“Hiss… cough, cough, cough!”
Zhou Cang opened his eyes to complete darkness.
“Where is this? I’m not dead yet?”
Lying in the darkness, he laboriously raised his hand to grope forward. His body was so stiff he could barely move, and he felt he was in a confined space.
“A coffin!”
He was actually in a coffin?
He was an international mercenary, and his last memory was of a skirmish on a European battlefield. After he took out four enemy soldiers, he was chased and bombed by a drone. Could it be that he wasn’t blown to death?
Taking a few deep breaths, he slowly wiggled his toes, trying to feel if his body was still intact. He clearly remembered his intestines being blown out, but now, touching his stomach, it was perfectly fine, without even a single stitch mark!
No! This isn’t his body!
Suddenly, a faint cry reached his ears: “Wuwuwu, Brother Fugui…”
It was a girl’s voice. Was she crying for him? He was a battlefield killing machine with no relatives, a man who didn’t even need severance pay when he died. How could anyone cry for him?
But since he could hear crying, it meant he hadn’t been buried yet!
Thinking this, he tried to hit the wooden board with his hand, but his hand was weak and couldn't make much noise.
Just then, someone outside spoke again,
“Daughter, listen to your second uncle’s advice. Fugui is gone. A young girl like you can’t survive in these mountains. When things are settled, come home with your second uncle and be Shengli’s wife. Your second uncle will definitely treat you like his own daughter, alright?”
Good heavens! What kind of drama is this? The one crying outside is my sister?
I haven’t even been buried yet, and you’re already forcing my sister to be your daughter-in-law?
Hearing this, Zhou Cang’s heart filled with rage, and a surge of strength suddenly burst forth in his body. He had to thank this old man; adrenaline, though late, had arrived!
Zhou Cang clenched his fist and slammed it hard against the wooden board above his head!
“Bang!”
…
This was the winter of 1960, in the Daxing'anling area of Northeast China.
The person who had just spoken was Zhang Fugui’s second uncle. His son, Zhang Shengli, was a notoriously slick young man in the Village, in his early twenties, always idle and a master at avoiding labor.
And the crying girl was Zhang Yue, Zhang Fugui’s child bride, who had grown up with him since childhood. Originally, their family’s life was barely manageable, but half a year ago, Fu Gui's father went hunting in the mountains and was gored by a wild boar. The boar’s tusks ripped open the Hunter’s belly, and by the time the Village people found him, he was already dead.
Zhang Fugui’s mother was already in poor health, and after the incident, she cried all day long. Not long after, she also passed away, leaving behind 19-year-old Zhang Fugui and 16-year-old child bride Zhang Yue.
As for Zhang Fugui, he had a high fever once when he was little, a 40-degree fever for two days. Although he survived, he was a bit simple-minded compared to normal, clever children after that.
However, the simple-minded Fugui was well-built, a tall man of 1.9 meters. From the age of ten, he helped his father in the mountains. He could carry over a hundred catties of game along mountain paths faster than his father, truly a strong young man of the mountains.
Unfortunately, with his parents dying one after another, the two half-grown children were left to depend on each other. This foolish Fugui heard from the Village people that old ginseng in the mountains was very valuable, and one root could buy a winter’s worth of grain. So, he went into the mountains alone to look for ginseng. He brought little dry food and wore thin clothes, and thus, he died of freezing in a muddled way.
It was the very day the Village people carried him back. A mourning hall was set up in the courtyard, and the funeral hadn't even begun when his inhumane second uncle started to scheme for Zhang Yue!
The poor young girl was only 16, blossoming into a graceful young woman, and even her coarse hemp clothes couldn’t hide her youthful vibrancy. But she was still too young and truly didn’t know how to make a living on her own!
In less than half a year, her father, mother, and Brother Fugui had successively passed away. She even suspected if she was “jinxed,” or perhaps she truly had brought death to her entire family! Life was already difficult in those days, and now that Brother Fugui was gone, her second uncle wanted to scheme for her. She felt disgusted thinking of his slimy son; he always looked at her with a lecherous gaze!
This winter was so cold, and Zhang Yue’s heart was even colder. She no longer intended to live.
“Second uncle, I’ve brought death to my entire family. Do you still dare to let me into your house?” Zhang Yue said coldly.
“Don’t talk nonsense, girl. Our new society doesn’t believe in that; it’s all feudal superstition!” Although he said this, Uncle Zhang was actually quite disgusted in his heart, but as soon as he thought of his son who couldn’t find a wife, he disregarded all other considerations.
Just as Zhang Yue was about to refuse again, she suddenly heard a “bang”!
Everyone in the courtyard heard it too, and they all froze.
Instinctively, everyone’s eyes turned towards the coffin.
“Bang!”
Another sound!
This time, they heard it clearly; the sound came from the coffin!
In broad daylight, people felt a chill rise from the back of their necks!
“Oh my god! It’s a reanimated corpse!” Zhang Shengli screamed and turned to run, but several older villagers didn’t move. They had all heard stories from elders about reanimated corpses, which were essentially just cases of apparent death.
Some patients’ breaths were so faint that they were presumed dead, but then they would come back to life a few days later. This is also why the deceased are kept in the courtyard for three or seven days; besides giving time for relatives and friends to mourn or for feng shui reasons, there indeed have been precedents of people coming back to life!
But after all, no one had ever seen it, and everyone was a bit panicked. Just as they were all in doubt, Zhang Yue rushed to the side of the coffin and suddenly pushed open the lid!
The sunlight shone on Zhou Cang’s face, warm and pleasant. The strong light made him unable to open his eyes, and he could only squint to look up: a beautiful young girl with a tear-streaked face was silently crying, covering her mouth.
“Um, hello!”
“Wah!” The girl heard him speak and finally burst into loud sobs! The joy of rediscovery, the grievance of being bullied alone, all mixed together into a wail!
“Brother Fugui, you’re not dead!”
When the people in the courtyard saw this, they also understood that Fugui had come back to life. They quickly helped, and with many hands, carried Zhou Cang from the coffin into the inner room onto the kang. Old Wang and his wife, the neighbors, even helped them light the stove, bringing a little warmth to the cold room.
Uncle Zhang’s eye twitched. He hadn’t expected the dead man to come back to life, which meant he couldn't scheme for his wife anymore. His son was a scoundrel, but he had to maintain some dignity. A simple-minded Fugui and a little girl, he could plot slowly.
Feeling as if someone was poking his back, his old face somewhat lost face, so he quickly said, “Fugui, you rest well. We’ll head back now.”
After speaking, he quickly left, and the others also offered some warm greetings before departing.
Zhang Yue was busy boiling water and cooking porridge. Zhou Cang looked at the busy figure of the young girl, the corners of his mouth curving up involuntarily. Haha, he never thought he would have a chance to live again!