Chapter 1

My sister-in-law was forced to marry a dog.

An enormous black wolfdog crawled under her quilt.

My parents chained her up, so delighted they could barely close their mouths.

“Dogs have whole litters! A flourishing household, blessings at every turn!”

1

Before long, my sister-in-law really was pregnant.

I came home for Lunar New Year during the university’s winter break.

In the bitter cold, she sat beneath a tree in a tank top and shorts.

She did not seem cold at all. Sweat kept beading on her forehead.

I set down my luggage and sat beside her.

Her belly bulged larger than a watermelon.

“Are you due soon?”

She fanned herself with a leaf fan, her other hand stroking her enormous belly, and smiled.

“Not at all. I’m only a month along.”

For a moment, I had nothing to say.

I did not need firsthand experience to know that a one-month pregnancy could not look like this.

She had always been very kind to me.

When I boarded at a middle school in the county town, she took a two-hour bus ride every weekend to bring me food, wash my clothes, and clean my dormitory.

I had brought her plenty of nourishing gifts this time.

I took them out of my bag one by one.

“So you’re due next autumn? That’s still such a long way off. This must be hard on you.”

She reacted as though I had told the funniest joke in the world.

“Of course not! All that studying has made you stupid. I’m giving birth next month.”

What?

I stared, a package of bird’s nest frozen in my hand.

Seeing my bewilderment, she affectionately patted my forehead.

“Once I’ve had a few more litters, I’ll give you two as well.”

2

Troubled, I went back toward my room and caught a strong smell of meat.

In the kitchen, Mother was simmering something.

“What are you cooking? It smells good.”

I reached for a ladle. She slapped the back of my hand hard.

“Not for you! It’s all for your sister-in-law. She needs plenty of nourishment.”

Now I could see it clearly.

A basin of thick meat broth, covered with white fat.

Chunks of meat and bone were still partly raw, streaked with blood. It looked revolting.

“Why is it—”

Before I could finish, Mother pushed me out.

“Get out! Always asking for money, you little curse. You’re not half the son your brother is!”

It was true that I had no standing in the family.

All my clothes were my brother’s discarded hand-me-downs.

I had no toys of my own. I waited until he tired of his.

Our parents doted on him alone.

Because I was a foundling.

Father was the village chief. Someone had left an abandoned baby at his door, and too many villagers had seen it.

With no way out, he had carried me inside, cursing all the while.

Nobody had loved or cared about me as I grew up.

I had earned my own tuition and living expenses all the way.

My brother had been born with an intellectual disability.

Jealous of my good grades, he often beat me.

In winter, he stripped me naked and sent me out to herd sheep in the snow.

In summer, he tied me up, whipped me with willow branches, and hung me upside down from a tree.

If I told on him or resisted, he put an iron chain around my neck and locked me in the latrine.

I had no affection for him.

My sister-in-law was different.

She was kind. I thought of her as family.

So I had to get to the bottom of this strange pregnancy.

I unlocked my phone and searched.

【Under what circumstances would someone give birth after only two months of pregnancy?】

An answer appeared.

【Some animals have short gestation periods: one month for rabbits, two for dogs, three for cats.】

Dread rose inside me.

To investigate further, I hurried to my brother and sister-in-law’s bedroom.

The moment I pushed open the door, I froze.

Ahuang, the big wolfdog that normally guarded our home, lay comfortably on the heated kang bed. Curled inside the red wedding quilt, he slept with his head on my sister-in-law’s pillow.

3

I climbed onto the kang and chased him out of the quilt.

Who on earth had let the dog into the room?

He had even dirtied the bedding.

When I sniffed carefully, I caught the pungent smell of dog urine.

My sister-in-law was so clean. How could she bear it?

I had just picked up a broom to sweep away the mud Ahuang had brought in when Father slapped me.

“Damn you! Why did you let Ahuang out?”

Holding my burning cheek, I protested, “He wouldn’t stay in the yard. He was making a mess, and he crawled under her quilt.”

Father hit me again, harder.

“What do you know? She should count herself lucky Ahuang will breed with her.”

What did that mean?

Before I could ask more, he coaxed Ahuang back into her room and locked the door from outside.

“Your brother is working hard playing mahjong at the village entrance. And you’re loafing around! Get out and help herd the sheep!”

I had no choice but to drive the flock out.

On the road, I met Third Grandpa, a highly respected village elder.

I greeted him politely.

Smiling kindly, he patted my shoulder.

“Xiaosheng, where’s your sister-in-law? Has she given birth?”

“Not yet.”

“Tell your father to save two for me.”

“What?”

“Don’t be stingy. I put in plenty of effort too.”

He stroked his beard, as though savoring a memory.

“Puppy meat. Such a wonderful flavor. You never tire of it.”

The clues joined in my mind, forming a horrifying truth.

I asked cautiously, “You mean… the babies she’s carrying are Ahuang’s?”

“Whose else? Your brother can’t do anything. How would she get pregnant?”

4

That night, I tossed and turned.

I had spent more than ten years receiving a scientific education.

The whole thing was too bizarre to believe.

As my thoughts wandered, a sound came from my sister-in-law’s room next door.

A dog barking.

Low. Mournful. In pain.

I could stand it no longer.

I ran into the kitchen, grabbed a rolling pin, and charged into her room.

When I shoved the door open, I froze again.

Ahuang was not hurting her, as I had imagined.

The barking came from my sister-in-law herself.

She was on all fours on the kang, back arched, barking again and again.

If not for her smooth skin and delicate face, I might truly have mistaken her for a wolfdog.

In the moonlight, her belly seemed larger than it had that afternoon.

Pinkish lines showed across the stretched skin.

Countless little things seemed to be writhing tirelessly inside.

My scalp prickled.

I stood there, too shocked to move.

Then another voice reached me. A woman’s voice, calling my name.

“Xiaosheng. Xiaosheng…”

I looked up and realized, horrified, that this voice was hers too.

A woman’s words mingled with barking in the dark.

“Come here, Xiaosheng…”

“Please. Help me.”

That final plea moved me.

Gathering my courage, I went to the kang.

“Are you all right? Shall I get a doctor?”

“Don’t go.”

“Where’s my brother? It’s the middle of the night. Where has he gone?”

“Look up, Xiaosheng. Why won’t you look at me?”

Cold flooded through me. I lowered my head farther.

Perhaps it was instinct trying to protect me.

I kept my head bowed, deliberately avoiding her moonlit face.

Until I felt her slowly crawling toward me.

At the edge of my vision, her long black hair spread across the bed, moving closer and closer.

It whispered against the bedding. My skin crawled.

I was struggling with whether to turn and flee when a deathly pale face thrust itself before me, neck twisted, the whites of her eyes almost pressed against mine.

“Xiaosheng, why won’t you look at me?”

5

Fuck!

I shoved the face away with all my strength and bolted.

Shrieks and furious barking followed me.

My running woke Mother.

She showed no surprise at finding me fleeing my sister-in-law’s room in the middle of the night.

Instead, she fetched a cleaver from the kitchen, her eyes cold.

“She’s having another episode.”

Ignoring my attempts to stop her, she carried the cleaver straight into the room.

“Looks like this litter will have to come early…”