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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 4: Corpse (Part Five)
Little did anyone expect that a few years later, Zeng Shufen would return on a rainy day.
Now, she was even more beautiful. If it weren't for her mysterious background, there would be countless suitors in the village vying for her attention.
Zeng Shufen came back to celebrate her mother's birthday. She bought a large birthday cake and invited the neighbors who usually got along well with her mother to join the celebration. The villagers listened to her stories about the outside world, marveled at her experiences, and admired her attire, all of them expressing their amazement.
No one knew what Zeng Shufen had been doing outside; all they knew was that she got married when her mother turned sixty.
Her husband was from another town, and although she married late, it seemed like a good match.
For a long time, Zeng Shufen did not return home, not even when her mother fell ill.
The villagers speculated that Zeng Shufen might have had children, as those who cared for kids rarely had much free time.
However, not long after, she returned again and didn’t leave, bringing back a large bag of belongings.
Soon after, someone heard that Zeng Shufen had divorced that man from out of town; the items she brought back were proof of it.
Indeed, Zeng Shufen had not gone anywhere. She told people, "My mother needs me now; she's getting old, and I want to stay by her side."
The villagers did not see any children with Zeng Shufen. Although she had married and divorced, it did not affect her beauty at all. With just a little makeup, she could captivate several hearts. The village was full of bachelors who obeyed her every word.
With help in the fields, it seemed like Zeng Shufen had returned to her former self. Living amidst gossip had become a habit; she thought to herself, "You love me? I'll just do as I please."
In the villagers' words, Zeng Shufen even cracked sunflower seeds differently than other women—full of teasing charm.
Grandma Zeng eventually fell gravely ill. For an entire month, Zeng Shufen devoted herself to caring for Old Mother—feeding her, helping with everything—and lost quite a bit of weight in the process but became even more alluring. Winter was the hardest time for the elderly and sickly; Grandma Zeng passed away during the winter of that year when a major earthquake struck.
Zeng Shufen seemed to have settled down considerably afterward. The family’s land was rented out, and she opened a shop at the village entrance.
Occasionally selling some vegetables brought in some money. Many people came to the shop for tea and drinks, most of them drawn by Zeng Shufen's presence.
The village chief also liked visiting the shop. Whenever there were activities in the production team—like meetings—he would rally everyone to go to Zeng Shufen's place. It served both to support her business and to gather people together more conveniently for discussions.
This felt more like living as a person should.
Zeng Shufen, though aging, still retained her charm. The people who chatted with her always found new topics to discuss. Compared to the past, they now dared only to gossip behind her back, behaving politely in her presence.
Now that she had opened a shop and was making money, who would dare to speak ill of her?
However, what no one expected was that one day, during a heavy rain, the river swelled violently. The muddy waters roared and churned, continuing this way until the rain finally ceased. Zeng Family Bay was lower than other areas, and during the late summer rains, it often flooded. After the subway construction, the riverbed had been washed clean and flooding became less frequent. People living by the river relied on its resources; where there was water, there were fishing enthusiasts.
These fishing enthusiasts mostly came from outside Zeng Family Bay. While there were locals who fished, there were even more who came to collect sand.
So when the water rose, both fishermen and sand collectors were busy.
Zeng Shufen's shop had closed for some unknown reason, and no one bothered to check on it. Fishermen passing by would habitually park their vehicles nearby before heading to the riverbank to fish.
For those looking to fish at Zeng Family Bay, the best spot was the bend in the river where fish were plentiful. In hot weather, large fish could be seen leaping out of the water, their shiny bellies glistening enticingly. So as soon as the floodwaters receded, many people would gather by the riverbank—old and young alike—eagerly waiting to see who could catch a huge fish.
Floods inevitably led to drownings; for those born and raised by the river, such occurrences were not surprising.
As long as everyone kept an eye on their own family members, everything would be fine. Who cared if someone drowned? People would come to watch regardless.
The water had just passed its flood peak and was still murky when bubbles began rising from the bottom. The fishermen shouted in alarm: "Bubbles!" Those with courage didn’t retreat; instead, they leaned closer to investigate.
Then the village men used tools to retrieve whatever was in the water while women gathered together, chattering and speculating whether the body had floated down from upstream.
To everyone's shock, when they pulled the body up, someone screamed: "Isn't this Zeng Shufen?"
Zeng Shufen was dead—she had drowned.
Her delicate features had turned pale; her lips were white and her body swollen, especially her abdomen which was severely distended. At first glance, she resembled a pregnant woman about to give birth. However, Zeng Shufen had no man in her life and could not possibly have children. Someone called the police.
The nearby station sent officers who examined the scene but found no suspicious signs. They concluded that she must have accidentally fallen into the water and drowned.
In my opinion, there were many unanswered questions surrounding this incident; hastily concluding matters in Shili Po Village was not wise.
Of course, from Shili Po Village's perspective, this incident seemed manageable. If someone died here, it wasn't a big deal; it was just important to cover up how they died. This area could potentially become a place for commercial development, so any negative incidents needed to be suppressed before they could escalate.
After listening to what the villagers had said, Qin Jian and I rested in a house arranged by the village chief while we continued our investigation into mysterious animal deaths caused by unknown creatures.
The village chief and his wife returned late at night. Knowing we were already asleep, they did not disturb us and went about their own routines before settling down for the night without further discussion.
I was lying in bed, just a partition away from Qin Jian, tossing and turning for a long time. I couldn't help but ask, "Qin Jian, do you think there's something off about Zeng Shufen's situation?"
"There are many doubts. I don't know how the police station is handling it, but right now we can't investigate this matter."
"I can't sleep."
"What? You want to investigate? Start from there!"
"Just wait and see. I think the livestock deaths are not simple."
"Go to sleep! Don't mix two unrelated matters together. I'm really tired." Qin Jian yawned and turned over, clearly annoyed, and fell asleep.
I rested my head on my pillow, gazing up at the dark ceiling. The chirping of insects surrounded me, and then I heard a sound like rain, which seemed more like someone scattering sand on the roof. Looking out the window, everything outside was pitch black, making it impossible to distinguish between plants or buildings, or if it was just the complete darkness of the night.
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