Kaoshantun is located at the foot of Changbai Mountain. In late autumn in August, the mountains are covered with green. Wild flowers of various colors are hidden among the green, swaying in the wind. The clouds in the sky are illuminated by the afterglow of the setting sun, dyeing half of the sky red. It is like the most beautiful oil painting, a beautiful scenery given by nature for people to enjoy.
In the evening, smoke rises from every house. Under the curling smoke, the small village seems as peaceful as a paradise.
No matter whether it is the busy season or the slack season, the villagers like to gather under the old locust tree at the edge of the village to chat after dinner. No one can tell how old the old locust tree is. According to the oldest man in the village, the old locust tree has been there since they can remember.
The men just smoked, talked about dirty things, and boasted. The older men just recalled the strange things they had experienced.
Women like to hold the soles in their hands and chat about gossip about the neighbors while sewing them. They can talk about something that happens in someone's family for half a month without stopping.
Tonight was no exception. After dinner, everyone gathered under the old locust tree in groups of three or four, talking and laughing, each thinking about the topic they should talk about today.
"It's terrible, someone has hanged himself, help come quickly!"
Zhang Guoqiang's wife Li Cuizhen was famous for her loud voice. At this moment, her voice changed tone and she ran back tumbling. Her face was pale and she was really scared.
"Guoqiang's wife, what are you yelling about?"
Village chief Zhao Yaozu, wearing a navy blue coarse cloth and with his hands on his waist, stared at Li Cuizhen with dissatisfaction, angry that she was disturbing people's hearts during the village's most favorite leisure time.
"Village Chief, something bad has happened...Sun's...daughter-in-law...Sihui has hanged herself."
When Li Cuizhen saw the village chief Zhao Yaozu, she crawled to his side, grabbed his arm and refused to let go, stammering. Her teeth were chattering because of fear, and her whole body was shaking. The hand that grabbed Zhao Yaozu felt like a ghost's claw, icy cold.
"I'll go take a look."
Zhao Yaozu pulled his hand back with a gloomy face. In terms of status, Li Cuizhen was his niece-in-law. If she grabbed her uncle like this, people would gossip if they saw her.
"Why can't you get over it? What's the matter? Do you want to give up your life?"
"What a sin! Sihui is such a pitiful child."
"I entered the Sun family when I was fifteen, and I never had a good day. I didn't have enough to eat, I didn't have warm clothes, and no one loved me."
The women were all sighing, but no one dared to go towards the tree. A hanged person was very scary. What if the soul had not gone far away and pounced on them again? What would they do?
The men were brave enough and followed the village chief to the old locust tree. Now they could see clearly that there was indeed a fat woman hanging on the old locust tree. She was wearing a red coarse cloth shirt. Her hair danced in the wind. No one knew how long she had been hanging there.
Standing under the tree, I saw that her neck was drooping to one side, her hands hanging on both sides of her trousers, one foot was wearing a shoe and the other was bare. There was a tattered cloth shoe thrown on the ground not far away, which was probably kicked off when she was struggling.
"Quick, hold her legs, Guoqiang, go up and untie the rope."
Zhao Yaozu's face darkened when he saw that it was indeed Sun's daughter-in-law Sihui. He quickly ordered the villagers around him to go and untie her. Since she was too fat, it was difficult for one person to rescue her. Three people went over and held her legs before Zhang Guoqiang untied the rope.
The person was taken down, his face was blue and purple, his tongue was hanging at the corner of his mouth, completely bloodless, and his eyes had lost their luster and seemed to be about to pop out of their sockets. He stared at Shen Ren with his eyes open in death.
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