They Say I Can Curse People (3)

Chapter 34

In the bank burglary case in Tonglin Town, over a thousand yuan had not been recovered. At the time, the explanation given by the police was that the money had been blown away by the wind.

However, everyone in Tonglin Town had their own opinion on the matter.

How could money be blown away by the wind? What, did the wind have eyes? Could it steal money right out of a pocket? Or did the thief have nowhere to spend the money and just threw it around for fun? No matter how you thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

“If you ask me, the bank definitely didn’t lose that much money in the first place. Weren’t they saying fifty thousand was missing at first? Then it suddenly became twenty thousand. I bet it wasn’t even twenty thousand. They probably tried to claim twenty thousand from the police, but the police aren’t fools, so they just said the money blew away.”

The person spinning this conspiracy theory spoke with great conviction, even putting himself in the shoes of the thief: “Think about it. If you were there to steal money, would you sit in the bank and count out exactly twenty thousand yuan to take? Could you steal it so neatly? I certainly couldn’t.”

Since the locals didn’t understand the bank’s internal systems, this logic seemed quite plausible to them.

However, some people suspected that the money had simply been spent. It wasn’t possible that the people who handled the money hadn’t spent a single cent, right?

“They probably spent it and are now saying it blew away so the bank won’t go after their families for the money.”

Whether it was the first theory or the second, they shared a common view: it was impossible for the wind to have carried the money off.

Of course, some people went into the mountains to try their luck. What if? Anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to look around the mountains when they had free time.

It happened to be October, and the Maotou Mountain area was producing an extraordinary amount of Lime Mushrooms¹.

Lime Mushrooms were named for their stark white color, which resembled lime. Stir-fried with some chili peppers, they were a perfect accompaniment to rice.

Usually, people from the mountains would boil these Lime Mushrooms first and then come to town to sell them.

Townspeople went into the mountains to rake through the leaves, and with every rake, they found a Lime Mushroom. Beneath the leaf litter, the ground was covered in them.

Who could refuse such joy? Even if they didn’t find any money, finding Lime Mushrooms meant the trip wasn’t a waste.

So, the first group of people who went into the mountains to look for money came back with their shirts bundled full of Lime Mushrooms.

As they came down, others commented on their good luck, surprised that these Lime Mushrooms hadn’t been picked by the mountain dwellers yet.

“You wouldn’t believe it, they’re all over the mountains. A lot of them are old and rotten already; it’s a shame.”

“When the factory is on break, we should go look in the mountains too. Even if we don’t find the money, it’s good to find some Lime Mushrooms.”

That night, everyone who ate those mushrooms suffered from vomiting, diarrhea, and dizziness. Only after seeing a doctor did they realize the mushrooms were poisonous.

“It’s impossible for them to be poisonous. We’ve eaten them since we were kids. Those were Lime Mushrooms.”

“This has happened before,” the doctor explained. “These are called Japanese Red Mushrooms. They look almost identical to Lime Mushrooms. Even people living in the mountains sometimes can’t tell them apart. They can only distinguish them by knowing which specific mountain’s mushrooms cause poisoning and which don’t. Since the mountains were covered in them when you went, the mountain folk must have already eaten them and been poisoned before.”

So that was how it was. Now, not only was the money not found, but people had suffered for it.

Word of the incident spread quickly, and even those who had planned to go looking for Lime Mushrooms changed their minds.

They hadn’t believed the story about the money blowing away in the first place, and now with the poisoning incident added to it, the matter was dropped.

The money in the mountains remained mixed among the leaves, staying there quietly for a few days until Tonglin Town was hit by a massive rainstorm.

The rainwater washed the leaves down Maotou Mountain, and the money was swept along with them. Eventually, all the leaves and the money came to a rest beside a large boulder.

It remained there until a young woman named Chang Fang decided to go home to die, only to find she couldn’t remember the way. The two sisters were dizzy with hunger and couldn’t find a path, so they simply followed the trail carved out by the rainwater. At the end of that trail was the large boulder that had trapped all the leaves.

In the midst of an emotional breakdown, Chang Fang discovered the money that had arrived there ahead of her, carried by the rain.

Six-year-old Huanhuan knew that her sister was “acting crazy” again. Whenever her sister got like this, Huanhuan would let her be alone for a while, so she hid in the nearby bushes.

Chang Fang wasn’t thinking about anything; all that remained was a primal human attraction to money.

One hundred yuan, ten notes in total. She rummaged through the remaining dead leaves again and again, finding two more. Once she was certain there were no more, she stared at the money in her hand.

This was money. Real money. She should have felt happy, but for some reason, her body couldn’t seem to produce a reaction.

“Sister! So many Lime Mushrooms! They’re everywhere!” Huanhuan emerged from the bushes, holding two Lime Mushrooms in each hand.

Chang Fang held the money. This girl, who had been unfortunate her whole life and believed herself to be a walking disaster, was completely stunned by this sudden windfall.

Instead, it was the sight of the Lime Mushrooms that made her feel a reflexive sense of joy.

This kind of surprise, something one could find while wandering the mountains, was able to trigger the happiness programs of her past.

She hated all farm work – digging potatoes, carrying sweet potatoes, cutting grass for the cows.

The only thing she liked was foraging for mushrooms. She loved that lack of direction, just running through the mountains alone, looking down occasionally to see a mushroom. Sometimes, when luck was on her side and she found a huge patch of them, she would feel a sense of fulfillment.

Those were some of the few happy moments she had experienced over the years.

So, she tucked the money away, not daring to think about it further, and began picking Lime Mushrooms with her sister.

There were some here, more over there – heavens, there was an entire patch over there! Usually, they were more common in August or September; finding this many in this season was truly incredible luck!

“Sister! Mom will be so happy when we bring all these Lime Mushrooms home.”

Chang Fang’s mind, which had been occupied by the money and the mushrooms, was suddenly attacked by the word “Mom.”

She thought of her mother again, and many, many unpleasant voices began to echo in her head. These voices seemed to flow through her blood and into her heart. Her chest began to ache again.

Chang Fang forced herself to think about the money she hadn’t dared to dwell on. This much money had to be real.

She had heard before that the town bank had been robbed and some money hadn’t been recovered. Maybe this was that money.

This was something she had overheard when her mother last visited her sister. Her mother had shared it as a piece of news with her Eldest Aunt, and she had listened in while her Eldest Aunt was repeating it to someone else.

On that visit, Chang Fang hadn’t been there when her mother arrived. She hadn’t quite understood what she was thinking at the time, but she had taken her basket and gone into the mountains to gather firewood alone. She didn’t come back for lunch, returning only as dusk began to fall. Her mother hadn’t left yet. Her Eldest Aunt was seeing her mother out, carrying a torch, and Chang Fang had hidden off to the side to listen to them talk.

“It’s so late,” her Eldest Aunt said. “Why not just go back tomorrow?”

“There’s too much to do at home, I have to go back today. Big Sister, thank you…” As she spoke, her voice began to choke up. “If it weren’t for you, I really wouldn’t know what to do.”

“We’re sisters, why say such things?”

Chang Fang felt that her Eldest Aunt was truly good to her mother.

On the other side, her Eldest Aunt continued, “Usually Chang Fang is quite hardworking and obedient. She’s basically the one carrying and looking after Huanhuan. I don’t know why she insisted on going to gather wood this morning, but she’ll probably be back in a bit. Why don’t you just stay the night?”

“Forget it, there will be time to visit later. The family is desperately short on money right now. I have to help someone cook tomorrow morning to earn a bit of cash. I also want to take Huanhuan back with me.”

Now, Chang Fang had money… this money…

Why? Why should this money be given to that woman? But… but… that woman was her mother.

Chang Fang smacked her own head. You disobedient thing, why are you thinking about this? Stop thinking, stop thinking, don’t think about this!

Huanhuan only saw her sister pick a few Lime Mushrooms, and as she picked them, she started hitting her own head again.

It meant the Lime Mushrooms weren’t good enough. Huanhuan looked left and right, then quickly ran to the other side.

“Sister!!! Come look! There’s a beautiful flower here!”

Her sister was still hitting her head.

The little girl hurriedly ran up a few more steps. Let there be something fun, anything!

“Sister! Sister! Hurry up! There’s a house here!”

Sure enough, this caught her sister’s attention.

Chang Fang quickly climbed up as well. The two of them saw a house nestled in the mountain bend opposite them.

“Sister, let’s go ask for directions.”

Chang Fang felt a bit strange. Why was it a lone house all by itself?

But as long as there were people, it was fine. If someone was there, they could ask the way.

Chang Fang first found a bag to put all the Lime Mushrooms in, then walked toward the house.

On the other side, the old couple on Maotou Mountain had been very unhappy lately.

During the Bank Burglary Case, the Liao family had received a five-hundred-yuan reward. Because the young Liao couple was currently detained in Xiangjin Town due to the kidnapping incident, the blind elder of the family had fumbled his way up Maotou Mountain with the five hundred yuan and the three children. He wanted to give the money to the old couple, hoping they would forgive the younger generation for their mistakes.

The old couple had kept their faces stern and refused the money, but they didn’t tell anyone. The outside world assumed the money had been given.

Once people heard about this, some thoughtless relatives started coming to the door every few days to borrow money.

“Great-Aunt, if things were even slightly easier at home, we definitely wouldn’t open our mouths. It’s just… sigh…”

Whenever one came, the Old Lady would give them a piece of her mind.

“You say you can’t open your mouths, but I see yours hasn’t missed a single word. I’m your Great-Aunt, not your mother or father. If things aren’t easy at your house, it’s because you only have the talent for borrowing money and none for earning it. If I were you, I’d find a rope and hang myself.”

“…We’re all relatives. If Great-Aunt won’t lend money, then don’t, but why turn everyone into enemies? Back when your child passed away, my father even comforted you…”

The Old Lady let out a cold snort and cursed, “Oh, that’s a grand contribution indeed! You tell your father to come here and say that to me. I’ll ask him if such a grand contribution deserves me building a temple for him and worshipping him like an idol!”

The old couple didn’t care who came. Every day they opened their eyes, they hated the whole world. They hated that other people’s children could grow up; they hated that other families didn’t treat children like human beings yet still had houses full of offspring; they hated that other people’s kids were alive and well while wasting their lives away…

Anyway, they woke up with hatred. Except for the policeman Yun Song and Yun Song’s companion, anyone else who came was treated as a tool for them to vent their resentment.

So, when a young girl arrived at their door carrying a little girl on her back, the Old Lady had already cursed enough for one day. She turned around and slammed the door shut.

Chang Fang: “…”

Huanhuan didn’t know how to read people’s expressions. She ran to the door. “Grandma, Grandma, do you know the way to Jinshan Village? My sister and I are going to Jinshan Village to find our mother.”

Jinshan Village. One big, one small. Two girls.

The Old Lady opened the door, realizing these were the sisters Yun Song had mentioned before.

“You’re going back to your own home?”

Huanhuan was very happy. She showed the Lime Mushrooms in her hand to the Old Lady. “We’re bringing Lime Mushrooms back for Mama!”

Huanhuan thought her sister’s head might be having problems again. Last time, Mama had said they could only go back once their younger brother was born. Going back now definitely wouldn’t work. In case Mama didn’t want them back, they would just say they were only there to deliver Lime Mushrooms. That way, they wouldn’t lose face.

The hatred in the Old Lady’s heart flared up again. She couldn’t help but say, “Your family doesn’t even want you anymore. Why are you so eager to run back there?”

“That’s not true. Mama said she’d pick me up once my brother is born,” Huanhuan said.

The Old Lady said, “Then is your brother born yet?”

“…No.”

“Then what are you going back for?”

Huanhuan was already feeling anxious. She was under too much pressure. Her sister would go crazy for no reason, her mother didn’t want them, and now they were lost. They had finally found someone, only for that person to ask the question Huanhuan feared most.

Huanhuan thought about it and burst into tears with a loud wail.

Chang Fang quickly pulled her sister into her arms. This was also the first time she had experienced such malice from a stranger. She didn’t understand why this person was treating them this way. She didn’t owe this Old Lady anything; she hadn’t even drunk a drop of water from their house.

Seeing her sister cry like this, her defensiveness immediately turned into aggression. “Old Lady, listen to reason! We came to ask for directions, not to be insulted. Bullying a child like this will land you in the eighteenth level of hell²!”

The Old Lady actually felt a bit of regret. After all, they were just two children. Hearing the girl speak this way, she didn’t get angry. Instead, she couldn’t help but jab back at her, “You’re the ones who are always right. If I say a few words to you, I’m bullying you, I’ve committed a cardinal sin, and I’m destined for the eighteen levels of hell.”

“But what about your parents? Look at the two of you, such pitiful sights. You-you’re seventeen today, aren’t you? Have you ever had a single day of good life? Should your parents go to hell too?”

“They didn’t want things to be this way, it’s just my bad luck,” Chang Fang said, but in her mind, she inexplicably repeated the Old Lady’s words.

Have you ever had a single day of good life? Should your parents go to hell too?

Deep inside, she felt a hidden sense of relief that she couldn’t let anyone discover.

Chang Fang didn’t even realize it herself, but she no longer felt any malice toward the Old Lady. The things she was saying weren’t the kind of things she would normally say to a stranger. “It’s my fault. I cursed my mother, making it so she couldn’t give birth to a son. I’m the reason our generation of the Zhang family only has daughters…”

“Oh, look at you, so powerful! I couldn’t tell!” the Old Lady said with a biting tone. “So you’re a Goddess of Mercy who only delivers girls³? Then why are you going home? Hurry up and get back to your temple.”

Heh. Chang Fang felt a secret sense of amusement at the remark.

Translator’s Notes