Page 322 - updated on July

Yu Jihui: “A Stinking Old Ninth – A Tale of the Coal Capital” (updated on July 2020)

I shouted loudly, but nobody answered. I became

furious and upturned the table. The glasses, bottles

and bowls – everything on it - crashed to the ground.

Great Smoker was scared. She thought I was mad

and dared not come close to me. She seemed

paralyzed by terror and stared into my face. She

couldn’t speak. I looked around for a moment, then

broke the windows, jumped out and escaped.

Later I told Old Aunt what had happened to me.

She was shocked. She said I must have been drugged.

She said, “Elephant must have put a sleeping pill in

your wine. It must have been in the last cup of wine.

Did she force you to drink the last cup of wine?”

“Yes, she did.”

“That’s it. The sleeping pill must be in that the

last cup of wine. It was a common way for those rude

coal workers to play a prank on a couple of unfit

lovers. Normally they used this as a way to help their

319