The Castration of the Pig: Chapter Nine – Memories, Part Five

“Since this is an ancestral hall, why are there no memorial tablets?”
“Maybe it’s because too much time has passed and no one has taken care of it,” Anji replied, struggling to recall the appropriate Japanese vocabulary to describe the situation.

Kojima, intrigued by this question tied to a unique historical culture, was venturing into territory where Anji’s vocabulary was quite limited. Thankfully, before coming here, Anji had crammed some dictionary study in the side room; otherwise, stumbling now would have made the translation poor and might even have compromised the report.

“An-san, do you know why the Japanese are so interested in the Liu family?”

Anji found this odd. Hadn’t Kojima already explained this on the way here? Asking again now felt like he knew the answer but was just being deliberately inquisitive. He truly couldn’t understand how the Japanese mind worked!

Though a bit impatient, Anji stammered out a reply to Kojima.

Kojima smiled, gave a thumbs-up, and launched into an entirely different, much more confident explanation than the one he’d given in the car.

As Anji was absorbed in puzzling over this, a gust of wind blew through, carrying a strong scent of alcohol from Kojima’s mouth. The cold seemed to shake him, and he suddenly shivered all over, then clutched Anji and began to vomit.

He had seemed perfectly fine back in the room; the potency of his homemade liquor was evidently quite strong.

Anji pulled out a pack of tissues from his pocket and handed them to Kojima, who quickly covered his mouth.

After a while, Kojima had emptied himself of all the filth, and his mind cleared considerably. Anji offered him another tissue. At that moment, Kojima seemed to notice the warmth and subtle scent emanating from the tissue—the imprint of Anji’s body heat and fragrance—and suddenly his entire body froze.

Anji, surprised, moved to steady him, but Kojima abruptly embraced him.

Outside the ancestral hall, the cold wind continued to howl. Liu the scholar, panting heavily, arrived at the entrance. Perhaps because the wind had intensified, he heard no sound from inside.

He crept cautiously into the hall and was shocked to find, beneath the altar where incense was usually offered, Anji and Kojima locked in a scene both shocking and repulsive to him.

Liu froze in place, nearly forgetting to breathe. He didn’t know what to do—leave? Pretend he hadn’t seen? Impossible! The Anji he cherished was here with a Japanese man. Anger surged through him, as if he had been cuckolded, his goddess thus defiled—and by a Japanese man!

“The Japanese are bullying the Chinese!” Liu the scholar roared with all his might in a furious shout.

“Down with the Japanese!” he cried again, charging forward. Kojima and Anji snapped awake, glaring fiercely at the gaunt troublemaker.

But Liu paid no heed to the glare. “I’m calling the police. This is a crime. I’m reporting you, you Japanese devil!”

Anji was now deeply anxious. If this got out, all his sacrifices would be for nothing, and he might even be expelled from school... The thought of the unimaginable consequences terrified him.

“Don’t be afraid, Anji,” Kojima said, reading the worry on his face.

Liu noticed Anji’s expression and only became more convinced he was being coerced. “Japanese, I will report you for sure. You won’t get away.”

Liu’s fierce determination startled Kojima. Now he too began to waver. His mission was unfinished, and if this incident spread among these unreasonable people, who knew how badly things might spiral out of control?