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墨書 Inktalez
I turned my head and saw that Mo Ping had entered. I then heard Village Head Mo scold, "What are you doing here? This isn't your place to arrange things!"
I felt a bit confused. I had intended to ask about the illness of the previous recruitment officer, but Mo Ping's arrival disrupted my thoughts. What was going on? Was something wrong? Could it be related to the sudden illness of the recruitment officer? Was it an infectious disease? My mind wandered aimlessly.
At that moment, I saw Village Head Mo wave his hand at Mo Ping, instructing him to go help in the kitchen. Turning back to me, he said, "Leader, please don't mind him. The child doesn't know better. The last recruitment officer stayed at Old Five's place, which was more comfortable. However, something came up at Old Five's home, so it's not suitable for him to stay there anymore." I smiled and replied, "It's nothing, Village Head Mo. You don't need to worry about arranging accommodations for us. We'll eat and then head back; there's no need to stay overnight."
Village Head Mo immediately insisted, "That won't do! It's not proper to treat guests from afar this way. We must take good care of you!"
I exchanged a few polite words but didn't take it to heart, thinking that once we finished eating, they couldn't stop us from leaving anyway. I wanted to ask more about the previous recruitment officer when I suddenly heard Village Head Mo's wife calling from outside, "Old Mo, get ready! It's time to eat!"
Afterward, Old Wei pulled me aside and began helping Village Head Mo set up chairs in the Main Hall. I wanted to assist but was stopped by Village Head Mo; it wouldn't be right for guests to help out. So I watched as they arranged the tables and chairs.
Just as I thought there would only be three or four people and we wouldn't drink much, a commotion erupted outside. I peeked out and saw four or five more people arriving. Village Head Mo called from inside, "Everyone's here? Come in quickly! You all need to take good care of our leader tonight!"
I was taken aback; how could there be so many people here for me? Unsure of what to do, I looked towards Old Wei for help. He quietly leaned in and explained, "These are all from our village—Mo Ping's relatives and neighbors. They probably came together to help with his father's funeral arrangements and coincidentally gathered for your visit."
Hearing this left me speechless. It seemed that because everyone lived nearby, they naturally felt closer and helped each other out during tough times. However, I still felt a bit apprehensive about sitting down with so many people since I noticed Mo Ping bringing in a large jar of liquor.
Just when I was unsure how to handle the situation, Village Head Mo gestured for me to take the seat of honor. I hesitated at first but after some pulling and pushing, we finally settled on the seating arrangement: Village Head Mo took the main seat while Old Wei and I sat on either side of him. The villagers took their places below us, with Mo Ping sitting across from Village Head Mo by the door, responsible for serving dishes and pouring drinks. To my dismay, they were using shallow earthenware bowls instead of cups for drinking; the yellow liquid poured out looked like homemade yellow wine.
Once the banquet began, Village Head Mo introduced everyone as usual and encouraged everyone to toast. I thought that if I drank a few bowls, I'd be able to avoid more drinking afterward. However, I couldn't resist their persistent urging. The wine had a lightly sweet taste that wasn't too unpleasant, so I lost track of my limits; although I didn't initiate any toasts myself, I ended up drinking with everyone.
This meal was the simplest I'd ever had—a large pot of fatty meat with a few vegetable dishes on the side. The villagers would scoop a piece of fatty meat into their bowls along with a drink. Honestly, I dreaded eating fatty meat; just looking at it made me feel nauseous. So I barely touched my chopsticks or only ate a few bites of vegetables while Village Head Mo kept insisting on piling fatty meat into my bowl. Caught between eating and not eating, I eventually closed my eyes and swallowed a few pieces quickly before washing away the greasy taste with wine.
As the atmosphere at the banquet grew lively, everyone praised Mo Ping in unison for being hardworking, honest, and resilient—a promising young man who could achieve great things if his family circumstances were better and he could pursue education. Unfortunately, given his family's situation, he would have to join the military to learn some skills before finding work in town.
Listening to this made me sigh deeply; in truth, many people aren't inherently superior or inferior; it's just that their backgrounds determine their future paths and heights. Change might happen but how many opportunities does fate provide? And how many opportunities can one seize?
Thinking about this brought my own experiences to mind; there were times when I'd complained about my parents not helping me much—just sending me off to the military without further support—but now it seemed that I've turned out alright after all. Suddenly feeling guilty towards my parents hit me; it's been over a year since I've been away from home—I hadn't called often or bought them anything.
I poured myself a bowl of wine and said to Mo Ping, "Buddy, let’s drink together! You've made me realize some things; I want to learn from you." Mo Ping drank one bowl and then poured three more for himself before returning one bowl back to me as a toast. Reluctantly, I drank it down; before long, I found myself feeling slightly tipsy—the wine went down easily but packed quite a punch.
The more we drank, the more muddled my thoughts became. Initially aware that I needed to return in the afternoon kept me grounded; however, as Village Head Mo continued urging me on with more drinks and others joined in for toasts too—Old Wei even tried shielding me from some bowls—I vaguely heard him mention needing to rush back later on. Meanwhile, Village Head Mo mentioned something about resting at his house before having Mo Ping escort us out of town in the afternoon.
After that point... everything went blank.
When I regained consciousness again, I found myself lying in bed with a heavy head and weak limbs while outside it was pouring heavily with rain. Quickly rolling over and getting up unsteadily towards the door revealed that I was in Village Head Mo's side room; both he and Old Wei stood at the entrance of the Main Hall with worried expressions watching the heavy rain outside.
I glanced at the clock and realized it was almost four o'clock. I hurriedly called out to Old Wei and dashed a few steps through the rain towards the Main Hall. "Old Wei, what are we going to do with this rain? We still need to get back!"
"This can't be done," Village Head Mo interjected from the side.
Old Wei nodded gloomily. "We really can't leave; the mountain is slippery, and both horses and people can’t stand properly. It's easy to have an accident."
"What should we do then? By the way, where are the horses? They're out in the rain!"
Old Wei replied, "We can only wait for the rain to stop. Mo Ping is taking care of them, so don’t worry. It’s just that I don’t know how quickly the rain will stop."
So, I had no choice but to sit in the Main Hall, sipping tea while watching them chat idly, waiting for the rain to cease. Village Head Mo and Old Wei seemed either to have a high tolerance for alcohol or hadn’t drunk much; in any case, both were in good spirits. They often chatted about trivial matters and occasionally threw a few words my way, mostly about Mo Ping's situation. Since I hadn’t eaten much at noon, my stomach began to feel empty again, and fatigue set in. The sound of the pouring rain mixed with their chatter lulled me into a drowsy state, and before long, I slumped back into the armchair and fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke up again, I noticed that an electric light bulb hanging in the room was already lit, casting a dim yellow glow throughout the Main Hall. My heart sank—had it gotten dark? Looking closely, I saw that there was no one around; the Main Hall was quiet. I quickly stood up and swayed a bit; my head still felt heavy but not as dizzy as before. A blanket that had been draped over me had fallen to the floor, but I didn’t have time to pick it up. I rushed to the door and found it pitch black outside; it turned out that the rain had stopped. Checking my watch, I saw it was already seven o'clock in the evening!
Following the light inside, I saw Old Wei and Village Head Mo standing not far ahead talking. When they noticed me coming out, they walked back toward me. "Old Wei, why didn’t you wake me? It’s dark now! We can’t go back, can we?" I asked anxiously.
Old Wei shrugged helplessly. "I couldn’t help it; the rain just stopped."
Village Head Mo chimed in, "We definitely can’t leave tonight; it's best not to travel at night in the mountains anyway—there's no need for it."
Old Wei had nothing to say; he clearly agreed with Village Head Mo's viewpoint. As they both looked at me expectantly, I felt embarrassed to insist otherwise. "Village Head Mo, then we’ll trouble you for a place to stay tonight," I said.
Village Head Mo waved his hand dismissively. "It’s no trouble at all; I'm just worried you might not be used to it. Come on in; let’s have some porridge tonight to warm our stomachs."
Following Village Head Mo back into the Main Hall, we hadn’t sat down long before his wife brought out bowls of porridge and noodles. Since I hadn’t eaten much at noon, when I caught a whiff of that delicious aroma, my stomach began to growl audibly. Without caring about appearances anymore, I devoured a large bowl of porridge and a big bowl of noodles.
As I ate, Village Head Mo said, "Leader, after we finish eating, wait for Mo Ping to come over and take you and Old Wei to his place for the night. His sister's old room is empty since she got married; it's still relatively clean. You two can squeeze in together—please don’t mind! Just right for you since you’re leaving tomorrow; his sister should be back soon for her father’s funeral."
What could I say? I could only nod along while eating.
After dinner and some chatting, Mo Ping came over to take us away. We bid farewell to Village Head Mo and headed back to Mo Ping's house. As soon as we entered the yard, I noticed a shed on the right side where two horses were leisurely grazing under it without making a sound. This must have been set up by Mo Ping; he was quite handy—I couldn’t help but admire him silently.
Looking further left into the darkness, I couldn’t see where that mad dog was tied up; perhaps it was curled up in a corner of the yard. Taking a few steps inside, I couldn’t help but glance back at the open Main Hall; the mourning hall was still set up there, which made me feel uneasy about why Old Mo wouldn’t let us stay at their house.
At this moment, Mo Ping had already turned around to lock up the yard gate and led us to a house on the right side of the Main Hall. The doors and windows were all open. "Leader, Uncle Wei," he said, "this is where my sister used to live; I've cleaned it regularly so it's relatively tidy. I've changed the sheets too; after the rain stopped, I opened up windows for ventilation. You two can make do with it for one night; I'll be keeping vigil for my father tonight so I won’t be able to stay with you."
Mo Ping gestured for us to wait while he went inside first. After a while, light spilled out from within—I peeked in and saw two candles! The room wasn’t very big—about twenty square meters—but it felt empty because of its simple furniture: just a bed, a table, and a few chairs; there wasn’t much else inside except some odds and ends piled in one corner while Mo Ping busied himself setting up our bedding.
Once he finished tidying up and turned around with an apologetic smile on his face, he said, "The electric light hasn’t been fixed since my sister got married; please bear with it for just one night."
I quickly waved my hand and smiled to indicate that it was nothing. After Mo Ping left, Old Wei and I entered the room one after the other.
I casually closed the door and said to Old Wei, "Why doesn’t Mo let me stay at his place? Old Wei, with Mo Ping handling the funeral arrangements, isn’t it inappropriate for us to stay here?"
Old Wei turned around, hesitating for a moment before replying, "Don't overthink it. Village Head Mo is doing this for your own good. He discussed it with me; it's not very safe to stay in the village. It's better to stay a bit outside."
"What do you mean?" I pressed for clarification.
Old Wei hesitated again, "It’s just that staying in the village isn’t safe."
"Why?"
"Because... because there are dead people who have revived!"
At that moment, a cold wind swept through, causing the candle flame to flicker several times before suddenly going out!
(To be continued, more exciting content tomorrow!)
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