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墨書 Inktalez
"What does that mean?" I turned to ask Captain Zhou.
Captain Zhou stopped, pulled out a lighter, and lit a cigarette before continuing to walk and say, "Last night when you all went to bed, I was still awake. Knowing we were going to Tou Gou Zi Village to gather information the next day, I called the village chief of Tou Gou Zi."
We all nodded, perked up our ears, eager to hear what Captain Zhou had to say next.
Captain Zhou took a puff of smoke and blew a smoke ring into the air. "I told him we would be coming to gather information and asked him to prepare. I also told him that the person who found the first corpse should stay home and wait for us. Then, as we chatted, just like this, we unknowingly started talking about Old Xia."
"Old Xia," Captain Zhou instinctively glanced at Old Xia leading the way in front of us. Seeing no reaction from him, he continued, "Old Xia is forty-two years old this year. His family has been butchers for generations; since his grandfather's time, they have been slaughtering cattle and sheep at the entrance of the village."
Once he started, Captain Zhou couldn't stop.
Old Xia's family has been butchers for generations; his grandfather was a butcher too. Back then, when the country had just been liberated, Old Xia's grandfather was assigned to work at the Meat Processing Plant and became a proud butcher. At that time, he was in his twenties, and he continued this work for his entire life.
His grandfather was a butcher, so naturally his father was influenced by him. When he was around ten years old, he followed his grandfather to the factory to slaughter cattle and sheep, cutting meat and weighing it—he became very familiar with every step of the process. He knew how to bleed the animals, skin them, and cut the meat; he mastered all these procedures.
After retiring from the factory, Old Xia's father took over this position. No one in the factory knew more about being a butcher than Old Xia's father. He quickly became a well-known butcher at the Meat Processing Plant, and Old Xia began a childhood similar to that of his father.
However, things changed when Old Xia's father turned forty; the state-owned Meat Processing Plant underwent restructuring and all employees were laid off. Although Old Xia's father was skilled, no one appreciated his talent. Old Xia's mother suggested that he use some savings to open a butcher shop, which he did.
At that time, people who worked in state-owned enterprises had become lazy, but Old Xia's father was different; he truly loved this profession. Even though suppliers could provide pre-slaughtered meat for him, Old Xia's father insisted on doing it himself. Every night, Old Xia would see his father sharpening knives in the dark and slaughtering cattle in silence.
When he reached his twenties, Old Xia's father finally handed over the family shop to him while passing down the butcher knife he had used for two generations. Since Old Xia wasn't academically inclined and wasn't suited for school, he naturally inherited his father's business and took over the butcher shop.
As we listened to Captain Zhou recounting Old Xia's story, Old Xia walked silently ahead of us. It felt uncomfortable discussing someone behind their back when that person was so close by.
The cigarette had burned down completely; we lit another one together. Watching the curling blue smoke as snowflakes drifted down from above, Captain Zhou continued telling us about Old Xia: "When he turned thirty, something happened that completely changed Old Xia's life..."
At twenty-five, Old Xia was arranged for marriage by his family and soon got married. Three years later, they welcomed a baby into their lives; their world of two became a family of three.
This story actually began with Old Xia's grandfather. Back then at the Meat Processing Plant, most people were just going through the motions. To put it in popular terms of that time: whether you worked hard or not made no difference; whether you worked or didn’t made no difference either. Most people were just there to pass time; a stable job could feed them for life.
Anhe was one such person who just went through life; he was Old Xia’s grandfather’s neighbor.
The An family and the Xia family were long-time friends.
If Old Xia's grandfather had known what kind of people the An family's younger generation would turn out to be, he would never have agreed to be neighbors with them.
Just like how people a decade ago could hardly believe that smartphones would exist, those same people would never have imagined that a factory in their country would go bankrupt. Anhe's son and Old Xia's father grew up together, both wearing the same kind of open-crotch pants as children.
The two of them took over their fathers' Meat Processing Plant jobs at the same time. They mirrored their fathers: one worked diligently while the other spent his days drinking tea and playing cards, living a carefree life. At that time, it was hard to tell who was better than whom, and the relationship between the two families remained good.
This was a friendship spanning two generations; your grandfather and my grandfather were good friends, as were your father and my father.
Thus, Old Xia and Old An became good friends as well.
But then, that year, the factory closed down.
Everyone became unemployed. Although their salaries had been the same, Old Xia's father had saved up wages and benefits while Old An's father lived by a philosophy of spending everything he earned, without any habit of saving. After all, no one expected that a lifelong golden opportunity would come crashing down like this.
As a result, Old An's father often had to borrow money from Old Xia's father. They had lived half their lives together; their bond was stronger than that of relatives. Old Xia's father was a good man who thrived during the era when everyone ventured into business for themselves, making quite a bit from his own butcher shop. He often lent Old An's father hundreds or thousands without ever asking for repayment.
Old Xia's mother frequently reminded him about this situation; after all, helping in emergencies is one thing, but if someone is perpetually poor, can you keep lending them money for life?
When Old Xia married, Old An was still out in society trying to find his way. Like Old Xia, he wasn't cut out for studying either, but he didn't even have a skill to rely on for a living. He had once fantasized about taking over his father's position and thought he could live comfortably just by chatting over tea.
Old Xia's father couldn't bear to see his son become such a slacker and lent him forty or fifty thousand, hoping he would start a business and trade goods.
However, just like his father, Old An was used to being carefree; that money was quickly squandered away.
Afterward, Old Xia's father lent him money several more times until he passed away.
From then on, Old Xia's mother forbade her son from lending any more money to Old An.
Old Xia's mother was a sensible person; she understood that lending money to Old An was like throwing it into a bottomless pit—there would never be an end to it. Over the decades, she had lent the An family not less than two hundred thousand; they had done all they could in terms of kindness and obligation.
Moreover, Old Xia had a child with his wife, which meant that the expenses would only increase in the future.
What parent doesn't wish to provide a better living environment for their child?
Thus, Old Xia decided to give Old An a lump sum of one hundred thousand yuan. This would be the last time he would give Old An any money. Looking at the one hundred thousand yuan, Old An promised that he would use this money wisely to start a business and make good use of it.
In reality, Old An did intend to do so.
However, despite his good intentions, Old An lacked the awareness and ability to run a business after nearly thirty years of life. Naturally, within two years, the one hundred thousand yuan was squandered away, and Old An lost everything. Meanwhile, Old Xia planned to open a chain of Meat Shops.
At that time, Old Xia was twenty-eight years old and had a three-year-old child. He moved into a new home, leaving behind the house allocated from the Meat Processing Plant long ago. The new house was spacious, over one hundred thirty square meters. While it wasn't particularly wealthy, Old Xia could still live a comfortable life.
He could eat whatever he wanted and traveling was not an issue either.
The Xia family had a traditionally simple and pragmatic character. Back in the day when they were younger, people remarked that Old An had a cleverness about him and was destined for great things. Others said that Old Xia was too introverted and shy to achieve anything significant.
But reality proved everyone wrong; perhaps Old An was smarter, but Old Xia succeeded.
Old An approached Old Xia once more, hoping to borrow another one hundred thousand yuan for a chance at a comeback.
Old Xia refused his request.
That night, Old An stood at the door cursing loudly: "When your father was around, did you dare treat our family like this? Look at you now, Old Xia! You've made it big and forgotten your roots? Who do you think you are? If it weren't for your wealth, would I be begging you like this? What kind of humanity is this! Your family has money; what's wrong with giving me one hundred thousand?"
Old Xia still did not relent.
At that time, it was common to hear Old An slandering Old Xia everywhere. He claimed that now that Old Xia had money, he had taken on several mistresses. With wealth came the abandonment of former brothers. Old An even frequently insulted Old Xia's daughter, calling her nothing but trash as she grew up.
In short, there was nothing too outrageous for Old An to say.
A grudge is often born from a small grievance.
In times of great difficulty, extending a helping hand to others can earn their gratitude for a lifetime. However, if you continue to help them and then one day choose not to, they may hold a grudge against you forever.
Old An had been living off the support of the Xia Family since he was in his teens. But twenty years later, the Xia Family no longer offered their assistance unconditionally. Old An took the Xia Family's charity for granted, believing that since Old Xia was so wealthy, why shouldn't he share some of it with him?
But this time, Old Xia was resolute.
Holding onto his resentment, Old An chose an auspicious day according to the lunar calendar, a day deemed unsuitable for sacrifices.
Then, he made a decision.
At this point, we had already traveled more than halfway through our journey.
Snowflakes continued to drift down from the sky as Captain Zhou muttered that the weather was simply terrible.
"And then?" Guan Zengbin asked curiously.
Captain Zhou teased them by saying, "Can you guess what decision Old An made?"
"What?" both of them inquired.
"Take a guess," Captain Zhou replied.
I furrowed my brow and said, "It should be about the origin of his burns..."
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