Chapter One: Arranging a Ghost Marriage for Mother

Thus, my grandmother always targeted my mother in every way. My mother had been married for three years without being able to conceive, enduring the cold stares of my father and grandmother. After going through great hardships to give birth to me, my father's attitude towards my mother improved, but my grandmother was unwilling to accept that the son she had raised for twenty years was taken away by a foolish woman. She forced my mother to get out of bed and work while still in her confinement period.

We were awakened and went outside, and the scene we saw remains vivid in my memory to this day

Grandfather is particularly kind to my mother, probably because he feels sorry for her

Zhang Duan Gong shook his head and sighed: "This is not about money. Chen Xiao's mother died unjustly; when she died, her throat was filled with resentment, and her eyes remained open, remembering your faces. Only by avenging her can that resentment be alleviated. I will first give you a few talismans to see if they can pacify her. If they cannot, then I have no other options."

Father firmly opposed this matter, but the assertive grandmother took it upon herself to go to the village mentioned by Zhang Duan on that very day

I did not dare to shout, hurriedly tapping on the wooden edge of the bed, and it was only when my father heard the sound that he rushed into the room

My mother is not very bright; she doesn't even know about the monthly occurrence that women experience. She just does whatever my grandmother tells her to do

My mother, dressed in a large floral skirt and with her hair neatly styled, stood rigidly in front of the bed like a wooden figure

Zhang Duan Gong thought for a moment and said: "I am helping you for the sake of the child. Since you have already wronged her, it does not matter if you go a little further. She does not want to - picture - book just because she wants her own child, so let’s get her a child."

Thus, I knelt before my mother's grave, watching as they unearthed her coffin. They assembled the shattered body of that young man and dressed him in a groom's attire, while my mother was adorned in a bright red robe. Under the auspices of Zhang Duan Gong, they placed both of them into the coffin and reburied them.

She took advantage of the absence of my grandparents and father to pull me to the edge of the pond at the village entrance, embracing me and crying out in anguish, the intensity of her cries is something I have never been able to forget. After she finished crying, she took out a scarf and tied my hand to her wrist, then leaped into the icy pond.

Upon entering the room, I saw my mother was also taken aback, staring at her for quite a while. Suddenly, with a thud, he knelt down and began to bow his head to her. A grown man was crying like a child, saying: "It is our fault towards you, but the child is blameless, the child is blameless, please spare the child."

Zhang Duangong tapped his father's head and said with frustration, "You must get married first before having children. If you just give her a child, how will she find a father for the child when it comes out? I was thinking of arranging a posthumous marriage for her. Recently, a young man in the village was killed by a falling rock in the coal mine, and he was just buried not long ago. You should go to that family and discuss it, see if we can move that young man to be buried with her. When the time comes, I will arrange their marriage. Whether she agrees or not, she will have to agree."

They say my mother died unjustly, and now she has returned to seek revenge, determined to scare our entire family to death before she will relent. That day, it was the villagers who helped to place my mother's body back into the coffin. An elder in the village, knowledgeable in such matters, advised my grandfather: "One should not contend with heaven, nor should one contend with the dead. I suggest you find a medium to help, lest a great misfortune occur and you regret it later."

My father quickly covered my eyes to prevent me from looking, but my grandmother stomped her feet in anger and shouted: "Even in death, you won't let my family go; I will crush your bones."

Little did I know, an incident occurred on the seventh day after my mother's passing

Grandma is well-known in the village for her sharp tongue, and she managed to turn this matter into a story. It is said that the deceased young man was a bachelor, and now that they can arrange a posthumous marriage for him, they are naturally pleased. Meanwhile, they are worried that Grandpa and Grandma might have a change of heart, so the next morning, the people from that side joyfully carried the young man's coffin to the village.

When this matter arose, the entire village came to witness the spectacle

The next day during the day, Grandpa and Grandma invited Zhang Duan Gong again

Grandmother caused my mother's death, this is the only thing I remember most clearly before I turned ten

After Zhang Duangong was invited in, he wandered around the room a few times, shaking his head and saying: "This matter is troublesome, it seems difficult to resolve"

Father said to Zhang Duan: "Zhang Bo, as long as you can appease Xiao Wazi's mother, you can name any price you wish."

My mother was brought from another village

Grandfather and grandmother naturally heard Zhang Duan's words. Grandfather pulled the pipe from his mouth, walked up to father, and with a loud slap, struck him hard across the face, poking his nose and scolding: "You dog, now you know how to be reluctant? I saw how generous you were when you drove her away."

Three whole years have passed, and just when my grandparents thought that my mother had already let go of me, she appeared once again

Father pleaded, saying: "What we did in the past was wrong, but we cannot let her continue like this. The child is still young, and if this goes on, something bad will eventually happen."

They are keeping watch in the main hall, leaving me alone in bed

Out of fear, I covered myself with the blanket and slept in a sweat, only lifting the blanket to catch my breath when I could no longer hold it in

Zhang Duan Gong subsequently gave my father a few talismans and left without asking for any payment

Father hurriedly waved his hand and said it was not possible, after all, he had both the reality and the name of a husband with Mother, and now he was to hand over his own woman to a stranger who had been crushed to pieces in a coal mine, which he was absolutely unwilling to do

On the night that Zhang Duan Gong passed away, my father asked me to go to bed early. He and my grandparents kept vigil in the main room. My grandmother firmly believed that someone was up to no good, insisting that when a person dies, it is like a light being extinguished, and there are no ghosts or monsters. She said they needed to catch the person who was causing trouble.

My mother's corpse was tied by the neck, her body rigidly hanging in front of the door. When my grandfather opened the door, he directly bumped into my mother, who was staring intently into the house, completely motionless

At that time, there happened to be someone doing laundry there, who immediately rescued us. When my grandmother learned of this, she rushed over, furious, and picked up the whip used for driving cattle to strike my mother, leaving several bloody marks on her.

My father soon asked: "What to do? We can no longer engage in the matter of human trafficking."

After speaking, he took the hoe from my grandfather's hand and began to strike my mother's corpse. Just then, a passing villager saw this and immediately came over to grab my grandmother, shouting: "This is unacceptable, this is unacceptable!"

A few days later, my mother's body was found in a mass grave. When discovered, she was completely naked, and the bloodstains on her body were shocking. Moreover, her mouth was filled with dirt. Some villagers who witnessed the scene said they saw my mother eating the dirt from the mass grave along the way. Due to the ominous nature of the mass grave, although everyone suspected that my grandmother had harmed my mother, no one was willing to get involved, fearing retribution.

I held onto my grandmother with all my strength before going to retrieve my mother's body

Zhang Duan Gong sighed and said: "This is all of your own making. When she was alive, she wanted to see her child, but you all refused. Now that she is dead, she still wants to see her child. Who among you can stop that?"

In the morning, Grandpa, taking advantage of the sun not yet being up, prepared to head out early with his hoe to work in the fields. However, upon opening the door, he was so startled that he fell to the ground. He then shouted outside: "Who is the unfortunate one who committed this wicked act? Don't let me catch you, or I will beat you to death!"

Later, the conflict between my mother and grandmother intensified. My mother, unable to bear the grievances any longer, secretly took me away that night. However, we were caught on the spot by my grandmother, who severely beat my mother and drove her away

I do not know if it was my father's pleading that had an effect, but after he kowtowed, my mother staggered out of the room and left through the front door

In our village, during the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese invaders entered our village, and those who were slaughtered by them were buried in a mass grave. At night, hardly anyone dared to come here, as it always felt eerie and ominous. The matter of my mother's death was left unresolved; originally, my grandfather suggested holding a funeral for her, but my grandmother strongly opposed it, saying that such a bereaved woman should not appear in our Chen family, and that there was no qualification to hold a funeral.

Lifting the blanket in that moment left me speechless with fright

It was only after bringing her home that I realized my mother, although beautiful, had some issues with her mind. The traffickers had also vanished without a trace. My grandmother's opinion was that our family had already spent the money, and although this woman might not be very bright, she would certainly have no problem giving birth.

Father listened to the villagers and went to the neighboring village to invite the old priest from our village. The old priest's surname is Zhang, and he possesses some knowledge. He has taught school in the past and studied medicine for several years. He usually assists in determining auspicious dates for weddings and funerals.

In the following years, my mother would come to the village almost every month, but each time before she could enter the house, my grandmother would hide me and not allow me to go out. Gradually, my mother's visits to see me decreased until she completely vanished without a trace