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  On the first day of the New Year, it is most taboo to die. According to custom, anyone who dies on this day cannot hold a funeral, cannot wear white clothes, and cannot keep a coffin at home. The corpse needs to be dressed in everyday clothes and lie on the bed, commonly known as being wrapped in a quilt, as if they are sleeping.

  Its not good to spread the news of a death in the family on New Years Day; secondly, its also inappropriate to let others help with funeral arrangements during the Chinese New Year, so people usually wait until after the fifth day of the first lunar month before officially announcing the death.

  But after all, its my uncles family, and this matter is related to us. If I hadnt come early in the morning, they would have been furious and demanding an explanation from my father, with my older and younger cousins standing in the courtyard, full of killing intent.

  "Whats all the commotion?" I pushed open the courtyard door and said to my two maternal uncles who were wearing black mourning attire, "Im not happy about this New Years Day fight either. Next time you come to pay your respects, remember to bring something with you. Whats the point of coming empty-handed? Are you here to cause trouble? If youre here as a guest, I dont particularly welcome you."

  "Listen up," he said to my mom. "Does your son still have any sense of hierarchy, any respect for his elders? He even dared to hit his uncle and aunt last night! Is it just because hes been out making money for two years that he thinks he can bully people now?"

  "Uncle? Husband of aunt?" I burst out laughing: "You two are also worthy! Dont drag me into some distant relatives nonsense, its not worth it. Either roll out or crawl back."

  "Hey, you little brat!" My second uncle was probably so scolded that he couldnt get up to the stage anymore. Many people had already gathered outside to watch the commotion. He made a gesture and swung his fist over, but unexpectedly my old dad single-handedly caught his fist and pushed it outwards. My second uncles butt landed on the ground with a thud.

  "My dad was notoriously hot-tempered, and back in the day even the Red Guards were chased away by him. Let alone these two people, he couldnt stand that family normally anyway. Now with his son being protected, he naturally blew up: Do what youre supposed to do, Im not embarrassed, but you should be, smelling like shit! If it werent for your aunts face, you two wouldve been left behind today."

  My big uncle is notorious for being a rascal, and upon hearing my father say that, he sat down on the stone pedestal at our front gate, with his legs crossed, saying: "If you dont hand over that rebellious son of yours, dont even think about having a good Chinese New Year!"

  "What can I do if you dont want to pay?"

  "Bring 10,000 yuan, and the person is still lying at home. You have to pay for the funeral expenses first."

  These two bastards are here to extort money from me, I also lost my temper: "Get out of here! You two rascals, he himself fell into the toilet and drowned, what does it have to do with me? Ill call you uncle as a courtesy, if youre not polite, Ill call you grandson. Coming here to ask for money, did your brain also go into the toilet?"

  "Hey, you little scoundrel, okay, today I wont use my seniority to pressure you. In short, bring me 10,000 yuan, or else, youll have to deal with the consequences!" As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his hand and I saw the crowd of onlookers outside immediately make way for a path. Four young men with white cloths tied around their heads carried a coffin and placed it right in front of my house gate. These guys were all rascals from their village.

  The onlookers have already begun to discuss it, this kind of thing is absolutely the most despicable means in any dynasty or region. I saw my fathers face turn as black as liver color, he said in a deep voice: "Ill give you one last chance, take him away and kneel down to kowtow three times to me and Ill consider it as if nothing happened."

  My big uncle saw the crowd of onlookers growing bigger and he became more and more arrogant, because he knew this meant our familys face would be completely lost, which was exactly what he wanted. With smoke spewing from his mouth, he pointed at my dad and said: "Xia Laosan, 10,000 yuan, Im telling you, not a single cent less!"

  "Go on, you wait, Ill go in and get it for you!" Then the old man of our family shouted at me: "All of you get in here to die!"

  Perhaps people are forgetful, and my distant relatives really didnt know who they were messing with this time. One minute later, my old dad strode out of the house, carrying a shotgun, and rushed towards the entrance of the courtyard. From afar, my eldest paternal cousin saw him and immediately shouted loudly: "What do you want to do? Dont be reckless! Im telling you, murder is against the law, there are many people watching here! Ah, ah, ah, dont come over!" By this time, he had already started running out, and the onlookers outside werent foolish either - with a gun drawn, they didnt disperse?

  If it were someone else, people would probably just try to persuade him, after all, in this day and age, there hasnt been anyone who dares to shoot a gun in broad daylight. But if its my old man, its different, he says he wants to fight, he absolutely wont back down.

  A loud "boom" produced a cloud of black smoke, the power of the earth cannon was not great but the noise was quite loud. It was loaded with iron sand, used for hunting rabbits and pheasants. My big cousin ran out and didnt even make it ten meters before he let out a cry of "ahh" and fell to the ground, his butt instantly covered in blood.

  My old man calmly and slowly poured gunpowder into the barrel of the cow horn, then used an iron bar to compact it firmly, and another handful of iron sand was poured in. He raised his gun again, and my second uncle, who was about to go help the one who had fallen to the ground, saw that things were not going well and ran away quickly.

  "You take one more step and Ill break your dog legs!" My dad roared, that guy really didnt move, only leaving a back view that kept trembling.

  "Whoever brought it will take it back, and youll also kowtow to apologize to me, all of you!" My dad was referring to those few good-for-nothings who helped carry the coffin.

  Which one of them still dares not to listen, immediately knelt down and admitted that they were wrong. Who would really not be afraid of death? The master who fell to the ground and groaned on the other side might not be able to get out of bed for a month, what an experienced lesson.

  With a swoosh, the row of men all knelt down obediently. After three loud kowtows, they lifted the coffin and ran off faster than rabbits. My father slammed the door shut, turned around with a scowl on his face, and gave me a slap: "Youve brought us nothing but bad luck!"

  I didnt talk back, nor did I have a way to talk back. Its really not good that this matter made others come to our doorstep. On the first day of the new year, getting slapped like that was so depressing, and I didnt even want to leave my room until dinner time in the evening.

  My mom still pitied me, so at around 8 or 9 pm, she brought some food to my room. Fatso had also gotten some wine and sat with me drinking it. Before I knew it, the two of us had finished two bottles of white wine, and in a daze, I leaned against the bed and fell asleep.

  In the second half of the night, I estimated that it was almost dawn. I felt a bit cold and wanted to pull up the quilt in a daze, but I couldnt move at all. The conflict between the coldness and wanting to pull up the quilt lasted for about one minute or so. Suddenly, my mind became clear, and then I thought of how to control my hands, but they didnt respond.

  "Ahh, sleep paralysis!" The first words that popped into my mind, my whole body felt like it was filled with lead and couldnt move at all. I could feel my muscles straining but there was no response. I tried to adjust my breathing, slowly, my eyes were able to open, and then slowly, my neck was able to move slightly too. When I turned to the right side, I discovered that there was another "person" in my room.

  I couldnt be certain if that was a "person", but he was indeed clinking cups with Fatty, I tried to call out Fattys name but my throat was blocked again, I wanted to remind him but was powerless.

  I struggled to control my body, slowly moving my head towards the headboard, about ten centimeters away from my eyes was a glass of water. This distance of ten centimeters was probably the most exhausting journey Ive ever taken in my life. I strained my neck and stretched out my tongue, inch by inch, slowly approaching...

  With a "bang", the cup fell to the ground, and in that instant, my body suddenly relaxed, and my body, which had been trying to control for a long time, also reacted immediately. I flipped over and stood up, and the words that had been stuck in my throat for a long time suddenly burst out: "Fatty, what the hell are you doing!"

  This roar was so loud that almost all the dogs in our village were awakened by me at that moment and started barking wildly, even my dad got out of bed with a flashlight to check the situation. But when I turned on the light, Fatso was lying on the table snoring loudly, and the mess on the ground seemed to be telling the intense battle of the first half of the night.

  Nobody! Did I just see things?!

  No! I clearly saw that on the table, in the position where I was originally sitting, a white candle had been placed, and the head of the candle was gone. Behind the candle was a neatly arranged set of bowls and chopsticks, which I can be certain I wouldnt have been able to arrange so neatly even if I were drunk.

  "Hey, fatty wake up!" I slapped the fattys face hard, this kid mumbled and fell to the ground again, started snoring loudly. I looked at him helplessly, could only pull a quilt over him and continued sleeping.

  The next morning at breakfast, before I could mention what happened the night before, Fatty suddenly spoke up: "Xiao Yi, last night I got drunk and had a dream. The dream was especially vivid. Ive forgotten everything that happened before and after drinking, but that dream feels like it just happened, isnt that strange?"

  Im afraid hes talking nonsense in the first month of the year, so I hurriedly interrupted him: "Nonsense, what weird dreams do you have?"

  "No, I dreamed that your uncle came to me for a drink!" He said seriously to my father: "Sixth Uncle, he looks just like the portrait, and was in Xiaoyis room."

  "Did you dream of him?" I suddenly remembered the person I saw last night, my eyes... So, did Fatso really drink with him last night?

  "Is that so?" My father responded indifferently: "Then drink, as long as you dont look for trouble."

  "But I heard him tell me that his children are unfilial, and he even cried. After crying, he said that since they were born and not taught well, its better to take them all away. What does this mean?"

  I choked on a mouthful of porridge, this fatty really doesnt know when to talk, I saw my dads face almost turning black with rage, just as I was about to blow up someone outside shouted: "Old Six, Old Six, somethings happened again, your cousins family had another death last night..."