Chapter 1: The Mysterious Birthmark

I am from Sichuan. In the winter of 1967, I was born in a poor village in southwestern Sichuan. I won’t say my exact birth date because of professional taboos, but since it is the introduction to everything that happened, I still have to mention that I was born at exactly 12:00 noon, not a second more or less.

At this point, someone will surely ask, “Is that really so mysterious? Who can guarantee that there was not one second more or one second less? Even if my father had a watch on him at the time and was watching the time, he couldn’t guarantee it, could he?

Indeed, that is the case!

So, what I want to tell you is that this time was later calculated by my master according to my horoscope and given to me.

I would never doubt a word my master said, and as it turned out, he had never been wrong about my family.

So what is so special about people born at exactly noon? We will talk about this soon.

However, I still have to say that people born around this time should not panic. In fact, there are not many people born at this exact time in all of China.

Let’s continue.

The winter I was born was a very cold winter, so cold that my parents still remember it vividly.

My father described that winter as follows: “It was so cold that even the old hens in the yard were walking on their toes.”

I can’t imagine what it would be like for a hen to walk on her toes, but in my hometown, where it hardly ever snows, winters that cold are unforgettable. It’s precisely because it doesn’t snow that the cold is more unbearable than in the north. It’s a different kind of cold, damp and cold to the bone.

I was born in such a winter. When I was born, my parents almost thought I would not survive, especially in such an abnormal cold.

Why? There were three reasons.

First, I was very small and thin. My mother said that when my father first held me in his arms, he exclaimed, “This is no different from holding a kitten!”

Second, my crying was very weak, and I was crying intermittently, as if something was strangling my neck, as if I was struggling desperately, gasping for breath. The experienced midwife who delivered me at that time thought I had choked on the amniotic fluid and held me upside down and slapped me a few times, but it turned out to be useless.

Third, when my father and the midwife bathed me, they discovered a birthmark on the back of my head. Birthmarks are not a big deal, but the color of my birthmark was like blood, and when I looked closely, it looked like an eye.

People in the countryside are superstitious, and the midwife was a little scared at the time. She said, “This birthmark looks like an eye, but when I look at it, it looks like it’s staring at me. This child is so weak, and he has this thing on his body. Should you find someone to take a look?”

My parents had not received much education, and when they heard the midwife say this and saw the baby, they were scared.

My mother, in particular, had just given birth to me and was already weak. She panicked and collapsed on the bed. My father, however, was able to think quickly and asked, “Grandma Liu (the midwife’s surname was Liu), what do you think is wrong with this child? Who should we call to come and see him? Should we go to the village clinic and call a doctor?”

Rural people were poor, and the medical conditions at the time were not very good. In the eyes of my parents, the experienced midwife Liu was undoubtedly the greatest authority and very convincing.

Seeing my father ask this way, the midwife Liu first looked around in a strange way, and then whispered to my father, “The newborn baby is weak, and that thing is easy to take advantage of. Do you know that that thing leaves a mark? For example, if you are grabbed, there will be several black fingerprints on your body, and if you are kicked, there will be a footprint. Have you all seen the kind of person who was pulled by the water ghost to be a substitute? The bodies that were pulled up had handprints on their feet.

Hearing this, my father immediately understood what the midwife was talking about. If it was the midwife who said that the bodies left marks, my father would have thought she was talking nonsense. But when she said that the water ghost would find a substitute with marks on its body, my father had to believe her because he had seen it with his own eyes.

It was a summer day more than ten years ago, and my father was only in his early teens at the time. Children in the mountains and fields have nothing to do, so who wouldn’t go to the river to take a bath in the summer?

On the day of the incident, as usual, my father finished his work and then went to the river with five or six of his good friends to take a bath. Among them were twin brothers, simply called Big Twin and Little Twin.

My father didn’t see the details of what happened, but he only remembered that he was still playing a mud fight with another child by the river when he heard the little twin shout, “My brother is sinking! Hurry, hurry, help me!”

Hearing this, my father was so shocked that he turned around, and when he did, he saw that Daxiong’s body was sinking straight into the middle of the river, and in an instant, only his head was left, and he didn’t even struggle.

Xiao Shuang had already swum quickly towards his brother, and two other people had quickly followed behind…

At this point, my father couldn’t care less. They were childhood friends, so he couldn’t just stand by and watch them drown. He swam in the direction of the older twin, but before he could take a few steps, he saw the younger twin grab the hair on the top of the older twin’s head. He let out a sigh of relief, but then heard the younger twin yell, “Damn, it’s so heavy! Wang Gou’er, come and give me a hand!”

Wang Gou’er was the closest to Xiaoshuang. When he heard Xiaoshuang’s cry, he didn’t think twice and quickly swam two steps, just barely catching Xiaoshuang’s hand that was struggling in the water.

“Go and hold my brother, I’m going to lose him…” Xiaoshuang shouted loudly without even taking a breath, as if he had used up all his strength.

Then there was another flurry of activity. After all, there were five or six people, and several adults who were working nearby were also alerted. In the end, the twin brothers were rescued.

After being rescued, the elder twin was unconscious and didn’t know how much water had been poured into his stomach. His entire stomach was swollen and round, while the younger twin’s face was ashen and he was even slightly trembling in the hot weather, but people thought it was from being scared.

At that time, people didn’t bother to ask anything, they were all busy rescuing the twins. In this village by the river, which one of them didn’t have a little common sense of dealing with drowning? After a quarter of an hour, the twins finally woke up.

Doushuang, who had just woken up, had a blank look in his eyes, as if he didn’t quite believe that he was still alive. Before he could say anything, he was slapped on the head by Uncle Li, who shouted, “You naughty little brat, what were you doing swimming in the middle of the river? You’re so careless!”

This was a genuine reprimand with concern. People at that time were simple and honest, most of the villagers knew each other, and their feelings were genuine. Who would want to see something happen to a child from another family? So a few scoldings were inevitable.

Daxiang didn’t say anything back. My father was watching and understood that the boy was still in shock, but Xiaoshuang, who had been shaking slightly next to him, couldn’t help but say, “Uncle Li, I don’t think my brother was swimming to the middle of the river. He was dragged there. Really.”

Xiaoshuang’s voice was not loud, but as soon as he said it, the surrounding area suddenly became quiet, and even Uncle Li was stunned.

In the countryside, who hasn’t heard of some strange things in the mountains and fields? When Xiaoshuang said this, wasn’t he clearly saying that there was a water ghost looking for a scapegoat? People had heard a lot about this, and they had a lot to say about it. When they actually saw it, they were still confused and refused to believe it.

“What are you saying, little brat? Are you afraid that your father will beat you if you go back? Don’t say these things to scare people.” Uncle Li’s face was quite serious. Rural people respect ghosts and gods, and they think that talking about these things and shirking responsibility will bring bad luck.

“I’m not talking nonsense!” Xiaoshuang was suddenly agitated. He jumped up and shouted, “I watched my brother swim down, and he couldn’t move at all. I watched him sink to the middle of the river, as if he had been dragged down by something. And, and…”

“And what?” Uncle Li’s face was not looking good. He knew that the boy was not lying, and that something was wrong.

“And when I went to save my brother, I felt that he was very heavy when I grabbed him, as if someone was fighting me for my brother. It was also cold. As soon as I grabbed my brother, I felt cold all over…” Xiaoshuang was shaking while talking, and at this time, everyone believed a little.

My father was also the one who helped drag Dashuang up. He knew that the coldness on Dashuang’s body was like ice. It was just that my father and the others were not affected. In retrospect, it may be that the few half-grown boys had a strong yang energy, and the thing retreated. Otherwise, how could the person who was entangled be rescued so easily?

It was at this moment that Dashuang finally spoke: “I saw fish in the river, so I went to catch them. As soon as I went in, someone grabbed my ankle. When they grabbed it… I couldn’t move, not even my whole body. I was so cold that I couldn’t move…”

When Dashuang said this, his eyes were still a bit dull, but a look of obvious fear appeared on his face. It was at this moment that my father saw a scene that he would never forget. He followed Dashuang’s words and subconsciously looked at Dashuang’s ankle. There were three thumbprints on the ankle, which were very obvious, dark blue and black, and looked strange.

“You lucky son of a bitch…” Everyone saw it, and Uncle Li Si obviously saw it too. He held it in for a long time, and all he could say was that sentence, and he couldn’t say anything else.

My father’s memories end here. Thinking about this, his heart was even more anxious, because our family already had two daughters at the time. My father was very eager for a son, and seeing that he finally had a son, he couldn’t just stand by and watch him die.

“Grandma Liu, what’s wrong with my son? Look at me…” My father was already anxious and at a loss.

“This mark looks like an eye. I’m afraid that’s why he was targeted,” said Liu, lowering her voice and speaking uncertainly.

“What should I do?” My father obviously believed in this uncertain statement. He was desperate and was looking for a cure.

“What do you mean? You’re afraid you’re going to invite…” At this point, Liu Wenpo looked around and then whispered in my father’s ear, “Ask the widow Zhou to take a look.”

“Ah, Mrs. Zhou?” My father couldn’t help but let out a low cry when he heard this name, and frowned. Obviously, he couldn’t make up his mind.

“Mrs. Zhou?” My mother, who was lying on the bed, couldn’t help but struggle to sit up when she heard this name, and kept saying no: “No, no, his father, the day before yesterday, the village meeting just said that Chairman Mao said that he would sweep away all the ghosts and snakes, break the four old things, and not engage in feudal superstition.”

When Liu Wenpo heard my mother say this, she immediately got up and said, “Old Chen, I’m doing this for your family. It’s not easy to have a son. As for what I said, you decide for yourself. I’m leaving now.”

My father glared at my mother and quickly got up to see off Liu Wenpo. When he was about to leave, he grabbed a chicken and insisted on giving it to Liu Wenpo: “Grandma Liu, I, Chen Da, am a man who knows how to get along with people. I won’t do anything that doesn’t make sense. You can rest assured. When my youngest son grows up, I will thank you with some old bacon.”

“Yes, the people in the village are not close to each other now. Who really wants the other family to be bad? This world…” My father’s words were obscure, but Liu Wenpo still understood and muttered a few words before leaving.

Of course, I can’t blame my mother for these things. She’s a woman, and she’s timid. I’m sure I can’t blame my father and Liu Wenpo for being so careful and speaking in a roundabout way. Everyone knows what kind of era 1967 was.

My father only told Liu Wenpo that he appreciated her and would not do such a mean thing as exposing others, and Liu Wenpo only sighed that nowadays people are no longer close to each other, and they dare not open their hearts.

But compared to the madness of the outside world, this poor little village can already be considered a paradise, at least the people in this village still have some humanity, and everyone still cares about feelings, not being invaded too deeply by the madness outside.

After seeing the midwife off, my father entered the house with a heavy face. At this time, my two sisters, who had been hiding in the woodpile, were also in the house.

It is a long-standing custom in our village that children should avoid the birthing room when their mother is giving birth.

As soon as he stepped into the room, my father saw my two sisters lying on the bed, looking at me curiously and cautiously. My eldest sister, who was only five years old at the time, whispered to my second sister, who was only three years old, “Second sister, don’t touch your brother, and don’t touch him. Look how small he is.”

This sentence stirred my father’s thoughts. He walked over and picked up his second sister, then touched his eldest daughter’s head, and looked at me, his brows furrowed.

“Lao Chen, are you really going to invite Zhou…” Mom was still worried about that matter and asked as soon as Dad entered the house.

My father coughed and interrupted my mother, then put down my second sister and said to the two sisters, “Big sister, you take the second sister to the kitchen to guard the chicken soup. If you boil it dry, you won’t have chicken to eat for two nights.”

At that time, because my father was capable and my mother was industrious, the family’s conditions were not bad in the village. At least every time my mother gave birth, she could have a pot of chicken soup made from old hens to replenish her body. The meat that my mother could not finish was naturally given to my two sisters.

Hearing about eating chicken, my two sisters were very enthusiastic. They promised my father and went to the kitchen to guard it.

“You can’t say that in front of the children. If the children don’t understand and say something, not only our family, but also others will be implicated.” My father whispered to my mother.

“I’m just worried. Look at the youngest, he’s so thin and small. I don’t have a grandmother to take care of him, and this winter has been so cold, I…” My mother couldn’t continue, and she took me in her arms, as if I were about to leave her the next moment.

“Mrs. Zhou is now a witch, and her reputation is bad. Although the village chief and the people in the village have protected her out of friendship, the cadres from above are all watching her, hoping that something will happen so that they can earn credit.” My father had learned a little bit of reading when he was illiterate, but he was a genius when it came to human relationships.

“What should we do?” My mother was at a loss for an answer, and then she muttered, “Chairman Mao said not to do things, but are we really going to do them?”

My father was both angry and amused. My mother was just an ordinary woman, and apart from my father, the person she believed in most was Chairman Mao.

“This is because Chairman Mao doesn’t know about our youngest child. If he did, he would not have refused to save our youngest child, because he thought our family was so great. Don’t think about it anymore. I’ll tell you what. Tomorrow, I’ll take our youngest child to the village clinic for a look. If the doctor doesn’t help, I’ll try to get Mrs. Zhou to help.” My father comforted my mother a little, then sighed. At that time, he was worried that Mrs. Zhou would not help.