The days of being an ointment girl are always dull and boring, but fortunately, Zhou Xiao comes to see me every night.

He asked me, "Do you really want to be an ointment girl and end up being melted into a pot of ointment with your bones?"

I didn't answer him.

This is the dream that my sister and I have persisted for over a decade, and we live for it.

But when I saw my sister turned into that pot of ointment, my dream wavered.

Zhou Xiao came again today, and he brought me something I had never seen before.

"This is candy," Zhou Xiao said, "Candy is sweet, even sweeter than ointment."

I took a bite, it was hard and sour-sweet, and as soon as it entered my mouth, saliva kept flowing.

It's sweet, but not as sweet as the ointment made by my sister.

Zhou Xiao said my sister is still alive, but I clearly saw that she only had two eyeballs left.

I asked Zhou Xiao, "Where is my sister? I want to see her."

Zhou Xiao was obviously stunned, not expecting me to suddenly mention my sister, "I can't bring her out, but if you want to see her, I can take you to her."

He paused, "But the condition is that you can't stay here anymore, you have to come with me."

I said, "Okay, I'll go with you."

Then Zhou Xiao smiled happily.

Every day, he brings me all sorts of strange and exotic food that I have never seen before.

An ointment girl cannot eat anything else, otherwise her body won't turn into ointment.

So I eat like crazy, desperately.

The shaman occasionally comes to see me and finds it strange.

"Why are you eating the same things as other people, but you've gained so much weight?"

I said without blushing or skipping a beat, "Maybe everyone has different constitutions."

Although the shaman was suspicious, she didn't say much.

Sometimes I feel like the shaman seems to trust me too much.

But I can't say why.

The shaman rubbed my head as if advising, but also as if warning.

"You're the child I like the most, you must listen well. As long as you behave, you can become a better ointment girl than your sister."

I asked the shaman, "Did my sister's ointment sell for a lot of money?"

A sinister smile spread across the shaman's face, revealing her few remaining gray teeth.

"Money isn't the most important thing. The most important thing is that your sister is the most perfect ointment girl so far. Do you know what that means?"

I shook my head.

The shaman smiled even more brightly, showing the true value of a few remaining gray teeth.

"It means that more men will go crazy for ointment, thinking about ointment day and night, willing to do anything for a bit of ointment."

"Men are dirty, wicked. Only ointment can teach them a lesson, watching them suffer because they can't get the ointment they desire, that's the meaning of the ointment girl's existence."

I suddenly understood the true value of my sister and me.

If it's for the village chief, ointment girls are tools for making money.

But for the shaman, ointment girls are tools for venting frustration and seeking revenge.

I desperately wanted to know why the shaman hated men so much.

After all, she often spends nights in the house with men, enjoying herself.