The death of Li Damin, chief of South Hill Village, had something to do with a dog.
It had happened on a typical morning. Dogs were barking and chickens were cooing around, but there was no birds chirping. Li Damin hadn’t heard birds chirping for years. They had all died out from eating seeds mixed with pesticide. He wasn’t surprised by the absence of birds in the countryside any more. When he opened the door of his courtyard, however, he was surprised by the sight of a dog lying on a step, its hair shiny black. When the dog saw Li Damin, it stood up and sniffed around his legs, wagging its tail, whimpering sadly.
Whose dog is this? Li Damin went through all the dogs in the village and couldn’t think of whose this one could be.
Li Damin’s woman said: Let’s keep it. The woman came out with a bowl of tasty spare ribs. The black dog wouldn’t eat; its eyes were fixed on Li Damin all the time. Li Damin said: “Eat!” The black dog started to eat. Li Damin said: “A smart dog.”
If Li Damin had foreseen what would happen, he would never have kept the dog.
A few days later the black dog dragged Li Damin out by the corner of his pants. So he followed the dog.
Quite some distance later they came to the graveyard. The dog stopped.
Li Damin kicked at the dog angrily. When he kicked again, the dog bounced away.
He didn’t think much of this, though.
A few days later the black dog once again dragged Li Damin out by the corner of his pants. When they came to the graveyard, it stopped again.
This time around it got Li Damin thinking: Can the black dog be a messenger from Death? Otherwise why has the dog dragged me to the graveyard twice? Perhaps the dog wants me to select a spot before it is too late?
Li Damin wanted to kill the black dog now. He put rat poison in a steamed dumpling and threw it to the dog. The dog sniffed it once but wouldn’t eat it. Li found a rope, made a noose, and wanted to put it around the dog’s neck to kill it, yet the dog bounced away and kept a respectful distance.
“This dog is a devil! It’s here to take my life!”
Lying in bed at night, Li Damin couldn’t fall asleep. “I’m only 40 years old. How can I die at this young age? Because of the sins I have committed?” Li Damin went through the litany of all the things he had done, from stealing watermelons when still a young boy to taking 3,000 yuan from Li Mugen last month. He was terrified by what he had come up with. He had done so many bad things that even he himself couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
He broke into a cold sweat. Yes, he deserved to die ten times and more.
The next morning Li Damin went to Li Mugen’s with 3,000 yuan in his pocket. Li Mugen had given him 3,000 yuan so the lot for building his new home would be approved and so he could get into the village bamboo product factory. When Li Damin handed the money back to Li Mugen, Mugen refused to take it no matter what. He begged, tears in his face and in his voice: “Chief, what did I do wrong? Did I say anything wrong?” Li Damin shook his head. Mugen said: “Is it because the village wants to take back the lot? Or doesn’t want me to work in the factory any more?” Li Damin said, “Neither. It’s only that I don’t feel I should have accepted this money from you.” Mugen fell on his knees: “Chief, I beg you not to return this money to me. Otherwise I can’t eat or sleep!” Li Damin wanted to help Mugen on his feet again, but Mugen refused: “I’ll be on my knees until you take back the money.” There was nothing Li Damin could do other than pick up the money on the table and put it in his pocket again.
Then Li Damin went to Li Changhe’s. Changhe was not home. His woman, however, Yumei, was feeding their chickens in the courtyard. When she saw Li Damin, her face blossomed with a smile: “Come in, come inside.” Li Damin went inside and said: “Sis, I’m here to apologize. I was out of my mind when I did that and I am so sorry.” Yumei knew what Li Damin meant by that. She and her husband used to be working in the town’s petrochemical factory. When it went bankrupt, Yumei wanted to transfer their residence back to the village so they could be assigned a few mu of farmland and making a living that way. When Yumei came to Li Damin’s with a big bag of gifts, it happened his woman wasn’t home. Li Damin grabbed Yumei into his arms. Yumei said: “If you don’t let go, I’ll shout!” However, a few days later, Yumei came again. She said: “You can have your wish.” So, Yumei and her family’s residence was transferred back to the village and was assigned four mu of good farmland.
Li Damin took out the 3,000 yuan and said: Yumei, this little money is my compensation to you. . . . Yumei’s face went ashen right away: “Chief Li, is it because you don’t want to contract the fish pond to us? Must be someone seeing the little money we made last year and wanting to get the fish pond himself? Chief Li, take it back no matter what. . . . I have 1,000 yuan cash at home. Let me go and get it for you so you can buy cigarettes and things. If you want me now, you can have me.” Yumei began to unbutton her clothes. Li Damin said: “No, a thousand times no.” Yumei had already stripped from the waist up. Li Damin wanted to run, but was blocked by Yumei: “If you leave, I’ll cry rape!” It was Li Damin’s turn to beg tearfully: “My good sis, don’t do that. I beg you to let me go. What I did was wrong, and can’t undo it. What do you want from me?” Yumei said: “I only want you to take me. I beg you to take me. I won’t rest until you have taken me. Only then I’ll know you won’t contract the fish pond to someone else.”
Afterwards, Li Damin went to two more families. The result was the same.
Li Damin went home and fell ill. He went to the hospital but the doctors couldn’t find what was wrong. A month later, Li Damin died.
Li Damin’s deathbed wish was to use the illicit 100,000 yuan he had received to build a bridge across the river right outside the village.
The black dog was adopted by Li Mugen. Now and then it would drag him to the graveyard by the corner of his pants. Mugen thought: “I haven’t done anything really bad, why has the dog tried to bring me to the graveyard?” When the black dog did so for the fifth time, Mugen thought he understood. When they came to the graveyard, the black dog once again stopped in front of a grave covered with wild weeds and began whimpering sadly. Mugen walked closer and saw two holes, thick as a rice bowl, atop the grave. It must have been the work of weasels. It used to be that once they got to this spot, Mugen would turn and run as fast as he could. Now, Mugen understood why the black dog had dragged him to the graveyard: He set to work right away. It didn’t take him long to pull all the weeds on the grave and fill up the holes firm with a spade.
The black dog wouldn’t drag Li Mugen to the graveyard any more.
Later Mugen found out what was behind all this: In that grave was buried Old Man He, the original owner of the black dog.
Mugen sighed deeply: “Ah, Li Damin died a wrongful death.”
(2004)