Chapter 002 The First Time I Saw Something Sinister

At that time, I didn't know what an androgynous person was, so I hid outside the door and continued to eavesdrop.

My grandfather asked my grandmother what an androgynous person meant. My grandmother continued, "She will take over my profession in the future. She will achieve great things and won't stay here idly. She will become a great healer!"

My grandfather sneered a bit and said, "Come on, forget about this healer business. People of her generation don't believe in this anymore. If Huijuan hears you say this, she'll get angry. It's better to let Jiaolong study hard and get into university properly."

My grandmother snorted, "I'm putting this out there. Just wait and see. This isn't something we can stop!"

I didn't quite understand what my grandmother meant. Just as I was about to listen carefully, my grandmother came out and looked at me. "Jiaolong, what are you doing here?"

"Grandma, what is an androgynous person?" I looked at my grandmother and asked.

My grandmother reached out and touched my head. "You'll understand when you grow up. Even if I tell you now, you won't get it. Come on, go into the room and kowtow to the household deity. Then it's time for dinner."

I nodded, went straight to the room where my grandmother enshrined the household deity. I was familiar with the process, lit the incense, and then kowtowed.

The household deity in my grandmother's house was a plaque pasted with yellow paper. At that time, I couldn't read, so I didn't know what was written on it. I just knew that I had to go in and burn some incense before meals. My grandmother told me that the household deity was a god that protected our family, and she also said that the deity of our family was very powerful and no one could harm us. So, although I was young and naughty, I didn't dare to show disrespect to that yellow plaque.

At that time, my best playmate was Xu Meijin from next door. Her father seemed to be well-informed and said that the US dollar was the most valuable currency in the world, so he named her Xu Meijin. Her nickname was Daya because she had a younger brother named Xiaohu.

I was probably six or seven years old at that time. That day, just like usual, I went to her house to play. Her grandmother had just died, and it was just after the seventh day after her death. Xu Meijin didn't have a good relationship with her grandmother, just like me and my grandmother. Because her grandmother also favored boys over girls, she didn't even cry when her grandmother died.

The two of us squatted in her yard and played as usual. Her mother, Fengxia, was chatting with several other women sitting on stools at the door of the inner room of their house.

While we were playing, Xu Meijin looked at me and said in a low voice, "Jiaolong, have you ever seen a ghost?"

I smiled foolishly and looked at her. "What does a ghost look like?"

"Don't laugh. I'm serious. Yesterday was the seventh day after my grandma's death. At night, our family suddenly heard someone knocking on the window. My mom thought someone was coming to scare us. When she pulled open the curtain, my little brother pointed at the window and said that grandma had come back and that it was grandma who knocked on the window. It was really scary." Xu Meijin said with a serious expression on her face.

I looked up at her. "So what are you afraid of? People say that on the seventh day after death, the deceased just comes back to take a look. It's okay."

"Then the lights in our house kept flickering. My dad said, 'Mom, if you've come back, don't scare us. Your grandson is really scared.' Then the lights in our house were okay again. Don't you think it's scary?"

I looked up at her. Before I could say anything, Fengxia's loud voice caught my attention. Fengxia, in our words, was rather shrewd and tough. She didn't treat Xu Meijin's grandmother very well. Because she gave birth to a daughter in her first childbirth and had to pay a fine for the second child, the old lady was also angry. They used to quarrel a lot at that time, but Xu Meijin's father sided with his wife, so in the end, Fengxia won.

In the last two years, Xu Meijin's grandmother hardly dared to breathe too loudly at home, so Fengxia's voice got louder and louder.

"Oh my god, I treated our old lady so well. I gave her all the good food. Why did she come back to cause trouble last night? It scared me so much. Didn't we give her a grand funeral? Why is she still haunting us? She was unreasonable when she was alive, and she's still unreasonable even after she's dead!"

As I listened to Fengxia's words, I thought to myself, I don't know who's being unreasonable. We've all seen how she treated Xu Meijin's grandmother. Why is she making it sound so good?

"Don't worry. She probably just missed Xiaohu and came to take a look and then left."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't think too much about it."

The neighbors chatting with Fengxia were trying to comfort her. Maybe they didn't want to say anything else that would be inappropriate, or they would seem bad at chatting.

"Hmph, I'm not afraid of her. I wasn't afraid of her when she was alive, and I'm even less afraid of her now that she's dead. Anyway, I don't owe her anything!" Fengxia got more and more excited as she spoke, and her voice got louder and louder.

I raised my eyes and saw the spittle flying out of Fengxia's mouth. Just as I was about to turn to talk to Xu Meijin again, I suddenly felt that something was wrong.

It was still the middle of the afternoon, and the sun was shining brightly. At a glance, I found that there was one more person among Fengxia's group. When I looked more closely, all the hair on my body stood on end. Xu Meijin's grandmother, who had just passed the seventh day after her death, was sitting on a rattan chair behind Fengxia, with a gloomy face and staring straight at her. 

I swallowed hard, my eyes cast down in panic, and whispered, "Daya, Daya." 

Xu Meijin looked at me, her expression one of confusion. "What's wrong, Jiaolong?" 

"Look behind your mom," I dared not glance up, focusing instead on the tree stick we had been playing with on the ground. 

Xu Meijin furrowed her brow and turned to look behind her. "What are you talking about? There's nothing there." 

"Just look at who's sitting in that rattan chair," I urged, my body filled with dread. 

Xu Meijin turned back to me again, "No one is there; that's just the chair my grandma loved to sit in. What's wrong with you, are you trying to scare me?" 

Before I could respond, I heard Xu Meijin's little brother behind me, his voice innocent and clear. "Grandma's back!" 

I turned my head and saw Xiaohu standing there, pointing at the chair. 

"Who? Xiaohu, don't scare your mom!" Fengxia exclaimed, leaping up and rushing over to scoop up Xiaohu. "Little ancestor, you're not hoping to give your mom a scare, are you? Where's your grandma? Where is she?" 

Xiaohu kept his little arm raised, pointing at the old rattan chair. "Grandma, Grandma!" 

A few neighbors, witnessing this, exchanged uneasy glances at the chair before approaching Fengxia. "Fengxia, maybe you should ask Jiaolong's grandmother to take a look. They say children can see those things; perhaps your mother-in-law hasn't really gone." 

"Don't talk nonsense, I don't believe in that! You expect me to see ghosts in broad daylight?" Fengxia yelled, her voice high and sharp. 

The neighbors, no longer as flattering as before, quickly found excuses to leave, muttering about chores needing attention, and within moments, they all dispersed. 

I crouched there, watching them leave, my courage dwindling as I sneaked another glance at the rattan chair. To my relief, Xu Meijin's grandmother was no longer there. I stood up and told Xu Meijin, "Daya, I need to head back. My grandma said I should come home early today." I then glanced at Fengxia, "Aunt, I'm leaving." 

Xu Meijin looked at me with disappointment. "Jiaolong, don't go yet! Let's play a bit more." 

But I had lost all desire to play, quickly heading towards the gate of their yard. Just as I reached the entrance, I turned back for one last look, and my legs went weak. There, behind the window of their house, stood Xu Meijin's grandmother, staring at me with a ghastly grin on her sunken face. 

I let out a terrified yelp and bolted, stumbling as I ran into my own yard, tripping over my own feet and crashing to the ground, unable to rise. 

My grandmother heard the commotion and hurried out, seeing me sprawled on the ground. She rushed over, helping me up. "Jiaolong, what happened? Did you fall?" 

My face was pallid, drenched in cold sweat as I stammered, "Grandma, I saw… I saw Daya's grandma!" 

"What nonsense? Jiaolong, what did you see?" My grandfather, hearing my outburst, stepped out as well. "Daya's grandma has been dead for days. How could you possibly see her?" 

Whether it was shock or pain, tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. "I saw her! She smiled at me… it scared me to death…" 

My grandfather quickly lifted me into his arms, while my grandmother enveloped me in a protective embrace after placing me on the kang. "Jiaolong, don't be afraid. Maybe you just misinterpreted what you saw." 

I trembled uncontrollably. "I didn't misinterpret anything! I saw her twice! The first time, she was sitting in that rattan chair; Xiaohu saw her too. The second time, as I left their house, I looked back, and she was right there in the window, grinning at me with her toothless mouth…" As I recounted the encounter, I broke down into sobs. 

My grandfather fetched a basin of water to clean the dirt from my scraped knee and applied some medicine while murmuring, "This isn't right. Wife, you should go take a look. What if she really hasn't moved on?" 

My grandmother shot him a glare. "Who goes visiting without an invitation? With Fengxia's temperament, she'd just accuse me of causing trouble. If Daya's grandmother really hasn't gone, then there must be some unresolved issue. Let's wait and see." 

Then, she patted my back reassuringly, "Jiaolong, it's all right. Once we're home, you'll be safe. We'll light incense for the old deity later. Nothing can harm you in our home; don't be afraid, Grandma is here with you." 

I took a long time to calm down, and together with my grandmother, we lit incense for the deity. That night, she held me close as I fell asleep. It was summer, and the heat was stifling, but I preferred to sweat rather than sleep alone. Eventually, exhaustion overtook me, and I drifted into slumber. 

Little did I know, just as dawn broke, I would be jolted awake by loud knocks at the front door, accompanied by Xu Meijin's father, Xu Gang, calling out urgently from outside, "Aunt Ma! Aunt Ma! Wake up! Something has happened to Fengxia!"