Shuxi Village, eighteen li of farmland.
“Village Chief Zhao, Village Chief Zhao, it’s bad, something terrible has happened…” White Er Lai ran to the front of Village Chief Zhao’s house and shouted.
“Are you trying to summon spirits?” Village Chief Zhao stuck his head out, looking drowsy and reluctant, one hand pushing the window panel open as he asked, “What are you doing so early in the morning?”
White Er Lai leaned against the pillar outside Village Chief Zhao’s gate, panting heavily. He clearly looked exhausted and after catching his breath twice, he said, “Chief, Zhao Chief, something’s happened.”
“What’s wrong, Lai?” Village Chief Zhao opened the curtain, flung a coat over his shoulders, and seeing White Er Lai’s anxious expression, guessed something bad had happened. Could it be those troublemaking educated youths had come back to the village again? While fastening his buttons, he asked, “Have the youths come back again?”
“No,” White Er Lai shouted through the door crack, “someone’s died!”
Upon hearing this, Village Chief Zhao slowed his movements, his tense nerves relaxing a bit as he said, “So someone died? What’s the big deal? I thought the youths had come back again.”
“The body is by the mountainside at the village entrance,” White Er Lai gestured, “the face is terrifying, like a ghost.”
“What?” Village Chief Zhao quickly pulled up his pants, moved toward the kang, reached down, grabbed a shoe from the floor, and forcefully slipped it on with a stomp…
“Old man, are you going out?” his wife rolled over and asked.
“Yes, didn’t you hear White Er Lai calling? Something’s happened in the village. I’ll be back soon!”
“Wear more clothes, it’s chilly today, be careful with your rheumatism.”
“I know,” Village Chief Zhao replied as he walked out of the inner room, muttering under his breath, “this woman, so nagging.”
With a creak, the door opened, and Village Chief Zhao stepped out. A gust of cold air blew in, causing him to shiver involuntarily. He exhaled deeply, yawning as if he hadn’t slept well. The sky was grayish-white. As he left the room, he had glanced at the clock in the inner room—it was just past four o’clock.
“You finally came out; I’ve been waiting for ages,” White Er Lai anxiously said to Village Chief Zhao.
“I know,” Village Chief Zhao replied, taking out his keys to unlock the gate. With a crisp “clack,” the lock opened. Village Chief Zhao pulled hard, and the wooden gate scraped against the ground with a “squeak,” leaving another mark on its usual scratch line. The gate opened…
“Who died?” Village Chief Zhao stepped out, casually pulling the door shut behind him.
“Judging by the figure, it looks like Sister Hu,” White Er Lai answered.
“Sister Hu,” Village Chief Zhao repeated, “how did she die?”
“I don’t know,” White Er Lai shook his head.
“Let’s go check it out,” Village Chief Zhao said, quickening his pace.
White Er Lai nodded and walked ahead of Village Chief Zhao…
After taking a few steps, Village Chief Zhao suddenly stopped and shouted toward his window, “The gate isn’t locked; I’ll be back soon.”
White Er Lai led Village Chief Zhao toward the mountainside outside the village, walking quickly…
“Have we arrived yet?” Village Chief Zhao asked.
“Almost!” White Er Lai pointed ahead, “It’s right there.”
Village Chief Zhao looked in the direction he pointed and saw a dark, indistinct object lying there.
“Is that it?” Village Chief Zhao asked.
“Yes, exactly there,” White Er Lai said.
Soon, the dark, lifeless body fully came into view before Village Chief Zhao. He was startled at the sight. Apart from the figure resembling Sister Hu, the rest of her features were unrecognizable. Her face, hands, and body were all blackened, as if she had crawled out of a fire.
“How did you find her?” Village Chief Zhao asked White Er Lai.
“It rained half the night. I was worried the crops might get flooded, so I came early to check and drain the water from the ridges. As I walked here, I saw this dark object. It was still dark then, but when I approached, I realized it was a dead body. It really scared me,” White Er Lai said, looking at the corpse.
Village Chief Zhao looked up toward White Er Lai’s field in the distance and asked, “Then how is your field? Did it flood?”
“I don’t know,” White Er Lai looked at Village Chief Zhao and then at the corpse, “As soon as I saw the body, I ran back to tell you.”
Village Chief Zhao grunted and walked beside White Er Lai, saying, “Go, inform everyone!”
White Er Lai nodded, muttered an “Okay,” and ran back to the village…
“Dong, dong, dong”—the sound of the village gong could be heard from afar. This was the emergency signal, and every villager knew something had happened upon hearing it. The last few times they heard this sound, it meant bandits had come. This time, the gong sounded, and everyone quickly came out.
The fog began to dissipate, and the sky turned whiter. In the east, streaks of clouds appeared, and soon the clouds turned red. The red light grew brighter and brighter, shining with blinding brilliance, first light red, then deep red, and finally bright red—the entire eastern sky turned red, and in an instant, the sun peeked out with half its face.
White Er Lai quickly brought the villagers over.
“Er Lai, what happened?” an older villager asked.
“I thought the bandits were coming again,” a tall man said.
“Someone died,” White Er Lai whispered.
“Who?” another villager asked.
“You’ll know when we get there,” White Er Lai replied.
“It’s just someone dying.”
“What’s the big deal?”
“Waking people up so early.”
…
The villagers chatted among themselves, clearly reluctant. Within minutes, they arrived before Village Chief Zhao. Upon seeing the corpse, everyone stared in shock.
“Who did this?”
“This is unforgivable!”
“Doesn’t this look like Sister Hu?”
“It’s her…”
“It kind of looks like her…”
“This is just inhuman!”
The villagers murmured among themselves…
“Hey, hey, hey,” Village Chief Zhao waved his hands to quiet everyone down and shouted, “Stop talking for a moment!”
Hearing Village Chief Zhao’s words, the villagers gradually quieted down, the murmurs fading until there was complete silence.
“Dear villagers, please listen to me first!” Seeing that no one was talking, Village Chief Zhao quickly stepped forward and said, “I gathered everyone here today for three reasons.”
Village Chief Zhao looked sternly at everyone to display his authority. He cleared his throat and coughed a couple of times before continuing, “First, we must retrieve Sister Hu’s body. After all, she and her husband saved us during the Japanese invasion. Remember, when the Japanese came to raid, it was Sister Hu’s husband, Big Liu, who warned us, allowing us to escape. Unfortunately, Big Liu was shot and killed by the Japanese soldiers. We must remember this painful lesson. We should always remember those who helped us, just as we remember those who dug the well when we drink water. Second…” Village Chief Zhao paused again, clearing his throat, “We must find the murderer and identify who did this. We must catch this madman. As for the third matter, it’s a bit more difficult!” Village Chief Zhao furrowed his brows, speaking slowly, “It’s about Sister Hu’s two children, Xiao Ping and Xiao Hua. What should we do with them? What do you all think?”
“I already have five kids at home.”
“I have four.”
“I can barely feed my family.”
…
“Alright, alright, alright,” Village Chief Zhao loudly said, “Don’t argue. Let’s all go home and think about it!”
“I’ll take them in,” a voice came from the crowd.
Everyone turned to the source of the voice…
“Er Lai, you’re stepping up?”
“Er Lai, you’re such a good man!”
“You’re a real man!”
The villagers gathered around, patting White Er Lai on the shoulder.
“Quiet!” Village Chief Zhao gestured for silence again and loudly said, “Since no one has a better idea, let’s follow Er Lai’s suggestion for now. He will take care of the kids!”
Under Village Chief Zhao’s command, the villagers carried Sister Hu’s body back to the village with a piece of coarse cloth.
The body was placed in front of the old ancestral hall in the village. This place mainly housed the local god of the land. Every year on the second day of the second lunar month, villagers would gather here, offering rich tributes, burning incense, and kneeling respectfully to pray for good harvests, ensuring their crops would be safe from drought or flood. The god of the land governed the fertile soil, and the dead must rest in peace. Therefore, Han the widow’s body was temporarily placed in front of the land god’s temple. This was an open space, used not only for rituals but also as a meeting place and for autumn harvest activities.
According to the elders in the village, Sister Hu had died an unnatural death, so her body must be placed in front of the land god’s temple for a day. The land god possessed boundless power and would suppress the resentment in her. It was said that anyone who died unjustly would carry a great deal of resentment in their mouth. If this evil spirit was not suppressed, it could harm those nearby, causing the same disaster to happen again. Therefore, the village chief agreed to let her stay at the land god’s temple for one night, and the next day, her body would be taken home so as not to affect her family.
After placing Sister Hu’s body, Zhang the Taoist priest circled her body three times, muttering something incomprehensible. At this time, someone had already prepared a wooden table with an incense burner on it. Zhang the Taoist priest stopped, respectfully walked to the table, picked up three sticks of incense, bowed solemnly three times, inserted the incense into the burner, and then walked into the crowd, whispering something into the village chief’s ear.
“The villagers have worked hard today,” the village chief stepped forward, “Let’s end it here for today. Meet here at six tomorrow morning.”
“Come again tomorrow?”
“Let’s go.”
“Let’s see what happens tomorrow!”
The crowd quickly dispersed, muttering as they walked away…
The weather turned gloomy again. The sun that had just appeared was soon covered by dark clouds. The sky became gray, and with the arrival of the black clouds, the wind began to blow. From the land god’s temple, it rushed to Sister Hu’s home. Sister Hu lived in the eastern part of the village, the land god’s temple was in the center, and White Er Lai’s home was in the western part.
White Er Lai arrived at Sister Hu’s doorstep. Her gate was closed, so White Er Lai opened it and called out, “Little girl, Xiao Hua…”
“Who is it?” With a creak, the window opened, and a little girl of about seven or eight peeked out, yawning…
“It’s me, your Uncle Lai,” White Er Lai didn’t go in directly but walked to the window.
“Uncle Lai, so early?” The little girl knelt by the window, looked back into the house, and called out a few times, “Mom? Mom? Uncle Lai is here.”
There was no response from inside. The little girl turned her head and said, “Mom isn’t here, maybe she went to the fields.”
At this moment, the quilt moved, and a little boy peeked his head out from under the covers…
“Xiao Hua, come here,” White Er Lai waved at Xiao Hua, who was still under the quilt.
“I don’t want to play with you,” Xiao Hua pulled the quilt over his head.
“Little girl, are you hungry?” White Er Lai gently patted the little girl’s head.
The little girl nodded and said, “Mom hasn’t come back yet, but it’s time to cook.” Saying this, she jumped down from the kang onto the ground, immediately blocked by the edge of the kang. Obviously, she was putting on her shoes. White Er Lai left the window, directly opened the door, and walked into the house.
The little girl came out from the house, went to the shed, and picked up a bundle of dry firewood. She returned to the house and placed the firewood into the specially reserved gap next to the stove. Then the little girl opened the big pot’s lid and used a brush to scrub the pot with a “swish, swish, swish” sound. She poured the water from the pot into the stove pit and then used a gourd ladle to fetch water from the jar into the pot, covering the pot lid again…
“Why don’t you want to play with me?” White Er Lai lifted the quilt off Xiao Hua.
“I just don’t,” Xiao Hua pulled the quilt back over himself.
“Fine, don’t play then,” White Er Lai stood up from the edge of the kang, pushed the door open, and walked into the outer room…
“Uncle Lai, it’s smoky here. You should go sit in the inner room!” The little girl turned sideways, tilting her head up. After speaking, she returned to her original position, facing the stove mouth directly, blowing into it with all her might. Smoke poured out of the stove, but the fire wouldn’t catch. The little girl was frequently choked by the smoke coming back, coughing “cough, cough, cough.”
“Let me do it,” White Er Lai patted the little girl’s shoulder.
“Uncle Lai, it’s okay, I’m used to it,” the little girl raised her head.
“Little girl, you’re doing it wrong,” White Er Lai took the little girl’s hand and pulled her up, placing her aside, and said, “These branches are too thick. You’ll be blowing like this forever.” Saying this, White Er Lai walked out the door to the firewood shed. He squatted down and grabbed a handful of small twigs from the bottom of the shed. White Er Lai walked back into the outer room, placed the small twigs at the stove mouth, and put the thicker branches on top. He pulled out a matchbox from his pocket, took out a match, and struck it against the striking surface with a “sizzle.” A flame flared up in front of his eyes. White Er Lai tilted the lit match toward the small twigs. With a “pop, pop, pop,” the twigs crackled and caught fire…
Not long after, the water in the pot began to “swish, swish, swish,” boiling. The little girl opened the pot lid, took a basin near the big pot, which was filled with prepared corn flour dough. The little girl pinched off a piece of dough and rolled it between her hands, shaping it into a ball. She opened her hands and threw the dough ball with force. With a “plop,” the sound was crisp as the corn flour dough tightly stuck to the side of the big pot. The originally round ball had now become a round pancake. Repeating the same motion, one, two, three… soon the entire pot was filled with these pancakes. The little girl tightly covered the pot lid and waited until the water in the pot was almost gone before opening the lid. She used a spatula to remove the corn flour pancakes from the side of the pot. These were “big pancakes,” one side golden yellow, the other side crispy and delicious “Hu Ga Bu.” The little girl placed the “big pancakes” on the tray, took out two pickled vegetables from the jar, rinsed them in a gourd ladle, and chopped them on a cutting board. The meal was ready.
“I’m going to the fields to call Mom for dinner,” the little girl said as she ran out…
“Little girl, come back,” White Er Lai ran out after her, grabbing her hand.
“Uncle Lai, I’m going to find Mom!” The little girl shook off White Er Lai’s hand.
“Little girl, don’t go. Mom isn’t in the fields,” White Er Lai pulled the little girl toward the house.
“You’re lying,” the little girl shook her hand, “you adults always lie to children.”
“It’s true. Mom asked me to look after you!” White Er Lai said.
“Where is Mom?” the little girl asked.
“Mom has something to do today and can’t come back,” White Er Lai looked at the understanding little girl, tears welling up in his eyes as he forced himself to say, “Little girl, hurry up and have dinner with your little brother?”
“Little brother, it’s time to eat.” The little girl carried the tray into the inner room.
The big pancakes, pickled vegetables, and chopsticks were all placed on the edge of the kang…
Xiao Hua finally crawled out from under the quilt, grabbed a smaller “big pancake” with his hands, and with a hard squeeze, a thick layer of “Hu Ga Bu” separated from the pancake. Xiao Hua bit into the “Hu Ga Bu,” handing the golden “big pancake” to his sister…
“Uncle Lai, you should eat too!”
White Er Lai looked at the brother and sister and shook his head, “Uncle has already eaten.”
“Big sister, I miss Mom,” Xiao Hua said.
“Little brother, be good,” the little girl looked at Xiao Hua and said, “Uncle said Mom has something to do today and will come back tomorrow.”
“Little girl, Uncle wants to ask you something,” White Er Lai sat beside the little girl and continued, “Suppose… suppose your Mom doesn’t come back, would you like to live with Uncle?”
The little girl looked at White Er Lai with sharp eyes. She didn’t speak, as if sensing something, and tears streamed down from her eyes…
Village Chief Zhao sat under the oil lamp, a long tobacco pipe in his mouth. He took a deep puff, the bowl of the pipe glowing briefly before dimming again. He pursed his lips, exhaling a thick stream of smoke…
“Old man, smoke less,” his wife said.
“I’m just feeling troubled,” Village Chief Zhao replied, putting the pipe back into his mouth.
“What good does smoking do when you’re troubled?” his wife shot back, “Smoke less so you won’t cough at night.”
“You don’t understand anything, you old woman,” Village Chief Zhao turned to look at her, “You’re all talk and no sense.”
“Fine, fine, fine, you’re the smart one,” his wife muttered, continuing to sew the shoe sole in her hands, “I don’t want to bother with you anymore.”
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