My family had lived in a small fishing village by the Wujiang River for generations, and I was born here too.

We lived off the mountain if we were near one, and off the water if we were near that.

Every family in the village was a fishing family.

In those days, there was no such thing as a closed fishing season, and the fish and shrimp in the river could never be exhausted. Although we didn't earn much, we could always make ends meet.

My parents were fishermen, and they went out on the river every day, but for some reason, they made money faster than others. While the villagers lived in mud-brick houses, our family had already built a spacious and bright brick house. While the villagers could only listen to the radio, our family had already bought a television.

When I was a child, I didn't understand these things. I just thought my parents were lucky when they fished, and they caught more than others in one net.

Later, I vaguely heard people say that my parents seemed to be doing other businesses as well, and they had more than one way to make money. It was just that the business they were doing didn't seem honorable, or maybe it was taboo. Others only discussed it in private and never said it publicly.

At first, I asked my parents about it, but as soon as I mentioned it, they glared at me and scolded me, not allowing me to say another word.

Over time, I naturally didn't dare to ask.

I only remember that every time my parents went out on the boat, my grandma was always worried. In private, she often advised my parents to stop, saying that they were making money from the dead, which would bring bad karma, and they would be punished sooner or later.

When I was a child, I didn't understand my grandma's words. By the time I understood, it was already too late.

When I was eight years old, my parents went out on the boat as usual. They left home while I was asleep and never came back.

My grandma and I waited for several days, only to have an empty fishing boat return. There were no fish or people on the boat.

My grandma cried, holding me all day long, saying that retribution had come. She had advised them to stop long ago, but now they had lost their lives in order to make money.

Half a month later, my parents' bodies washed ashore.

My father's limbs were incomplete from being washed by the river, leaving only his torso. My mother's face was unrecognizable from being gnawed by fish and shrimp, leaving only white bones.

Not only did the villagers not sympathize with them, but they also gossiped behind their backs, saying that they had built a brick house for nothing and bought a television for nothing. In the end, they didn't even leave a complete corpse and instead filled the stomachs of the fish and shrimp in the river.

Later, several hooligans who usually idled around in the village simply ran to our door, yelling that my parents had earned unclean, unlucky money, and if we kept it, we would be punished. It would be better to distribute it to everyone so that we could accumulate some good karma.

Those people even pointed at my nose and cursed me, saying that if I didn't give them the unlucky money, I would die violently in the water like my parents.

My grandma was so angry that she picked up a carrying pole and tried to fight them, but they kicked her to the ground, causing her head to bleed.

They broke into our house and took all the valuables. I wanted to stop them, but my grandma held me tightly in her arms.

She told me while crying that my parents not only fished during their lives, but also salvaged corpses in the river, earning money from the dead. This was the most unlucky and lowly job, but it made money quickly. The villagers looked down on this job, but they were also jealous that they could make money. Now that they saw them die tragically, they were even happier than if they had become rich themselves.

My grandma also said that I should study hard in the future, go to middle school, go to college, and find a decent job. Don't be like my parents, taking shortcuts and being looked down upon. Once I made money, I should never return to this small fishing village and go far away.

I firmly remembered my grandma's words and vowed to study hard, find a successful job, make my grandma proud, and let her live a good life.

But in the end, I couldn't do it.

Before I could finish junior high school, my grandma passed away.

She couldn't stand the villagers gossiping behind her back every day, stabbing her in the spine, and she couldn't stand the hooligans coming to her door every now and then to ask for money and steal things.

When I was fifteen years old, my grandma drowned herself in the river.

My grandma was an excellent swimmer. Usually, she could soak in the river for a whole day and night without any problems. In order to die, she tied stone weights to her waist.

My only relative in this world was gone too.

From then on, I left the village and took the last thousand yuan that my grandma had hidden in the crack in the wall and went to the county seat to make a living.

On the day I left, I vowed to make something of myself and return to the village in glory in the future to settle accounts with those hooligans one by one.

But on the third day after entering the city, I met a boss at the train station who said he would take me to do business and get rich together. He cheated me of all my money and left me alone on the cold and windy street.

I was desperate and finally found a job as a kitchen helper in a small restaurant for 500 yuan a month, with room and board.

The other workers who worked together in the restaurant saw that I was young and had a pitiful background, so they usually took good care of me.

There was a sister named Xiao Mei, who was three years older than me. Her big eyes seemed to be able to talk, her skin was very white, and she had two sweet dimples when she smiled. She treated me the best and often bought me snacks to eat.

From childhood to adulthood, no one had ever cared for me so much. At that time, I decided that I must marry Sister Xiao Mei as my wife in the future.

But there were many people who were interested in such a beautiful girl.

There was a regular customer who often came to the restaurant to eat. It was said that he was the boss of a nearby clothing factory. Every time he came, he would specifically ask Xiao Mei to serve him. Sometimes, when he was satisfied with his meal, he would secretly give Xiao Mei some tips.

Later, the boss and Xiao Mei became more and more familiar, and he gradually had ulterior motives. One night, the fat boss, with a flushed face from drinking, suddenly grabbed Xiao Mei's hand and dragged her into the bathroom in the private room.

Xiao Mei refused and struggled desperately.

She shouted very loudly, and everyone in the restaurant heard it, but no one dared to help her because no one dared to offend the fat boss.

I was outside the private room at the time, listening to Xiao Mei's heart-wrenching cries. For some reason, I suddenly recalled the scene when I was in the village and my grandma was beaten and screamed by the hooligans.

At that time, I was kneeling next to my grandma, crying for help from the heavens and the earth, but no one answered.

As soon as I thought of those things, I suddenly felt a surge of blood!

I kicked open the door of the private room and rushed into the bathroom. I saw Sister Xiao Mei being pressed down by the fat boss, her pants were torn and pulled down, and blood was flowing from her fair thighs.

I cursed angrily and pushed the fat boss to the ground. Sister Xiao Mei quickly got up from under him, pulled up her pants, and ran away with her hair disheveled.

The fat boss's brothers in the private room immediately surrounded me, blocked me in the bathroom, and punched and kicked me. I was kicked to the ground and fainted from the pain.

In a daze, I heard the fat boss say, "Throw him into the river to feed the fish!"

Immediately afterwards, I was carried by a group of people and thrown out of the window on the second floor of the restaurant and into the river below the restaurant.

With a thud, I lost consciousness. My last thought before I fainted was that I might be going to die. My parents died in the water, and I was actually dying in the water too. It really came true what the hooligans in the village said—I also suffered the same retribution as my parents.

But in the end, I didn't die.

I don't know how long it had passed, but I woke up to the sound of splashing water. When I opened my eyes, the first person I saw was Sister Xiao Mei, who was soaked all over.

When she saw me wake up, she burst into tears. She grabbed me, dragged me to the shore, took off my wet clothes, held me in her arms, and warmed me with her scalding body temperature.

Sister Xiao Mei told me that I had been drifting in the river all night, and she had chased along the river all night before finally pulling me ashore, barely alive.