Moxiaoji remembered clearly that something seemed to have happened in the forest that day, and her grandmother and all the village uncles had gone there, leaving only her and Brother Yu at home. In her panic, her grandmother actually forgot to lock the chest, and Moxiaoji seized the opportunity to sneak into her grandmother’s room and open the mysterious box.
Hao Lianyu
To her disappointment, she found only an antique white gauze dress and a colorful dagger. What caught her eye was that the dagger was encrusted with five-colored gemstones. Just as Moxiaoji was about to pick up the dagger to examine whether the gems were real, Hao Lianyu dragged her away in terror.
She remembered Hao Lianyu’s face was pale as white jade. He forcefully dragged Moxiaoji to the back of his house, looked around, and then breathed heavily. With his dark eyes, he seriously told Moxiaoji: “Never let grandmother know you opened that chest. You must tell her that you were at my house with me and never left.”
Moxiaoji had never seen Hao Lianyu so serious before, and she silently nodded. Because of Hao Lianyu’s fearful expression, Moxiaoji kept this secret, which became their biggest shared secret.
From that moment, Moxiaoji wondered what her grandmother would do if she knew about the chest.
When she asked Hao Lianyu, his almost enchanting eyes dimmed for an instant, and he said word by word: “She will kill you.
Then, Hao Lianyou tightly hugged Mo Xiaoji, whispering in an almost pleading voice: “Trust me, Xiaoji, don’t tell your grandmother, even less tell your grandmother that we often meet. Listen to me, you will understand later, but don’t ask why now. Because even I don’t know how to tell you why. But I’ll tell you, killing someone is a very easy thing.”
Hao Lianyou might have realized that his tone had frightened Mo Xiaoji, and quickly tried to reassure her: “Don’t worry! I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Mo Xiaoji just stared blankly at Hao Lianyou, thinking he was crazy. This wasn’t an evil underworld, this was the bright and sunny 21st century.
Mo Xiaoji’s thoughts drifted back to the present.
On the small square table in the room were two plates of black, murky things. Even if Mo Xiaoji strained her eyes to recognize them, she couldn’t discern their original form, which made her incredibly frustrated, wondering if what she would eat would make her sick again.
Classical Beauty
She truly admired herself for surviving under this old witch grandmother and growing up so beautifully. Sometimes she really believed what her brother Yue said – this old witch grandmother might not even be her real grandmother, and if she angered her, her life might be over.
Grandmother sat on the chair with a fake smile, glancing at Mo Xiaoji: “Eat.”
“Hehe,” Mo Xiaoji squinted, blinking her eyes, sitting at the chair, pointing her chopsticks at the two black murky things: “Grandmother, these two plates look strange. Xiaoji doesn’t know how to start eating. Why don’t you demonstrate?”
Grandmother looked calmly at Mo Xiaoji.
Suddenly, Mo Xiaoji discovered an amazing fact. Her grandmother must have been a stunning beauty when young – double eyelids, phoenix eyes, a high nose bridge, and even her lips were a classic beauty’s cherry-like mouth.
Grandmother coldly laughed, extending her chopsticks to pick up a piece of the black murky thing, slowly chewing.
Mo Xiaoji smiled ingratiatingly at her grandmother, extending her chopsticks to pick up a piece and put it in her mouth. Surprisingly, though it looked unappetizing, it actually tasted quite good. Mo Xiaoji picked up two more pieces, and the taste seemed to get better.
“Grandmother’s cooking skills are getting better and better. Xiaoji thinks it’s much more delicious than the food at our company.”
“Really?” A strange emotion flashed in grandmother’s eyes: “If you like it, let Uncle Hao Lian catch a few more snakes tomorrow.”
“Snakes” Mo Xiaoji’s face changed dramatically.
Disbelievingly looking at her grandmother: “Grandmother, are you saying this is snake meat?”
Everyone knew Mo Xiaoji was most afraid of snakes and snake meat. Mo Xiaoji felt like the snakes she ate were alive, swimming around in her stomach.
Mo Xiaoji felt nauseous, covered her mouth, and ran outside to vomit violently, expelling everything she had just eaten, feeling sick and eventually vomiting bitter water, then running to the water tank to drink a ladle of cold water to stop.
Mo Xiaoji felt her grandmother was more evil than the several wicked masters of the legendary Shuanger Xiaoyu. She had thought about moving out of the village, but no matter how her grandmother treated her, she was still her grandmother, and she was so old – how could she be unfilial?
Bizarre Incident
When Mo Xiaoji returned to her grandmother’s room after vomiting, she found her grandmother had disappeared. Logically, she had been right at the door and hadn’t seen her grandmother leave – could she have flown out the window like a bird?
But such things were no longer strange to Mo Xiaoji.
Mo Xiaoji looked at the two black murky plates on the table, and her stomach started feeling uncomfortable again. Fortunately, she had eaten a lot at lunch and wasn’t very hungry.
Mo Xiaoji returned to her room, which was even simpler than her grandmother’s – just a bed, with clothes casually draped over a piece of wood.
Mo Xiaoji lay on the bed but couldn’t sleep. The insect sounds outside were getting more and more wild, with owls hooting intermittently, their cries like infant wails that made her nerves tingle.
Mo Xiaoji suddenly sat up, lifting her bedding to reveal a black hole, which she crawled into, then carefully arranged the bedding so no one would notice her exit.
The tunnel was dug by her and Hao Lianyou to make it convenient for them to meet.
Except when Hao Lianyou picked her up and dropped her off, her grandmother didn’t allow her to meet him. She didn’t know why, but she believed Brother Yue knew the reason, yet he never wanted to tell her. As he said, even if she knew, it would only harm her and bring no benefit.
Hao Lianyou’s house was east of Mo Xiaoji’s. She carefully crossed a row of pine trees, being careful of the branches that could potentially be fatal. Fortunately, Mo Xiaoji was already familiar with this path and quickly arrived at Hao Lianyou’s backyard.
The house was lit. Just as Mo Xiaoji was about to enter, she heard an argument inside – it was Brother Yue’s voice: “You can’t do this to Xiaoji, you can’t. How can you treat her like this? Wasn’t she raised by you? And now you’re treating her like this, you’re simply… simply…” The rest was unintelligible, with only Brother Yue’s grief-stricken angry roar.
Mo Xiaoji was stunned, not daring to enter rashly. She vaguely sensed an inexplicable chill and fear.
Uncle Hao Lian walked out of the house with an iron-blue face. Mo Xiaoji quickly hid behind a locust tree, and fortunately, Uncle Hao Lian was distracted and didn’t notice her.
When Mo Xiaoji finished vomiting and returned to her grandmother’s room, she discovered that her grandmother had disappeared. It seemed strange, as she had been standing right at the door and hadn’t seen her grandmother leave – could she have flown out the window like a bird?
But this was nothing unusual for Mo Xiaoji.
Mo Xiaoji looked at the two dark dishes on the table, and her stomach began to feel uncomfortable again. Fortunately, she had eaten a lot at lunch and wasn’t very hungry.
Mo Xiaoji returned to her own room, which was even simpler than her grandmother’s – just a bed with clothes carelessly draped over a piece of wood.
She lay on the bed but couldn’t fall asleep. The insect sounds outside were becoming more and more wild, and even the owls were hooting continuously. Their cries, like an infant’s wailing, made Mo Xiaoji’s nerves tingle.
