Corpse Retriever

Cui Guiying had just changed Li Zhuiyuan out of his wet clothes when she saw her husband rinse the blood off his knee with a scoop of well water, then unlock the cabinet and pull out three packs of cigarettes.

He tossed one to Cui Guiying, instructing, “When Zheng Datong comes, open it in front of him, give him one, and another when he leaves, put the medicine on credit.”

Then Li Weihan tossed over another pack, “Give Liu Xiazi the whole pack, no negotiating otherwise.”

Cui Guiying cautioned, “I hear Liu Xiazi charges a hefty fee for a job these days.”

Li Weihan shook his head, “She may be blind in the eyes, but she better not be blind in her conscience.”

Liu Jinxia’s husband grew up playing in the mud with Li Weihan, and in the years right after he passed, when the widow and orphan struggled, Li Weihan often brought aid and helped with farm work during busy seasons, earning him plenty of gossip back then.

Though the two families didn’t visit much anymore, if Liu Xiazi dared charge him, Li Weihan would spit in her face.

The last pack, Li Weihan slipped into his own pocket.

Cui Guiying asked, puzzled, “You’re heading out?”

Li Weihan nodded, “I’m going to find Uncle Sanjiang.”

“What! What did you all run into out there?”

Li Weihan glanced at the kids around, glared at his wife, “I’ll tell you when I’m back.”

With that, Li Weihan pushed his old 28-inch bike out the door.

Cui Guiying sat back by the mat, gently stroking Li Zhuiyuan, calling his name over and over.

A little granddaughter asked curiously, “What’s wrong with Brother Yuanzi?”

Huzi piped up, “I know, Brother Yuanzi ran into a water monkey and got pulled down to be a scapegoat!”

At once, the surrounding kids looked scared and stepped back.

“Smack!”

A slap mark appeared on Huzi’s face.

Cui Guiying scolded, “Pah, you’re out of your mind spouting nonsense, go outside and see if the people we called are here yet, go!”

“Ow! On it!”

Huzi didn’t fuss, the slap stung but he didn’t take it to heart, and he ran out with Shi Tou and a few others to check.

Cui Guiying told her eldest granddaughter Yingzi to fetch a bowl of water and a needle, she took the needle, scratched it across Li Zhuiyuan’s forehead and scalp several times, then laid it flat in the bowl.

There was a local custom that if someone was sick or unwell, you’d use a needle to “call” them back.

Before long, voices came from outside, “Zheng Datong’s here, Zheng Datong’s here!”

Zheng Datong walked in, carrying a wooden medical box on his back.

“Doctor Zheng, take a look at the kid, take a look at the kid.”

Cui Guiying took out the cigarettes, opened the pack, pulled one out, and handed it over.

Zheng Datong took the cigarette, tucked it behind his ear, squatted down, looked at Li Zhuiyuan, and asked, “What happened to the kid?”

“He fell into the water and won’t wake up.”

“Fell into the water?” Zheng Datong first checked Li Zhuiyuan’s mouth and nose, then lifted his eyelids to look, and afterward pulled a stethoscope from his box, listening carefully.

When he put the stethoscope away, Cui Guiying leaned in and asked, “Doctor Zheng, how is he?”

Zheng Datong frowned, sat Li Zhuiyuan up, and Cui Guiying quickly lent a hand.

He patted the child’s back, observed for a moment, then laid him back down, took the cigarette from behind his ear, and put it in his mouth.

Cui Guiying hurried to the stove to grab matches, but saw Zheng Datong had already lit it himself, taking several deep drags.

“How is he, Doctor?”

Zheng Datong looked at Cui Guiying, “How long was the kid in the water?”

Cui Guiying glanced at Panzi.

Panzi said, “Just a short while, Grandpa pulled Yuanzi up right after he fell in.”

Zheng Datong frowned again, took a big puff, exhaled smoke rings, and said, “Auntie, the kid didn’t drown, didn’t choke on water, there’s nothing wrong.”

“Then why won’t he wake up?” Cui Guiying asked.

“Take the kid to the town clinic for a checkup, it might be something else.” Zheng Datong packed up his things and stood, at a loss.

Cui Guiying pulled out another cigarette and handed it to him.

“No more, no more,” he said, but still took it and tucked it behind his ear.

Then, finishing the cigarette in his mouth down to the filter, Zheng Datong tossed the butt on the ground, stomped it out, and whispered, “Have you called Liu Xiazi to take a look?”

“Oh, yes, we did,” Cui Guiying said, a bit embarrassed.

Zheng Datong nodded, Panzi had told him some things on the way, and now he could only advise, “If he doesn’t wake by night, send him to town tomorrow morning.”

“Got it, got it, sorry to trouble you, really.”

At that moment, Leizi ran in, wiping sweat from his face with his hand, and said to Cui Guiying, “Liu Xiazi is here.”

Cui Guiying scolded, “You little rascal, no manners, call her Grandma Liu.”

Zheng Datong knew it was time to step aside, walked out the door, and just caught sight of a tricycle being pedaled over from a distance, with an old woman sitting on it.

“Ha…”

Zheng Datong suddenly recalled the recent hype in the newspapers about all sorts of miracle drugs, and here he was, part of it, what was that called again?

Oh, right…

Integrating Chinese and Western medicine.

Leizi had run home first to announce it, while Li Juxiang pedaled the tricycle behind, grumbling, “Mom, you shouldn’t have dawdled so much, we should’ve come earlier.”

Earlier, someone from neighboring Shigang Town had come to discuss arrangements for her mother’s posthumous birthday, and they could’ve had him wait at home while they came here first, but her mom insisted on finishing that business and even took her time in the bathroom before heading over.

Sitting on the little stool in the back, Liu Jinxia exhaled a smoke ring and snapped, “What’s the rush for? We’re not getting paid by them anyway.”

“Mom, you’d really have the nerve to charge them?”

“Pah, if they offer, I’ll take it.”

“I remember when I was little, Uncle Han helped us a lot.”

“Then with four sons, why didn’t he send one my way?” Liu Jinxia flicked her ash, “None of them came knocking, I didn’t even ask for a bride price, offered a free daughter-in-law, and he still wouldn’t take it, ha!”

“How can you blame Uncle Han for that?”

“I say, Xianghou, let others gossip about us all they want, it’s their mouths after all, but why do you have to put yourself down like this?”

Li Juxiang pressed her lips together.

“Xianghou, Little Cuihou is still young, and I don’t have many years left, she’ll depend on you later, so what if there’s no man? I, Liu Jinxia, will prove that without a man, us mother and daughter can still live well, eat well, drink well, and do better than anyone else!”

“We’re here, Mom.”

The tricycle rolled up the embankment, stopping at Old Li’s doorstep.

Cui Guiying stepped forward to help Liu Jinxia off, and Liu Jinxia patted her hand, saying, “Oh, how could I let you help me down, your Hanhou is my benefactor, you know.”

“The kid… Come quick and see the child, he still hasn’t woken up.”

Liu Jinxia said, “Leihou mentioned something about running into something in the water?”

Cui Guiying replied, “The kid’s grandpa has gone to fetch Uncle Sanjiang.”

Hearing this, Liu Jinxia’s heart tightened, she gripped Cui Guiying’s hand and urged, “Quick, take me to see the kid.”

When Leizi came to summon her, he’d said some things, but she thought the kids were exaggerating, now that Li Weihan was off to get that Li Sanjiang, this was serious!

She, Liu Jinxia, still remembered Li Weihan’s kindness from the past.

Inside the house, the chatter of a bunch of kids filled the air, Liu Jinxia’s eyesight was poor, it felt like walking into a duck pen, so she waved a hand and barked,

“You little rascals, clear out, stop making noise, you’ll disturb the kitchen god!”

Cui Guiying quickly told the older kids to take the younger ones outside and shut the door.

“Where’s the person?” Liu Jinxia asked.

“In the inner room.” Cui Guiying prepared to lead her there.

“Bring him to the kitchen, there’s a stove here.”

“Alright, I’ll go get the kid out now.”

With Li Juxiang’s help, Li Zhuiyuan was placed on the kitchen dining table.

Liu Jinxia’s old hands first touched Li Zhuiyuan’s legs, then moved up from his legs to his face, and after feeling his face, stopped at his shoulders, pressing gently.

Her hands, stained with the smoky scent of tobacco between the fingers and preserved with white vinegar, gave off a sharp, pungent smell.

Anyone standing nearby could catch the whiff, and if you got close enough to sniff, it might just wake someone from an ordinary faint.

Liu Jinxia felt around for a while and asked, “Guiying, have you called him?”

“I did, I did.” Cui Guiying quickly brought over the bowl with water and the needle, then let out a startled cry, “Ah!”

The needle in the bowl wasn’t just rusty, it had red rust, spreading out around it at the bottom.

Li Juxiang, standing nearby, immediately leaned in to describe it to her mother’s ear.

After hearing, Liu Jinxia took a deep breath, her expression grave, “Sister, the kid’s been tainted by something.”

“What?” Cui Guiying jumped again, pleading at once, “Save him, save him, my daughter only has this one child, he’s in my care, nothing can happen to him.”

As she spoke, Cui Guiying pulled the pack of cigarettes from her pocket and pressed it into Liu Jinxia’s hands.

Liu Jinxia pushed it away, letting out a sigh.

Cui Guiying said, “Take it for now, we’ll make up the rest later…”

Liu Jinxia cut her off, “I won’t take anything from your family, I can’t, it burns my hands.”

“Sister, don’t say that, my kid…”

Liu Jinxia turned to her daughter with a bitter smile, “Hear that? It’s the son of your Uncle Han’s favorite little girl.”

“It’s Lanhou’s son,” Li Juxiang paused, adding, “Lanhou and I were really close back then.”

Lanhou, named Li Lan, was Li Zhuiyuan’s mother.

Back then, the village saw Liu Jinxia’s family as bad luck, and parents warned their kids not to play with Li Juxiang, leaving her childhood lonely, unable to run around freely like others, since adults would give her dirty looks when she went to their homes.

Li Lan didn’t care about that, often inviting her to play, a friendship that lasted until Li Lan left the village for university.

Liu Jinxia closed her eyes, silent.

(Continue in Next Part)