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墨書 Inktalez
Do you like eating grapes? Some people eat grapes very elegantly, slowly peeling off the skin before savoring the flesh inside; others are more rough, preferring to squeeze ripe grapes forcefully, causing them to burst open with a "pop," spraying juice everywhere. Which type are you? The story we are about to begin has a rather heavy flavor, so if you lean towards the latter type, well, I suggest you don’t read on.
I had been in the Medical Unit for less than half a year when I was transferred to the administration to work in File Organization. Lacking experience in this area, I was sent for three months of training out of town. Little did I know that upon my return after those three months, I would encounter something bizarre.
To make it easier for everyone to read, I will narrate in the third person since the sequence of events is something I learned later through various inquiries. Our unit has an Engineering Battalion equipped with many large machines, including a mountain excavator with wheels over two meters high. One person operates it from above while the other observes and communicates via Walkie-Talkie. Our story begins here with two individuals, whom we shall call A and B for convenience. Both were first-term sergeants set to be discharged at the end of the year. They shared similar interests and lived in the same dormitory, developing a close friendship. Both hailed from the south and loved fruits, especially grapes. A was slow-paced and enjoyed peeling and eating them leisurely, while B was more impatient and often squeezed them open directly. They both enjoyed drinking tea and frequently spent their afternoons in their room eating fruit and sipping tea. It’s interesting how such contrasting personalities can become good friends; perhaps it was not just complementary traits but also some unseen connection.
Now that the background is established, one morning, the battalion had a construction task that required an Excavator, which happened to be assigned to their team. A was operating it while B was stationed nearby to observe and coordinate. A's slow nature meant that by quitting time, most people had already left. Since the project had specific quotas, failing to complete tasks in the morning meant overtime in the afternoon, which made B anxious for A to dig a few more times. A’s meticulous operation naturally slowed things down, causing B to become frustrated. In a moment of anger, B harshly scolded A over the radio before jumping down from the observation station intending to take over the operation himself. However, in his haste, B failed to call for a stop or announce a handover over the radio.
A felt uncomfortable hearing B's words and decided to speed up his operation out of spite. After scooping up some earth, he reversed without realizing what would happen next.
Due to the rapid reversing speed of the two-meter-high wheels, B was crushed underneath! He didn’t even have time to scream before being caught under the wheels! A continued reversing and moving forward several times without knowing what had happened; he thought B had gone back for lunch. Eventually, A shut down the machine and prepared to return to the Unit. What he encountered upon disembarking would haunt him for life! B's head had been crushed under the wheel, flattened like a burst grape skin on the ground—red and white mixed together! Brain matter and blood sprayed several meters away; since only B's head was crushed, his body remained intact with limbs still twitching slightly! At that moment, A broke down completely, collapsing on the ground in shock!
The scene was horrific; aside from a few individuals present at that moment, security was tightened around the area with barriers erected so that few could see what had happened. According to reports from on-site command—one of our leaders—he took one look and vomited.
Let’s continue; this truly was an accident. However, at that time, our unit's protocols were far from perfect compared to now. If there had been crisis intervention measures in place back then along with timely psychological support for soldiers involved in accidents, perhaps what followed wouldn’t have occurred! Later on, due to this incident, A was ordered to retire at year-end while the unit compensated B's family with a sum of money due to safety violations reported by higher-ups against our leadership.
This matter came to a close; as for A, since retirement was less than a month away, he was allowed to stay in his dormitory. Being inherently introverted, A didn’t like sharing his troubles with others—in modern terms, he struggled to express his negative emotions. After everything that happened, he remained trapped in memories of that day filled with guilt and panic; he isolated himself in his room without participating in activities or socializing with others.
No one expected that just before A's retirement another incident would occur—A went mad! He truly lost it; whenever he saw someone he would clutch his head and cry out: “I won’t eat grapes anymore! Get them away from me! I will never eat grapes again!” No one knew why this happened; I only speculated after asking about it in detail.
It turned out that just two days before A's retirement, a group of newly promoted sergeants returned from training outside the Unit. Due to limited accommodations at that time and seeing that A lived alone and was about to leave soon, they assigned one of these new soldiers—a cheerful fellow we’ll call C—to share a room with A. The intention behind this decision was good; on one hand they wanted to prevent any further incidents involving A while also providing him some care like meals.
However, this became problematic because discussing A’s past incident was strictly prohibited within the Unit; thus C had no knowledge of what had transpired. C noticed A’s gloomy demeanor and wanted to cheer him up by learning about his preferences so he could bond with him better.
A consistently ignored C’s attempts at conversation which made C feel awkward as he struggled to find common ground with him. Eagerly wanting to connect with A before retirement day arrived, C sought opportunities to please him by gathering information about his likes.
On the eve of retirement day during a tea gathering organized by the Unit—which A did not attend—C brought back an assortment of fruits specifically for A.
“Squad Leader, do you like grapes?” C asked as he squeezed one open right in front of A and slurped up its juice.
Upon witnessing this act, A completely lost control! Now that you’ve reached this point in the story—do you still eat grapes?
There’s an old saying: suspicion breeds fear. Given A’s introverted nature—once someone harbors something troubling within—it becomes difficult for them to shake it off quickly. C’s actions were merely the last straw on an already burdened camel’s back for A. The weight of B’s death loomed heavily over him; I believe A must have dreamt about B at some point otherwise such an extreme reaction wouldn’t have occurred.
As time passed after these events unfolded—the truth remains elusive; no one can truly know what happened next.
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