I saw them off at the gate and only turned to go to Fatty Bang's house after they were far away.
Fatty Bang was sitting and weaving a back basket. He was happy to see me arrive.
"Phuong, what brings you here? Come in and take a rest."
I waved my hand. "Have you heard about the strange illness affecting the children in the village?"
Fatty Bang placed the bamboo strip on the ground, his expression darkening. "I heard my aunt talking about it just now. My heart is not at ease. Van and Khoa are still young; I haven't dared to let them leave the house these past few days."
He paused for a moment, his expression growing even uglier.
He went to close the door, then came back and said to me, "I asked my aunt, but she just hemmed and hawed and wouldn't say. I overheard my cousin's wife let it slip; she mentioned something about mushrooms."
Fatty Bang glanced at me and continued, "I thought it would be a few more days before that group's straw mushrooms were ready, so how do they already have them? I guess this has something to do with the mushrooms. I've been quietly putting the pieces together. Of the families with sick children, one is the village chief's, and the other two or three are the children of the chief's nephews."
At this point, I understood about seventy or eighty percent of the village chief's intentions. He must have had his eye on the mushrooms that group was growing, and in his greed for profit, he brought disaster upon himself.
Fatty Bang was very worried. "I don't know if it's contagious. It's one thing for us adults, but what if it spreads to the children?"
For the time being, it was impossible to know if the children's illness was related to the mushrooms. "Bang, don't go out for a while. Let's wait and see how the situation develops."
Fatty Bang nodded. There was truly nothing else we could do.
I told my grandfather about this.
My grandfather was also an educated man in his day. Hearing what I said, he vaguely felt that this matter was not simple. "Phuong, what you've said reminds me of a medical student friend who once told me about virus experiments. This is something we should just keep to ourselves; absolutely do not speak of it outside. And do not trade for that group's mushrooms."
I had the same intention; I had never wanted those mushrooms in the first place. It was better to stay quietly at home for the next few days.
Banh Nep rubbed against my hand. Seeing that I was unhappy, he lay obediently in my lap without complaining about the heat.
It was sweltering in the house. I didn't turn on the electric fan; the voltage had been very unstable recently, with occasional power outages. There was no telling how much longer we would even have electricity.
A few days passed without any more news about the sick children. Bang said the whole affair seemed shady; he didn't know what kind of sinister games that group was playing.
At the end of the month, just as they had said, that group brought straw mushrooms to each house to trade for grain.
Quite a few people made the trade. Fatty Bang and I did not.
A quick look suggested that two or three hundred kilograms of straw mushrooms had been traded away.
I couldn't say anything. To these people who were dead set on eating the mushrooms, no one would believe a word I said, and I didn't want to offend anyone.
A vague sense of panic grew in my heart.
Before anything could happen to the villagers, something happened first to the people at the cultural center.
At three in the morning, all the lights inside and outside the village cultural center were blazing, and the commotion was not small.
Many people in the village were awakened.
The weather was hot, so no one was sleeping well anyway. A slight disturbance like this easily caught everyone's attention.
I stood on the second-floor balcony and saw from a distance people in the courtyard going in and out, carrying something.
Fatty Bang had also come out to look. His house was down the slope, so I called him over.
From my house, Fatty Bang took one look at the situation and knew something bad had happened. It was probably that group.
Bang knew I didn't want to get involved in the commotion and didn't ask me to go with him.
I saw that several houses had their lights on, but the village chief's house was pitch black, without a single glimmer of light.
I laughed coldly. It would be strange if his house did have its lights on at a time like this.
Not long after, people from the village started heading towards the cultural center one after another.
The auntie who had come to my house the other day was now sitting sprawled on the ground, holding a bundle wrapped in a thin blanket and wailing tragically. No one was beside her to console her.
Even from my house, I could vaguely hear the woman's crying and cursing. "You damn bastard, what have you brought back here? My poor Na, so young…"
The woman threw herself at the man standing dazedly beside her, climbing on him, hitting and cursing. The man didn't resist, numbly letting the woman assault him.
Fatty Bang ran back, his face filled with terror. "Phuong, grab your tools! Everyone is heading over to attack that group."
Bang went home to bring his younger siblings to my house. I arranged for them to stay with my grandfather.
Banh Nep pawed at my pant leg. I could only pat his head and toss him into my grandfather's arms, then grabbed a hoe and left the house with Bang.
On the way, I finally had a chance to ask him, "What happened?"
The terror had not yet faded from Fatty Bang's face. "Phuong, we weren't wrong. Those bastards injected a virus into the mushrooms. No wonder they insisted everyone eat them fresh; they were just waiting for disaster to strike us all.
"You weren't there, you don't know. I saw little Na's body. She was a ten-year-old child, but her body looked like it had been drained by something, as thin as a six or seven-year-old's, completely blackened, not a single strand of hair left on her head. It was terrifying to look at. Sons of bitches, they came here to harm people."
It was even more horrifying than I had imagined.