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Return of the Offering
墨書 Inktalez
When I was young, during a festival at home, Grandfather cooked a pot of sheep's head meat. A filthy old woman came to our house begging for food. She gazed at the pot of sheep's head meat and said, "What a pity you arrived too late; you have ultimately been slaughtered."
Grandfather looked puzzled and asked the filthy old woman, "What do you mean by that?"
The old woman sighed deeply and replied, "Old sir, this sheep killed you in its past life, and now it has come to repay its debt. It has settled its dues, and I am here to collect its remains."
After saying this, the filthy old woman took a piece of silver jewelry from her tattered bag and handed it to Grandfather. "Old sir, quickly take the meat out of the pot; I need to take it away."
Just as the filthy old woman finished speaking, our door swung open, and Grandma returned carrying two bundles of wet firewood.
Grandma placed the firewood on the ground and scrutinized the filthy old woman before saying, "Where did this dirty beggar come from? Get lost!"
As Grandma was about to chase the filthy old woman away, Grandfather stepped in front of her and placed the silver jewelry in Grandma's hand, then relayed what the old woman had just said.
Grandma bit down on the silver jewelry with her teeth, her eyes suddenly widening. The silver piece looked heavy like a pebble.
She put the silver jewelry into her pocket and then asked the filthy old woman, "Is this silver stolen?"
The old woman froze for a few seconds before breaking into a smile. "Old lady, this silver does not belong to me; it belongs to it."
She pointed at the fragrant sheep meat in the pot.
The old woman added, "I am just here to help collect the remains."
Grandma snorted coldly and said with an unfriendly tone, "You’re talking nonsense! Does a sheep need you to collect its remains? If you don’t leave now, I’ll break your legs!"
As Grandma was about to act on her threat, the filthy old woman widened her brown eyes and retreated repeatedly.
She ran to the door and shouted at Grandma, "Since you accepted this silver, the task of collecting remains falls on you. If there is no complete body within three days, your retribution will come."
After saying this, the filthy old woman hurriedly left.
Grandfather furrowed his brow and murmured, "Wife, I can’t shake off the feeling that what that filthy old woman said wasn’t a lie."
Grandma shot him a glare and replied irritably, "A stinky beggar just wants to trick us into giving her food; she’s spouting nonsense! This sheep has been raised for two years; we kept forty pounds of meat and saved the entrails. The remaining two hundred pounds of meat has already been sold; it’s probably in someone else's stomach by now. Where are we supposed to find a complete corpse? Don’t listen to that stinky beggar’s ramblings!"
Grandma fished out the sheep's head meat from the pot and placed it into an aluminum basin. Then she took out the sheep's entrails from the storage room and put them back into the pot to continue cooking.
Seeing Grandfather's troubled expression, Grandma said, "Don’t overthink it; we have a lot to do with the festival coming up in two days."
As soon as Grandma finished speaking, someone entered our yard. Uncle Li appeared flustered and shouted loudly, "Something’s happened! This is bad! Zhou Laolian is dead!"
Zhou Laolian lived at the east end of the village and was about Grandma's age. A few days ago when we slaughtered the sheep, she came over to buy five pounds of meat, saying she was waiting for her daughter and son-in-law to return so they could all make dumplings together.
"How did she die?" Grandma asked.
Uncle Li shook his head. "Not sure, everyone in the village went to see."
Our village isn't large, with fewer than two hundred households, so a death like this is a significant event.
We walked towards Zhou Laolian's house, and by the time we arrived, her yard was already crowded with people.
Grandma and I squeezed inside. There was a table with garlic sauce, half a bottle of fruit wine, and a small bowl containing two pieces of lamb, the kind with both fat and lean meat.
Zhou Laolian was slumped against the wall, her mouth slightly open, and she had already lost her breath.
The young girls in the village whispered, "Aunt Lian can't close her mouth; she must have something to say."
Grandma stared at Zhou Laolian's mouth for a moment. The corners of Zhou Laolian's lips glistened with grease, as if she had just finished eating meat before passing away.
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