Wandernde Lieder am Ende der Welt

Kapitel 18

The village chief didn't stand on ceremony. He glanced at his wife, who was busy in the kitchen, took the food, and stuffed it into his pocket, saying, "You two can stay at the school for a few days. This school hasn't been operating for years; it's been empty for years. People who come stay there. As for meals, we take turns eating at each house. When higher-ups come to our village—like those who install power lines, show movies, or come for the annual epidemic prevention—it's all the same. Just give them 10 yuan for a meal at someone's house. Villagers are happy to have people come over for meals. We eat simple, coarse grains and mixed dishes; city people love that. Earning money is hard in the mountains, and this can supplement our income. This morning we had wild vegetable pancakes at my house; they were delicious!"

The village chief took the wild vegetables into the kitchen. The two men followed him in, wanting to help.

Bingbing asked, "Last night on the mountain, there was an old man, thin, driving a donkey. Who was he?"

The village chief said, "You mean Wang Youliang? He lives just up ahead. His son recently went on a long trip, and the old couple stays home with a donkey. Why are you asking him about him?"

Bingbing said, "It's nothing, he's fine. He gave us directions yesterday." Then she asked,

Who is that female ghost? Why is everyone in the village so afraid?

The village chief clicked his tongue and said, "It's hard to say. Many people have died in the village in the past two months. No one has seen the female ghost's face, and everyone who has seen it is dead." The village chief seemed unwilling to say more.

The village chief's wife was stirring the batter when she interjected, "Everyone says it was Yingniang and her daughter who did it. They say their spirits are restless and came out as ghosts to kill people and take revenge, killing everyone who had a grudge against their family."

The village chief glared at her: "What do women know? Don't talk nonsense!"

Zhang Qun wanted to get the village chief out of the way. "Village chief, we'll help your wife out, why don't you go outside for a smoke?"

The village chief went to the main room. Bingbing sat in front of the stove tending the fire, while Zhang Qun pumped the bellows beside her. The village chief's wife poured the mixed batter into the pot, stirred the thin porridge with a long spoon, and said in a low voice, "It's actually quite promising."

Think about it, Yang Hongde's entire family, who had a grudge against them, were all dead; then, the old village chief Wang Nao, whom that woman hated the most, also died, and even Uncle Nao's daughter, Xiaoyuan, was dead. And those people who had previously sealed off her house have all died one after another. Many people say it was the mother and daughter who caused it…

"What's Yingniang's name? What's her daughter's name?"

"Yingniang's name was something like Ying, anyway, many people called her Yingniang. Some people also called her Ghost Eagle. She came from outside the mountains, she looked eerie, with a high nose bridge, like an eagle. Even when she was over 50 years old before she died, her eyes were still dark and bright, often watery, and all the men in the village were bewitched by her. Her daughter, Xiaoyue, was brought to the village with her, no one knows whose child it was. She was a natural beauty, precocious in her teens, attracting all the young men in the village, two generations older than her, who followed her around. Ever since this mother and daughter came, the village has been plagued with trouble... Alright, sister. Turn off the fire, the porridge is done—,"

Just then, with a loud "bang," the rice cooker exploded. The lid flew up and nearly hit the village chief's wife on the head. The pot full of porridge spilled from the stove, extinguishing the fire below with a whoosh and sending plumes of white smoke billowing out. Looking into the pot again, there was nothing left except a large hole at the bottom. The village chief's wife was horrified, collapsing to her feet, her face showing a fear she had never seen before. Bingbing and Zhang Qun also stared at each other in stunned silence for a long time.

The village chief's wife raised her hand and slapped herself in the face, saying, "Pah, pah, my foul mouth! I deserve to be hit!"

There was no porridge, so the village chief borrowed a teapot of hot water from a neighbor and ate it with some warmed flatbread, then had everyone bring their breakfast down. Throughout the meal, the village chief's wife didn't say a word, her face remaining gloomy.

After having breakfast, the two said they had nothing to do and wanted to wander around the village. The village chief led them through the middle of the village, saying, "My village is called Shimen Village. Our ancestors came here to escape bandits, and we don't know how many generations have lived here. It's located in a mountain valley, in a place beyond the jurisdiction of Henan and Shanxi provinces. It's surrounded by mountains for hundreds of miles around. Even to see a car, you have to drive over 60 miles of mountain road first, so very few people come here. It's far from the reach of the emperor!"

Bingbing didn't want to hear any of this; she was still thinking about Yingniang and Xiaoyue. "Village Chief, where did Yingniang and Xiaoyue live when they were alive? Where was their house?"

The village chief was taken aback: "The house in the northwest corner of the village collapsed a long time ago."

Zhang Qun asked, "We find it very interesting, who in the village is close to Xiaoyue?"

The village chief said, "There are many people in the village her age. Xiuyun, Lusheng, and Xiao'ai, the daughter of Uncle Nao, all went to school with Xiaoyue. Sufang, Mingxuan, and I were a year below them. Xiaoyue first went to the primary school in front, but then the village school closed down, so she went to a joint-venture school in Badong on the other side of the mountain. Later, Xiaoyue and the other three went to school in the county town. Now, the students from that graduating class have either gotten married or gone out to make money; not many of them are still in the mountains. Lusheng might still be at home; he came back from the city last year."

“Where is Lu Sheng? Can we talk to him?” Zhang Qun asked.

“He lives up ahead of us. He broke his leg while working as a construction worker in the city, and his wife ran off with someone else. He was heartbroken in the city, so he came back. He makes a living by farming a small plot of land and raising a few pigs.”

Bingbing asked, "How did Xiaoyuan die?"

The village chief said, "Why do you keep asking these questions? Xiaoyuan has been dead for over a month, probably eaten by wolves... Why bring this up? I really don't want to talk about it. You city people are just curious. You hear a few words from others and think you've encountered some incredible strange event. There are far too many strange and unusual things in these mountains."

As I walked on, I saw a young woman standing at the doorway, cracking sunflower seeds and glancing at the village chief with a sidelong glance and a smile.

The village chief struck up a conversation with her, asking if her child had gone to school and if her husband had written. As they talked, he leaned closer. The woman said, "I still have some tobacco at home, village chief, would you like some?" The village chief replied, "Of course I would, I'm really craving a cigarette!" He went to get the tobacco, and closed the door behind him.

Zhang Qun and Bingbing exchanged a smile and took the opportunity to leave.

They saw the mentally challenged man again; he was sitting on the hillside east of the village, muttering something incoherently. An old woman opposite him was gathering firewood; her hair was gray, and she was dressed in black. She listened to the man and kept glancing this way. Bingbing waved to them, but the man didn't react. The old woman waved back. The two women didn't stop; they walked and asked around until they arrived at Lu Sheng's house.

The two men were surprised to see Lu Sheng. The village chief said he was only 35, but he looked much older, covered in dust and grime, with a scraggly beard. He limped out of his house, leaning on two homemade canes. He was afraid his house would smell bad and make him look bad. The two men chatted with him, asking about his school days and his experiences working away from home. Lu Sheng's eyes were full of melancholy, and every topic he discussed was filled with lament. He kept saying how miserable his life was; his parents died before he finished middle school, leaving his family without its breadwinner, and their lives had changed drastically. They could no longer withstand any hardship; his current state was practically death.

But when talking about his school days, Lu Sheng's eyes still lit up with emotion.

At this moment, Bingbing handed him a photo. It was a photo of Jiang Lan that she had taken before coming.

"Look—have you seen her before? Does she look familiar?"

He picked up the photo and looked at it, his eyes widening as he looked up in surprise.

"Her? — She's dead. Where did you get her?"

"Is this Xiaoyue? Are you sure it's her?"

Lu Sheng looked panicked and hurriedly shoved the photo into Bingbing's hand: "Her affairs have nothing to do with me. I don't know anything about them, and I haven't harmed her. Don't ask me, don't ask me." He turned and shuffled into the house.

Zhang Qun tried to pull him back: "Hey, you haven't finished yet!"

Lu Sheng shouted, "Get out of here! Get out of here!"

Left with no other option, the two had to leave his house.

Bingbing said, "It seems that Xiaoyue is Jiang Lan."

Zhang Qun said, "But he said Xiaoyue is already dead?"

"That clearly means there was something wrong with her death."

"This means that Xiaoyue is not dead."

"Yes. There must be a mystery surrounding her past."

"Let's find that old man Wang Youliang and see if he knows about this."

“At his age, he must know about the past.”

Chapter Seventeen

She opened her medical kit, took out silver needles and herbal ointment from a copper box, and began working on his back. He willingly let her pierce him. She told him it was the She-Wolf Curse; whoever was pierced by the She-Wolf Curse would have their heart devoured, and betrayal would be punished.

Aside from the village chief and his wife, many villagers, like Lu Sheng, would fall silent whenever Xiao Yue was mentioned, or find an excuse to leave, leaving them standing there in a daze. The two asked for a long time, but couldn't get any information out of them.

When I finally met Grandpa Wang Youliang at noon, he explained, “Most of the people in the village are from the Wang and Yang families. Of course, they don’t want to talk about it; if they did, they’d bring up a lot of shameful things from the past. Although I also have the surname Wang, I was bought from outside the mountains by my adoptive parents. I have no blood relation to the Wang family. I was abducted here when I was six years old. They told me that my biological father’s surname is Wu, so I should have been surnamed Wu, Wu of the Mouth-Heavenly Gate—”

"Hi, so your surname is Wu?" Wu Bingbing said happily. "My surname is Wu. Look, I have an ID card."

"Ah, you're also surnamed Wu?" The old man was very excited, as if he had seen a relative. "I've been here since I was a child, and I've never looked for my family in my entire life, nor could I find them. In this village, besides the Wang and Yang families, there are people with the surnames Shi and Zhang, but not a single person with the surname Wu. You are the first person with the surname Wu I've met in over 60 years. We share the same ancestor. Some people say we were one family 500 years ago, and I think we were probably one family even 200 years ago. I never expected you to come to this place."

"We've come to learn about Xiaoyue, and of course, about Xiaoyue's mother, Yingniang."

I know that both of them are no longer with us now. We want to know about the past. Can the elderly folks tell us about it?

"That was decades ago." The old man smacked his loose lips a few times, squinting at the flickering sparks in his pipe. "Let me do the math. I was 32 that year, and I'm 67 this year. It's been 35 years already."

In Grandpa Wang Youliang's low-ceilinged mud-brick house, Wu Bingbing and Zhang Qun sat on small stools in the middle of the main room, listening attentively as the old man opposite them recounted the past of Shimen Village. Grandpa Wang's wife lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) on one side of the house. Grandpa Wang said she had gone blind many years ago due to an eye disease, and besides eating and drinking, she would lie there talking to the donkey. Because the donkey was fed in this house, a foul stench of animal excrement emanated from another room.

“I remember that autumn,” Old Wang exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, “it seemed to be after the first frost, a light drizzle was falling, and Fu Lai brought Ying Niang back. She was dressed thinly, sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) in his main room. The whole village, young and old, came to see her, all saying that Wang Fu Lai was capable, having just lost one wife and already found another. Because everyone knew that Wang Fu Lai had gone out to find his wife—she had run off with a pot repairman from outside the mountains because she disliked the family's poverty. Fu Lai then begged…” The villagers went with him to look for her. They searched for over 20 days outside the mountains and finally found his wife in a village on the south bank of the Yellow River. The villagers brought her back, bound and gagged. But less than two months later, his wife ran away again. Fu Lai went out to look for her twice, wearing out several pairs of shoes, but still no news of her. He was poor and had no money for travel expenses, and the villagers couldn't help him search either. They all thought he would return empty-handed this time, but unexpectedly, this young man struck it lucky and found a wife along the way.

"She was in her early thirties then, with a big bottom and a broad build. Anyone with eyes could tell she was pregnant, at least a few months along. Someone called out from outside the door, 'Wang Fulai, you son of a bitch, you didn't have to lift a finger and you're already a father!' Fulai squatted at the door, chuckling. Yingniang didn't mind and invited everyone into the main room, as if deliberately telling them that she was a victim of misfortune. Her husband had died in a car accident, and she was all alone and bullied. She happened to meet Brother Fulai, and after learning about his background, she came with him. After she finished speaking, she sneezed, startling the children around her. Then she ran to another room and rummaged through the wardrobe. Finally, she found a jacket that belonged to Fulai's wife. Ignoring the children staring, she took off her top and put it on. She swayed her hips as she walked out, threw the wet jacket into Fulai's arms, and said, 'Let me hang it outside to dry.' Fulai happily obeyed her orders, and everyone inside and outside the room burst into laughter."

"The people outside asked Fu Lai how he knew that woman. Fu Lai had been talking to the villagers at the door and hadn't heard the woman's explanation, which was different from what she said. Fu Lai said the woman was from Hubei, the daughter of an old doctor. Because her family was wealthy during the Liberation, they were classified as landlords. After her parents died, she was bullied in the village and no one would marry her even at 30. Unexpectedly, a painter who was undergoing labor reform in the countryside fell in love with her and got her pregnant. The painter later went to the city. He already had a wife and didn't want her anymore, which made her so angry that she tried to drown herself. He happened to meet her and rescued her, so she came with him. After Fu Lai told them this, everyone was a little envious and stopped looking down on him. Instead, they felt that good people are rewarded."

"That woman was literate and intelligent. There weren't many educated people in the village, especially women; only the younger generation went to school. Few women her age could even write their own names. The men were all envious of Fu Lai's family and paid close attention to their changes. That woman was also quite assertive, keeping the house and surroundings spotless. She could also cut paper-cuts—hens, monkeys, and other things—and stick them on the windows, giving the dusty house a touch of life. Later, she gave birth to a daughter, Xiao Yue. Ying Niang kept Xiao Yue very clean." It's said that she wouldn't let Fu Lai hold the child indiscriminately, and he had to wash his hands before doing so. She also forbade him from feeding the child. It's said that once Fu Lai kissed the child's face, and when Ying Niang saw it, she slapped him across the face, scolding him for having bacteria on his mouth. She said if her daughter got a skin disease, or if she developed pimples or sores on her face, she would kill Fu Lai. True to her status as the daughter of a doctor, she went up the mountain to collect many herbs, boiling them into a soup to bathe the child. However, besides Fu Lai being sick, she also treated other villagers who were ill, using those same herbs and soups, which truly helped many people.

Bingbing suddenly interjected, "I want to ask, does Xiaoyue wear a longevity lock?"

"Yes, there was a longevity lock," the old man replied without hesitation. "My wife knows best. Yingniang often came to visit with her child; Xiaoyue even drank her milk." He lit another pipe and called to his wife on the kang (heated brick bed), "Old woman, didn't Xiaoyue wear a longevity lock?"

“Yes,” the old woman said, “it was on from birth, it’s a pretty thing.”

"What does it look like?" the old man asked her deliberately, "Tell the two girls about it."

"It was silver, about the size of half a pancake," the old woman said. "On the surface was a grinning beast's head, I don't know if it was a dog's head or a wolf's head; it was bulging inside, hollow, as if it contained something, and the edges were soldered with tin. At that time, my son was grown up, and I still had plenty of breast milk, so she always held Xiaoyue to nurse. Others wanted to hold Xiaoyue, but Yingniang never let go, nor would she let anyone touch the longevity lock around her neck. She only let me hold her and let me nurse her."

Bingbing asked, "Auntie, what did Xiaoyue look like when she was little?"

"She was beautiful, fair-skinned and chubby, with eyes even bigger than her mother's, like a porcelain doll. She came to our house every day, and she always smelled wonderful. Later I found out it was because her mother used herbal baths on her. Yingniang would go up the mountain to pick wild orchids and soak the petals in water to wash her body, saying it would detoxify and keep the child healthy, strong, and beautiful. I never had any such intentions, and I never imagined that Zhuzi would always look like a mud monkey. I loved it when Xiaoyue came to our house; every time she came, the whole house would be filled with fragrance, the fragrance of those wild orchids from the cliff, it smelled so good—"

"Look at this old woman, she's usually so quiet, but she talks so much!" Grandpa Wang said with a smile. "She liked Xiaoyue. Xiaoyue used to come to my house often, and I knew she always wore that longevity lock until she was a teenager. I heard from Fu that the longevity lock was passed down from Yingniang's ancestors and it was very precious. I even asked her about it once, and Xiaoyue said her mother wouldn't let her take it off."

"At first, Yingniang wasn't very outgoing, perhaps because her child was young, or perhaps because she was new to everyone—anyway, as Xiaoyue grew up, her mind became more relaxed, and she started wandering around the village. There was a primary school in the village at that time, taught by a young man who had only graduated from junior high school. Yingniang volunteered to become an unofficial teacher. She wore the military trousers popular at the time, with a waistband that made her upper body look bulging, and her sleeves were neatly rolled up, revealing her arms, which looked like lotus roots. She taught the children in a pleasant city accent, but the men in the village couldn't get enough of her. Some of them were jealous of Wang Fulai, wondering why he had such a good wife. Several men started to have designs on Yingniang. The village head, Wang Nao, and Yang Hongde, who worked in the county town, were even more anxious. The two of them made a bet with a cow to see who could get her first."

"Wang Nao was the village head at the time, and he would visit her house every few days. But what he resented was that Yang Hongde made the first move. Yang Hongde had an older brother who was the deputy county head, and he had arranged for Yang to work at a fertilizer factory in the city. His wife and children were still in the village, and he often came back to see them. The Yang family was a respectable family, and everyone in the village respected him. That time when he came back to see Yingniang, Wang Fulai and Wang Nao were both there, and Wang Nao tactfully avoided them. He and Yingniang were talking about things outside, and Wang Fulai squatted at the door listening to them. It was Yingniang who sent him away. She asked Fulai to get some snacks to go with the drinks, and wanted to invite Brother Yang to stay for dinner. Fulai went to the Badong market outside the mountains to buy meat, and when he came back, they were still talking. Before he even entered the house, he saw Yang Mingde grab Yingniang's hand. Yingniang smiled and blocked him, and Fulai didn't dare to say a word. Nothing happened that noon."

After dinner, Fu Lai fell asleep without realizing it because he drank the refreshing water his wife had made for him. It's said that Yang Hongde went to see Ying Niang that night. From then on, he and Ying Niang became intimate.

"Yang Hongde later said that Yingniang wanted to seduce him, but he couldn't control himself. He said Yingniang knew how to please men and bewitch their minds. Every time Yingniang was in bed with him, she liked to press down on his back and half-bite him, half-jokingly, just a light bite that left only a shallow tooth mark. After one bite after another, the mark became deeper and deeper. One day, she opened the medical kit she had brought from outside the mountains, took out long silver needles and herbal ointment from a copper box, and began to work on his back. He willingly let her pierce him and casually asked her what she was piercing him with. She told him it was the Mother Wolf Curse. Whoever was pierced with the Mother Wolf Curse would have their heart devoured, and betraying her would bring retribution. Yang Hongde smiled and didn't mind, nor did he believe the curse would work. Later, when he was bathing in the mountain stream, the villagers saw the pattern on his back. It was the head of a wolf with a fierce face, green eyes, and fangs, and where its tongue was, there was a scar formed from a patch of skin that had been peeled off."

"After Yingniang and Yang Hongde had been together for a few years, she started pressuring him to divorce his wife and live with her, but Yang Hongde refused. He had a wealthy wife who had given him a son, who was almost an adult at the time, and he couldn't possibly leave his wife and child to live with her. Unable to achieve her goal, Yingniang became disheartened. She made Yang Hongde swear that he would help her no matter what, and that he would never despise her, even when she was old. She also secretly arranged a marriage between her two children with Yang Hongde, so that Xiaoyue would grow up to be Yang Hongde's daughter-in-law and marry his son Yang Li, so that her daughter could be taken out of the mountains. She didn't want her daughter to live a miserable life in the mountains like she did."

"How old was her daughter, Xiaoyue, at that time?" Zhang Qun asked.

"Probably six or seven years old," the old man said after thinking for a moment.

"Getting their daughter engaged at such an old age is outrageous!"

"This is common in the countryside. Older generations often have close relationships, drinking blood wine and swearing brotherhood; many want to strengthen family ties by arranging marriages for their children or even betrothing them as children. But it's rare to see two people so close that they arrange a marriage for their child. This is all Yingniang's wish; she hopes her daughter will have a good future. Looking around, the only one she can rely on is Yang Hongde. She's really going to great lengths! She looks down on her husband, thinking him a good-for-nothing. Since Yang Hongde broke off relations with her and moved his whole family to the city, he hasn't come back to see her for years. Later, she got together with the village chief, Wang Nao. After all, in this remote mountain village, besides Yang Hongde, only Wang Nao is truly capable, acting like a local tyrant as the village chief of so many people."

"Fu Lai turned a blind eye to Ying Niang's behavior, but unexpectedly, this honest man, as hard as a rock, got angry. One day, he and Ying Niang had a huge argument. They locked the door and started fighting and cursing, making a huge scene. Some people heard Wang Fu Lai cursing Ying Niang for being ungrateful, saying that she had killed the painter's wife and that if he hadn't rescued her, she might not be where she is now. He said that if she was pushed too far, he would make her suffer too, and that he would definitely send her to prison. Ying Niang was furious, gritting her teeth and flying into a rage, saying that she hadn't harmed anyone." He was spouting nonsense, claiming he disliked her and didn't want her anymore, which was why he made up excuses to abuse her. She sat in the courtyard, wailing and crying. Someone summoned the village head, Wang Nao. Wang Nao was Fu Lai's elder; he slapped Fu Lai several times, berated him mercilessly, and demanded he promise never to bully Ying Niang again. This incident left Fu Lai in a terrible predicament. He fell ill from anger, and since his family had no money for medical treatment, he relied on Ying Niang to gather some herbs for him. His health fluctuated, and he grew increasingly thin, eventually dying after more than a year…

"It's always good to have a man in the family. After Fulai died, Yingniang and her daughter suffered. Yingniang devoted all her attention to her daughter—Xiaoyue was studying at Badong Middle School, 20 miles away, and Yingniang would pick her up and drop her off on the mountain road every day. Xiaoyue was beautiful and diligent in her studies, and Yingniang placed all her hopes on her. She taught her daughter to draw, saying that she had something of her father's blood in her—smart and talented. Xiaoyue was indeed skillful; she could draw door gods, cut paper snowflakes, sew dolls, and do anything well."

During the Spring Festival, the village would ask her to write all the couplets. When Xiaoyue wasn't in school, she often drew on the hillside, drawing trees and birds, sketching them with just a few pencil strokes, making them look almost alive. One autumn, a group of painters from another province came to the mountains to paint. They saw Xiaoyue sitting on a rock, drawing, and were surprised by how well she painted. They asked her who taught her, and Xiaoyue said it was her mother. When they met Yingniang, they learned that Yingniang didn't know much about painting, only some basic knowledge. They all said that this child would be very successful if she were in the city. Before leaving, they took some of Xiaoyue's paintings with them and told her to study hard, draw more, and go to art school to become a painter when she grew up. A female painter who was a university teacher even gave them her home address. Later, a letter arrived from Hunan, containing a pictorial magazine. The female teacher recommended two of Xiaoyue's paintings, which were published in the magazine. Half of the village came to see them. The paintings seemed to have houses in the mountains and the sun or something, but I can't remember what they were.

"Years after the man's death, Yingniang only stayed close to Wang Nao. Unexpectedly, Wang Nao later became distant from her. He later told people that this woman was too complicated; her identity and experiences were unclear, and her heart was deep and sinister, making people more afraid the closer they got. He didn't want to be with her anymore and never considered a falling out with her, fearing she would treat him as an enemy. When they were together, she had used silver needles and herbal ointment to pierce his back with the She-Wolf Curse. He said that after piercing his back, she handed him a small mirror and had him lie down to look at it. She used another small mirror to reflect his back, and he saw the wolf's head in the mirror, looking terrifyingly alive. Then, she moved him over, straddled him, and kept stroking him. She held the silver needles used for the curse in front of his chest, saying, 'There's an acupoint about two wheat husks' width outward from the nipple here. If you lightly prick it with this long needle, the heart will stop beating; one needle can kill.' She gestured there with her fingers and asked him if he wanted to try it." Wang Nao said, "You're joking." She replied, "I'm not joking. If you ever betray me like Yang Hongde did, I'll prick you with an acupuncture needle while you're asleep." She also said she truly regretted not giving that damned Yang Hongde a needle. Wang Nao, remembering Fu Lai's death, asked, "Didn't you prick Fu Lai with an acupuncture needle before he died?" Unexpectedly, her face changed drastically, and she started crying and screaming like a frustrated cat. Wang Nao quickly said it was a joke, apologized profusely, and kept coaxing her until she calmed down.

Wang Nao said that after that, he became somewhat afraid of her. Whenever he was with her, he would think of her silver needles and what she had said, and of Wang Fulai's death, which would make him feel cold and give him goosebumps. He began to distance himself from her and avoid seeing her...

"Wang Nao's change of heart infuriated Yingniang. Unable to win him back despite her best efforts, she began to take revenge. She seduced Wang Nao's son, Wang Bao. At the time, Wang Bao was under 20, had dropped out of school before junior high, and was idle at home. He wanted to get married but couldn't find a suitable wife, so he spent his days running around like a little male dog. He actually had his eye on Xiaoyue. Xiaoyue was 14 then, and had grown into a beautiful young woman; everyone thought she was pretty. Many men wanted to take advantage of her, thinking that since her stepfather was dead and her mother was so promiscuous, she would eventually become like her mother. Yingniang didn't think that way. She believed her daughter, with city blood, shouldn't have been born in this poor mountain village and would definitely go to the city to marry a capable man. As her daughter grew older, she naturally kept a closer eye on her. She often told her daughter, 'Before you grow up and go to the city, remember, you can't let any man in this mountain village touch you. If anyone tries to take advantage of you, or bullies you, tell your mother, and I'll fight them to the death, gouge out their eyes, and skin them alive!'" When she discovered that Wang Bao wanted to get close to Xiao Yue, she told him what she had said to her daughter, which terrified the little guy. Then Yingniang deliberately seduced him, making this naive and inexperienced boy completely infatuated.

"She deliberately provoked Wang Nao, making him furious and feeling a mix of pain and itch in his heart. Wang Nao warned her to stop seeing his son, but she ignored him completely, saying, 'Go ahead and deal with your son if you're so capable. With a father like you who eats and leaves without a trace, how could you raise a son who isn't attracted to women? You even said I'm old and tasteless, but your son didn't say I'm old. I like young men like him too, ten or a hundred times better than you.' Wang Nao was trembling with anger. To fight her, he tried all sorts of methods, finally saying, 'If you keep going against me, I'll take care of your Xiaoyue.' Yingniang said, 'Try it if you dare. If you touch her, I'll cripple you.' Wang Nao didn't believe her and said, 'You just wait and see.'"

"That day, Xiaoyue came home from school and said she needed to pay some school fees, but her family didn't have the money, so Yingniang went door to door to borrow. Xiaoyue waited at home. Wang Nao then brought a large wad of cash, waved it in front of Xiaoyue, and said, 'Xiaoyue, if you let me touch it, I'll give you this wad of cash.' Later, when Wang Nao was drunk, he said that he had taken public funds that day, using this money as bait, and that he wouldn't give her the money even after it was done. At that time, Xiaoyue asked, 'Uncle Wang, is that real money or fake money?' Wang Nao said, 'Of course it's real money.' Xiaoyue said, 'Uncle Wang, I'll let you touch it, but you have to let me feel the money first to see if it's real.' Wang Nao let her feel the money and said, 'It's real, it's real!'" Unexpectedly, Xiaoyue grabbed the money, turned, and ran out the door towards the center of the village. Wang Nao got up and chased after her. She threw the money away as she ran, one bill at a time. Afraid someone would pick it up, Wang Nao kept bending down to collect it as he chased after her. Xiaoyue just kept running. Before Wang Nao could finish collecting it all, Xiaoyue had vanished. In the end, she threw away half the money and buried the other half under the roots of a tree at the edge of the village. That day, Wang Nao went to her house and made a scene. She pretended to be innocent, saying she had thrown the money away on the road and had never taken any of his money.

She would cry when the other person raised their voice, leaving Wang Nao helpless. Later, she used that money to pay all her school fees, even covering the following year's tuition. After this incident, everyone said that Xiaoyue was a really clever girl and would definitely be more capable than her mother in the future. From then on, Wang Nao also took the initiative to soften his stance towards Yingniang.

"Wang Nao and Yingniang reconciled. Yingniang was as affectionate as before, but she couldn't forget her resentment towards him and finally took her revenge on him quietly. After that, Wang Nao never went to Yingniang's house again, and he would grit his teeth whenever he mentioned her. Although Wang Nao was old, he was still unfaithful, and many of the women in the village were on good terms with him. Those women said that Wang Nao had drugged Yingniang and ruined her. He said that when he slept with those women, he only touched them and couldn't do anything else. The women didn't understand, so they touched him, laughed at him, and asked him what was wrong. He would curse Yingniang, saying that this woman was vicious and had put herbal medicine on him, causing him to lose his erection. He said that he was only looking for women to satisfy his lust. When some women asked Yingniang about this, Yingniang said that she had sworn an oath that anyone who dared to touch her daughter would be crippled, and she meant what she said. Only then did people realize that Yingniang was resourceful and admire this woman from outside the mountains from the bottom of their hearts."

"Offending Wang Nao meant offending the entire village. Adding to this, Wang Nao insisted that Yingniang was responsible for Wang Fulai's death, making her the target of everyone's scorn and ridicule. She was stubborn and endured all hardship and grievances herself, desperately protecting her daughter so she could focus on her studies and art. She cleared land in the mountains, planted vegetables around the house, picked wild fruits from the cliffs, and fed pigs and chickens to sell, trying every possible way to support her daughter's education. That year, Xiaoyue was 17, with one year left in high school. Yingniang couldn't afford it anymore and, in desperation, begged Yang Hongde for help. Yang Hongde was no longer the same; he had no interest in this old woman. But Yingniang was followed by her beautiful daughter. Her son, Yang Li, took a liking to her at first sight." With Yingniang taking the initiative to bring up the arranged marriage, Yang Li, nearing 30 and still single, begged his father for help. Since their son was satisfied, and Xiaoyue was an exceptional girl, the Yang family and Yingniang formally arranged the engagement. The Yang family gave a considerable dowry and betrothal gifts. Frankly, Xiaoyue finished her final year of high school with this money. Furthermore, Yang Li, intentionally trying to get close to her, spent a lot of money on her until she entered university. In the following years, it was a fierce battle between Yingniang and the Yang family father and son, even more intense than her battle with Wang Nao. The two families fought to the death, each biting blood. Alas, ultimately, they couldn't defeat these men. First, they drove Xiaoyue to her death, then Yingniang, even burning down their house. No one could have imagined it would end so tragically!

The old man stopped there. The sun was setting, and he needed to go up the mountain to retrieve his donkey.

As the two men said goodbye to the old woman, they found her sitting there blankly, taking long breaths, one hand waving in front of her eyes. The two men quickly asked, "What's wrong, ma'am?"

Grandma said, "A fragrance—I smell it—a fragrance, it smells so good!"

Bingbing inhaled deeply, but could smell nothing but the stench of donkey dung.

Bingbing looked at Zhang Qun: "Can you smell it?"

Zhang Qun sniffed hard while shaking his head: "There's nothing there."

The mother-in-law said, "How could you not smell it? It's the fragrance of wild orchids—didn't you two smell it? It's everywhere in the room. I haven't smelled it in a long time. Maybe we've been talking about Xiaoyue, and she's heard about it. She must be back. Don't be afraid, Xiaoyue nursed from me; she wouldn't harm this blind old woman..."

The two men felt a chill run down their spines and their hair stand on end as they listened, so they immediately ran out of her house...

They saw on the hillside not far away, the simpleton was still sitting there, just like yesterday, with the old woman with a full head of white hair. The old woman raised her hand again, waving in their direction…

Chapter Eighteen