Wang Ergou’s body was carried out of the paddy field. A crowd of men surrounded it. The outer ones were the brave uncles and women who had come to watch the fun. The timid ones stood far away and held their children back from watching.

　　When Li Zhouzhou and his husband came out, they heard several familiar uncles and aunts talking.

　　”… His face is all swollen and rotten. He must have been eaten by loaches and frogs in the fields.”

　　”Stop talking, it’s so scary. I glanced at it from a distance and it gave me a chill.”

　　It’s not the cold weather, it’s been a cold snap for more than ten days, and the ground has never been dry. Someone rubbed his arms and said, “Yesterday was Qingming Festival, do you think it could be that…”

　　”As the old saying goes, you can’t walk on the night of Qingming Festival. Night roads are for ancestors.” The person who spoke was afraid, so he turned the word “ghost” around in his mouth and changed it to “ancestors”.

　　The ghost that can walk on the streets at night in Xiping Village must be a deceased elder of the village.

　　Li Zhouzhou went over and asked how Wang Ergou died. The man was very enthusiastic and didn’t even bother to tell Li Zhouzhou and Gu Shulang the story again.

　　”The first person to discover it was Zhang Zhuzi. He said that he went to the field to check in the morning and saw something from a distance lying in the paddy field. It was a huge black mass. He was afraid that his paddy field would be crushed, so he went to take a look. Guess what happened?”

　　The answer has been revealed, so why guess? Gu Zhao sometimes thinks that the uncles and aunts in the village are chatting and talking, and some of them are very good and fascinating, just like stand-up comedy, while some are not so good and dry.

　　This auntie was obviously eloquent and her expression was very cooperative.

　　”It’s a person, lying in the paddy field, his clothes are wet. Zhang Zhuzi was frightened and called out twice, but there was no movement. He picked up a branch and poked him, but there was still no movement. Daniu hurried over, and the father and son lifted him up, and saw that Wang Ergou’s face was rotten from the soaking. He had died in his own paddy field…”

　　Without any need for a supporting role, this auntie finished her story vividly and added at the end: “It must have been dragged into the paddy field by a ghost.”

　　This one treated Wang Ergou’s death as a fun event. After all, there hadn’t been such a mysterious death in the village for a long time, and yesterday was Qingming Festival, so there was a lot to talk about. These women who talked about it didn’t really express any regrets about Wang Ergou’s death. They just said it was pitiful, and then continued to learn with a smile on their faces.

　　On the other side of the field, Tian from the Zhang family was cursing, “Damn Wang Ergou, why didn’t he die somewhere else but in my paddy field? He dirtied my land. What bad luck!”

　　”How can you talk like that? My son is dead–” Wang Ergou’s mother sat on the ground crying and couldn’t stand up. As soon as she opened her mouth, Tian spat in her face.

　　Tian put her hands on her waist and cursed: “Your son is not mine even if he died. It doesn’t matter where he died. It’s unlucky to pick my paddy field. If it delays the crops in my field, I will ask you for money. You are here to make a profit for me!”

　　Someone advised Tian to say less, but everyone died.

　　”So he didn’t die in your field. You loved him so much, Wang Ergou, take him back and let him soak in your field for a night. Will you eat the rice you grow there in the future?” Tian cursed back.

　　He pouted and said, “Everyone is dead.” This person’s face turned pale, but he really didn’t dare to say anything else. If Wang Ergou died and soaked in his family’s fields overnight, who would eat the rice that came out?

　　Thinking about it is really unlucky.

　　The village chief was annoyed by the quarrels and scolding, so he shouted and asked Zhang Zhuzi to take care of his wife. What was the point of a man being like that? Zhang Zhuzi was trembling and hadn’t spoken yet, when Tian sat on the ground first. The young widow^[1]because she was crying like her husband died started to cry loudly, as if she was visiting a grave. She cried even more miserably than Wang Ergou’s mother who had lost her son.

　　”Why is my life so miserable? What did my family do to deserve such bad luck? I can’t even say anything about it, as my fertile land has been tainted with bad luck.”

　　”Why is my life so miserable? The villagers bullied my Zhang family and my poor fertile land. Wang Ergou’s family has to compensate me for my fertile land. Everyone, please give us some advice.”

　　”It wasn’t me who killed Wang Ergou. He was the one who didn’t have eyes. He drank too much horse urine and didn’t have eyes. He dumped it on anyone else’s house. He dumped it on my fertile fields and my rice.”

　　The tone was drawn out, the voice was thin and sharp, covering up the crying of Wang Ergou’s mother.

　　Just because Tian would cry, scold and make a fuss, if it was unreasonable, the village chief could still stop her and Tian would not dare to do so. But in this matter today, the village chief could only let Tian go to Wang Ergou’s house to cry and howl, which was better than asking him for fertile land.

　　Poor Wang Ergou’s parents heard that their son had died early in the morning and came to identify the body. Before they could even cry out to express their grief over the loss of their only son, they offended the fierce Tian, ​​who chased them for compensation.