Chapter 2
Edward Quan ·
4
Furious, Grandpa slapped the piglet.
It squealed and fled to a corner, staring back at him.
Those weren’t an animal’s eyes.
They were human eyes, full of hatred.
Grandma wrapped his finger in a strip of cloth with shaking hands. Blood kept seeping through.
“The beast bites people!” he said through clenched teeth. “Throw it into the snow. Let it freeze!”
By nightfall, though, he still couldn’t bear to do it.
The snow was deep. A dead piglet was lost money.
Instead, he told Grandma to find a cardboard box, line it with straw, and keep all four inside for the time being.
She did as he asked and gave them water and greens.
Grandpa lit a cigarette and smiled.
“New Year’s nearly here. Wenshui should be home soon.”
Wenshui was Dad’s younger brother. He worked far away and came back only for New Year.
Grandma’s face brightened.
“He says he’s bringing his girlfriend this year. A city girl.”
Grandpa nodded, pride in his eyes.
“He’s grown up. Knows to find a wife now. One less thing for us to worry about.”
They talked a little longer, then went to bed.
The lamp went out. Only the wind howled outside.
In the middle of the night, a snuffling sound woke me.
It sounded like a pig eating bran.
I opened my eyes and looked toward the corner.
What I saw froze me.
Grandpa was kneeling beside the feed bucket, his head deep inside it, eating with wet smacking sounds.
Just like a pig.
“Grandpa!”
My scream woke Grandma.
She switched on the light.
In the weak yellow glow, he dropped onto the floor and looked around in alarm.
He realized he had just been eating from the feed bucket.
He hurriedly gagged himself and vomited something black, sticky, and foul, with the smell of rotten meat from a nightmare.
“What’s wrong?” Grandma cried.
I stammered, “You… you drank the pig feed!”
He glared.
“Nonsense! I was sleepwalking!”
He had sleepwalked when he was young, but it hadn’t happened in decades.
“It’s all right,” Grandma soothed. “Don’t be frightened.”
His belly bulged as though stuffed with something. He rubbed it and grimaced.
“It feels awful. Like something’s crawling inside.”
“I’ll get some oil.”
She went to the storeroom.
Only Grandpa and I remained.
He turned toward me and narrowed his eyes.
“Just now… what else did you see?”
I looked up.
And went cold.
Under the light, his face was changing.
Half man. Half pig.
Two pointed ears rose from his head. His skin was pink and slick. His eyes gleamed green like an animal’s in the dark.
5
Terrified, I tried to run.
He caught my shoulders.
“What else did you see?”
His hoarse voice hissed through his teeth.
I shook too hard to answer.
Then Grandma called from the yard.
“I’ve got the sesame oil!”
Only at her voice did he let go.
I ran to hide behind her, gripping her clothes.
She smiled, not understanding.
“What’s wrong? It’s cold out here. Back under the covers with you.”
She handed him the bottle.
“Drink a little sesame oil. Get that feed water out of your stomach.”
He took it and muttered, “A waste to drink something this good…”
He had one small sip and set it on the table.
“A little more,” she urged. “One sip won’t be enough.”
“Enough. Don’t waste it.”
He climbed onto the kang.
I kept watching him.
His shape flickered in the lamplight. Half man, half pig. Pointed ears showed through his hair, his face flushed, his nose turned up.
I didn’t know whether I was seeing things.
Grandma turned out the light and told me to sleep.
I was too frightened to lie near Grandpa. I crawled over to her instead.
Both adults soon fell asleep, their snores steady.
I lay with my eyes open, afraid to close them.
***
Early the next morning, his groaning woke me.
He clutched his stomach, sweat pouring off him. His belly was even larger than the night before.
“We have to see a doctor in town,” Grandma said anxiously.
He frowned.
“Going to hospital at New Year is bad luck!”
“Your life matters more. Come on.”
She led out the donkey, fastened the harness, and helped him onto the cart.
Before they left, she told me, “Xiao Bai. Stay home and watch the house. Don’t go anywhere. We’ll be back this afternoon.”
I nodded.
The cart disappeared, leaving me alone in the yard.
New Year was close. Everywhere in the village, children set off firecrackers and adults made festive food.
By afternoon, cooking smoke rose from every house.
Only ours remained cold.
I was hungry. Then I remembered half a piece of pig’s head meat in the storeroom, something Grandpa had just bought.
I secretly cut off a little.
Only a small piece. I left most of it for my grandparents’ New Year meal.
Fatty, tender, fragrant.
I chewed carefully and swallowed a little at a time.
Soon it was gone. My stomach still growled, but I didn’t dare take more.
I went into the yard to play.
The gate opened.
A man and a woman came in.
The man was Uncle Wenshui.
The woman beside him wore fashionable clothes and tall boots. Her belly had a slight curve.
She was clearly pregnant.
“Xiao Bai!” Uncle smiled. “Where are your grandparents?”
“In town. At the doctor. They’ll be back this afternoon.”
“Probably nothing serious,” he murmured.
He took the luggage inside.
The four piglets had left a strong, unpleasant smell in the east room.
His girlfriend, Chen Li, wrinkled her face and covered her nose.
“You keep pigs inside? It stinks!”
He forced a smile.
“Don’t be angry. It’s only temporary. We’ll move them to the pen tomorrow.”
Then he turned to me.
“Is the room clean?”
I nodded.
He took her into the bedroom to settle their bags.
A little later, she came out holding sweets.
“Xiao Bai,” she called gently. “What’s wrong with your grandpa? Why aren’t they back?”
“His stomach hurts.”
Uncle came from the storeroom carrying a plate of pig’s head meat.
“There’s nothing ready except this. Have some for now. Mom will cook when she gets home.”
Chen Li eyed the glossy, fragrant meat hungrily.
Without ceremony, she began eating as she talked. Soon, the plate was empty.
“Good?”
“Very.” She stroked her belly. “Our son will like this, too.”
Uncle beamed.
“I’ll buy you some pig offal tomorrow if you like.”
She smiled faintly.
“My baby only likes the head. Not offal.”
He frowned.
“Everyone buys pig’s head meat for New Year. It might be hard to find now.”
She glanced toward the east room, her eyes darkening.
“There are pigs in there. Kill one.”
He started.
“They’re piglets. Not grown yet.”
“They’re still pigs. It doesn’t matter.”
She turned toward the door.
“What a miserable place. I’m going back to the city tomorrow.”
He hurried after her in alarm.
“Don’t go. You only want one piglet, right? I’ll… I’ll kill one.”
Her full red lips curved.
“All right. Let me choose.”
She walked straight into the east room and pointed.
“That one. The ugly spotted one. Nobody likes it. Kill it.”
7
“Fine,” Uncle said. “That one.”
He reached into the box.
The spotted piglet squealed and scrambled around, but the box was too small. He caught it and carried it into the yard.
Chen Li followed.
“Xiao Bai. Fetch the cleaver from the storeroom.”
I trembled.
“It’s so small. Are you really going to kill it?”
He hesitated.
Chen Li patted her belly in irritation.
“Baby, your father’s so stingy he won’t even spare your mother a bite of meat. Let’s go back to the city.”
His expression changed.
Gritting his teeth, he took the piglet into the storeroom.
A moment later, a terrible squeal rang out.
The spotted piglet was slaughtered. Its head and body were chopped and put into boiling water.
Chen Li smiled in satisfaction and kissed Uncle’s cheek.
“Xiao Bai,” he said, “get some dry firewood from the yard.”
Before I moved, the gate opened.
My grandparents were back.
Grandpa’s belly was still swollen. His face was gray.
“Dad, why’s your stomach still so big?”
He frowned but didn’t answer. He went straight inside, Grandma hurrying after him.
A moment later, he shouted.
“Where’s the spotted pig?”
He rushed out, white-faced.
Grandma was frightened, too.
“Wenshui! Have you seen the spotted piglet?”
Uncle stared for a few seconds, then pointed shakily at the pot.
“In… in there.”
Grandma ran over and lifted the lid.
Pork bubbled in the boiling water.
She collapsed, crying.
“Heaven help us! Why did you kill it? You’ve killed your father, too!”
“Mom, it was only a piglet! I killed it for my wife. She’s carrying your grandchild!”
Grandma looked up, her voice trembling.
“Where is she?”
Uncle looked around.
Only the three of us were in the yard.
Chen Li was gone.
“Lili!”
No answer.
He rubbed his eyes and shouted louder.
“Chen Li!”
Silence.
“Did anything strange happen on the way home?” Grandma asked.
He frowned for a long time.
“Yes… near the village, she said her stomach hurt. She went behind that grove to relieve herself.”
“And… she didn’t come back.”
Grandma sighed.
“There are old scholar trees behind that grove. That ground is unclean.”
“Something must have eaten her. Your eyes were veiled. You couldn’t tell what was real.”
His face changed.
“No. Impossible!”
“I have to find her!”