My father’s greatest skill is sweet talk, which is probably how he managed to deceive my mother into marrying him. When his charm wore off, they divorced when I was fourteen. He’s an optimist, always believing tomorrow will be better, which is why he has no habit of saving money and is perpetually broke.
He named me Huan’er, hoping I would inherit some of his carefree joy. Unfortunately, my surname is Qiu.
I stayed up all night, unable to focus on my notes. Deciding to get two hours of sleep to recharge, I woke my younger sister, Le’er, for school before lying down. Le’er, in her second year of middle school, seems uninterested in studying—or anything else, for that matter.
At noon, I returned to school to take my exam. Afterward, I bumped into Hu Tie Han in the hallway.
“Don’t forget our meeting this weekend,” he said.
Hu Tie Han, Zhu Meng Meng, Yu De Ren, Qu Xiao Jue, and I had been classmates since fourth grade and shared a close bond.
Hu Tie Han, tall and handsome, is the son of a police officer and has a strong sense of justice. He was even a child star, hosting a segment on a TV show for a time.
In our fourth year of middle school, Zhu Meng Meng went to study in Canada. Three years ago, she returned, and we resumed our regular meetups.
This weekend’s gathering was at Meng Meng’s luxurious 2,800-square-foot home. Meng Meng’s family owns several dried seafood shops, and her mother is the most fashionable woman in the business.
“Huan’er! You’re here! You’re the first to arrive,” Meng Meng greeted me at the door.
“These are the items your mom and you asked for.” I placed two large bags of skincare products on the floor and began counting. “There are six bottles of cleanser, three toners…”
“All right, all right! How much in total?”
“1,602 yuan.”
“So cheap? How’s your direct sales business doing?”
“Not bad.”
“I admire you. I could never do it. I hate asking people to buy things.”
“Life leaves us no choice!” I replied with a smile.
Two years ago, I started working as a direct seller for an American skincare and health food company. In addition, I have three tutoring jobs, which together earn me 8,000 yuan a month. Every bit of this income goes toward repaying Qu Xiao Jue’s debts. For him, even being in debt feels like a kind of happiness.
When we were in our second year of middle school, ten of us from the same grade went camping at Tai Long Sai Wan. The weather wasn’t great when we set off, and by the time we arrived, it turned for the worse. A violent storm hit with thunder, lightning, and torrential rain. Floodwaters rose, trees toppled, and we were stranded on a beach. The tents we pitched were swept away within minutes by the fierce winds.
We moved toward a nearby village, but by the time we reached it, it was past 8 p.m., and the surroundings were pitch black. Many of the houses were abandoned and desolate, creating an eerie atmosphere. We knocked on the door of a house with lights on, and a man came to answer.
He led us to another house nearby for the night but demanded 200 yuan for lodging.
The house was a dilapidated and uninhabited village dwelling. Upon entering, we looked up and were shocked to see ten coffins stored on the ceiling beams.
“These coffins belong to the elderly of our village,” the man explained. “It’s a custom here to prepare coffins in advance. Among these ten, only one contains a corpse.”
“A corpse?” We screamed in horror.
“An elderly villager passed away tonight. The body couldn’t be transported out, so it’s being kept here,” the man said.
“Is there anywhere else we can stay?” someone asked.
“This is the only place,” the man replied coldly.
Frightened, we huddled together. I had never seen a real coffin before, let alone one with a corpse inside.
“If you don’t like it, you can sleep outside,” the man said curtly.
“We don’t have a choice. Let’s stay here,” Hu Tie Han said.
0 Comments