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墨書 Inktalez
My grandmother suddenly reached into Zhou Laolian's mouth, rummaging around for a moment before pulling out a large piece of mutton from her throat.
The instant my grandmother retrieved the meat, we heard a sound from Zhou Laolian's throat, a muffled "ugh... ugh..." as if the breath she had been holding was finally released. After exhaling, Zhou Laolian's mouth closed.
The villagers exchanged glances, murmuring softly, "Zhou Laolian died unjustly, choked to death on a piece of mutton."
"Indeed, a piece of mutton took her life."
Zhou Laolian had been a decent person during her lifetime, and the villagers were lamenting her passing. My grandmother stared at the mutton in her hand, lost in thought.
With Zhou Laolian's sudden death, according to our hometown customs, she had to be cremated before sunset to prevent any possibility of resurrection. The villagers worked together to build a pyre, and several young girls lifted Zhou Laolian onto it before lighting the fire. Her body was immediately engulfed by the flames, crackling and popping as it burned.
The air was filled with the smell of charred flesh. My grandfather leaned closer to my grandmother and whispered, "Old woman, it's strange that Zhou Laolian choked on mutton."
My grandmother's expression darkened as she replied impatiently, "What's so strange about it? Zhou Laolian came from a poor family and had hardly eaten mutton in her life. She was too greedy and ate too quickly; it's only natural she choked."
Zhou Laolian's body burned for an entire day, only turning to ashes as dusk approached. A few young girls stayed behind to handle the aftermath while the others dispersed.
Back home, my grandmother fished out some sheep entrails from the pot and cut up some sheep head meat, placing it on a plate. I unconsciously swallowed; it had been so long since I had eaten mutton. I reached for it but was swatted on the hand with chopsticks by my grandmother. "What are you in such a hurry for?"
While my grandmother enjoyed the sheep head meat herself, I could only watch enviously. She ate with grease glistening on her lips and said to my grandfather, "This meat is fine; there's no need to be suspicious."
She seemed quite pleased as she spoke these words and added two more pieces of fatty meat into her mouth, chewing heartily. Suddenly, her chopsticks fell to the ground. She clutched her throat with her hand, her eyes wide open in alarm.
My grandfather asked, "Old woman, what's wrong?"
My grandmother suddenly rolled on the kang, making sounds of "ugh... ugh..." as if she were choking.
My grandfather quickly reached into my grandmother's mouth and pulled out pieces of rotten meat. She was hunched over on the kang, gagging a few times before suddenly vomiting.
What came out was black and foul-smelling, reeking of decay, like putrid meat.
After she finished vomiting, my grandmother slumped back onto the kang, gasping for air, her eyes filled with terror. Her face and neck were flushed red; she had nearly choked to death.
My grandfather said, "Old woman, are you alright? This mutton is cursed! I should just throw it away."
As he spoke, he reached to discard the meat on the table.
My grandmother stopped him. "Don't throw it away! It's perfectly good mutton; what a waste! I'll take it to the market tomorrow to sell."
My grandfather frowned deeply and murmured, "This meat is off. What if we sell it and it harms someone?"
She shot him a glare and exclaimed, "What does that have to do with us? It's good mutton; we can't waste it."
The next morning, my grandmother loaded the mutton onto the mule cart, preparing to take it to the market.
My grandfather stopped her. "Old woman, I had a dream last night. I dreamt that our old spotted sheep asked me to collect its body."
She scoffed impatiently. "The mutton is all sold out; where would we find it? How can we collect its body?"
With that, she climbed onto the mule cart.
My grandfather blocked the cart and said, "That old spotted sheep told me that the remaining mutton is buried under the abandoned house at the west end of the village. We should go check."
At the west end of our village stood a dilapidated old house that had been uninhabited for decades. It was rumored that someone had hanged themselves inside.
My grandmother's eyes darted around before she slowly replied, "Then let's go investigate."
The old house was in ruins, lacking even a surrounding wall.
"Where's the meat?" she asked.
My grandfather headed straight for the threshold of the old house and began digging near it. He dug a pit half a meter deep and discovered frozen meat—lots of frozen meat.
He pulled the frozen meat out and laid it on the ground; all of it was from what had been sold, even the portion sold to Zhou Laolian was there.
My grandfather's face was filled with shock as he said, "Old woman, what that filthy old hag said was true!"
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