My grandfather said that he had committed too many sins in his life and was already haunted by evil spirits. He shouldn't have had any descendants, but he ended up having my father and me.
But what's meant to happen will happen, as if fate had already decreed it, and there's no way to escape it.
...
On the day I was born, something huge happened in my family.
I was born on the 14th day of the seventh lunar month. Actually, I shouldn't have been born on this day because I wasn't due yet.
But on July 14th, my mother's stomach started hurting terribly. My father called the only barefoot doctor in the village, who diagnosed that my mother was about to give birth.
In 1999, almost every family in our rural area had children at home.
My father hurriedly went to the next village to fetch a midwife. This midwife, named Aunt Wang, had worked in a gynecology hospital when she was young and had some basic experience in childbirth. She was the only midwife in our village, and even in several nearby villages.
My mother felt abdominal pain in the morning, which continued until evening, but she did not begin to give birth.
My father was pacing anxiously outside, while my grandfather had a somber expression all day, constantly taking out a compass to check it, and the flame in the hole of his pipe was almost never extinguished.
"What a terrible omen! A terrible omen!" My grandfather muttered to himself, his body trembling as he looked at the compass in his hand and then at the gloomy sky.
"Dad, should we take Huihui to the city hospital? She's been in pain all day," my dad asked my grandfather anxiously.
“It’s too late. Not only is the village more than 100 kilometers away from the city hospital, but we don’t have a car, and the roads are bad. Besides, Huihui will give birth when it gets dark.” My grandfather said with a grim face and his brows furrowed.
Since my grandfather said so, my father didn't say anything more. My grandfather has always been the backbone of our family, and my father believes everything he says without any reason.
Time passed by, and soon it got dark.
Just then, Aunt Wang's loud cry came from inside the house: "She's giving birth! She's about to give birth!"
When my dad heard what Aunt Wang said, he was both nervous and excited, and said, "I'm finally going to be a dad."
My grandfather, on the other hand, kept frowning, his eyes constantly scanning the outside of the yard, looking very uneasy.
Suddenly, a biting cold wind swept through our yard. My dad shivered from the cold and cursed, "How strange! It's so hot, why does it feel like it's going to snow?"
"They're coming," my grandfather murmured.
"Dad, what are you talking about? What's coming?" My dad asked my grandpa, looking puzzled.
"Tiger Cub, hurry and go to the village to find a big black dog and some willow branches," my grandfather said urgently.
Tiger Cub is my dad's nickname; that's what my grandpa and the villagers call him.
"Why are you looking for these?" My dad was even more puzzled and pressed for an answer.
"Go if I tell you to, stop talking nonsense." My grandfather raised his welding pipe and was about to hit my father on the head. My father quickly dodged and ran out of the yard.
My grandfather took out a school cup, threw it on the ground, stared at it intently, frowned, and sighed softly, "Alas, what is meant to be will be."
Here I want to explain what a "school cup" is. A school cup is an object used in our rural rituals. It consists of two copper seashells connected by a red thread. If both openings face downwards, it represents a yin cup; if both openings face upwards, it represents a yang cup; if one opening faces upwards and the other downwards, it represents a holy cup. Only the holy cup represents good.
At this moment, the cup on the ground is facing down on both sides, representing the Yin cup.
A little while later, my dad came back leading a big black dog.
"Kill the big black dog, bleed it, and drag its body around our yard once," my grandfather said, picking up the school cup from the ground.
My dad seemed to sense something. This time, he didn't ask any questions. He quickly found a sharp knife and killed the big black dog on the spot. As my grandfather had instructed, he dragged the dog's body around the yard.
"Tiger Cub, go back to Huihui's room and guard the door. No matter what you hear, don't come into the yard unless I call you. If you see anything strange, whip it with a willow branch that has been stained with black dog blood." My grandfather had already changed into his usual Taoist robe for performing rituals, holding a compass in one hand and a copper staff in the other.
"Dad, is something going to happen?" My dad couldn't help but ask.
"Don't ask, go back." My grandfather said coldly.
My dad shrank back, took a willow branch, and went back inside.
The night was pitch black, the moon was completely obscured, a howling wind blew, and lightning flashed occasionally, accompanied by a deafening roar.
"She's given birth! She's given birth!" came Aunt Wang's cheers from inside the house.
"Aunt Wang, is it a boy or a girl?" My dad asked excitedly, leaning against the doorway.
"Tiger Cub is a young master."
"Huihui, congratulations, you've given birth to a boy. Hmm? Huihui, what's wrong? Wake up."
The anxious shouts of Aunt Wang came from inside the house.
"Aunt Wang, how is Huihui?" my dad asked anxiously from outside the door.
Aunt Wang put me aside and hurriedly reached out to shake my mother's leg. Finding no response, she rushed to my mother and reached out to check her nostrils. Immediately, Aunt Wang's face changed drastically, and she screamed, "Tiger Boy, something bad has happened! Huihui seems to be dying!"
"What?" My dad burst through the door and rushed in, hugging my mom and calling out, "Huihui, don't scare me, wake up."
Aunt Wang lifted my mother's eyelids to look at her pupils, shook her head, and choked out, "Huwa, Huihui is gone."
"No, this isn't true, I'm taking her to the hospital." My dad cried as he picked up my mom and started to walk out.
Aunt Wang quickly grabbed my dad, wiped away her tears, and said, "Tiger Boy, it's no use, Huihui is already gone."
"Dad, Huihui has left." My dad called out to the outside.
A short while later.
My grandfather rushed in, glanced at my mother, his face very grim, and said, "Huihui has already left. Stay inside and don't go out."
After my grandfather finished speaking, he hurriedly walked outside.
"Tiger Cub, please accept my condolences. Huihui is gone. Please take good care of the children."
Aunt Wang picked me up, frowned, and said, "That's strange, why isn't this little rascal crying or making a fuss?"
Aunt Wang found a towel and wiped my head and face clean. When she saw my eyes, her face turned pale and she said in a trembling voice, "How could this little brat's left eye be like this? Tiger, come here quickly."
Upon hearing this, my dad put my mom back on the bed, took me from Aunt Wang's arms, looked into my eyes, and then his expression changed drastically.
The pupil of my left eye is reversed compared to the pupil of a normal eye.
A normal eye has a pupil that is white on the outside and black on the inside, but my left eye has a pupil that is black on the outside and white on the inside, which looks very strange.
"Dad, come in and take a look at the baby's eyes, they look so strange!" my dad shouted outside again.
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