Chapter 69: Corpse Poison! (5)

In the northeast, due to climate conditions, rice production is not as good as in the south, with only two seasons. The early rice planting starts about ten days after the New Year, while the late rice planting begins after mid-November. When the early rice seedlings are transplanted, the hillsides echo with the calls of the cuckoo birds. Farmers in the fields say: “Huoxiang Baba, Ba Ni Wai Po,”—eight characters whose pronunciation closely resembles the cuckoo’s call. This period is known as the busy double harvest season.

On this day, Tian Guoqiang had gone to the town to report on his studies, leaving Liu Dashao alone and bored, sitting on a stone block at the village entrance, leaning forward in a daze.

“Little nephew! Little nephew!”

Liu Dashao turned his head and saw Tian Cunzhang, Tian Guoqiang’s father, standing in the shade, waving at him.

It had only been a few days since they last met, but Tian Cunzhang’s back seemed to have bent even more.

“Come over, let’s chat.”

Liu Dashao didn’t go over; he simply lowered his head and continued humming songs while leaning against a crooked tree.

At this moment, he could see several ghosts hopping around like fighting roosters, seemingly excited—either high on some stimulant or practicing for their next reincarnation as chickens.

Naturally, Tian Cunzhang couldn’t see them, though he shivered slightly when a ghost passed through him and sneezed.

Seeing Liu Dashao didn’t come over, Tian Cunzhang walked toward him.

“How have you been lately?” Tian Cunzhang took out a pack of cigarettes and offered it to Liu Dashao.

Usually, when Tian Cunzhang offered a cigarette, he did so unwillingly, giving just one. If he had a request, he would offer two. Today, seeing the entire pack being handed over, Liu Dashao immediately realized that Tian must have a serious favor to ask.

And it must be something big.

Liu Dashao didn’t dare to take too many, not wanting to seem inexperienced, so he took three. He stuck one each behind both ears and one in his mouth, lit it with Tian Cunzhang’s lighter, took a puff, and then slowly said, “Fine.”

Looking at Liu Dashao, Tian Cunzhang seemed hesitant, as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t bring himself to. Then he patted Liu Dashao’s shoulder and said, “Come on, today I’ll treat you to a drink at my place.”

In Liu Dashao’s opinion, Tian Cunzhang’s biggest flaw in this life was stinginess.

The Liu and Tian families had known each other for years, and even Liu Dashao’s father, Liu Laoshi, a very honest man, had never been invited to a meal by Tian. So suddenly inviting him for drinks today reminded Liu of an old saying—“Unprovoked flattery usually means ulterior motives.”

Liu Dashao shook his head and said, “Forget it.”

Tian Cunzhang grabbed his arm. “I’ll pay! And I’ll make a braised pork belly dish too! Just tell me what you want to eat!” Liu Dashao had always felt nauseated by the dead children around Tian Cunzhang and kept his distance. Now, standing close, he noticed Tian looked pale, with dark circles under his eyes and bloodshot, sleep-deprived eyes—clearly he hadn’t slept for days.

Before Liu Dashao could respond, Tian Cunzhang ran to the village’s only grain and oil supply store and exchanged a stack of food coupons for two slabs of fatty pork, nearly suitable for rendering lard.

He was really going all out.

Liu Dashao decided to go along and see what Tian wanted. If he could help, he would. After all, he was alone and couldn’t imagine what Tian would want from him. If the matter turned out too difficult to assist with, he could always reciprocate later—maybe treat Tian to a couple of peanut packs at the snack stand near Big Head’s place.

As they walked back together, Tian Cunzhang swayed unsteadily, and the child on his back trembled with every step. The child was covered in blood, eyes closed, only clinging to Tian’s back, occasionally wriggling. From a distance, it looked like he was carrying a red turtle shell.

Once inside the house, Tian Cunzhang immediately locked the door behind them.

Liu Dashao asked, “Why lock the door?”

Tian replied, “Later you’ll leave through that other door. Tonight I’m not working… Did you see that I locked the door properly?”

“It’s locked.” This person must be getting old, Liu thought, not even trusting that he had just done something.

Tian’s house was a renovated flat, decent enough to uphold the Party’s image. The front was a living room, and the back was the bedroom, each with its own door.

The living room was filled with the smell of pickled vegetables. A curtain, rather than a door, separated the room from the bedroom. The so-called specially arranged room was actually just a small room with a wooden bed in the center. The white sheet had turned gray from washing, and the bottom was covered in brown stains.

The cement floor was similarly stained with dark patches, making it look dirty.

Tian Cunzhang seemed to dislike this small room, quickly stepping out.

Behind the living room was a small courtyard, with a piece of iron wire strung between two bamboo poles, drying freshly washed blue-checkered cloth.

Tian turned around and locked the bedroom door again, then turned to Liu Dashao and asked, “See, it’s locked properly?”

If he added the line “You can’t escape now,” Liu Dashao could almost believe Tian was lusting after his good looks and would scream for help while clutching his chest.

For a married middle-aged man, Tian Cunzhang’s level of vigilance was unusually high.

Looking at the lock and then at the suspicious Liu Dashao, Tian finally felt reassured and patted Liu’s shoulder: “Come on, let’s go in and have a drink.”

Tian’s living room was quite spacious. He placed the food on the table, dragged over two stools, and invited Liu Dashao to start eating.

Although he had bought a lot of food that smelled delicious, Liu Dashao had little appetite with the dead child around. Tian sat down silently, drinking cup after cup of rice wine, occasionally stealing glances at Liu Dashao as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t bring himself to. Then he would sigh unhappily and continue drinking.

Looking at the poor child clinging to Tian’s back, Liu found it hard to enjoy the meal. He put down his cup and said, “Chief, if you have something to say, just say it. After all, we’re both grown men. Don’t act so hesitant.”

Tian sighed, “Little nephew, ah! What I’m going to say, you definitely won’t believe…”

Liu Dashao perked his ears, ready to hear what he would say next, but Tian just sighed again and said, “No, if I tell you, you’ll think I’m crazy.”

Damn, I already think you’re crazy! Liu Dashao almost exploded.

He had called him over, yet kept hesitating and wouldn’t say what was on his mind. Just as Liu was about to leave, Tian suddenly said, “Little nephew, there’s some marinated tofu in my cupboard. Bring it out and let’s have it with the wine!”

Liu Dashao said okay, walked over, and opened the cupboard. The second shelf had a human head, the second shelf also had leftover green pepper scrambled eggs, and the third shelf had a plate of marinated tofu.

Liu Dashao immediately spotted the head—it was a woman’s face, eyes closed, half her scalp torn off, exposing part of her skull.

He slammed the cupboard door shut, thinking to himself, “Oh no, that blind fortune-teller I never met was right. My eyes really can see all sorts of strange things.”

Tian Cunzhang asked nervously, “What’s wrong? Did you see something?”

Liu Dashao thought that Tian couldn’t see it, so he didn’t want to scare him and said, “Nothing, nothing. My hand just slipped.” Then he forced himself to stay calm and opened the cupboard again.

Tian said, “Oh.”

As soon as he spoke, the woman’s head suddenly opened its eyes and stared directly at Liu Dashao.

The gaze was full of hatred, as if it would fly out and bite him at any moment.

Liu Dashao quickly grabbed the plate of marinated tofu and shut the cupboard door.

When he returned with the tofu and sat down, he noticed that Tian’s eyes were fixed on him.

“How was it?”

“How was what?”

Tian stared at Liu Dashao for a while, then suddenly relaxed and laughed a couple of times, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart. “Let’s drink, let’s drink. Come on, Little Nephew, I’ll drink to you.”