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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter of Revenge Corpse (Four)
Zeng Carpenter walked into the house with his hands behind his back, clearing his throat habitually. He noticed his daughter-in-law's swollen eyes and asked in a muffled voice, "What happened to you?"
"Nothing, I just didn't sleep well last night because of the mosquitoes."
Zeng Carpenter sat down and quickly gulped down the corn porridge, then silently left to work.
When the three brothers came in for their meal, she dared not linger long at the table. Instead, she found something to wash and discreetly observed them.
She felt that each of the three brothers resembled the one who had bullied her, yet none of them truly did. This matter remained unresolved until she sensed something was off; her period was late. She felt relieved not to have to hide that dirty business anymore, but also anxious about whether that incident had caused some terrible consequence.
Perhaps her missed period was just a delay. Grandma Zeng thought this way and felt somewhat reassured. The person who had bullied her was beyond her reach, and she had found no clues. Among the three brothers, only the eldest had received an education; the others relied on brute strength, and even the educated one worked in the fields, so they all had calloused hands.
Almost all three brothers had bad breath and rough palms.
Feeling helpless about her late period, she began experiencing other symptoms—unexplained nausea and cravings for meat—signs that only pregnant women typically exhibited.
Zeng Carpenter noticed this change in her and asked quietly what was wrong before leaving for half a month.
Half a month passed, then another half month. Her belly began to show, and rather than being pointed at by others, she thought it might be better to just die cleanly. For the first time, Grandma Zeng contemplated death as she felt something moving inside her. She wrapped her belly with cloth strips several times but could not contain its gradual growth.
Behind the house flowed a river called Min River, a tributary where the water was clear enough to see the stones and fish at the bottom. Those without wells nearby still drank from this river.
She stood foolishly by the riverbank as if entranced, staring blankly at the fish and shrimp in the water, gazing at the pebbles beneath. She thought that if she just stepped in, wouldn’t it dirty the river? Dirtying the river would surely bring scolding.
In this life, suffering seems to be inevitable, and the next life may bring more of the same.
If she had jumped into the river when she arrived at the bank, perhaps it would have truly happened. It was her hesitation and indecision that drew others' attention. Someone informed the Zeng Brothers, who were working in the fields, that a family member seemed to be in trouble by the river.
The Zeng Brothers rushed over and found her standing by the riverbank, lost in thought. One of them quickly grabbed her and carried her back home.
When Zeng Carpenter returned, he did not leave again; instead, he locked her up with an iron chain.
In the days that followed, the three brothers were drawing lots to decide who would marry. The eldest was supposed to marry, but he refused because the child she carried was not his.
Since the eldest wouldn't take her, they pressured Er to do so. Er suggested a drastic measure: to use incense ash to terminate the pregnancy. Upon hearing this, Zeng Carpenter kicked him angrily; after all, it was a life at stake, and that was akin to taking a life.
Third Brother of the Zeng Family outright rejected this idea and cleverly proposed an alternative: drawing lots.
Whoever drew a lot with "bride" written on it would marry her.
Look at that!
What was once a desirable catch for Grandma Zeng had now turned into someone to be scorned. This was all due to that night when she was bullied by those rascals. The three brothers shifted blame onto each other, none willing to admit their wrongdoing. Could it possibly have been Zeng Carpenter's fault?
This matter was indeed complicated.
Zeng Carpenter's wife died from excessive bleeding after giving birth to their fourth child. At over forty years old, he struggled to raise three children alone. When Grandma Zeng arrived, he was just over fifty; truly, it was a time when one should be strong and vigorous.
The villagers knew about this, and Grandma Zeng was aware as well, yet no one dared to break the silence.
The drawing continued, and the eldest son, having good luck, naturally took the woman who held the child in her arms.
Strangely enough, after the eldest son got married, Er and Third Brother encountered misfortunes one after another, both dying within three years—one from electrocution and the other in a car accident.
Not long after marrying Grandma Zeng, the eldest son became a father to a daughter.
The child was born looking remarkably like Zeng the Elder. With someone around, Zeng the Elder didn’t seem too concerned; he refused to acknowledge his own actions. Setting aside Zeng the Elder's life with Grandma Zeng for now, let’s focus on Zeng Carpenter. With Er and Third Brother gone, the eldest son married and had a granddaughter.
He should have been enjoying family life, but unexpectedly, when his granddaughter was just a year and a half old, he fell ill with a strange disease.
It was indeed a bizarre illness.
Zeng Carpenter developed red bumps all over his body, resembling those from leprosy. The bumps initially formed blisters that eventually burst, oozing thick yellow liquid with a foul odor. The villagers whispered that this was retribution for ruining a young girl's life and passing it on to his son.
Some claimed that Zeng Carpenter had been a notorious womanizer in his youth, driving his wife to death while chasing after other women and contracting filthy diseases. In short, there were all sorts of rumors flying around. Zeng Carpenter suffered greatly; lying in bed alone with no one to care for him. Grandma Zeng treated him like an enemy, ignoring his cries of agony as he lay there wailing.
After the birth of his daughter, Zeng Family's eldest son left their hometown to teach in a faraway place.
Though it was called teaching, it was really an escape; he hadn’t touched Grandma Zeng even once since their marriage.
As Zeng Carpenter's condition worsened, Grandma Zeng could only cry with her daughter by her side. She didn’t look at her husband or inform her own husband. It wasn’t until Zeng Carpenter took his last breath that she finally wrapped him in a burlap sack and carried him alone to bury him on the hillside.
Zeng the Elder had been out teaching for a long time without any news. Even after the old man passed away, he still did not return. Grandma Zeng buried Zeng Carpenter and did not leave Zeng Family Bay, dutifully tending to her daughter and taking care of the small plot of land while practicing Buddhism.
During Zeng Shufen's growth, she faced her fair share of disdain. Her background remained a mystery, and it became a topic of gossip among people during their meals.
Time flew by, and soon it was time for Zeng Shufen to go to school. Her mother, Grandma Zeng, saved every penny, mending clothes for others to save money for her daughter’s education.
Unexpectedly, the child was unwilling to go. Each time she was sent, she would come back after being beaten, circling around the production team's storage room with her mother. It was not easy for her mother; she cried with tears and snot until she finally learned that the other children at school were bullying her daughter.
Zeng Shufen grew tall and thin due to malnutrition. Walking down the street, a boy would whip his top at her, striking her and leaving a mark on her face while she could only grit her teeth and swallow her tears.
They called her derogatory names, insulted her as a bastard child, and hurled even worse insults at her.
Growing up in an environment where her mother didn’t care and her father wasn’t there to love her, Zeng Shufen blossomed into a beautiful young woman but harbored a rebellious spirit deep within her—a rebar that couldn’t be broken. She ran away from Zeng Family Bay, and no one knew where she went; some speculated she might be like Zeng the Elder and never return.
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