wine! So much wine!" Several more hours passed until every jar was filled. After the final jar was filled, Zhang Enpu turned to Young Master Liu and said, "Da Shao, you tell it now."

Young Master Liu nodded, smiled at the wine pot, and said, "Enough, enough, we don't need any more; there’s nothing left to hold the wine."

The onlookers watched in amazement as the bamboo spout stopped dripping wine.

Old Baldy counted the jars, "Eight jars in total! Haha, we won't need to brew wine for more than half the year next year."

Sister Bai was ecstatic, watching from the side. She asked Young Master Liu, "Da Shao, why did the wine stop dripping the moment you said you had enough?"

Young Master Liu grinned at her, "Because our house has no more jars to hold it! If there are no jars left, you just tell the wine pot 'enough,' and the Wine Immortal will hear and naturally stop the pot from dripping."

Sister Bai finally understood why Zhang Enpu hadn't answered her earlier about how to stop it—if the Wine Immortal heard that phrase, it would mistakenly think they no longer wanted the wine. But Sister Bai was still unclear and said to Young Master Liu, "If we run out of our own jars, we can borrow from other people."

The adults present all laughed. Zhang Enpu stroked his beard and stated, "The matter of the Wine Immortal passing through must not be mentioned to outsiders; the fewer who know, the better. If you borrow jars from neighbors and accidentally let it slip, the Wine Immortal will know and become displeased, and he will stop the wine flow."

"But then everyone in our family knows!"

"It is permissible for immediate neighbors to benefit," Zhang Enpu explained.

The others nodded, though they still couldn't grasp the subtlety.

Old Baldy said to Old Man Liu, "Brother, you take three jars of wine. I only drink alone at home, and even I can’t finish that much wine in half a year."

Old Man Liu replied, "Brother Bai, two jars are enough for me. I only drink in the evenings; you have three meals a day that require wine. You should keep six jars for yourself."

In the end, Old Man Liu and Zhang Enpu took several months to finish the two jars allocated to their family. Old Baldy took more than half a year to finish the six jars destined for his home. After that, they never experienced an event like the Wine Immortal passing through their house again.

In the Northeast, rice is grown in two seasons. The early rice seedlings are cultivated just over ten days after the New Year. The late rice is planted only after the Ghost Festival (Seventh Month Festival). When transplanting the early rice, the calls of the cuckoo could be heard all over the mountains and fields. The farmers would say in the fields, "Huo xiang ba po, ba ni waipo." The pronunciation of these eight characters closely mimics the cuckoo’s call. Late rice transplanting begins around the Ghost Festival, which coincides exactly with the early rice harvest—a period of intense labor known as the 'Double Rush' or busy farming season.

When I was little, elders always said, "One grain of rice, one drop of sweat," emphasizing that one must cherish every grain of food. They told me that during the difficult times of the early sixties, they even ate tree bark, lamenting that people nowadays complain about their food even when they have plenty. Truly, they didn't know the hardship experienced by those who lived through it!

Hearing this, Young Master Liu became fixated on the thought and said to Old Man Liu, "Our family harvests so much grain in a year, did you and Mother really sweat that much? You ate tree bark back then—is tree bark meant for human consumption?"

Old Man Liu was left speechless, half-amused, half-distressed by Young Master Liu’s question. Rice straw has many uses. The more significant use is cultivating oyster mushrooms; a smaller use is spreading it in the pigpens and cattle sheds to keep the animals warm in winter. Every household collected the straw from the paddies, piling it high for later use, as they wouldn't have new straw until the late rice harvest the following year. The early rice straw had to be returned to the fields as fertilizer, much like fallen leaves returning to their roots.

The Old Liu family also had such a pile. And it was this pile of straw that caused the next incident.

One morning, Little Mazi and Gou Dan were playing 'Mother’s Meal' (playing house) in the small hollow behind the houses. Little Mazi had stolen matches and some bowls and chopsticks from his home, having previously told Young Master Liu that since they were playing house, it had to be done properly.

Beside that small hollow was a pile of straw, nearly two meters high. The straw sheaves surrounded a tree that had long since shed its leaves. This haystack belonged to Old Man Liu’s family. Coincidentally, Young Master Liu had a cold that day. While working in the fields, after several hours, Old Man Liu spotted thick smoke billowing from the sky above his house from a distance.

Old Man Liu cried out in alarm, dropped his hoe, and sprinted toward home. As he neared the house, he realized the house itself wasn't on fire; the blaze was in the straw pile in the small hollow behind it. By the time everyone reached the pile, it had been reduced to ashes, and the tree was scorched black and utterly ruined—burned down to a piece of charcoal, standing stark and solitary.