I watched as the most beautiful girl in our village was dragged into the alley.
I didn’t think much of it because her parents saw it too, and they didn’t react.
The girl cried shrilly in the alley.
The hooligan got impatient, choked her unconscious, and then threw fifty yuan to her parents.
After a while, the girl woke up and walked to the hooligan with a smile, gently telling him not to play cards all day and to remember to work hard.
In fact, she really didn’t remember.
Her name was Xiaohudie, and everyone called her that because she was beautiful and kind – hearted.
After graduating, Xiaohudie stayed in the village to help the villagers support industries and expand the sales of agricultural products. Everyone respected her.
Until one typhoon day, she helped the villagers pick fruits in a hurry and was hit on the head by a tree trunk.
Since then, her brain was damaged. She wasn’t crazy, but her memory function was broken.
Her brain couldn’t store new memories. Every time she woke up, she would forget everything that happened that day.
She had the accident on September 7th, so every day when she woke up, she thought she was living on September 7th.
After all, she was the kind – hearted Xiaohudie. Every day when she got up, she went from house to house to inform everyone, gently telling them that the typhoon was coming and they should remember to pick fruits in a hurry.
At first, everyone felt sorry for her because every penny the village earned was with her help.
But as the saying goes, “Even the most filial son can’t be patient with a long – ill parent,” let alone these people who weren’t her sons.
As time passed, people got impatient with her and were too lazy to talk to her every day.
Until one day, a lame old bachelor had a sudden idea.
This girl forgets everything after sleeping. Doesn’t it mean that he can do whatever he wants?
That day, Xiaohudie made a new walking stick and went to his house, playfully saying, “Uncle, the typhoon is coming. I made you a new walking stick.”
Then she was dragged into the house by the old bachelor.
Every day, she took a new walking stick and gave it to the lame uncle.
Every day, she was dragged into the house by that uncle.
Every day, she had to cry shrilly in that house, suffering excruciating pain.
How many times can a human heart endure pain before it dies?
At least Xiaohudie had endured more than eight hundred times.
When she woke up, she was still that cute girl, holding a new walking stick and happily running to the uncle’s house, imagining how happy the uncle would be when he received the new walking stick.
It wasn’t until her belly grew big that the matter came to light.
Her parents cried and wanted to sue the old bachelor in court, but it wasn’t that easy.
The person involved didn’t remember, so who could prove that she was forced?
They could only endure the humiliation and abort the child in Xiaohudie’s belly. It was said that on the day Xiaohudie had the abortion, she went crazy.
She didn’t know why she was pregnant or why she had to have an abortion.
She was driven crazy.
But the next day, she forgot everything and became the happy Xiaohudie again. Lying in the hospital bed, she shouted that she wanted to give the walking stick to the uncle and also wanted to inform the villagers to be careful of the typhoon, but it seemed that her period had come and her stomach hurt.
Over time, her parents no longer planned to sue in court. As long as those hooligans remembered to give money, it was okay.
Because Xiaohudie was happy every time she woke up. Even though she was destined to fall from happiness to the bottom of hell every day, she would be okay after sleeping.
I continued to be busy with my work, drawing tattoos for customers.
I don’t know how long I was busy. When I was immersed in my work, the door was suddenly pushed open.
It was Xiaohudie who came in.
I knew she was going to take off her clothes.
I asked the customer to step aside for a while.
Xiaohudie turned around and took off her clothes.
On her back was a gorgeous fire phoenix, showing its proud posture in the flames.
And on the phoenix was engraved my name.
She said, “When I was taking a bath, I suddenly saw this. But I don’t remember getting a tattoo. Did you do this?”
I said, “Yes.”
She blushed and asked in a low voice, “Why did I get a tattoo? And why did I have your name tattooed?”
I sighed and took her to my bedroom.
She was a little panicked, and I took out a diary from the drawer and handed it to her.
She opened the diary, and the smile on her face froze.
I walked out of the room and closed the door.
Not long after, heart – rending cries from Xiaohudie came from the room.
It was her diary.
It recorded the humiliation and torture she had suffered after the accident.
She wrote every word as if her heart was being cut by a knife, and the handwriting was so forceful that it seemed to tear the paper.
I pushed the door open. She was already sitting on the ground, crying so hard that she couldn’t breathe.
I said, “Once when you were bullied and met me, you begged me to call the police, but I didn’t want to help you. Because more than half of the men in the village had bullied you. If I dared to help you, my whole family would be killed by the villagers. I didn’t want to take my parents to flee for your sake and never dare to go home.”
She wiped her tears and said in a hoarse voice, “I know. I wrote it all in the diary.”
When Xiaohudie begged me to call the police, I advised her to give up because I thought it was a losing battle. A person who forgets every day couldn’t possibly fight against so many people.
I even told her that she could kill them and then get shot herself, so that everyone could die together.
But Xiaohudie chose the most difficult path, which was to defend her rights.
That day she said, “I don’t want to die together. Others did bad things, but I want to live well! I don’t want to exchange my life for those bad people’s lives!”
She decided to get a tattoo on herself to remind herself to look at the diary with me every day.
In this village, when people came to me for tattoos, they either got a dragon or a tiger.
She asked me to tattoo a phoenix nirvana. She said that no matter how much pain she experienced, she would rise from the ashes.
This was the most serious tattoo I had ever done.
Xiaohudie was very beautiful, so she deserved the most beautiful phoenix.
In the eyes of outsiders, Xiaohudie had collapsed more than eight hundred times.
But in my eyes, her heart had been torn more than one thousand five hundred times.
So I always thought, how many times does a human heart have to be destroyed before it hurts to death?
I opened the cabinet and took out a USB flash drive.
I said, “These are the videos of you being bullied. You secretly installed cameras in their houses and recorded the most humiliating scenes of yourself again and again because you swore that you would make each of them pay the price with your own hands.”
Xiaohudie hugged the diary, lost in thought, and murmured, “There’s still one person left, that lame old bachelor.”
I sighed.
Once I thought this was an impossible path.
But she was actually going to succeed.
I took the diary and put it away, and casually said, “Stop crying. When you’re tired of crying and fall asleep, you’ll wake up and forget again. Then you’ll check the diary again and your heart will break again.”
She asked, “Why did you help me keep the evidence and the diary? If things come to light, they will kill you. I searched the diary but couldn’t find the reason why you helped me.”
I didn’t say a word.
Of course I knew that because of a kind act, I might bring a disaster of being killed.
I thought that perhaps on the day I tattooed the phoenix, her determined look was so beautiful that I really wanted to see how this little butterfly would turn into a phoenix.
She had the dirtiest body in the eyes of others.
But she also had the cleanest soul in the world.
Seeing that I didn’t answer, Xiaohudie wiped away her tears and said seriously, “I’m going to buy the last surveillance camera. If I succeed in the end, I will definitely repay you.”
I wanted to say that no repayment was needed. I had already met the girl in the world who most deserved the phoenix tattoo.
But I couldn’t say it. I just said, “Wish you success.”
However, Xiaohudie failed.
That night, when I was sleeping, there was a sudden commotion downstairs in the store.
I heard someone shouting and cursing, and smashing my store.
I quickly hid the diary and the evidence first. When I went downstairs, I saw the villagers rushing into my store.
All the things in the store were smashed. I had a bad feeling. Sure enough, someone rushed up and picked up a shovel and smashed it hard on my head.
I fell to the ground. My parents heard the noise and came out. My mother was so scared that she cried and shouted. My father stood in front of me, but the villagers didn’t stop. He also fell in a pool of blood.
I then knew that Xiaohudie’s matter had been exposed.
Success was so close, but because of a person completely unrelated to the incident, it was exposed.
The owner of the electronics store, seeing that Xiaohudie was beautiful and had bought so many cameras, once asked her what she bought them for.
Xiaohudie didn’t dare to tell the truth and said it was for security.
The boss thought Xiaohudie should install them in her own home, so he hacked into these cameras, hoping to secretly see Xiaohudie taking a bath or not wearing clothes at home.
As a result, he saw all the pain Xiaohudie had suffered.
He felt very excited. It was so exciting. How could such a wonderful thing happen in the world.
He watched these things every day. Every time Xiaohudie came to buy a camera, he secretly thought in his heart, “You dress so innocently in front of me, but I can see everything about you clearly in private. It’s so exciting.”
Xiaohudie was beautiful and charming. After watching too much, he lost interest in his own wife.
The restaurant hostess was very confused. Why did her husband become a weakling and always stay in the study playing with the computer in the middle of the night.
One day, she couldn’t help it. While her husband was going to the toilet, she rushed into the study.
The restaurant hostess was furious.
But she didn’t choose to call the police. Instead, she publicly posted Xiaohudie’s video in the family group, wanting her father – in – law and mother – in – law to see what kind of son they had raised.
As a result, the father – in – law and mother – in – law were shocked.
There were several men in it, who seemed to be relatives living in the nearby village.
They quickly informed their relatives, and then the whole village knew about it.
The women were extremely anxious. Although their men had done bad things, men were the pillars of the family. If Xiaohudie was allowed to call the police, wouldn’t their families be destroyed?
As a woman, I sympathize with your experience, but if I have to lose the biggest labor force in my family, then you don’t seek justice. You’d better die.
In a hurry, they spontaneously organized to look for Xiaohudie and everyone quickly blocked the news.
Finally, a woman found Xiaohudie secretly installing a surveillance camera at the lame man’s house.
Xiaohudie had been caught.
I watched them grab Xiaohudie’s hair and drag her into my store.
She fell to the ground, her face full of injuries, gasping for breath, and forced a smile at me.
I touched my head. There was already blood oozing out.
And my father was lying in a pool of blood, unable to get up.
I had once told Xiaohudie that I didn’t want to help her because if things failed, my whole family would have to be buried with this girl who was not related to us.
Now, just because I couldn’t bear to see her fighting alone and helped her keep the evidence, this worry came true.
Several men who knew about computers severely questioned Xiaohudie where the video files were.
Xiaohudie didn’t say a word.
They got anxious.
Once they had greedily said to Xiaohudie, “You’re so beautiful.” Now they raised their feet and kicked Xiaohudie’s head hard.
These people slapped her beautiful face, kicked her slender waist, and smashed her snow – white long legs with a stick.
They seemed to have forgotten how they had once adored Xiaohudie. Now, in order to protect themselves, they crazily beat her.
Xiaohudie refused to speak. At this time, a woman said anxiously, “Stop hitting! Once you knock her out, she’ll forget everything. How can we explain?”
The men didn’t know how to torture a woman, but these women did.
In order to make Xiaohudie speak, they held her down and brought a pair of pliers and clamped Xiaohudie’s fingernail.
The woman gritted her teeth and said, “Xiaohudie, I always remember your kindness. I also feel sorry for you. My man is not sensible, but the children can’t live without a father. Please, tell us everything! You’ve always been a good person. How can you harm others?”
Xiaohudie seemed to know what she was going to face. She suddenly hit her head hard on the ground.
She wanted to knock herself out. The women quickly grabbed her hair to prevent her from hitting the ground.
The pliers clamped her fingernail. The woman hardened her heart and pulled hard!
Xiaohudie, who was about to faint, let out a heart – rending scream and woke up immediately!
Her body twisted in pain, and blood splattered from her finger.
The pliers clamped the second fingernail. Xiaohudie cried and begged them to stop. The woman also cried. She wiped her tears and said, “I’ve always regarded you as my sister. I feel more pain than you! But I have to protect my family!”
“Yeah, you’d better say it. We’ll protect you in the future.”
“We’re all from the same family. You’re going to harm the whole village!”
The women cried and persuaded Xiaohudie, but their hands didn’t stop.
Xiaohudie’s fingernails were slowly pulled out. She twisted and roared in pain like a wild animal.
The most beautiful girl in the village now had a face so ferocious that she looked like an animal.
She watched as another fingernail was pulled out, but she still stubbornly refused to speak.
I was the only hope in her life. She would rather die than give me away.
I knew I was worthy of her doing so.
Because these people couldn’t find the evidence. To protect Xiaohudie well, I hid the evidence in a place where they could never find it.
When Xiaohudie was being questioned, many people were rummaging through my house, but they found nothing.
Seeing that Xiaohudie didn’t give me away, I said, “Why do you think I’m in cahoots with her?”
I knew that the villagers thought her tattoo was strange and might be related to me. They deliberately came to scare me and beat me, hoping that I would take the initiative to say it.
A man said impatiently, “I set up a stall opposite your house. I see her coming to you every day. Xiaohudie only has her previous memories. At first, she didn’t come to you. Why suddenly does she come every day? You must be related!”
“Yeah, your tattoo is to remind her to come to you to contact!”
“You’re not honest. You still don’t want to confess. You help a girl who is not related to you and want to harm so many of our relatives!”
I covered the wound on my head. Blood flowed out from between my fingers.
I said that I had tied Xiaohudie up and bullied her again and again, and also tattooed on her body.
I told everyone that I was a pervert. Xiaohudie was often bullied and cried out loudly in my room.
I just wanted her to think of me every day and come to ask me, so that I could possess her and bully her every day.
My mother sat down on the ground in a daze, looking at me blankly.
She probably never thought that she would have such a disgusting son.
Everyone was stunned. Finally, a neighbor testified for me, saying that he often heard a woman crying in my room, and the cries sounded extremely painful.
The villagers then thought I was one of them.
Everyone talked about what to do. Finally, the lame old bachelor gritted his teeth and said, “Since we don’t know where the evidence is, as the old saying goes, ‘The dead can’t testify!’ Dead people can’t call the police. Call her parents here. We’ll kill her today!”
Everyone thought it was a good idea.
They called Xiaohudie’s parents and unanimously decided to compensate her parents with a sum of money and bury Xiaohudie in the mountain behind the village. There were many old graves there. Just dig one up and stuff her in.
At that time, no one would call the police, and everyone would be safe.
Xiaohudie’s parents agreed, but they asked everyone to promise to help their son build a new house for free.
Everyone’s conditions were met, except that Xiaohudie was lying there alone, covered in blood.
The old bachelor suddenly looked at me and said coldly, “I don’t trust you. Many people here don’t trust you either. You come with us up the mountain and bury her with your own hands.”
I asked, “Why me?”
The old bachelor said, “If you’re really that perverted, you’ll surely get the death penalty if you’re caught. Anyway, you’re going to die. You shouldn’t be afraid of taking on a murder case, right? If you don’t dare to kill her, it means you’re lying.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
I turned around and looked at my father.
He sat up with difficulty, also covering his head, his face full of pain.
I said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
Only then did everyone heave a sigh of relief. Someone brought a big snake – skin bag and stuffed Xiaohudie into it.
The old bachelor walked up to me, patted me on the shoulder, and said with a grin, “Brother, you’re really perverted. Playing with her while tattooing on her body. It’s so exciting.”
I forced a smile that I thought was lewd.
My mother burst into tears.
I thought she must think I was disgusting.
The son she raised was such a despicable beast.
I thought in my heart, “Mom, I’m sorry.”
I had no way to explain to my mother. I wanted to protect my family.
They urged me. Several men carried Xiaohudie together and took her up the mountain.
For safety, we went to the most remote old grave. This old grave was far from the road. Even if the body stank, people going up and down the mountain normally wouldn’t smell it.
When we arrived, a man pulled Xiaohudie out. Otherwise, if this place was dug in the future and a snake – skin bag was dug out, it would surely arouse the suspicion of the police.
Xiaohudie was unconscious. I was observing the environment, thinking about whether I could bury Xiaohudie first, then come back from another path and rescue her.
While I was thinking, a sharp pain suddenly shot through my head!
The old bachelor hit me hard on the head with a shovel!
I fell to the ground, my head throbbing with pain.
The old bachelor roared, “You really thought you could fool me! I know what kind of person you are!”
I said, “I’m not lying to you…”
“You’re a tattoo artist. There were a few girls in the village who were not on the right path. They wanted tattoos but had no money. They said they’d let you have fun with them if you tattooed them for free, but you didn’t agree! Three girls together, a dream come true for a man, and you turned it down!”
“My nephew also runs a tattoo shop in the town. He played with those little hussies and boasted about it when he was drunk. He said you’re a pretty decent person.”
The old bachelor grabbed my hair and said in my ear, “Three girls couldn’t move you. Even if Xiaohudie is as beautiful as a fairy, can she compare to three girls in bed? You’re not one of us!”
The old grave was smashed open.
Several of them came to carry us and stuffed both me and the unconscious Xiaohudie into the old grave.
I was forced to hold Xiaohudie. They jointly moved a big stone and blocked the entrance of the grave.
The old bachelor said coldly, “Your parents will be buried soon too. Just wait. Then your whole family will disappear, and none of your relatives will call the police. Because you’re not a human being. You helped Xiaohudie harm your relatives. You’re worse than a beast!”
I kicked the stone hard, but the stone was too heavy. No matter how hard I tried, it didn’t move an inch!
The old bachelor said, “Stop struggling. Tomorrow morning, we’ll go buy cement and seal the entrance to suffocate you to death! Alright, guys, hurry up and search his house again for evidence. It mustn’t leak out!”
They were sure I couldn’t push the stone away, so they all left.
Indeed, even if I exerted all my strength, the stone didn’t move at all.
I knew very well that if they weren’t worried about leaving traces of murder outside the grave, they would have killed me directly instead of burying me alive.
I also had no way to call the police because the old bachelor was very vigilant and had already taken away my phone.
At this moment, Xiaohudie in my arms slowly stirred and woke up.
Feeling herself being held in the dark, Xiaohudie was a little dazed. “Where is this? You… who are you…?”
In the dark, she couldn’t see me clearly and said anxiously, “Who are you! Why are you holding me! Why does my body hurt so much!”
Amid Xiaohudie’s panic, I also had to listen carefully to the sounds outside.
There was no movement outside. They probably really rushed to look for evidence.
I said, “I don’t have time to explain to you now. Listen, you once had an agreement with me. As long as I tell you one of your most private secrets, you have to believe that I’m on your side and follow all my arrangements.”
She was still confused. “Huh? I don’t understand what you’re saying! Why would I make an agreement with you?”
I said, “When you were a child, you liked to pause the TV screen and kiss Sesshomaru’s face while hugging the TV, shouting ‘Lord Sesshomaru’ at the same time. Once you kissed too hard and toppled the TV, breaking it. You were afraid to tell your parents because you were afraid of getting beaten.”
She was stunned.
I continued, “You made an agreement with me that as long as I said this secret, I must be the most trustworthy person in the world to you.”
Xiaohudie was silent for a moment, and finally asked, “Where are we?”
I said, “In a grave. We’ve been buried alive. We have to find a way to escape.”
She asked in surprise, “How could we be buried alive!”
“I don’t have time to talk about this now. But it’s okay. Everything is within my expectations. Move aside. I’m going to vomit. I just ate a condom. I’m afraid it will be digested in my stomach.”
“What? What did you say you ate?”
I used my finger to dig at my throat and started to vomit hard.
At first, to hide the evidence, I put the USB flash drive chip into a condom and swallowed it.
Since Xiaohudie chose to trust me, I must live up to her trust.
As for the diary, I tore off the pages with content, rolled them up, and also stuffed them into the condom. What I did after that, let’s not mention it.
If these evidences were revealed, it would kill my whole family. Compared with a man’s chastity, the lives of my whole family were more important.
When I vomited it out, Xiaohudie in my arms let out a scream. She said with a sobbing voice, “Have you finished vomiting?”
I said, “I’m buried alive because of you. Don’t dislike me.”
I groped in the dark and finally touched the condom.
The knotted condom contained the USB flash drive chip.
She asked, “How are we going to escape?”
I shook my head and said, “I don’t know. I just want to keep the most important thing to you, in case it gets damaged in my stomach. I don’t know if we can escape.”
“What? Does that mean we might die here?”
“Yes, I have no way to escape. At least when the police find our bodies in the future, I hope the evidence is intact.”
Xiaohudie kicked the stone anxiously.
She said, “My body hurts so much. Why did I become like this when I woke up? I still have to go and inform everyone that the typhoon is coming and they should get ready.”
I sighed. I didn’t plan to explain the situation to her.
If today was the last day of our lives.
At least I didn’t want to see Xiaohudie in agony again.
All I could do now was to take a gamble.
I had no way to escape. I could only bet on the supreme maternal love.
If my mother didn’t believe in my character and thought I really did those things, she surely wouldn’t call the police. Once caught by the police, with such serious crimes, I would surely get the death penalty.
Strictly speaking, this was a kind of abnormal maternal love.
As a mother, she would probably rather her son live in such a disgraceful way than have her son be executed with such serious charges.
But if my mother believed in my character, she would realize that I was lying to protect myself and call the police to save me.
Everything depended on my mother’s trust in me.
If she believed that I was a good boy, she would call the police to save me.
The supreme maternal love meant that she always believed that her child was a good person and was willing to bet everything to verify her trust.
I could feel that Xiaohudie was very scared. I gently patted her back, and was about to comfort her a few words when I suddenly froze because the sound of a police siren came from outside.
Did someone call the police?
Soon, I heard shouting and cursing outside.
The stone started to be moved. It was the villagers coming back.
Xiaohudie said excitedly, “Someone is coming to save us.”
I shook my head. “I’m afraid they’re coming to harm us.”
Xiaohudie was stunned. “Why would others want to harm us?”
I reached out and held Xiaohudie’s face, and said seriously, “Don’t ask. No one has ever protected you. Today, I’ll protect you once. No matter what happens later, I’ll hold my ground here. Don’t come out.”
I took out the chip and stuffed it into my ear.
In this way, even if I died here today, the forensic doctor would find this chip.
I didn’t dare to give the chip to Xiaohudie because I was afraid she would forget after waking up.
All her innocence and all her revenge could only be protected by me.
The big stone was moved away.
I took the initiative to stretch my foot out, and sure enough, they grabbed my ankle.
I felt someone dragging me out.
Before being dragged out, I said softly, “Xiaohudie.”
“Huh?”
“I’m really looking forward to it. I want to see the butterfly turn into a phoenix.”
As soon as I finished speaking, I was dragged out.
The moment I came out, I saw a flashlight shining on me. Several of them were holding knives. The old bachelor shouted at me, “Your mother actually called the police! Hurry up. The police are coming. Tell us right now where the USB flash drive is. We went to your house and the USB flash drive was empty!”
I smiled.
Sure enough, my mother believed I was innocent.
I wasn’t stupid either. I wanted to stall for time until the police arrived.
But before I could say anything, the old bachelor suddenly stabbed down hard with a knife!
Intense pain came from my abdomen!
I was in so much pain that I was about to faint!
I watched helplessly as a knife was stabbed into my stomach.
The old bachelor said angrily: “If you tell us now, we’ll send you to the hospital and let you live! If you don’t, we’ll all be sentenced to death, and you won’t be able to live either!”
I gasped for breath. These people didn’t even give me a chance to stall for time.
I covered my abdomen, and my vision started to go dark.
The knife stabbed in my stomach made my strength and blood drain away together.
I even felt my body starting to get cold.
Xiaohudie in the grave let out a scream.
She cried anxiously, “Uncle, what are you doing!”
She was still that kind – hearted Xiaohudie.
She didn’t know what sins she had experienced.
I turned my head, looked at the crying Xiaohudie, and forced a smile at her.
I said softly, “I’ve seen you cry so many times, but no matter how many times I see it, I can’t get used to it.”
She cried and said, “What are you talking about? Can’t you all sit down and talk properly!”
The old bachelor said impatiently, “Shut up! If the police get the evidence, I’ll surely die. Killing one is enough, killing two is a profit. If you don’t hand over the evidence today, both of you will die!”
Xiaohudie said blankly, “Uncle, what are you talking about? Why are you like this? I even made you a new walking stick today. I thought…”
“Don’t call me uncle. Call me husband…” The old bachelor sneered. “I’ve slept with you so many times when I was alive. If I die with you today, I’ll keep sleeping with you after death. We’ll be a couple of ghosts!”
Xiaohudie was so shocked that she couldn’t speak.
She completely didn’t understand what the old bachelor was saying. She just thought everyone was acting so strange today.
I sat up with difficulty and sat right at the entrance of the grave, blocking them from Xiaohudie.
The old bachelor said coldly, “You’re really stupid. This woman has nothing to do with you, but you have to risk your life. You’re sorry for your parents, and you’re sorry for yourself. You’re a loser in life. You don’t even understand the truth that your body is given by your parents.”
A man said, “Yeah, even if we get into trouble, at least we’ve had our fun. We deserve what we get. What about you? Do you know how sorry you are to your parents now?”
The old bachelor sighed, “Little brother, if you die here today, who will take care of your parents? Is it worth it for a dirty girl who has been played with? I tell you, parents who lose their children hardly have the courage to live. You should think more about your family!”
I didn’t refute.
They were right.
My parents had raised me with great difficulty, and Xiaohudie had nothing to do with me.
In some ways, I was even more disgusting than these people. I made my parents lose their son for a girl who was not related to us.
I of course knew that if I died here today, my mother might also choose to commit suicide.
But…
If I was really afraid of these things, I wouldn’t have helped Xiaohudie hide the diary and evidence from the beginning.
When Xiaohudie begged me for help, I said I didn’t dare, but in the end, I still chose to help her collect evidence.
If everyone was afraid of getting into trouble, the world would surely become a terrible place.
I was a fool.
But precisely because there are thousands of fools in the world, people can live in peace.
Amid Xiaohudie’s more than one thousand six hundred heart – rending cries.
Listening to the cries, I told myself that this was not the life Xiaohudie should endure.
The phoenix will surely rise from the ashes.
I raised my head and said weakly, “My parents will be very sad, but they will surely be proud of me.”
These people looked at each other.
Suddenly, they did something I never expected.
Except for the old bachelor, the others, seeing that I refused to say where the evidence was even if I died, all ran away.
They probably wanted to hide in the mountains and never be caught by the police.
Only the old bachelor didn’t run.
His face was full of ferocity. He gritted his teeth and said, “I’m lame. I can’t run. Then I’ll drag you to death with me!”
He grabbed his knife and stabbed it hard into my stomach.
It hurt so much…
He pulled it out and stabbed it in again.
Pulled it out again and stabbed it in again.
I sat there, spitting out big mouthfuls of blood.
The old bachelor said excitedly, “I’m an old lame man. I’ve slept with such a beautiful girl hundreds of times. Before I die, I can drag my enemy to die with me. My life is really worth it!”
I no longer had the strength to block the entrance of the grave.
I fell softly to the ground.
The old bachelor grabbed my hair and sneered, “After you die, I’ll play with her one more time beside your body. I’ll die a lecherous ghost!”
He pointed the knife at my neck.
Suddenly, I felt another sharp pain in my abdomen.
The old bachelor trembled all over.
Xiaohudie stuck out half of her body. While the old bachelor was dealing with me, she pulled out the knife from my stomach and stabbed it hard into the old bachelor’s chest!
The old bachelor fell to the ground weakly.
In the moonlight, she was crying, but her face was full of determination.
Xiaohudie murmured, “That’s enough. I don’t know what’s going on, but the more you talk, Uncle, the more like a bad person you seem. I’m sure I didn’t do wrong with this knife.”
The old bachelor spat out a big mouthful of blood. He forced a smile and said in a hoarse voice, “Don’t call me uncle. Call me husband. You’re such a beautiful girl. You once had my child in your belly. It’s so great.”
He fell softly to the ground.
Xiaohudie wiped her tears, panicked, and covered the wound on my abdomen, saying to me, “I’ll take you to the hospital. You can’t die. I’ll take you to the hospital right away.”
I looked at her crying face and said softly, “You’ve become a phoenix.”
My vision became darker and darker. In a daze, I felt someone trying to carry me on their back, but they fell. Then they tried to carry me again and fell again.
Soon, I couldn’t feel anything.
However, life always has surprises.
Good always prevails over evil.
I regained consciousness again.
When I woke up, I was lying in the hospital. My mother was crying her eyes out beside me.
Seeing me wake up, she was so excited that she quickly called my father to come.
It turned out that when the police first heard that I was severely beaten, they called medical staff and brought stretchers to the mountain while on their way. The villagers refused to tell the police where I was, so the police used several drones to find me as quickly as possible. I was pulled back from the gates of hell.
I handed the evidence over to the police. More than half of the villagers were arrested, and all those related to this incident were taken into custody. The whole family of the owner of the electronics store was also arrested.
The old bachelor was stabbed through the lung by Xiaohudie, but he was saved. He couldn’t die so easily. He had to be despised and face the death penalty with the most despicable charges.
However, I didn’t see Xiaohudie. It was said that she was under police protection.
Half of the villagers had to pay a large amount of money. The case involved many people, and not a single bad person escaped. It was said that when the police came to arrest people, the cars lined up the entire road at the entrance of the village. I had, in a sense, brought down half of my village and became a big sinner in the village.
The case was very complicated. Until a year later, I received a transfer of two million yuan. Without thinking, I knew Xiaohudie must have received the compensation. But this didn’t mean the villagers could escape criminal liability. Even Xiaohudie’s parents had to go to jail.
I wanted to tell Xiaohudie that at first, I didn’t want monetary compensation. I just wanted to see the phoenix rise from the ashes. But now I decided to accept the money because my family couldn’t stay in the village anymore.
Five people in the village were sentenced to death, eight people were sentenced to ten years in prison, and the rest were sentenced to between three and seven years.
The old bachelor’s death penalty was different from others’. Some people went to watch from afar and brought back rumors about his death. The first shot was fired, and the doctor checked. He didn’t die. Then a second shot was given. After the second shot, the doctor checked again, and he still didn’t die. So, a third shot was fired. When the person who brought back the rumor described the scene of the old bachelor’s death, he said that the old bachelor wanted to die quickly but couldn’t. His death was extremely painful. Some people said it was because the old bachelor had committed too many sins, so the executioner deliberately missed. Soon, others said don’t think too much. It wasn’t deliberate; it was just that God didn’t want him to die easily. I wondered if Xiaohudie would feel a bit of comfort when she heard this news.
I used the money to buy a house and a car in the city and used the rest to open a tattoo shop. Suddenly, I became a person in the city with a house, a car, and a shop.
One day, I was drawing when the door was suddenly pushed open. Without looking up, I said, “Hello, I’m busy. You can take a look first and decide what you want to get tattooed.”
A familiar voice sounded, “Do you take apprentices?”
I was stunned. I stopped drawing and looked up. Xiaohudie was wearing a fresh and elegant floral dress and a cute straw hat, smiling at me.
She said, “You tattooed a phoenix on me. I want to learn from you. When I finish my apprenticeship, I’ll cover the scars on your body with tattoos.”
I asked, “Do you remember everything?”
“Yeah, after I got the compensation, I went to many big hospitals in the country.”
“I didn’t expect you to accept the compensation. I thought you would refuse it to make their sentences more severe.”
“Those who made mistakes are others. I want the bad guys to be punished more severely, but I really want to live a good life. I love life. I want to get a lot of compensation, cure my illness, and embrace all the joys in life.”
“Yeah, you’re really optimistic about life.”
“Because I believe that as long as I live well, there will always be happy things happening. There’s always something to look forward to in life, just like meeting you.”
She walked up to me and sat down. I said softly, “The apprentice’s salary is very low.”
“Yeah, as long as I have food to eat, it’s okay.”
I said, “You’ve avenged your great hatred. I’ll change the name on your back. Otherwise, having my name tattooed there will affect your life.”
She lay down on the tattoo bed and unbuttoned her clothes. The phoenix on her back was vivid.
That little butterfly had risen from the ashes.
I disinfected her back.
I asked, “How do you want to change the name?”
She turned her head to look at me and said softly, “Make it colorful. It’ll be prettier that way.”
– End –
