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墨書 Inktalez
After everyone finished reading the following stories, I wonder if they would sometimes feel that not believing in fate is simply impossible.
A woman went out one day to buy groceries. On her way home, she passed by a large truck parked on the side of the road. At that moment, a cabbage fell from her basket onto the ground, so she bent down to pick it up. Suddenly, one of the truck's tire bolts could not withstand the immense pressure and exploded, striking the woman directly on the temple. The impact caused a large gash on her temple, and she died on the spot.
An elderly lady, although it wasn't the Tangyuan Festival, suddenly craved Tangyuan that day. Late at night, her family had no choice but to go out and buy some. Once they returned and cooked the Tangyuan, the old lady appeared very pleased and immediately popped one into her mouth. However, she was a bit too eager; the outer layer had cooled down while the inside was still hot. As she bit into it, it burned her mouth terribly. She gasped, and just like that, the Tangyuan lodged in her airway, ultimately causing her to choke to death.
Then there was a girl who insisted on cleaning the windows during a spring cleaning session. She lived on the sixth floor of an old building and could easily stand on the windowsill. So there she was, standing on the ledge with one hand holding onto the glass while using the other to wipe it down. Before long, she lost her balance and fell from the sixth floor. Miraculously, she walked back home without a scratch on her body. Her family was overjoyed but also terrified, thinking that surviving such a close call must mean good fortune ahead. They decided to celebrate, but while they were out for dinner, they got into a car accident where the girl was struck by a vehicle and killed.
These stories were shared by Mary in response to Yan Junde's claim of not believing in fate. According to Yan Junde, people often consult fortune-tellers about their career lines, love lines, and life lines. But he believed that if you just clench your fist, you would realize that everything is in your own hands. People can conquer destiny; if everything relied solely on fate, then what’s the point of working hard? It all comes down to who has good luck and who doesn’t.
Mary scoffed at this notion and brought up these bizarre death stories to counter Yan Junde's argument. In Mary's words, it's thirty percent fate and seventy percent hard work. Personal effort certainly plays a significant role, but sometimes not believing in fate can truly be detrimental.
This led to an inevitable exchange of banter between the two.
At this moment, Juan Juan chimed in: "I'm not here to debate whether people should believe in fate or not; instead, let me share some strange death cases I've encountered during my years as a forensic doctor. I remember when I was still a student following my mentor to a scene where we came across what could be considered a fateful death."
I have always been very curious about such matters, so I listened intently as Juan Juan recounted: "At that time, our country was undergoing rapid development with buildings being constructed everywhere. Once, there was a crane lifting a large container filled with something heavy—what exactly was inside remains unknown. A worker was assigned to watch from below when suddenly, halfway through lifting it, the rope snapped and the container came crashing down."
Juan Juan recalled: "All the workers hurriedly ran for safety except for one who tripped over his shoelaces just as he was trying to escape. You know those sneakers with long laces? He stumbled and fell without making it out in time. The container landed squarely on him."
Juan Juan shook her head as she continued: "When we arrived at the scene later on, they had just managed to secure the container again for lifting; by then, he had already been reduced to pulp—there was nothing left but a large smear on the ground where he had been crushed beneath it. I vomited; it was my first time seeing such a body. My mentor even told me that encountering such remains is rare and that I should consider myself fortunate!"
Juan Juan shrugged and added: "The family who came to see his body fainted upon sighting it; ultimately, it was those workers who used shovels to scrape him off from the concrete floor because otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to lift him at all. This incident left a deep impression on me; even after ten years, I still remember it vividly. Who knows if this can be considered fate? After all, he usually had no issues..."
Juan Juan's story sent chills down everyone's spines; however, she seemed unfazed by it all. I asked her: " Juan Juan, I really don't understand how you chose this profession! A female forensic doctor! Most girls are afraid even when killing fish or chickens; how come you are so indifferent?"
"Just recently when I had dinner with Little Beauty," I said shaking my head in disbelief, "I realized not everyone has the courage to eat in a mortuary!"
"Being around you for so long made me think all girls would analyze how someone died as their first reaction upon seeing a corpse—wondering how they would perform an autopsy..."
"What?" Juan Juan exclaimed as she twisted my ear playfully: "So that's why you didn't show up at the Police Department's archives that day? You were out having dinner with some girl? Spill! How old is she? Does she have a boyfriend? Where does she work? Is she prettier than me?"
I was taken aback by Juan Juan's barrage of questions and quickly explained: "You know Little Beauty—my neighbor! What happened was I often help out at Little Beauty's place; coincidentally that day was her birthday! I thought refusing dinner would be rude; as a grown man, it wouldn’t be nice to turn down someone’s hospitality—so I just went along with it."
I broke free from Juan Juan's "clutches" and continued, "Later, I said I was full and ready to go to work, but Little Beauty insisted on dragging me to the movies. I told her it would be embarrassing not to go if we were going to watch a movie. And guess what? It just so happened that a historical film called The Widow of the Kingdom was being released that day. I thought that sounded interesting; I like history, and you know that..."
"You actually went to the movies?" Juan Juan pretended to hit me. "What history? You just wanted to see the widow!"
I quickly replied, "No way! That's not it! Speaking of history, let me tell you an interesting historical story that has something to do with fate and all that." With that, I grabbed Juan Juan's hand and made her sit on the sofa.
"Ahem." I cleared my throat and said, "Everyone has heard of the story of Zhao's Orphan, right? It's a well-known tale, so we won't go into it. Instead, let's talk about the ruler of Jin State at that time, Jin Jinggong. Zhao's Orphan is familiar to everyone; this guy was quite a character, truly a ruler who held the power of life and death over his kingdom."
"When this guy got old, he started feeling sick and in pain—it's common when you age. So he began to believe in ghosts and gods, and there were quite a few shamans around him." Seeing that everyone was captivated by my story, I nodded in satisfaction. "At that time, a shaman told him he wouldn't live to see this year's new wheat harvest; he would surely die before then. Who knows if that shaman was just crazy or had given up on life?"
"The ruler didn't say anything at first but kept this grudge inside." I continued, "When the new wheat came in, Jin Jinggong prepared some noodles made from it but didn't eat them. He had someone find that shaman."
I chuckled as I recounted, "Jin Jinggong held up his bowl of rice and said to the shaman, 'Didn't you say I wouldn't get to eat new wheat? Look at this!' You have no ability; you're just pretending to be a big shot here! Guards! Execute him!' And with that, he had the shaman killed."
"After killing the shaman," I went on, "Jin Jinggong was about to eat his noodles when suddenly he felt a terrible pain in his stomach—he needed to relieve himself. He told his attendants he would go to the restroom first and would be back to eat. But after waiting for a long time, the noodles grew cold. The attendants thought even if the ruler was constipated, it shouldn't take this long, so they hurried to check on him."
At this point, I couldn't help but laugh myself and said, "The attendants searched everywhere in the palace but couldn't find him. They thought maybe he was still in the restroom. They rushed over there only to find no one inside. Then someone went around back to check the latrine pit and discovered that the old ruler had fallen in and had already died!"
"In the end," I laughed as I concluded, "Jin Jinggong never got to eat this year's new wheat."
Everyone burst into laughter.
As I laughed along with them, I added, "This Jin Jinggong became the only emperor in Chinese history who drowned in a latrine pit. Of course, history can be tricky; sometimes it's hard to determine what's true or false. However, many historical texts record this story; for example, Zuo Zhuan mentions it like this: 'He ate and drank too much; while relieving himself, he fell in and died.'"
"I can't believe a ruler would meet such an end," Mary said through her laughter.
I replied, "When I first read about this part of history, I laughed hard too. There are many amusing deaths of emperors or high officials throughout history; when we have time, I'll share more with you. However," I added thoughtfully, "to understand a person fully requires looking at multiple aspects. In his youth, Jin Jinggong was also someone who achieved great power and knew how to use people well..."
Mary chimed in, "Dezi, did you see? This is fate! Just think about it—how many ordinary people have drowned in latrines?"
"What are you talking about!" Yan Junde retorted. "This is just an example, and when people get older, if they squat for a long time and then suddenly stand up, of course they will feel dizzy. Isn't that just blood pressure not keeping up? It's normal for elderly people to have such issues, right? Can we look at this scientifically?"
I was completely convinced by Dezi's theory. Juan Juan couldn't help but give a thumbs up and said, "Indeed, science! I admire it!"
Just as we were having our heated discussion, A-Bao's phone rang. I signaled everyone to be quiet and answered the call. "A-Bao, where did this case happen?"
"This case is quite bizarre!" A-Bao replied.
I sighed, "You say that every time. Just send the details of the case to Mary's computer; our Special Investigation Team is all together right now."
"Understood!" A-Bao said in a theatrical tone.
Before long, the case details were sent to Mary's computer. After briefly reviewing them, Mary said to us, "It seems that what we were just discussing might actually be useful. This case is truly strange. I wonder if you've seen Death Comes."
"Death Comes?" Yan Junde asked.
A Charming Widow sent a letter to a Young Man, inviting him over for dinner in the middle of the night. Afterward, she let him drive her husband's Gallop, and coincidentally encountered a Young Woman hitchhiking on the way. The actions of this girl after getting in the car made it hard for him to control himself...
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