Chapter 9: Stung by Hornets

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Seeing that she was quite well-behaved, they pulled her over too and let her watch with them, treating it as babysitting.

They were all thinking the same thing: We’ll let you play with us, but please, whatever you do, don’t cry.

Nothing terrified them more than a crying child.

After a while, Gu Suyun’s voice rang out from the kitchen.

“Big Brother, Second Brother, go take a look at the back hill and see why your younger brother An Xia still hasn’t come back.”

The two brothers rose and headed outside, with Qin Xiaoyu following behind.

“I’m coming too.”

The brothers exchanged a glance but did not refuse. They had gone to the city with their parents when they were very young, and whenever they came back, they rarely had time to wander around. They were not very familiar with the back hill.

Having someone to show them the way was ideal.

The three of them left the courtyard one after another and immediately spotted someone crouching beneath the papaya tree. A dog crouched beside him. Both human and canine were covered from head to toe in beggar-tick seeds, their heads bowed as they worked at something.

“Big Shrimp?” Qin Xiaoyu called tentatively.

The man and the dog froze. Then, in unison, they slowly turned their heads.

Pfft!

Qin Xiaoyu burst out laughing and nearly choked on her own saliva.

Big Shrimp’s thin, bony face had swollen into a giant steamed bun, while Sesame Flatbread had turned into a full-blown pig’s head. The sight was so ridiculous that it was downright comical.

The pair were busy grinding medicinal herbs, preparing to smear them over their bodies.

“Big Shrimp, what happened to you? Were you stung by hornets?” Qin Hao asked in astonishment. If his cousin had not called out to him, he truly would not have recognized the man.

Big Shrimp’s eyes were swollen until they were no more than narrow slits. At Qin Hao’s question, he glared angrily at Sesame Flatbread.

“Yeah. It’s all Sesame Flatbread’s fault. Instead of chasing the big rabbit, he ran off and bit a hornet, then smashed a hole in the nest. He dragged me into the disaster with him.”

Remembering how the hornets had chased them across half the mountain, Big Shrimp still felt shaken.

Qin Hao’s lips twitched as he struggled to suppress his laughter.

Pfft!

Qin Ran, standing nearby, tried to hold it in too, but failed.

“Don’t put that on yet. Those hornets are highly venomous. Go back first and let Mom pull the stingers out. Otherwise, once your whole face is covered in green paste, you won’t be able to see well enough to remove them.”

Qin Xiaoyu grabbed Big Shrimp by the collar and began dragging him toward the courtyard.

Terrified, Big Shrimp clung tightly to the papaya tree and shook his head. “I’m not going back! If Mom finds out I took Sesame Flatbread to poke the hornet nest in that old olive tree, she’ll beat me to death with a feather duster!”

Qin Xiaoyu gave him a sidelong glance. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back? Mom bought roast duck, salt-baked chicken, and crispy pork belly today. Are you really sure you don’t want to go home?”

Big Shrimp: “…”

Slurp~

He exchanged a glance with Sesame Flatbread. The dog immediately took off and sprinted back to the courtyard.

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Big Shrimp: “…”

Even the dog isn’t afraid. What do I have to be afraid of?

“Mom’s going to beat me later. You’ve got to help stop her, all right?” Big Shrimp was still terrified and gazed at Qin Xiaoyu pitifully.

Qin Xiaoyu rolled her eyes and turned back toward the courtyard.

Big Shrimp hurried after her. After taking only two steps, he suddenly remembered something and turned to look at his two cousins.

When the brothers saw their younger cousin’s face, swollen like an enormous steamed bun, they still could not stop themselves from laughing. Just how big a hornet nest had he disturbed to end up stung like this?

It was not only his face. His neck and arms were covered too. His body must have been no better.

When An Xian saw the miserable state of her son and the dog, her throat tightened, and for a long while she could not say a word.

To be honest, if not for the clothes they were wearing, she might not have recognized her own son and the dog at all. The scrawny boy had gained flesh, while the athletic dog had become a fat pig.

Before Big Shrimp could say anything, Qin Xiaoyu explained on his behalf.

“He took the dog to poke the hornet nest in the old olive tree on the back hill.”

An Xian forced out a single word:

“Serves you right!”

She was furious, yet her heart ached for him.

Looking at the absurd sight of the boy and dog, she ended up laughing despite herself.

As for the beating Big Shrimp had feared, it was never going to happen. Her child had been stung so badly; she was already heartbroken enough. How could she bring herself to hit him?

After dinner, the sisters-in-law began discussing the apocalypse. Qin Hao and Qin Ran came over to listen, occasionally offering their opinions.

An Xian did not mention that her daughter had been reborn, nor did she intend to mention it in the future.

Some secrets were better left buried in one’s stomach.

Qin Xiaoyu could not sit still for long. She picked out an old vine root from the pile of cassava they had dug up and walked toward the vegetable garden.

Only a section of the main root remained; everything else had rotted away. There was no telling whether it would survive after being planted.

And even if it did, who knew whether it might develop some strange ability?

After circling the courtyard once, she finally buried it beside the sunflowers. The spot was close to the chicken coop, and the soil there was relatively fertile.

“Little Fish, what are you planting?” Big Shrimp followed her like a shadow, going wherever she went.

“It might be grapes.” Qin Xiaoyu had no idea what it really was.

“Why do these leaves look like gourd leaves to me?” Big Shrimp reached toward one of them. The instant his fingers touched it, the leaf fell off, leaving nothing but a bare stem.

Qin Xiaoyu: “…”

Big Shrimp: “…”

“It wasn’t my fault. It fell off by itself.”

Qin Xiaoyu drew a deep breath. Perhaps she should let it go. He had already been stung so terribly by hornets. Maybe she would spare him this time.

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“I’m going to the clinic. Are you coming?” Qin Xiaoyu pulled Big Shrimp away from the vegetable garden.

“No.”

Big Shrimp gave an embarrassed grin. With his face swollen into such a state, he looked too ridiculous to go outside and disgrace himself.

“You go ahead. I’m staying here. But bring me a fried-chicken burger and some fries on your way back, will you? And a piece of black-skinned sugarcane. A thick one.”

“All right. Pay me.”

Big Shrimp scratched his head sheepishly. “I don’t have any money. Just use Grandma’s phone to pay. Grandma dotes on you. She definitely won’t have the heart to beat you.”

If it were him, stealing the phone to spend money would guarantee him a thoroughly bruised backside.

“In your dreams!”

Qin Xiaoyu rolled her eyes and walked away.

When she reached the courtyard gate, she suddenly sensed that something was wrong. She looked up toward the top of the papaya tree and saw Iron Pot standing with his legs spread apart, each foot braced against a different trunk. He was frantically pecking at a half-ripe papaya, with seeds occasionally dropping to the ground.

“Oh my goodness, Iron Pot! How did you get up there?” Qin Xiaoyu exclaimed in shock.

“Gaa!”

Startled by her voice, Iron Pot slipped with one foot. Flapping wildly, he tumbled down from the tree and landed with a splat beside Qin Xiaoyu’s feet.

“Gaa.”

Iron Pot was not hurt, but he felt deeply aggrieved.

Ever since coming to this household, he had been eating vegetarian food almost every day. Once accustomed to having fish and shrimp at every meal, he always felt hungry now.

“Come on. I’ll take you to eat some fish.” Qin Xiaoyu understood at once and patted him on the head.

There was a river in town, and it was thick with fish.

Despite their abundance, no one ever caught them.

It was said that all kinds of wastewater from the town were discharged into the river. The water merely looked clean. No matter how healthy the fish appeared, they were inedible; they had a strange taste, and eating them might even make one sick.

The ducks and geese raised nearby were rarely herded to the river either. People feared that if they ate the fish, their meat would acquire the same unpleasant flavor, making them difficult to eat and impossible to sell.

Iron Pot was no longer destined for the cooking pot anyway. As long as the meat did not make him sick, no one cared what it tasted like.

Er—surely it would not make him sick, right?

Once they reached town, Qin Xiaoyu left Iron Pot by the river, then went to the pharmacy.

The moment she stepped inside, she ran upstairs and headed straight for her grandparents’ bedroom.

Grandma Qin was holding down a gray animal while feeding milk to a panda cub, a tender smile on her face. The instant she saw her granddaughter, she beckoned her over.

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