I was so angry I nearly laughed. Only now she remembers I'm part of the Zhou family bloodline?
After hearing Grandmother's whole speech, a glint of excitement flashed in my dad's eyes. He urged me to ask the school for a few days off and stay home for a while.
He also brought up how I and Mom had mentioned wanting to buy a laptop before. He said once this was settled, he'd give me the money so I could buy it myself.
Grandmother immediately turned sour at this and shrieked, "Did we let you starve or freeze? You do this little bit of work and you still want money? We wasted our food raising you!"
I turned around and replied with a thin, mirthless smile, "You didn't let me starve or freeze, but you didn't treat me well either."
Grandmother froze for a moment, then began throwing a tantrum, rolling on the floor and wailing as she cursed me for growing wings and daring to talk back. She called me a white-eyed wolf, ungrateful, and said she should have given me away long ago.
After cursing for a long while, she threatened unreasonably, "If your little brother has the slightest mishap, I'll go to your school and make a scene until they expel you! If you don't agree, you won't get any peace either!"
Little brother?
Heh!
The tadpole hasn't even formed yet, so where did this little brother come from?
Mom gave me a meaningful look from the side. I didn't want to argue with Grandmother anymore, so I went straight into my room and shut the door.
Before long, Grandmother's wailing carried from outside. She smashed things as she shouted that she was going to die, saying she couldn't control this family anymore and might as well crash her head against a wall and be done with it.
By evening, as the sky grew dim, Mom pushed open the door and walked in.
Seeing her slightly swollen eyes, I asked, "Did Dad and Grandmother nag you again?"
Mom smiled bitterly, sat beside me, gently took my hand, and stroked it.
After a long while, she said quietly, "Xiao Yin, do as your grandmother says and just stay home for a few days."
I was stunned, and only then did I realize Mom had come to persuade me.
"Do you really believe in that stuff? And you're getting older, your health isn't good to begin with."
I knew Mom had once undergone IVF, but the pregnancy ended in miscarriage.
Besides, she was already in her forties, and her body was weak. Even if she did conceive, it would do far too much harm to her.
Grandmother and Dad seemed bewitched. I was so angry I stood up and said I would go find that crazy old woman.
The moment I rose, Mom caught my hand, her eyes complicated and helpless. "Just do this for Mom once. Do you want me to hold my head low in this family for the rest of my life?"
I froze, and a wave of sourness rose in my heart.
Mom rarely returned to her parents' home, because Grandma, like Grandmother, held the outdated mindset of favoring sons over daughters.
The house, savings, and land of her family all went to her brother.
Grandma always said that giving everything to a son was only natural.
But once she fell ill, she asked Mom for money every few days, switching to a different tune, saying that men and women were equal and daughters should contribute too.
People like her always think a family must have a son to be considered proper.
Mom has suffered her whole life.
Beaten and scolded at her parents' home, bullied at her husband's home.
All because she wasn't a son, and couldn't bear a son.
A mother's worth rises with her son.
Whether among wealthy noble families or in poor rural villages, it has been this way since ancient times.
I can still escape. At worst, I just won't come back once I have a job.
But Mom has already lived more than half her life, and she can no longer break free.
"Just help Mom this once, will you?" Mom looked at me with red eyes, her voice already tinged with sobs.
I could ignore Grandmother and Dad, but I couldn't ignore Mom.
Looking at her sallow complexion, the freckles on her face, and the white hairs already in her head, I felt both pity and pain.
"Fine!"
I sighed and agreed.
As I went out with Mom, Dad glanced at me, then at her.
Only after Mom nodded did the stone in Dad's heart finally drop.
Grandmother, who had been sitting sulking to the side, immediately broke into a grin that couldn't close.
"Heaven has eyes! The boy has finally been entrusted to my family!"
Grandmother was overjoyed and said she would start eating vegetarian and chanting Buddha's name from today, so the Bodhisattva would bless her with a plump grandson sooner.
That night, after they burned incense and made offerings to the black jar, they had me let a drop of blood fall into it.
Looking closer, the black jar was covered in fine dirt, giving off a heavy earthy smell, as though it had just been dug out of the ground.
The mouth of the jar was sealed with a piece of yellow cloth covered in tadpole-like runes, and at the top was a hole the size of a finger.
Inside the jar was pitch black, and I couldn't make out anything.
I glanced at Mom, then took the needle beside me and pricked my middle finger.
Fresh blood dripped through the hole into the jar.
"It worked, it worked! Now I'll soon be holding my precious grandson!"
Grandmother was so happy she danced about, her eyes fixed on the black jar as if her treasured grandson might leap out of it any moment.
Dad carefully placed the jar under my bed, and Grandmother repeatedly instructed me to sleep on the bed no matter what.
After saying this, Grandmother went off to discuss matters with Mom and Dad.
I sucked on my finger, found disinfectant to clean the wound, then went back to my room, lay on the bed, and scrolled through my phone.
Past midnight, I turned off the lights, and just as I was about to fall asleep, I suddenly felt something knocking beneath the bed.
Thinking of the black jar stored under there, a chill ran through me.
I lay on the edge of the bed and shone my phone's flashlight beneath it.
The black jar sat quietly in the shadow under the bedhead, and at a glance it looked like a child hugging its knees and curled into a ball.
My heart churned with unease, but the sound had stopped.
Still, I felt that the noise had come from inside the jar.
After thinking for a moment, I lay by the bedside, reached in, and pulled the black jar out.
The jar was heavy, and I had no idea what was inside it.
The lid was already stuck fast to the jar body, and the jar looked fragile, so I didn't dare use much force for fear of breaking it.
But there was a hole on top about the size of a thumb, and on a sudden whim, I shone my flashlight and leaned close to peer inside.
Pressed against the opening, I still saw only pitch darkness within, with a faint glint along the edge.
I couldn't make anything out, but in the instant I raised my head, I suddenly saw something flash inside the hole.
I was so startled I nearly fell off the bed.
An eye.
There seemed to be an eye inside the jar just now, pressed against the opening, staring back at me.
I hurriedly rolled over, got up, and turned on the room light.
Summoning my courage to look at the mouth of the jar again, it was pitch black, with nothing there at all.
I didn't dare turn off the light after that. I lay in bed with my head covered, trembling, and thankfully no more sounds came from beneath the bed.
I slept very uneasily that night. My body was ice cold, and no matter what I did, I couldn't warm it up.
When dawn came, Grandmother pushed open the door early in the morning to check whether the black jar was still under the bed.
After breakfast, they all changed into plain clothes.
Mom told me that she, Grandmother, and Dad were going to Mount Qingcheng to burn incense and worship at Putuo Temple.
She also reminded me to lock the door when I went out, and to have someone at the shop attend to customers, and to call if anything happened.
I hadn't visited Granny Tang in a long time, so shortly after they left, I rode my electric scooter, intending to go see her.
There was a large roundabout at the edge of the county town. This place was called Five-Way Junction, and car accidents happened there often, so I was especially careful.
When the light turned green, I hurried to twist the throttle and go through, but halfway across, an auntie on a bicycle slammed straight into me.
I braked and turned to look. The auntie had already fallen to the ground, wailing, "Ow, ow, ow!"
I hurried over and asked, "Are you alright?"
The auntie lifted her head and scolded irritably, "You silly girl, did your eyes end up on your backside? Can't you even ride a bike properly!"
I had hit her, and at first I felt a little guilty, but hearing that, I got annoyed.
I said, "Auntie, the green light was right there! Even if you're older, you still have to obey the law."
The auntie stood up, holding her waist, and rolled her eyes at me. "Your eyes must be clogged with shit! Can't you see that was a red light!"
I looked up at the signal opposite and was startled. It really was red.
This was truly uncanny. I was certain I hadn't made a mistake; it had clearly been green just now.
The auntie's scolding was harsh, but she didn't try to extort money from me. Ah... fine, let her scold.
"Cursed bad luck, running into a plague ghost the moment I stepped out."
After her tirade, she pushed her bike and left.
This was a bit eerie. If a car had hit me just now, I would have lost my life.
Thinking about it, I no longer trusted traffic lights, so I just followed the passersby beside me across the road.
When I reached the entrance of Old Temple, Granny Tang was burning incense inside the temple.
I called out and was just about to step over the threshold.
"Fan Yin!"
Granny Tang turned around, saw me, her voice full of shock, and her face changed abruptly.