Chapter 24: Ostrich meat contains viruses
My uncle and aunt like to hunt for curiosities and often go to different stalls to buy wild goods.
Recently, there was an ostrich meat vendor from the north in the vegetable market. My uncle and aunt also saw him when they were buying vegetables. They had never eaten ostrich meat, but because the price was cheap, they bought a few kilograms.
My aunt is not a good cook, so she would bring any good food back to my grandparents' house and ask my grandmother to help cook it.
Grandma loved her younger brother Zhang Han the most, and also invited Zhang Shan and her family to come over for dinner.
In her previous life, the original owner felt nauseous and sick to her stomach whenever she saw this meat. Although she didn't know why, her sixth sense told her that this meat must not be eaten.
So she told her grandparents, father, mother, uncles and aunts, asking them not to eat ostrich meat. For reasons they could not explain, they thought the original owner was making trouble, so they slapped her and locked her in the room.
After eating ostrich meat, the family discussed how to celebrate the younger brother’s 18th birthday, and finally decided to travel to Yunnan.
The original owner was starved for seven days and survived by eating snacks hidden by his cousin.
Seven days later, the family returned, but instead of receiving comfort and apology from their family, the original owner was beaten and kicked by them.
"Little bitch, did you know long ago that it wasn't ostrich meat, but human flesh? You let your relatives eat human flesh. You are such a conscienceless little bitch, such an unfilial descendant..."
It turned out that after they came back, they encountered the police arresting someone. The uncle and aunt knew the arrested person, who was the ostrich meat dealer. They heard that he had killed three people and was worried that the bodies would be discovered, so he minced the bodies into minced meat and sold it as ostrich meat.
Everyone who ate ostrich meat went to the hospital to have their stomachs washed. My grandparents also felt sick but were reluctant to spend the money for it.
So, they vented their anger on the original owner, thinking that the original owner knew the truth but did not tell them, which was why they made them eat that disgusting thing.
They completely forgot that the original owner tried his best to stop them from eating "ostrich meat".
The original owner had been hungry for seven days and was completely exhausted. He was unable to resist the wrath of his angry relatives and was beaten to death.
After the original owner died, everyone started to get scared, after all, this was a crime of murder.
At this time, his brother Zhang Han, who had been silent for a long time, said: "Why don't we learn from that... grind the body into pieces and throw it into the waterway..."
"Xiao Han, this is a good idea, but... we don't have a meat grinder that big."
Father Zhang was also a little distressed.
"We have an unused one in our factory. We can steal it first and return it after we're done using it." My uncle worked in a pet canning factory and had this connection.
Just like that, everyone agreed and dealt with the original owner's body.
……
"Zhang Shan, you don't have to cook at noon. Go clean up the kitchen and take out the white wine you bought last time. Take it to my grandparents' house later." Aunt Zhang instructed while eating melon seeds.
"Got it, Mom. Did Uncle and Aunt find some good stuff again?"
"Don't you dislike eating? Why are you asking so many questions?"
Zhang Shan smiled awkwardly, but Zhang's mother didn't mind. She watched videos on her phone and hummed a few words from time to time.
Zhang Shan was cleaning the kitchen very carefully and accidentally spilled the detergent. She fell and her knee was bruised.
Seeing that Zhang Shan didn't break anything valuable, Aunt Zhang turned around and said, "How can you be so useless? You can even fall down while mopping the floor. Hurry up and mop the floor, or you won't have any food tonight."
He didn't care at all about Zhang Shan's foot injury.
"Mom, can you take me to the hospital? My leg hurts so much, is it broken?"
"How can it be so easy to break a bone? You just want to be lazy and don't want to work. I'm telling you, I'm not buying it. Hurry up and get up!"
Seeing that Zhang Shan was still hesitating, Zhang's mother threw a mop at her. Zhang Shan was hit on the head by the mop stick and felt dizzy.
He could only sit up and endure the grievance, turn on the faucet, rinse the floor clean, then take out the white wine that Zhang Ma wanted, unscrew the lid, and throw a very nutritious pill into it.
Because Zhang Shan injured her foot, she was left at home at noon. She made herself a bowl of instant noodles, ate it, and went to sleep.
The three generations of the Zhang family had a delicious meal of ostrich meat and discussed traveling to Yunnan together. Zhang's father, mother and younger brother Zhang Han went home to get their luggage and ID cards and left without looking back.
After they left, Zhang Shan asked her neighbors to take her to the hospital. On the way, she called her parents to ask why they didn't come home, but she was ruthlessly insulted by her parents, which made the neighbor aunt feel very sympathetic.
It took a hundred days to heal a broken bone, but on the fifth day, Zhang Shan received a call from the Yunnan police.
"Hello, is this Ms. Zhang Shan?"
"Yes, my name is Zhang Shan, what can I do for you?"
"We are the Chaoyang District Public Security Bureau in AB City, Yunnan Province. We regret to inform you that your relatives died here accidentally. We are still investigating the cause of death. We need a forensic doctor to perform an autopsy on the bodies. We hope that the family members can cooperate and sign. Is it convenient for you to come over?"
"What? Yunnan? Who died?"
There was confusion and astonishment in Zhang Shan's voice.
"The eight deceased have identification documents on them. Their names are Zhang Wanfu, Zhang Tingfu, Zhang Tinggui, Zhang Hao, Zhang Han, Liu Aihua (female), Ma Qiaomiao (female), and Wang Huiling (female). Are these your parents, grandparents, brothers, uncles, and aunts?" (The names are made up. If they are offensive, please remind me to modify them.)
"I think so, but I just talked to my parents five days ago. How come they suddenly appeared in Yunnan?"
"Your parents are traveling, don't you know?"
"I don't know. I broke my leg and am still in the hospital. I feel groggy during the day because of the painkillers I took. I haven't contacted you since I called you four days ago."
"Okay, is it convenient for you to sign electronically? We will send you the authorization letter."
"Sure, no problem, my WeChat ID is..."
After adding WeChat, I saw the other party sending me a link. After clicking it, I signed my name at the end.
"I see. Thank you for your cooperation."
"You're welcome. I hope the police can find the cause of my relative's death as soon as possible. Thank you very much."
At the same time, the ostrich meat seller in the vegetable market was also arrested by the police. Through the WeChat payment code, the buyer was found and organized to go to the hospital for examination.
People in Yunnan also saw the message on my aunt's phone and, combined with forensic examinations of prions found in their bodies, determined that they had eaten "ostrich meat" before.
As for why prions reproduce so quickly, they have not yet found the reason.
However, some people suspect that they often eat wild game, which contains all kinds of toxins in their bodies, creating conditions for the reproduction of prions, just like in a petri dish.
Many people also believe this version more. Those who love game immediately gave up this hobby and switched to a vegetarian diet.
The bodies of grandparents were not brought back for cremation, but donated by Zhang Shan to contribute to humanity.
Because of this incident, Zhang Shan became an orphan, but fortunately she had two houses so she was not left alone.
After dealing with the funeral, Zhang Shan sold the house and left this sad city.