Chapter 19: A Last Glimmer of Light Before Death, The Murder Scene
Xie Hong is better now, and as her maternal grandmother, she should be happy. So why is she crying so hard she can't catch her breath?
Zhu Mingyue is still young and there are some things she simply doesn't understand.
But the old lady knew perfectly well what was going on.
The process of recovering from an illness is gradual, just like taking medicine; you can't get better immediately after drinking a bowl of it.
What appears to be a complete cure immediately is not a true recovery, but rather a temporary resurgence before death.
The day before the patient passed away, he was in the same situation as Xie Hong is now.
The old lady had just arrived at the Xie family's house when she stumbled back, wiping away her tears.
He bumped into Zhu Mingyue as he was leaving, but this time he acted as if he hadn't seen him at all and ran off in a hurry.
Zhu Mingyue stood there watching her retreating figure until she disappeared from sight. Only when he heard Xie Hong calling him from inside the house did he come back to his senses and hurried inside.
Xie Hong now feels completely recovered, his whole body feels comfortable, and even his appetite has returned.
For the past ten days or so, he had been drinking porridge all day long, and his mouth was getting so bland that he ordered Zhu Mingyue to cook him a pot of rice and prepare two bowls of meat for him.
This presented a challenge for Zhu Mingyue. There was still a layer of rice left in the rice jar, not much, but enough to steam one batch of dry rice. However, what meat or fish could the family afford now?
"How about scrambled eggs?" Zhu Mingyue asked. Eggs were a precious commodity, as valuable as meat in ordinary farming families who hadn't eaten meat all year round.
Xie Hong was angry: "No way! I've just recovered from a serious illness and you're giving me this to eat? Find a way to get me some meat. I want to eat meat."
These people eat two eggs every day, and even if they're delicious, they get tired of them. Nothing beats the taste of juicy, fatty meat.
"By the way, what about that bastard?" Xie Hong said matter-of-factly, "Go ask him for money and buy more meat."
He knew that the kid must have hidden money on him. When the kid was away, he ransacked the house, but couldn't find a single penny. He used the belongings of his stepmother, who was also Xie Pei's biological mother, to blackmail Xie Pei and squeezed out Xie Pei's private savings a few times. It wasn't much, but it was enough for a treat.
Later, Xie Pei grew up and became smarter. He knew that even if he didn't give all the money back, Xie Hong wouldn't burn his mother's belongings so that he could continue to ask for money in the future. So, although he would give her the money each time, he would keep some for himself.
Zhu Mingyue didn't want to ask her brother-in-law for money. The two rarely saw each other, and even when they did, he always had a deadpan expression, clearly showing that he didn't like her.
Xie Hong eats two eggs every day but wouldn't share a single one with him, let alone meat. He definitely wouldn't even get a drop of meat broth. Thinking about this, he was even less willing to ask Xie Pei for money to buy meat. Even if he did ask, he would have to ask Xie Pei in person.
He stood pacing in the courtyard, preparing to put on a show and deal with the situation so that if Xie Hong asked later, he could say that he hadn't seen Xie Pei.
Unexpectedly, the person he didn't want to see, Xie Pei, took the initiative to contact him.
Zhu Mingyue only saw a thin figure flash past the window, and in an instant, the person appeared behind him.
Zhu Mingyue was startled, but breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was him.
For the first time ever, Xie Pei didn't put on his usual icy expression. Although his complexion wasn't exactly good, it was much better than before.
He stretched out his hand, and there it was, a large handful of copper coins.
Although Xie Pei was extremely thin, his hands were surprisingly large. Zhu Mingyue could tell at a glance that there were thirty or forty copper coins in his hands.
"Take this and go to the village chief's house to get two pounds of cured meat."
Zhu Mingyue held the money with both hands without changing her expression, secretly clicking her tongue in amazement: She didn't expect Xie Pei to be such a masochist. He was so thin from hunger, yet he still had to pay for his brother to eat meat, and he bought two pounds of meat at a time.
What can he say when a sucker offers him money? He can just go and buy it!
It's warm today, and the sun is shining brightly outside. Everyone is taking advantage of this nice weather to air out their damp quilts and clothes to prevent anyone from being dishonest. The whole family, young and old, sits outside and chats with each other.
Zhu Mingyue's first "long" trip was spotted by people on the roadside.
They all wondered where this came from.
"Are you stupid? You ate at Xie Hong's banquet a few days ago, and you've already forgotten about the male wife he married? I just saw him coming out of the Xie family from afar."
"What? I was thinking it was some pampered young master from the city coming to our village. Tsk tsk, no wonder Xie Hong emptied his pockets to marry a male wife, she's so handsome!"
"Otherwise, why do you think Xie Hong kept it a secret from everyone? He didn't leave the house for ten days or half a month after the wedding. He was probably going to die on his son-in-law."
"Yes, it's almost here." A voice came from behind. The group looked at each other, then belatedly realized that someone else had spoken, and they all turned around to look.
It was Wang Erniu, who lived next door to the Xie family. He had a mysterious expression on his face, as if he was hiding some big secret, which immediately aroused people's interest.
Someone asked first, "Erniu, you'd better be clear about what you're saying. Don't keep everyone in suspense. Xie Hong will be here soon."
"You still don't know?" Surrounded by a group of people, Wang Erniu spoke smugly and vividly: "Xie Hong is indeed dying, but not from his wife's body. He's being cursed to death by his wife."
“Yesterday I saw Xie Hong’s maternal grandmother from the southern village come to visit him, calling him a jinx. This morning I was eating breakfast when his maternal grandmother came over and started wailing again. It made me feel nauseous.”
Upon hearing this, the group gasped in shock. How long had it been? She had almost killed her husband; her power was truly immense.
Although everyone was surprised, no one doubted the matter.
It's so common for women to be widowed! In this village alone, there are two women who got married, and their husbands died within a year or two. One of them had a child and barely survived with her child, while the other was even worse off. Neither her husband's nor her own family wanted her, and she was sent to live in an abandoned cowshed at the back of the village.
After hearing what Wang Erniu said, some people began to analyze that Zhu Mingyue was destined to bring misfortune to her husbands. As for why Xie Hong was in such a serious situation, it must be because Zhu Mingyue was a male wife, and the yin and yang were incompatible.
After everyone discussed it, they realized, "That's right! She's destined to bring bad luck to her husbands, and she's married to a man. Xie Hong didn't marry a handsome young man; he married a living devil!"
Following Xie Pei's instructions, Zhu Mingyue found the only house with blue tiles in the village. The village chief's daughter-in-law opened the door. She was initially confused when she saw him, but her expression turned sour when she heard that he was Xie's wife. Her eyes were full of disdain.
“Our family uses a lot of salt to cure meat; it costs 20 coins per pound.”
Even if she hadn't explained, Zhu Mingyue wouldn't have known the meat was overpriced; he hadn't bought any meat at all.
Twenty coins it is! Even knowing he might be ripped off, Zhu Mingyue still took out forty coins and handed them to the other party. After all, it wasn't his money, and he wouldn't even get a bite of meat anyway...
Zhu Mingyue carried two pounds of fatty and lean cured meat back the way he came. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that these people were sitting much further back than before. When they saw him coming, they quickly tied up the child next to them and kept their distance, not letting the child get any closer to him.
Zhu Mingyue didn't have time to wonder; he had to go back and cook the rice.
The gate to the Xie family's courtyard was tightly shut. Zhu Mingyue gently pushed it open a crack and looked inside. There was no one in the courtyard; it was quiet. It seemed that the old lady hadn't arrived yet, and Xie Pei wasn't home either.
Fortunately, the door wasn't locked from the inside, and he managed to push it open with some effort.
Strange, it's understandable that the others aren't here, but why hasn't Xie Hong made a sound at all?
In the past, when Xie Hong was still in good spirits, if he made a fuss in the yard, Xie Hong would definitely call him to prevent him from sneaking away. Today, he is better than before, but he didn't call him, which is really unusual.
Could it be that he has been behaving too well lately, and the other party has started to trust him since he shows no signs of running away?
Zhu Mingyue stood in the center of the courtyard, looked at the long strip of meat in her hand, and then held it up to her face to smell it.
The smell was so strong that Zhu Mingyue felt nauseous. "This family is so stingy with the salt they put in when curing meat, yet they still have the nerve to ask for money for salt," he thought as he walked.
He originally intended to go to the kitchen to steam the rice, but then he remembered that he needed to hang the meat in a basket first, and there was a basket that Xie Pei had woven a few days ago in the storage shed on the east side of the courtyard.
Zhu Mingyue had to pass by Xie Hong's window to get a basket from the storage shed.
A small, round hole, about the thickness of a finger, was poked in the window paper, probably done by Xie Hong's good buddies on their wedding day so they could easily peep at them.
Zhu Mingyue deliberately tiptoed to take a look as she passed by, and in that one glance, she was so frightened that she fell silent.
Xie Hong seemed to have all his energy drained away in an instant; he was nothing like the person he had seen before leaving home that morning.
He was half-lying down with his head down, seemingly on the verge of death. The good news was that he wasn't coughing up blood this time, but the bad news was that he wasn't coughing up blood at all; the blood was dripping down in a continuous stream.
Without thinking, Zhu Mingyue rushed over, opened the door, and stuck out a finger to Xie Hong's nostrils.
"Stop checking, he's not breathing." Behind him, the door slammed shut, and Xie Pei's voice rang out, deep and calm.
Zhu Mingyue turned around and instantly felt a chill run down her spine.
Xie Hong is gone, but Xie Pei still holds the medicine bowl in his hand, a faint smile on his face.
Beneath that ordinary smile lay a heinous act. Zhu Mingyue understood in less than a few seconds, and for the first time, he hated his own brain for working so fast.
He took a step back, and Xie Pei took a step forward. When they had nowhere left to retreat, Zhu Mingyue's back was pressed against the wall, and her legs were so weak that they were unbelievable.
"Tsk..." Xie Pei raised the bowl, seemingly regretful, and said, "There's still half a bowl left, why don't you drink it, sister-in-law?"
Zhu Mingyue: ...
Since arriving at the Xie family, he hasn't been able to get a single bite of meat, but when it comes to this medicine that's supposed to kill people, he's asked to share half a bowl.
Is Zhu Mingyue someone who is easy to bully?
Yes.
Xie Pei was right; he was indeed very easy to bully right now.
So easily bullied was she that even knowing the person in front of her was likely a murderer, she still forced a smile and said, "Thank you, but I don't like to drink."
After speaking, he pushed the bowl forward, but it didn't budge.
Zhu Mingyue couldn't hold back any longer, her voice trembling as she struggled to say, "I really don't like drinking it."
A note from the author:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
