Oil Paper Bag

The quiet, clear light of the moon shone in from the serene night sky outside the window.

Inside, a peculiar yet peaceful family of four.

Before the ancestral spirit tablets in the old house, candles and incense burners sent wisps of smoke into the air.

The old mother brought out several steamed dishes from the kitchen, as if showcasing a lifetime of culinary skill. She fussed with her sleeves, arranging them like actors in a play—the protagonist, supporting roles, clowns—each making their entrance before being lined up on the table.

Jiang Xueming twisted open the strong liquor beside him and poured a cup for his old father, with no intention of refilling or offering more.

He usually abstained from smoking and drinking, and it was the same when he returned home.

Seeing the old man Jiang raise an eyebrow, about to cause trouble again.

"Son, have a drink with me."

Jiang Xueming replied, "I don't drink."

Old man Jiang said again, "Drink with me."

Jiang Xueming responded, "I won't drink."

Old man Jiang's eyes bulged, his bloodshot whites suddenly filled with murderous intent. He slammed the table.

"I told you to drink! Do you dare disobey me?!"

Xiao Qi watched from the side without a word.

Jiang Xueming immediately took out the broadcast speaker he had prepared in his backpack.

He faced his old father and, with an even louder volume, shouted his emotions calmly, "I won't drink."

The sound wave made old man Jiang's face turn pale, as if startled. He finally picked up his chopsticks obediently and didn't mention drinking anymore.

"Your voice isn't as loud as his anymore, and your strength isn't as great either," the old mother said to her husband with a mournful and sad look, serving him food. "Have some self-awareness."

The atmosphere eased.

Xiao Qi prepared to start eating, making the initial move to grab chopsticks, but was stopped by Jiang Xueming.

She then saw Mr. Xue Ming put down the large speaker and take out two lunchboxes from his backpack, filled with food he had prepared earlier.

Xiao Qi remembered that these were made by Mr. Xue Ming himself. She understood Mr. Xue Ming's intention and took the lunchboxes.

Seventh Brother whispered, "You don't even dare to eat the food from home?"

Xue Ming didn't answer. He silently opened the lunchbox, unwrapped two pairs of bamboo chopsticks, and handed one pair to Seventh Brother.

This action made the old mother's expression turn unpleasant, but it wasn't with the thunderous voice and authority of old man Jiang.

In the old mother's eyes, that violent and resentful look lasted only a brief moment before vanishing without a trace.

Under the dim light of the lamp, she served her husband food, as if marking territory on the dining table, her chopsticks naturally reaching towards Jiang Xueming's bowl.

Xue Ming picked up his bowl and chopsticks and immediately stood up. "No need, I'll eat this."

The old mother said worriedly, "This won't do. You come home for a visit, and you don't even want to eat the food from home? Do you know we wanted to find you through a TV show for finding relatives? I also wanted to post online to find you, but..."

Xue Ming immediately interrupted, his face not blushing as he spun a lie. "This is what my wife made for me, I can't waste it."

"You'd rather eat this outsider's cooking than your mother's?" The old mother's eyes were full of dejection, like a victim whose child had been snatched away. "What kind of vixen is this woman? How dare she bewitch my precious son?!"

At that moment, a cold, damp wind surged in from outside, and a chilling gust blew through the house.

The candles on the ancestral spirit tablets also extinguished.

Xiao Qi finally felt that something was wrong. Her senses were blaring alarms. The gazes of the two old people were like the stinger of a venomous bee, trying to blind her. Just meeting their eyes made her feel dry and painful at the corners of her eyes.

She turned her head and tugged at Xue Ming's sleeve, wanting to remind Mr. Xue Ming.

However, this turning motion allowed her to see their shadows under the light, her and Xue Ming's.

She looked further into the distance through the gap at the edge of the table. At the same angle, the two old people had no shadows.

Before she could say anything.

Xue Ming's tone turned cold as he began to spin a story.

"Mom, don't call her an outsider anymore. Even the dogs in the house recognize her, but you don't. It's thanks to her these past few years that my mother-in-law didn't make things difficult for me and Bailu. My father-in-law was willing to fund our wedding and even mortgaged his house to help us start a business, but I was useless and ended up in debt. Now that I've finally made some money, I wanted to send it back for your retirement."

Upon hearing about the wedding, old man Jiang immediately shouted, "You call that a wedding?! Of the more than two hundred households in the villages and towns, who doesn't know me? If they don't recognize this woman, do you think you could get married? Do you think she could enter my house?"

Xiao Qi was completely stunned when she heard this.

Now, she no longer cared about the living conditions of the elders, whether they were alive or spirits was no longer important.

She thought for a moment about the entry requirements for the Jiang family, and the slice of meat she had just brought to her lips fell back into her bowl in surprise.

The old mother Jiang glanced at the cash on the tea table. That was all real paper money her son had brought home. Her eyelids twitched when she heard about the debt, and she slowly spoke.

"My treasure, we support whatever you do outside. As long as you bring back money, that's a good thing. As for how much debt you owe, and to whom—be extremely careful. Settle all the accounts clearly. Society is very bad now; don't think too highly of certain people. Mom and Dad won't harm you; we're doing it all for your own good."

Hearing this, Xiao Qi's eyes ignited with fire. She felt she couldn't eat this meal anymore.

Jiang Xueming picked up the speaker again and let out a sarcastic remark, his perfunctory attitude evident. "Thanks for your concern, Mom and Dad!"

The speaker's volume was turned to maximum, and the chaotic static sound dispersed the chilling wind in the room. It blew away the incense smoke from the ancestral spirit tablets, and the candles relit, which was very eerie.

"There are a few more things," Jiang Xueming said, putting down the speaker and picking up the fake shoe box. "She and I are selling these things. They're fakes."

The old man Jiang's eyes darted towards the cash, his throat bobbing as if salivating. He cursed, "Engaging in evil deeds, you'll have no good end! No wonder you're in debt! You should have listened to me and gone back to work at the battery factory."

Old Mrs. Jiang, clutching the money, sidled up to her husband. They secretly counted the cash under the table, their expressions grim, yet their lips couldn't stop curling upwards.

"How about I turn myself in right now?" Jiang Xueming said. "You two better think carefully, all the money in your hands is ill-gotten gains."

Xiao Qi let out a snicker.

"What are you laughing at? You're dressed so sloppily, you'll embarrass me if we go out," the old man Jiang muttered softly, no longer as fierce as before. "You think you're so great just because you got some money? If you dare breathe a word of this, I'll be the first to beat you to death."

Before Jiang Xueming could reply--

--his mother suddenly and fiercely yanked her husband's hair. "Why are you so harsh on him? Why are you so aggressive within the family?! You haven't earned this much money in your entire life! You can barely recognize a few characters, and you can't even handle signing for low-income households at the neighborhood committee! Our son only comes home once every few years, and when he does, he's just yelled at, and then you start fighting! Is this even a home?"

The scene was too chaotic for Xiao Qi to bear watching. Just listening for a few more sentences made her feel her mental energy draining rapidly, like touching an electrical outlet – she felt completely numb.

Jiang Xueming remained silent. When his mother had vented all her anger, the shouting in the room gradually subsided.

The old man Jiang hung his head dejectedly, drinking his liquor in silence.

"I'll be direct," Jiang Xueming felt like he was being cooked alive every second he stayed in this house. "Bailu was taken away while shipping goods at the warehouse. She's still in the detention center, and I'm very worried. This can't be delayed."

The old man Jiang immediately became agitated. "Can you get her out? She's supposed to get married!"

Old Mrs. Jiang was also anxious. "That's right! And there's the betrothal money! We planned to save it for your wedding. Now that you're married, this money should come back to the family."

"You don't need to worry about it," Xue Ming said bluntly, speaking at an extremely fast pace, wanting to escape immediately. "I'll handle it. I'm leaving tonight, and there's no place for us to sleep here."

A hint of loneliness flickered in Old Mrs. Jiang's eyes. "You're not staying the night? Leaving so soon?"

The old man Jiang stopped drinking and suddenly stood up, facing Xue Ming. His eyes, however, were fixed on Xiao Qi. "Is this daughter-in-law of yours good at raising children? I don't trust you. There's a large communal bed in the main room that can sleep four people. Don't think about leaving."

The hidden meaning in his words almost made Xiao Qi's jaw drop.

Xiao Qi quickly asked, "One room? The four of us?"

Hearing these words, even the usually placid Xue Ming should have evolved into a wrathful king.

He picked up the loudspeaker.

The elders quickly covered their ears, looking like pitiful, abandoned souls.

He put down the loudspeaker.

The elders reverted to their aggressive demeanor.

Xue Ming couldn't understand, not at all. Did this large loudspeaker possess some divine power? Fortunately, he had come prepared; otherwise, who in this family would ever seriously listen to him?

Perhaps only that nameless dog would be willing to listen to his barks.

What to eat, what to wear, where to live.

What to love, what to hate, how to work.

The most basic needs of ordinary people had become luxuries in this home.

What Xue Ming wanted was very, very little. He simply wished to simply and cleanly repay his debts of blood.

He didn't want to harm these familiar strangers who had raised him, and he had to protect himself.

He was a very principled person, never leaving grudges unresolved when he was out. No emotion could defeat him instantly, and no anger could prevent him from continuing to live with his sister.

But at this moment, he was trembling with rage. Even with all the unpleasant things he encountered in life, he had never been this angry.

The last time he was this angry was when he fled with Bailu.

Xue Ming seemed to be trying to solve the world's most difficult problem: "Why can the two of you, with a few words from your mouths, casually decide someone's entire life?"

The other three people in the room remained silent.

Xiao Qi dared not make a sound. In those brief seconds, she felt like Mr. Xue Ming beside her had transformed into someone else.

Like ancient, unmelting ice had turned into scorching, molten lava, a light touch would result in a third-degree burn.

Her intuition told her that now was not the time to speak.

For a moment, she even considered running out the door and hiding at the train station.

"He's going to rebel. He's going to rebel," the old man Jiang muttered softly, tugging at his wife's sleeve. "I told you, he's ungrateful, like a wolf cub from the mountains. Sooner or later, he'll run away and devour us."

Old Mrs. Jiang slumped her head, cautiously sitting back in her seat. Only fear and trepidation were in her eyes; she no longer spoke.

"Were Bailu and I bought by you?" Jiang Xueming took out an oil-paper bag from his travel bag. It was a gift from Mr. Chen at the paper shop for his parents. He left the item here, preparing to leave.

He didn't intend to say much more. Asking this question was merely to tear down the last shred of pretense.

The old man Jiang dared not speak, the last sound choked in his throat.

Old Mrs. Jiang's eyes flickered. When she heard this, her expression changed drastically, as if struck by lightning.

"You don't plan to say anything? I don't care. I'm leaving. This is what Mr. Chen asked me to bring you." Xue Ming tore open the bag, his eyes becoming confused.

Inside the oil-paper bag were two stacks of spirit money, printed with the seal of the Jade Emperor and the currency of the Bank of Heaven and Earth.

In that instant--

--the moment the two elders saw the spirit money, they froze as if under a petrifying spell.

It was as if they finally understood that they had been dead for a very, very long time, and only their lingering attachments, unwillingness, and unfulfilled desires kept them in this old house.

The dishes on the table rotted and stank in an instant. The bowls and chopsticks, like snow under spring sunlight, rapidly weathered into dust. The old house's tables and chairs suffered the same fate, creaking and groaning.

Xiao Qi and Xue Ming immediately retreated a few steps. In the span of a single breath, the lights flickered, and the old house instantly became dilapidated and worn, as if no one had lived there for a very long time.

The spirit money from the "Heaven and Earth Bank" scattered with the chilling wind, and the bodies of the Jiang couple disintegrated into dust and sand.

In that moment, Jiang Xueming could vaguely see the dazed, lifeless, and quiet appearance of his parents.

After a long while, the room was so quiet that the fall of a needle could be heard.

Jiang Xueming finally confirmed that his parents had actually died long ago. What he had just seen was merely a spiritual illusion.

Only the dim moonlight at the doorway illuminated the large black dog, as if this guard dog had been watching over this strange and terrifying family.

Xiao Qi tugged on Xue Ming's sleeve and said cautiously, "This is your first time seeing a spiritual disaster. Just now, I saw that the elders had no shadows. They must have become spirits a very, very long time ago. Old Boss Chen from that paper shop should be a very capable person."

Jiang Xueming's heart was filled with even more questions. Did Mr. Chen from the paper shop want him to deliver this oil-paper bag just to let him see his parents one last time? To personally send them on their way?

He frowned and squatted back down by the doorstep, wanting to pet the family dog.

But the black dog, as if its mission was complete, suddenly ran into the wilderness. It wouldn't let Jiang Xueming pet it, barked a few times at the old house, and then bolted back into the mountains.

The man didn't linger in past memories for long. He silently picked up the money, packed his bags, and prepared to return to the hotel in Pingyang County for the night.

On the wooden rack in the dirt field, the dried radishes were riddled with holes from insects, turning into brittle wood shavings that crumbled at a touch.

Xiao Qi followed beside Xue Ming, embarking on the return journey.

The clear, bright stars in the sky were still winking at them.

"Xue Ming, were you and Bailu bought?" Seventh Brother asked in a low voice, as if afraid of upsetting Xue Ming's emotions.

"That's what I suspect, but I have no proof." Jiang Xueming didn't evade. He casually tore down a missing person poster from a utility pole by the roadside, finding something posted by the Jiang family among the layers of old posters and advertisements. "They used many methods to find me – posting flyers, mobilizing friends and relatives, trying to get on television, but they never called the police. That's when I understood."

Xiao Qi asked again, "Will it be very sad?"

Seeing that Xue Ming showed no reaction.

Xiao Qi said fiercely, "Anyone who dares to buy children from human traffickers is no good! Good riddance! Pop the champagne!"

Jiang Xueming remained silent, simply moving from one place to another.

Xiao Qi, as if trying to empathize and offer comfort, said, "That's right, they were the ones who raised you after all."

"Didn't I tell you before?" Jiang Xueming replied seriously. "I don't care."

Suddenly, in those brief ten-odd seconds.

Xiao Qi's nose inexplicably felt a pang. She scratched her head and burst into tears.

She leaned on Jiang Xueming's shoulder, not understanding where the grievance and sorrow in her heart came from. She was filled with maternal radiance, except for a slightly warped maternal love –

-- She felt this person was really strange.

Jiang Xueming tilted his head to look at Seventh Brother, curious about the source of his sentimental emotions.

"Crying won't help. If emotions could be resolved with tears, do you think all those female fans squatting outside Daniel Wu's door with their wailing could win him over? They don't have that kind of power, you know?"

Seventh Brother suddenly slapped Mr. Xue Ming's shoulder, like scolding a disobedient child, crying and laughing at the same time.

Jiang Xueming didn't pay much attention. He opened his laptop and phone, adding another entry to his ledger, including the thirty thousand that should have been delivered.

"With my current financial resources, I can perform the 'Mud Truck Iaijutsu' thirty-one times."