Ghost Blows Out the Light - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Rat Friend

That Spring, many events happened. The fact that Hu Guo Hua had used a paper doll to trick his uncle into lending him money had finally been exposed. Furious and disappointed, the uncle fell ill. Within three days, his soul had departed his body.

All of the members of the Hu Family avoided him like the plague. They wouldn’t even give him a bite to eat, much less lend him money. Hu Guo Hua sold the last sandalwood box in his house for two silvers. The box had once held his mother’s dowry in it. No matter what, he had wanted to keep it, and wasn’t willing to pawn it off. However, his withdrawal reemerged and he couldn’t care less about the promise any longer. He used the two silvers to buy a small gram of opium. He rushed home to smoke it on his bed. After taking two long draws, he felt as though he was lying amongst the clouds.

At that moment, he was living with the gods. The fact that people would look down on him and and bully him every day was no longer important. After taking two more draws, he suddenly felt that a dark thing was laying beside him on his tattered bed. When he opened up his eyes to look around, he saw a big rat beside him. The rat must have been pretty old. Even the wisps of fur on his chin had even turned white. It was about as big as a cat. He appeared out of the smoke that came from his pipe, as though it was also relishing in the feeling of smoking. It sniffed its snout a few times to get a little more.

Hu Guo Hua’s interest was peaked and he said to the rat, “You smoke opium too? Looks like you’re quite the expert too.” After he said that, he took another draw and blew the smoke at the rat. The rat knew that he meant no harm and wasn’t afraid of him. It looked up and took a deep breath in the smoke. After half a second, as though satisfied, it slowly crawled away.

The next few days passed the same way. That old rat came by every day to get a whiff of opium with Hu Guo Hua. Hu Guo Hua was treated like trash everywhere and didn’t have a single friend. The only thing he felt a slight favorable impression of was this rat. Sometimes, the rat would come a little later, and Hu Guo Hua would bear with the desire to wait a little for it.

However, the good days did not last and all that was left in Hu Guo Hua’s house was a bed and its four walls. There was nothing else that he could sell to buy more of the drug. Frustrated from his lack of a plan, he sighed to the rat, “Rat, oh rat, I have nothing left. There’s no more money left to experience that pleasure any more. I’m afraid, I won’t be able to share these simple pleasures with you any longer.” His voice trembled at the end from the sorrow in his throat. 

When the rat heard this, its eyes flashed, as though it had an idea. It turned around and left. When evening fell, the rat brought a silver dollar to Hu Guo Hua’s pillow. Hu Guo Hua was overjoyed and he bought a big chunk of the drug that same night. He then went directly home and began to smoke it some more, and shared it with the rat. 

TL Note: The silver dollar is a higher currency than the silvers 

The next day, the rat brought back another three silver dollars. Hu Guo Hua was so happy that he didn’t know what to say. He then thought of an old folktale he had learned in school once upon a time and said to the rat, “The one who knew Guan Zhong* the most, was none other than Bao Shu Ya. When I was in my poorest state, you came to my assistance. If you don’t mind, why don’t we become brothers.” and from then on, he called the rat his brother and shared his food and drink and smoke. He even created a small burrow for the rat next to his bed so that the rat could sleep there. 

The relationship between man and rat grew closer and was not inferior to that of blood related brothers. The rat always went out to steal silver dollars. Some days, he came back with one or two, but others, he would bring back three or five. From them on, Hu Guo Hua needed not worry about food or clothing. Many years later, my grandfather would always remember that time as the happiest days of his life. 

And like that, half a year passed by. Hu Guo Hua slowly began to become richer. But, isn’t there that one saying? When you strike gold, you have great friends. When you run out of luck, you meet crooks. Hu Guo Hua was fated to live a poor life, and because of that, he caught the attention of some crooks. 

There was a hoodlum in the village that went by the name Wang Er Kang Zi. He was different from Hu Guo Hua. Hu Guo Hua had at least once been rich before and was called “Young Master Hu” for twenty years of his life. 

Wang Er Kang Zi didn’t have such a good life. Going back eight generations of his family, he never once had a family member wear a pair of pants that didn’t have a hole in them. When he saw that Hu Guo Hua had lost all of his money, he took joy in the midst of calamity and would always find a way to cuss at Hu Guo Hua. Being able to bully the Young Master Hu from the old days gave him a sense of power and balance. 

Recently, he’d been having a strange feeling. Hu Guo Hua, that poor bastard, didn’t have any income and had already pawned off everything he could pawn off. On top of that, most of the relatives in his family had already died off. So why was it, that he had drugs to smoke every day? Just where was he getting the money he needed to buy these drugs? Maybe, he turned into a thief. And so, he decided to spy on him. If he ever saw Hu Guo Hua stealing money, he would send him straight to prison and get some bounty in return.

However, even after spying on him for a while, he noticed that besides going out to buy some opium, Hu Guo Hua basically never left his house and didn’t seem to have any dealings with anyone else. He couldn’t even figure out how Hu Guo Hua got his money. Wang Er Kang Zi couldn’t help but feel curious. 

One day, Hu Guo Hua went out to buy some food. Wang Er Kang Zi snuck into his house and went through his belongings to find out just what secret Hu Guo Hua was hiding. He suddenly noticed the giant rat sleeping on his bed. Wang Er Kang Zi grabbed the rat and threw it into a pot of boiling water and then capped it. He thought, now if Hu Guo Hua drinks this water, he’ll at least get an upset stomach and I’ll have the joy of watching it! 

Before Wang Er Kang Zi had the time to leave, Hu Guo Hua had come back, and trapped him inside. When Hu Guo Hua saw that the rat had been burned alive, his eyes burned red with grief and fury. He went straight for the kitchen knife and tried to chop Wang Er Kang Zi into a dozen pieces. Luckily, Hu Guo Hua was a huge druggie and didn’t have any strength in his arms. Even though Wang Er Kang ZI took a few cuts, it didn’t deal any mortal damage to him. He dashed out of the house, even while he was bleeding and begged the police for help. The captain of the police was the relative of a local warlord and just happened to be treating a warlord to some drinks. The captain thought, How could I let something like this happen before the warlord? For someone to raise a knife against someone in broad daylight! Does nobody respect the law anymore? He immediately commanded his deputy to arrest Hu Guo Hua.

Hu Guo Hua was arrested and brought before the judge. The captain of the police interrogated him and asked, “Why did you raise a knife against Wang Er Kang Zi?” 

Tears flowed down Hu Guo Hua’s cheeks as he said in a trembling voice, “Thinking of my miserable days before, if it hadn’t been for this rat, how could I have survived to this day? However, because of my carelessness, my rat brother has lost his life. Even though it wasn’t I that had killed him, he had died because of me. How could I possibly turn my back on such a good friend? I take all responsibility for my actions and admit to hurting Wang Er Kang Zi. No matter what punishment you decide upon, I accept. All I ask is that you bury me beside my rat brother. If you respect this one which, then I will not regret my life.” 

Before the Police Captain even opened his mouth, the warlord beside him sighed and said to Hu Guo Hua, “Damn, to not forget a favor is to be benevolent, and to remain loyal to your heart is to be just. And you are doing all of this for just a rat, let alone how you treat other humans? Seeing as you are both just and loyal, and that you have no one else to rely on, how about I make you a deputy official.” 

In this chaotic world, a gun meant power and the law was set by anyone who had an army. The warlord had his underlings whip Wang Er Gang Zi for Hu Guo Hua. He then let Hu Guo Hua go so that he could bury his rat friend. Hu Guo Hua used a sandalwood box to hold the rats body and then dug out a grave. After crying for half a day, he said his final goodbyes and left to seek out the warlord. 

As the old saying goes, “Food is sweeter when hungry, but not with a full stomach. When a man is extremely poor, just receiving a bowl of soup or a small piece of bread was enough for them to be thankful for life. Much less all of the riches that the rat gave to Hu Guo Hua? 

Of course, the money that the rat gave was stolen. Saints would rather die of dehydration than drink stolen water. But that is a Saint’s goal in life. Few men have achieved this goal thus far in history. How could Hu Guo Hua, this mediocre man, do the same?

 There once was a saying, that if you smoke in a room, after a long period of time, the rats and the flies of that room will also become addicted. This couldn’t have been more perfectly proven.