Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Baby River

The Baihe River flows quietly, without any waves on its calm water surface, meandering through the mountains, and finally flows into the Yangtze River. The surrounding area was very quiet, Mu Hua rowed the boat to the center, and skillfully threw the fishing net out. The fishing net sank slowly in the water, and after a while, Muhua pulled the net up, and there were a few grass carp jumping inside. He put the fish in the cabin, cast out the net again, looked at the shining river, and couldn't help sighing. Recently, the number of fish in the Baihe River has become less and less. In the past, the net was full of silver light. This year, it is considered lucky to catch 10 fish in one net.

Gradually at dusk, he leaned ashore, hung his fishing net on the shelf on the shore, and went home with 12 fish he caught. There was already smoke in the house, my mother was busy in the stove, and my father was sitting on the doorstep smoking a pipe. "Where's sister-in-law?" he asked. Father pointed his pipe toward the back room. When I walked in, my sister-in-law was still half lying on the bed, holding the child in her arms. The child's eyes were tightly closed, and his bluish-purple face looked hideous in the twilight. He seemed to smell a faint fishy smell—perhaps the child had begun to rot?

He turned on the light, and sister-in-law's eyelids lifted. "Sister-in-law, put the child down." He whispered. "I'll hug him again." Sister-in-law said mechanically. Mu Hua stood in the house for a while, then turned and went out, picked out the biggest fish, put it by the ditch, cut open its belly, and removed the scales. The father was still looking at the road in front of the house. His eldest son Mu Jie had already received a call, and he should be home soon. The twilight spread like black smoke, and the inside and outside of the house sank into darkness. The lights in the stove were turned on, but no one spoke, and the silence was like a millstone pressed against the eaves.

Mu Jie's shadow slowly emerged from the twilight. He stood in front of his father, covered in blue smoke from the pipe. "Dad." He called out. "Are you back?" Mu Shixiong knocked his cigarette butt on the steps, "Hurry up and do it when you're back." Mu Jie nodded, went into the kitchen and greeted his mother, then walked into his room. The child in his wife Huaying's arms has stopped breathing and is emitting a strange smell.He took a closer look, he was a chubby and strong son with a beautiful cinnabar mole in the middle of his forehead.Died at birth, and like other pregnant women, their son did not escape the fate of dying at birth.He stretched out his hand, Huaying retracted his arm back, he put more strength in his hand, and snatched the child away.

"Let's go," he said. Huaying took a heavy breath, put on her clothes and got out of bed. Mu Shixiong and Mu Hua were ready, waiting for them at the door. The four took turns holding the dead child and walked slowly towards the river. Under the moonlight, the water of the Baihe River flows gently.Under this long river, there are countless dead souls of babies. Mu Jie put the child on the beach by the river, and slowly stripped off his clothes.The child stood naked in the moonlight, like a big whitebait. Three men stood in the water, one at a few steps apart, the farthest Mu Jie, the water had already reached his chest.

Huaying picked up the child on the shore, kissed it a few times, and put it on her face for a long time before handing the child to Mu Shixiong. Mu Shixiong handed the child to Mu Hua, and Mu Hua handed him to Mu Jie. Mu Jie took his son gently. The dead child had stiffened and grown very heavy.He bent down, arms outstretched, and submerged the child in the water. The moonlight made the water so bright. In the distance, the bottom of the Baihe River shone with silvery white light. "Go, there are many children in the water to accompany you." He slowly let go of his hand, and gently pushed forward. The child's body was gently sent forward, and then he rowed along the water to a deeper place.

And so the child disappeared, he could no longer see him, and the moonlight could not penetrate the water. Mu Jie widened his eyes and looked melancholy, but he could only see the shining river water. In the past 5 years, he has witnessed countless babies sinking to the bottom of the water, and today it is finally his turn. He tried his best to recall the Baihe five years ago, but he couldn't remember anything. In his mind, there was only the Baihe in front of him—the snow-white riverbed glistened under the water, as if it had been like this for thousands of years. But he does know that five years ago, the river bed of Baihe was not white, and it was not called Baihe at that time.It had a nice name, but he couldn't remember it.He only remembered that at that time, many children were born in the village every year, and there were always enough fish in the river.

But then it changed. Since the first family gave birth to a dead baby five years ago, no live child has been born in the village since then.All the babies were healthy when they were in the womb, and there was nothing wrong with various examinations. Even before labor, they could still hear strong and powerful fetal sounds.But when she was born, she was dead, her face was bruised and her lips were gray. The doctor said it was due to lack of oxygen, but everyone knew that was not the case. According to the custom for thousands of years, babies under one year old should not be buried in the earth, and all the children were thrown into the river.

A steady stream of newborn babies were thrown into the river. With the throwing of dead babies, the river bed of Baihe gradually turned white, as white as snow. Baihe was called Baihe from that time, and it also has a name called "Baby River". The continual death cannot stop the desire to procreate. People continue to reproduce, but none survive. Even if they move to other places, even if they stop intermarrying with the local people, it will not change the fact that the babies continue to die. Investigations were made again and again, but the cause of the dead baby was never found.

It has been five years, and the crying of newborn babies is no longer heard in the village, not even a single newborn, and the village seems to be getting old.More than half of the village with more than 1,000 households has been moved away, and now there are only more than 400 households left. However, life continues, just like this White River, no matter what color the river bed is, it still breeds people on both sides of the river, and there are still countless aquatic tribes living in its belly cavity. In recent days, the number of fish has gradually decreased, and people say that even Baihe has lost his fertility.

"Brother, I'm back." Mu Hua's voice pulled Mu Jie out of his contemplation, he echoed and walked up slowly. The four walked back side by side, but no one spoke. At home, the meal is ready, the snow-white fish soup is steaming, the snow-white fish soup is as white as the river bed of the Baihe River, and the snow-white fish meat is as tender as a baby's meat. The White River is still flowing, and the days are still flowing. People still live like this. However, fish are indeed becoming less and less. More than ten days later, when Muhua rowed the boat again to the middle of the Baihe River and was about to cast a net down, a fish jumped out of the water. Then a few more fish jumped out. Then, more fish jumped out of the water, and the silvery fish fluttered in the sun. At a glance, there were fish at the head and tail of the river, and the fish formed waves, and the water surface of the Baihe River was covered by the fish's scales. Mu Hua's eyes were dazzled, he rubbed his eyes, and went down the net with a net full of fish. Another net went down, the net was full. After casting three nets, the fishing boats were loaded to the limit, but the fish were still leaping, and more fishing boats joined the ranks of casting nets. Mu Hua swung the fishing boat back to the shore, put down the fish in the barn, and returned to the river, continuing to cast the net. On this day, the whole Baihe Village had a bumper harvest. Countless children and grandchildren of Lord Dragon were caught. The fishing boats and fish warehouses of every household were full. Finally, they couldn’t hold so many fish, so they reluctantly shook their hands. The boat returns to shore. Huaying and her mother took wooden barrels into the fish warehouse built in their backyard, intending to catch some fish for dinner. The wooden door of the backyard opened with a creak, Huaying turned on the light, and the orange light sprinkled circles in the fish room, and the water was completely white. When I walked in, it was a fish. It's a white fish. Huaying half-kneeled on the concrete floor by the pool, reaching out to pick up a fish. Soft, sticky, unresisting - the fish is to die for. All the fish are dead. Huaying thought of the dead child in her arms, holding the fish and crying. In front of a pool of dead fish glowing white, Mu Jie and Mu Hua were both stunned.Mu Jie also thought of his own children. He picked up the fish one by one, packed them in wooden barrels, brought them to the river, and prepared to throw them into the river.Mu Hua carried a load of dead fish on a pole and followed behind him. The two walked towards the river one after the other, and the dead fish gave off a faint stench. The further you go to the river, the stronger the stench becomes. The moonlight was shining brightly, and there were already many people standing by the river, they formed a human wall, covering the Baihe River. Mu Hua and Mu Jie squeezed into the crowd, they were stunned when they saw Bai He. The surface of the Baihe River was covered with a thick layer of dead fish, with no end in sight. The whole river seemed to have stagnated and disappeared, only dead fish, frozen in people's sight. A strong stench hit the tip of his nose. All the fish in the Baihe River died. It took people three days to clean up the fish in the Baihe River. The water of the Baihe River without the dead fish is as clear as ever, and it flows silently. No more fish, no shrimp, no living things of any kind under the surface. Baihe, like the women in Baihe Village, has lost her fertility. But life still goes on.