My tomb robbing past

The past is like that

Sometimes I feel the urge to write down the stories of these people, sometimes I worry about them getting into trouble, and sometimes I even fear they might be caught in my dreams. However, I hope that more people can pay attention to such a special group. My family members have always had a tough life!

Grandpa said: "Actually, everyone will die. What remains after death should benefit future generations! But... let what's in the soil stay in the soil!"

Uncle said: "Life is actually quite short. Taking care of the elderly and those around you is really good!"

Uncle second said: "What's buried belongs to no one. I want the ones no one wants. Even if I'm begging, I want to be the richest beggar!"

My cousin said: "It's always been petty theft. Hardly ever came across a bigger tomb, and even then it was already robbed! Why is life so unlucky for me!"

Dad said: "They're a bunch of people who deal with ghosts. Stay away from them!"

When I was young, these relatives would come to my house in the middle of the night. The basement lights were almost always on when they arrived, but no one outside ever knew about the basement.

Sometimes they would come out for lunch, and Uncle second would chuckle at my cousin and say, "This time it's good! Making tens of thousands is no problem!"

At that time, Grandpa said a very fashionable phrase, "Keep a low profile! Be low-key in life!"

Uncle was basically always quiet, but when he passed by me, he would take out a piece of jade from his chest and rub it on my head, "Nephew, give your uncle a kiss, and I'll give you this piece of jade, okay?"

I always dodged his bearded face, "No, no, you're all dusty, who wants to kiss you!"

But every time he would also take out a piece of candy from his arms to make me happy.

In my memory, Grandpa never mentioned Uncle second, who only came to my house once. I only knew that Uncle second had made it rich, and my current job was arranged by him, but it was strange that Uncle second never interacted with my family, but he always responded to every request.

It was only when I started high school that I slowly learned that my grandfather, uncle, Uncle second, and my cousin were all "ghost faces" - Xinjiang slang, which means grave robbers. The year I graduated from high school, the family celebrated my admission to a good university in Sichuan, and it was hard to get everyone around the same table. Grandpa gave me 100,000 yuan, "Your second uncle only gave you 50,000, I'll double it for you. Min'er, in our family, you're also the most educated, you need to excel, to stand out! Our family has never been able to show their faces in a lifetime, you need to be outstanding, to excel! Strive..." Then, he took a sip of wine.

Uncle directly asked, "What do you want? Uncle will give you this piece of jade!"

Dad looked at him, "What about you? What will you do next..."

Uncle's eyes were already red from drinking, and he took another sip of white wine, "Haha, he is the root of our family! If he's good, that's good!"

Under Dad's repeated refusal, I took the jade and put it on. Dad looked at the jade, "You must take good care of it! This piece of jade has almost become your uncle's life!"

Uncle second didn't think much of it, "What's the matter! Here's one for you!" He untied something from his waist and put it in front of me.

I looked at it, and it was about the size of my palm. I picked it up and asked, "What is this? It's huge!"

Uncle second's expression hesitated and he mumbled, "This... this is an order! General's!"

Grandpa glared at him, picked up the jade brand and threw it to him, "You guys are all giving away things from the soil to people, not afraid of shortening your life span!"

Uncle second continued, "This jade has been with me for twenty years, huh! It's okay! Change one! Little nephew, this mobile phone was bought less than a month ago, if you like, take it, a man without a mobile phone, you can't even find a wife! Your uncle is a rough man, bought it and can't use it, just as a decoration, you take it and play!"

My cousin said, "This kid is smart, and he's promising! The family is counting on you!" While speaking, he handed a big red envelope to me and started drinking with Uncle second.

I looked at them and said, "Grandpa! I also want to be a 'ghost face'! Take me to see!"

Grandpa almost spat out a sip of wine, staring at me and said, "How do you know 'ghost face'? Who... who told you?" He then looked at my father.

Dad was startled and stared at me. I was also frightened and didn't dare to speak.

Uncle second said, "Kids, just listen to anything casually, how old are you!"

Dad said, "No! What are you going to do? Do something against heaven and reason!"

I said, "Grandpa! Grandpa! The country's excavation is called archaeology, I just want to see and learn! Why not let me go?"

Grandpa didn't say a word.

Uncle: "If you want to go, go! Seeing is not a bad thing! The child is smart, and we few can take good care of him!"

Dad: "No! He can't go! Our family only has this one seedling, what if he is punished! Who is responsible?"

Grandpa snorted coldly, "Why should we be punished! Shouldn't those people in the country who do research be punished more?! Let him go, this is also a craft in our family, learn as much as you can!"

I forgot about this matter after that meal. A few days later, my uncle came and said as soon as he entered the door, "Are you ready? We are going to southern Xinjiang! Bring some long pants and long clothes, the wind and sand are strong at night!"

I remember that day was July 16, 2001. When I went outside, I found out that there were three cars in total. I wanted to ride in Grandpa’s car because the Santana was considered a good car at that time, whereas Uncle drove a dilapidated van, and Second Uncle and Little Uncle were in a shabby Jeep. However, Uncle insisted that I ride in the van and not in Grandpa's car. The van had a strong smell of lime, and except for the front row, the back was covered with black cloth. I felt extremely uncomfortable inside, and Uncle rarely spoke, just insisting that I drink more water to avoid heatstroke.

When it was time to sleep, Second Uncle arrived, which made things much livelier. As soon as he got into the car, he shouted, “Little nephew, can you smoke? Wow! Didn’t expect you can actually smoke!” He then threw a pack of Red Tower Mountain cigarettes onto the seat.

I grinned and lit one, asking, “Second Uncle, are there really treasures in those dead tombs?”

“What are you talking about! Do you know how much property your Second Uncle has now?” He held up three fingers.

“300,000?” I widened my eyes.

“Wrong! 3 million!” After saying this, he took a satisfying drag of his cigarette.

“Pfft! You have 3 million and you’re smoking Red Tower Mountain and driving a junk van?” I skeptically flicked the ash off.

“You don’t understand. On the road, there are all kinds of people. Think about it, if there were highway robbers, they’d see this old van and wouldn’t even consider robbing it. Your grandpa said; everything needs to be low-key! Kid, if you drive a nice car, you’ll attract attention wherever you go and be targeted. You’d be asking for trouble! Hmph! This is what a college student would say!” Second Uncle said.

“I haven’t started college yet! I just graduated from high school!” I retorted.

“Don’t find too many girlfriends when you start college. First, get an education, then you can start a company or something, and Second Uncle can also invest in your shares. Look at us, all dusty and dirty. No matter how much money we have, what’s the use? Your uncle here can only dig holes; I can’t do anything else!” He said, throwing the cigarette butt out the window.

“Second Uncle! Have you ever dug up a zombie? Don’t you guys also have to deal with zombies?” I asked.

“Are you watching too many ghost movies? Once a person lies down, everything is dead, understand? If you have good eyesight, you might dig up a treasure, that’s about it. I’ve dug up treasures before, one time it was 2 million, sold to some old Russians on the border, hehe! But now that you mention it, there was one time, but who knows what it actually was?”