Chapter 43: Snakes dug out

For lunch, we had a dish of meat and bean curd (a Sichuan specialty, made with bean curd, pickled vegetables, mushrooms and meat slices in a soup). My dad had made the bean curd early in the morning for the old man, who loved our bean curd. But he had gone out early in the morning, so my dad simply made it into a meat and bean curd dish for me to eat, because I loved meat.

The meat and bean curd soup was delicious. The authentic farm-style zhuba (crushed chili peppers with vegetable oil) was served with the tender bean curd. It was so spicy that I could hardly breathe, but it was so fragrant that I couldn’t stop eating. I ate two bowls of rice and three bowls of soup before I was satisfied.

After I put down my chopsticks, I went to see my mother again. My mother’s spirits were recovering quite well. My father had specially made her some chicken soup to replenish her body. My sister and I were both sensible and didn’t act like we did when we were little and demanded to eat chicken.

I obediently lay down next to my mother, and after she finished drinking the chicken soup, I rolled into her arms and began to pout.

“Old Chen, it’s all good now. The problem with my second daughter is solved, the child is better, and the third child can stay with us until he is 15. I feel so relieved.” Although my mother’s health is still a bit weak, her complexion is finally good, and it is completely different from the past few days.

“Yes, I think my third child will have a bright future. I always feel that Master Jiang is definitely not ordinary.” My father pulled my mother to him and let me roll around on her, talking to her.

“Why is it not ordinary?” My mother obviously didn’t think much of it.

My father looked at me and didn’t answer. At that moment, the sound of Su Rou’s voice rang at the entrance of our courtyard.

Su Rou is a good friend. Since the incident with my second sister, many people in the village have avoided coming to our house, whether intentionally or not. Although they came to give advice in the beginning, they couldn’t help being afraid.

Even though his mother was worried, he still came to my house to play with me every other day.

I put on my shoes and ran out, ‘clop, clop, clop’. I hadn’t been in the mood to play because of my sister’s death, and when Su Rou came to see me, I just said a few words and let him go. Today, I had to have a good time with him.

Seeing me run out in high spirits, Su Rou was a bit startled. The other day, which day wasn’t I covered in dust?

“Is your sister’s problem over?” Su Rou is a good friend of mine and knows me very well.

I patted his belly and said, “It’s all right, it’s all right, it’s completely fine. Where should we go to play this time? Otherwise, let’s go steal some chickens from Liu Chunyan’s house and eat them, shall we?”

Now that my sister’s problem was solved, I of course thought of my deep hatred for Liu Chunyan, and immediately came up with a bad idea.

“We’re not going today. We’re going to the market. I’ll tell you, there’s something good going on. By the way, why didn’t you come to school yesterday?” Su Rou obviously didn’t want to steal chickens today, so he mentioned the market and asked me why I didn’t go to school yesterday.

I almost blurted out that I had gone with my master to do some business, but in the end I didn’t say it. The reason was simple. I thought that my original image in Su Rou’s heart was a heroic Red Army soldier, but now it had become a Taoist priest, which was too damaging to my image. So I just laughed and got past it. I was very interested in the good things he said about the countryside, so I asked, “What good things are there in the countryside? Tell me quickly, otherwise I’ll be put on the tiger bench and served with chili water.”

“Hey, you don’t know? They’re cutting bamboo in the market. My mother and I went to the market this morning and found out.” Su Rou said hurriedly.

“Go, go, go. I thought it was something else. Is cutting bamboo fresh? There’s a small bamboo forest in front of me. I’ll go home and get you a knife. You go and cut it. Really, just say it. Do you want to go with me to Liu Chunyan’s house and steal her chicken?” I was very disdainful of Su Rou’s good thing. If cutting bamboo is a good thing, then this good thing happens every day.

“Hey, listen to me finish. It’s not just one or two bamboo trees, it’s an entire bamboo forest. I don’t know what’s going on. It’s not strange to say that you get points for cutting bamboo. What’s strange is that there are so many snakes in the bamboo forest.” Su Rou chattered on and on.

“Snakes? It’s strange that there are no snakes in the bamboo forest!” I shouted. Who hasn’t seen a snake as a child in the countryside? I also know that there are usually snakes in the cool places like the bamboo forest, but I had an indescribable feeling in my heart. I remembered the bamboo forest where I stayed that night.

“What’s the rush? Snakes are not fresh. Many people were going to catch them to eat, but they were stopped by the officials in the market. I heard that the People’s Liberation Army was also coming. I also heard that…” Su Rou suddenly lowered his voice.

I heard that the PLA was already agitated, but when I heard that there was something else, I was anxious and asked, “What?”

“I heard that there was a big snake, a really big snake. This time, when they cut the bamboo, they asked to dig up the roots. I don’t know why, but there was a big snake underground, and its head was as big as a bamboo basket.” Su Rou gestured.

My face was not looking good, but I said, “You’re just blowing hot air. You saw it?”

“No, hehe…” Su Rou laughed and grabbed the back of his head. The fat on his face pushed up, making his eyes squint. He looked very honest and simple, but he continued, “But those who dug the bamboo in the morning said that it was all over the town. Anyway, the snake’s head came out first, and it was seen by a few PLA officers, who immediately drove the people away, saying that they would let people in later.”

I was eight or nine parts convinced. Su Rou was a seemingly honest boy, but he was actually full of nonsense. But he didn’t fool me. I finally asked the question I had always wanted to ask: “Su Rou, which bamboo forest in the village are you talking about?”

“Oh, that bamboo forest is said to be next to a graveyard. No one goes there on weekdays. Fortunately, no one goes there, otherwise the big snake will swallow it. I’ll tell you…” Su Rou’s upper and lower lips quickly flipped, and he kept talking. As soon as I heard that it was there, my heart ‘pounded’ and ‘pounded’.

The big snake! The other day I not only bumped into a ghost, but also slept on the big snake. Son of a bitch, am I lucky? Or am I just plain lucky?

“Sanwa, Sanwa…” Su Rou kept calling me from the side when he saw that I was in a daze and didn’t respond to him.

“What’s wrong?” I suddenly came back to my senses and pretended to be fine.

“Did you hear what I just said? I also heard that they dug up a stone door, which is near the graveyard.” Su Rou said very seriously.

When I heard this, I realized that I had missed such an important piece of information when I was in a daze, so I said, “You want me to go with you to the county fair to see the fun? Let’s go, we’re going now.”

“Great, I’ve got my food ration with me!” Su Rou, all excited and shaking with fat, quickly said.

“What kind of food?” I was also excited to hear that there was food.

“Look,” Su Rou took out a cloth bag from his chest, and when he opened it, it was full of boiled potatoes that were almost squashed by his fat.

“Forget it, you eat it.” I really wasn’t interested in those unrecognizable boiled potatoes, so I went in and said hello to my parents and left.

Running around with Su Rou, I didn’t feel the long way to the market. It was past two in the afternoon when we arrived at the market. It was strange that the usually bustling market was very quiet.

“See, I told you it was true. Everyone in the market is digging bamboo in the bamboo forest,” Su Rou said with a hint of pride.

“Hmm.” When I mentioned this, I had something on my mind, and I gave a perfunctory answer.

“But how do we get to the bamboo forest? Sanwa, do you know?” Su Rou is always like this, asking me when he doesn’t know what to do.

“How do I get there? Just follow me, I know it very well.” I answered casually, but then I realized that I had not told him everything.

“Sanwa, how do you know?” Sure enough, Su Rou immediately asked.

Su Rou is my best friend. In fact, I didn’t want to lie to him. After hesitating for a long time, I asked Su Rou, “Su Rou, you are my good brother, right?”

“Nonsense, our relationship is like that of Dong Cunrui and Huang Jiguang!” Su Rou pounded his chest.

“What’s their relationship?” That’s really new. I’ve never heard of a relationship between Dong Cunrui and Huang Jiguang.

“They are both war heroes! Between heroes, of course, of course, it’s that… anyway, they are all the same.” Su Rou is really a master of nonsense!

Come on, he’s a war hero? I’m destined to be a Taoist priest. I’m too lazy to argue with Su Rou. I said solemnly, “Su Rou, do you believe in ghosts?”

Su Rou was shocked by my solemn tone and said after a long pause, “I didn’t believe in ghosts before, but now I’m a little more convinced. Isn’t it about your second sister? Well, I…”

Su Rou was afraid that I would be angry, so she spoke very carefully. Moreover, the social atmosphere at that time meant that even rural children who had seen a lot of strange things since childhood could not talk about superstitious content.

“Alas, my second sister was bewitched by a ghost. Anyway, for this matter, I went to the bamboo forest you mentioned. Do you believe me?” I asked Su Rou.

“Have you seen it?” Su Rou was terrified.

“Yes, I have.” I was very calm. I had seen it so many times that I didn’t feel anything. Besides, I had a cheap master to protect me.

“What does it look like?” Su Rou’s face had turned pale.

“It was just like that, not green-faced and fanged.” I didn’t want to scare Su Rou, so I said it lightly.

Su Rou let out a long sigh, patted his chest, and looked like he was still in a state of shock before asking, “Sanwa, what happened? Can you tell me?”

I had a feeling that I couldn’t go into detail, so I just said, “Anyway, it’s just a matter of finding someone to help drive out the ghost. My second sister is fine now, but you have to keep it a secret!”

“I will keep it a secret, I won’t tell anyone.” Su Rou absolutely accepted this statement. As a rural child, who hasn’t heard of someone being exorcised? Even if you couldn’t see it with your own eyes back then.

I trusted Su Rou very much. He would keep a secret unless someone threatened him with food. But his parents would never ask him about it, and they would never threaten him with food.

“Let’s go then, to the bamboo forest!” I said loudly, waving my hand. I told Su Rou, and I felt much more relaxed. What I couldn’t have predicted was that this would be the beginning of Su Rou’s life with me.