My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 9: Blind Chen

Soon, under Ye Zhenshan's introduction, Zhang Lei greeted all the elders who had come.

As soon as I sat down, I saw a person wearing a small hat, with white pupils in his eyes, and leaning on a cane walking step by step into the room.

Zhang Lei glanced at it and figured this must be the Blind Chen that Ye Zhenshan had mentioned before.

At this moment, Ye Shouhe saw Chen the Blind arrive and quickly got up to greet him.

Zhang Lei was surprised that Ye Shouhe had arranged for Blind Chen to sit next to him.

At this moment, Ye Zhenshan spoke up: "Blind Chen, the man next to you is Xiao Lei, who rescued the river."

Upon hearing Ye Zhenshan's words, Blind Chen reached out and touched the ground.

Zhang Lei quickly raised his hand over.

Blind Chen patted Zhang Lei's hand, then gently stroked it, and slowly said, "Good, good, a blessed person, destined for great wealth and honor."

Hearing this, Zhang Lei was somewhat stunned.

Isn't this fortune-telling stuff? How could I, a modern person who traveled from another time, believe in this?

So Zhang Lei said, "You're too kind. I'm just an ordinary person."

Ye Shouhe, who was standing nearby, chimed in, "Xiao Lei, just listen to what Blind Chen says. He's incredibly accurate at fortune telling."

At this point, Blind Chen continued, "Young friend, could you please tell me your birth date and time?"

Hearing this, Zhang Lei hesitated for a moment.

He searched his mind for the original owner's birth date and time, and then said, "Born on March 15, 1940."

Upon hearing this, Blind Chen pinched his thin fingers together with one hand, muttering incantations that no one else could understand, and his brows furrowed slightly.

Just then, they heard Blind Chen recite: "Year of Gengchen, Month of Gengchen, Day of Jiawu..."

Then he mumbled a bunch of things that no one else could understand, and finally slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Good, good, good!"

This sudden action left Zhang Lei completely bewildered.

Just then, Ye Shuqin's mother, Zhang Yulan, carried dishes into the living room and began to place them on the table.

Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the dishes on the table.

Soon, one steaming dish after another was served, and three tables were set up in the living room.

The eldest elders sat at one table, while the three brothers Ye Jianjun, Ye Jianlin, and Ye Jianjiang, along with their wives and their mother Zhang Yulan, huddled together at a small table.

The last table was occupied by the family's children.

Zhang Lei was seated at the oldest table, which was also the largest table, with more than a dozen people seated there.

Zhang Lei looked around but couldn't find the three Ye sisters.

He turned to look at Ye Shouhe and asked, "Uncle Ye, where are Shuqin and the other two?"

Ye Shouhe paused for a moment, then realized what was happening and waved his hand, saying, "Oh, them? The three of them should be eating in the kitchen. Don't worry about them, let's eat our own food."

Zhang Lei was puzzled. He initially thought it was a rule in the village that women couldn't sit at the table, but when he turned around, he saw that Ye Shuqin's three sisters-in-law and mother were eating at the next table, and even the children had their own table.

However, his guess was quickly interrupted by the person who came over to offer a toast.

Ye Shouhe was the first to stand up and offer Zhang Lei a toast.

Zhang Lei quickly stood up and retaliated.

He was the youngest in terms of seniority at the table. Although he was also a guest, he had no choice but to stand up and toast each of these seventy- or eighty-year-old gentlemen.

Everyone looked at Zhang Lei's humble and polite demeanor with satisfaction.

During the dinner, Zhang Lei didn't eat much, but he drank quite a bit of alcohol.

If he hadn't secretly transferred the alcohol he drank to his personal space at the end, who knows how drunk he would have been.

The dinner party lasted for more than an hour, and seeing that they still wanted to drink more, Zhang Lei had no choice but to pretend to be drunk.

Seeing Zhang Lei passed out drunk, Ye Shouhe had the Ye brothers, Ye Jianjun and Ye Jianlin, carry Zhang Lei back to his room.

The moment the door closed, Zhang Lei suddenly opened his eyes and sat up straight in bed.

He couldn't help but think to himself, "These old men can really drink. Each of them has drunk at least half a kilogram of liquor, and they're not even a little drunk yet."

If I were to drink with them cup after cup, even a god couldn't withstand it.

Zhang Lei sat on the bed for a while, then lay back down and fell into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, Zhang Lei woke up groggily and felt a sudden urge to urinate. He quickly got up and ran to the toilet in the front yard.

After relieving himself of the water, Zhang Lei hurried towards his room, but when he reached the Ye family's living room, he heard people talking inside.

Zhang Lei tiptoed forward, quietly trying to see who was inside.

Just as they reached the door, they heard Ye Shouhe's urgent voice protesting, "Dad, we...we've...harmed...Zhang Lei...!"

Immediately afterwards, Blind Chen's voice rang out, his tone somewhat enigmatic: "Guarding the river, it's all fate."

Zhang Lei heard it intermittently, and couldn't hear the rest clearly.

Instantly, the lingering effects of the alcohol vanished without a trace, leaving only the words "harming myself" in my mind, and a cold sweat broke out on my back.

Zhang Lei's heart skipped a beat, realizing he had stumbled into a wolf's den.

He frantically tried to figure out how to escape, feeling that there was no time to lose and that he had to leave immediately.

Zhang Lei thought that although he had various abilities given to him by the system, even a tiger couldn't withstand a pack of wolves. Besides, who knew if these people had guns? He had to leave quickly while they weren't paying attention.

But as soon as Zhang Lei turned around, he stepped on a tree branch, making a slight sound.

Blind Chen's ears were very sharp. Upon hearing the noise, he immediately turned to look at the door and shouted in a deep voice, "Who's there? Who's there?"

At this moment, Zhang Lei felt that he could no longer avoid it. His mind raced, and he unconsciously took out the machete from his spatial storage and hid it behind his back.

He thought of the people in the room: Ye Zhenshan and Ye Shouhe, whom he might not be able to defeat; and Chen Xiazi, being blind, probably didn't have much fighting power.

If all else fails, I can just collect everyone into my space and give them a nine-family elimination game.

Thinking of this, Zhang Lei hardened his heart. Anyway, these people were the ones who wanted to harm him first, so what was there to be afraid of?

With this thought, he suddenly became bolder, put his hands behind his back, and walked into the living room, pretending to be calm.

When the group saw that it was Zhang Lei who had entered, their expressions instantly changed, and they revealed friendly smiles.

Ye Zhenshan spoke first, asking naturally, "Xiao Lei, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Zhang Lei replied with a smile, "Grandpa Ye, I was woken up by the urge to pee. I went to the toilet and saw that your lights were still on, so I came over out of curiosity. I didn't expect you to still be awake."

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, Ye Zhenshan smiled and said, "We're fine. We're just getting old, so we don't get much sleep and go to bed late. We're just chatting here. Xiao Lei, if you're tired, you should rest first."

Zhang Lei was overjoyed to hear this, now he could make his escape quietly.

But just as he was about to turn his head, he forgot that he was hiding a machete behind him.

Just as he turned around, Ye Shouhe's voice rang out: "Xiao Lei, what's with the knife behind you?"

Zhang Lei cursed under his breath, realizing he had forgotten about this; he had been too nervous just now.

Ignoring Ye Shouhe and Ye Zhenshan's surprise, he strode forward, grabbed Chen the Blind Man beside him, held the cleaver to his neck, and shouted, "Don't come any closer, or I'll kill him with one blow!"

Seeing Zhang Lei's sudden reaction, Ye Zhenshan and Ye Shouhe were completely stunned and didn't realize what was going on for a moment.

Seeing their stunned expressions, Zhang Lei angrily said, "Stop pretending! I heard everything you just said! Ye Shouhe, I never expected you to be so heartless! I saved you, and you still want to harm me!"

Upon hearing Zhang Lei's words, Ye Zhenshan and Ye Shouhe exchanged a glance and instantly understood what was going on.

Ye Shouhe quickly interjected, "Xiao Lei, you've misunderstood. None of us want to harm you."

But at this moment, Zhang Lei had already imagined all sorts of feudal superstitions in his mind, such as worshipping the river god, worshipping the heavens, and various rituals involving human sacrifices. Add to that the fortune teller Chen the Blind, and all the elements were perfectly put together.

He didn't believe Ye Shouhe's words at all and grabbed Chen the Blind Man, trying to pull him out.

But at that moment, something unexpected happened.

Taking advantage of Zhang Lei's momentary daze, Blind Chen used his cane to knock the machete out of Zhang Lei's hand.

Immediately afterwards, he turned around and thrust the long bamboo pole in his hand forward.

Caught off guard, Zhang Lei was stabbed and sent flying more than two meters away before crashing heavily to the ground.

Zhang Lei fell to the ground, his mind reeling. He never imagined that this seemingly weak and helpless Blind Chen was actually a martial arts expert with hidden skills.