Chapter 39: Making the Little Temple Master Cry

Da Mao and Er Mao got up early. While Wan Niang was not paying attention, the two of them secretly slipped out the door and ran all the way to Xiu Niang’s house.

“Auntie.”

“Auntie.”

Xiu Niang laughed when she saw the two of them. “You came this early to eat meat?” She had already heard about what happened yesterday from Qiu Sheng. Tuo Tuo had snatched these two boys’ candy.

Da Mao and Er Mao leaned against the kitchen doorway and peered inside.

“Auntie, where’s Tuo Tuo?”

Xiu Niang replied, “Tuo Tuo isn’t up yet.”

“Which room is he staying in?” Da Mao asked.

Before Xiu Niang could answer, Xiao Cong ran over carrying Yun Shan and handed him to Xiu Niang. Yun Shan’s little brows were furrowed, and he looked as if he was about to cry. Xiu Niang knew he was hungry, so she shooed the two boys away and said, “Go play over there. Auntie is steaming rice cakes this morning. I’ll give you two extra pieces later.”

Da Mao and Er Mao agreed, then crowded around Xiao Cong.

“Where’s the honey?” The two boys had been thinking about it all night.

“It’s still on the mountain. I’ll call Tuo Tuo to go up the mountain now.” Xiao Cong ran toward the room, and Da Mao and Er Mao followed behind him.

Hua Qi poked his head out to glance over and complained to Xiu Niang, “Tuo Tuo is useless at proper work, but when it comes to mischief, he’s a natural.”

Xiu Niang laughed at him. “How old is Tuo Tuo? It’s a child’s nature to like playing. Besides, what proper work can you expect him to do?”

Hua Qi thought to himself that she was right. He really could not be counted on.

Tuo Tuo was the only one in the room. He was lying sprawled out on the bed, arms and legs spread wide, his mouth slightly open and his breathing even. Dou Ming and Xi Jue had already gone up the mountain, while Chuyi was outside leading the lamb to graze.

Da Mao climbed onto the bed-platform and skillfully pinched Tuo Tuo’s nose. Er Mao went to pry open Tuo Tuo’s eyelids. The two of them made a racket as they shouted, “Tuo Tuo, get up!”

Unable to bear the disturbance, Tuo Tuo opened his eyes. He struggled free from Da Mao and Er Mao’s hands, sprang off the bed with a whoosh, and stood barefoot by the bed, fuming. “Why did you two come so early? There’s no meat in the morning!”

“Auntie said there are rice cakes,” Er Mao answered him seriously.

Rice cakes? That was something he had never eaten before. In a bit, he would have to ask Xiu Niang for a big piece. Tuo Tuo picked up his shoes, leaned against the edge of the bed-platform, and put them on one foot at a time. Da Mao and Er Mao jumped down from the bed-platform and stood to the side waiting for Tuo Tuo to put on his shoes.

“Are you going up the mountain?”

“We’re going up the mountain to get honey. And peaches too. Do you two eat peaches?” Tuo Tuo led Da Mao and Er Mao out of the room. Xiao Cong had already taken the jar Xiu Niang had specially left for him to hold the honey.

Er Mao immediately replied, “We do. We eat everything.”

“Can you two take us with you when you go up the mountain? We’ve never been up the mountain before,” Da Mao asked expectantly.

“No!” Tuo Tuo flatly refused. When he went up the mountain, he had to burrow through the earth. Taking humans along would be inconvenient. He would also have to remember the whole time not to let the humans discover their demon identities. It would be far too uncomfortable.

“Why can’t you take us up the mountain?” Da Mao said unhappily. “Wouldn’t it be nice for us to go play on the mountain together?”

Tuo Tuo answered him, “No!”

“How can you be like this!” Er Mao turned to look at Xiao Cong. “Xiao Cong, you take us up the mountain.”

“He won’t take you either. Stay here and wait for us. When we come back down the mountain, we’ll bring you honey.” Tuo Tuo squeezed between Er Mao and Xiao Cong, separating the two of them.

While Da Mao and Er Mao were not paying attention, Tuo Tuo held the jar in one hand and pulled Xiao Cong with the other, running outside.

“Tuo Tuo! Wait for us!” Da Mao and Er Mao broke into a sprint and chased after them.

Xiu Niang hurriedly pulled her clothes closed and ran out of the kitchen holding Yun Shan. “Da Mao, Er Mao, come back!”

Yun Shan had been eating well, only to suddenly be cut off. One little hand grabbed the front of Xiu Niang’s clothes, and he cried out in urgency and dissatisfaction, “Ah!”

“Be good, Yun Shan. You can eat in a bit.” Xiu Niang shouted toward the main room, “Qiu Sheng, Da Mao and Er Mao are going up the mountain with Tuo Tuo. Hurry and go bring them back!”

After shouting, Xiu Niang thought it over and hurriedly said to Hua Qi, “How can Tuo Tuo and Xiao Cong go up the mountain by themselves? Hurry and chase after them!”

“Wuwuwu... ah!” Unable to drink milk, Yun Shan grew anxious and waved his little arms back and forth to show his displeasure. His little head kept burrowing around in Xiu Niang’s arms.

Seeing Yun Shan like this, Hua Qi inexplicably felt distressed. He said, “Xiu Niang, feed Yun Shan first. I’ll go chase them.”

He quickly ran out the door and roared at the outside, “Tuo Tuo, Xiao Cong, stop right there!”

That shout was loud enough for half the village to hear.

Qiu Sheng shuffled out of the room in his shoes and muttered quietly, “No wonder Dou Ming has such a loud voice. Wait, that’s not right. Hua Qi isn’t his actual mother.”

“What are you mumbling about? Hurry and chase them,” Xiu Niang said anxiously.

Yun Shan, who was wriggling in Xiu Niang’s arms wanting milk, was startled by the sudden voice. His little body trembled, and then he opened his mouth and started crying.

“Wah—wah—”

Tuo Tuo and Xiao Cong, who had been running, stopped and turned around to look back. Hua Qi stood at the entrance to the courtyard with his hands on his waist.

“You two are not allowed to take Da Mao and Er Mao up the mountain.”

Hearing the human cub’s crying, Hua Qi felt even more distressed.

“You two made Yun Shan cry from anger. Get back here!”

“When did we make Little Temple Master angry?” Tuo Tuo asked Xiao Cong beside him, utterly confused.

“I don’t know. Let’s go back and see.”

The two little demons walked back. Da Mao and Er Mao waited where they were. Da Mao went to hold Tuo Tuo’s hand, and Er Mao held Xiao Cong’s hand. The four children lined up in a row and ran back.

By the time Tuo Tuo ran close, Yun Shan had already stopped crying and started drinking milk again. Tuo Tuo stood on tiptoe and reached for Yun Shan’s little hand.

“Yun Shan, how did we make you angry?”

Yun Shan was focused on drinking milk. When Tuo Tuo touched him, he pulled his little hand back and clung to Xiu Niang’s chest, sucking hard. But when Hua Qi went to touch his hand, Yun Shan was clearly much more obedient. He hooked Hua Qi’s finger, slowed his drinking, and smiled at Hua Qi while drinking milk.

Hua Qi turned his head away and did not look, but the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously. Yun Shan’s little hand scratched lightly against Hua Qi’s big hand. Hua Qi wrapped his entire hand around it, then let go. While drinking milk, Yun Shan glanced sideways at him, then kept scratching with his little hand and was caught by Hua Qi again. After this repeated several times, Yun Shan smiled as he drank.

Xiu Niang said to Hua Qi, “Look how lovable our Yun Shan is. As long as he’s full, he loves to smile. He’s cheerful all day long.”

“These past two days, when I hold him, I feel like he’s even heavier than Chun Hua,” Xiu Niang said enviously.

When he touched the Little Temple Master’s hand, the Little Temple Master would not let him. But when Hua Qi touched the Little Temple Master’s hand, the Little Temple Master actually reached out for Hua Qi to touch on his own. Tuo Tuo pursed his lips, unhappy inside. How was the Little Temple Master still closest to that black-hearted snake?

“How can you little ones go up the mountain?” Xiu Niang sat under the tree holding Yun Shan. “Yunling Mountain is so big. If you get lost, we won’t be able to find you. You four little ones be good and play at home.”

Tuo Tuo held the jar and said, “Da Mao and Er Mao want to eat honey.”

Xiu Niang turned to Da Mao and Er Mao and discussed it with them gently. “Tomorrow, we’ll have Dou Ming go up the mountain to look for honey. Today, let’s eat meat first. Good things can’t all be eaten in one day. We’ll save the honey for the next day, all right?”

“Then... then all right.” Da Mao nodded. “Today we’ll eat meat first, and tomorrow we’ll eat honey.”

The rice cakes had just come out of the steamer when Dou Ming and Xi Jue returned with their prey.

Da Mao and Er Mao had no mind to eat rice cakes. They stared at the prey on the ground and circled around it. Da Mao asked, “Auntie, when are we eating meat?”

“At noon.” Tuo Tuo set the rice cakes on the table in front of him, blew on them a few times, and said to Da Mao and Er Mao, “In the morning, we eat rice cakes. These rice cakes are really good. Why aren’t you two eating? If you won’t eat them, I’ll help—”

Before Tuo Tuo could finish, Da Mao and Er Mao ran back to the table. Ignoring how hot the rice cakes were, each of them took one piece and tossed it back and forth between their hands. Xiu Niang felt sorry for her nephews and coaxed them, “The rice cakes are hot. Da Mao, Er Mao, put them on the table. Wait until they cool before holding them to eat.”

“They’re not hot,” Da Mao insisted. He was so scalded that he hopped from one foot to the other while switching hands, but he still refused to put the rice cake on the table.

Dou Ming inhaled deeply, then blew a long breath over the rice cake. The hot steam scattered in the direction of his breath. Xiao Cong stacked his own rice cake on top of Dou Ming’s, so when Dou Ming blew, his rice cake would be blown on too.

Da Mao had just eaten half a rice cake when Wan Niang came looking for them. As soon as she entered the door, she smiled apologetically.

“I was wondering why I hadn’t seen these two little ones all morning. I thought they had run off somewhere to play. They didn’t show up when it was time to eat either. Their father said they might be thinking about the honey and had come to their auntie’s house first thing in the morning. I didn’t expect he was right.”

Seeing that Xiu Niang’s family had set the table and was about to eat, Wan Niang hurriedly called her boys. “Da Mao, Er Mao, come home to eat.”

“Sister-in-law.” Xiu Niang stopped her. “The food at home is ready. Let them all stay and eat. I only just steamed rice cakes this morning.”

“The food at home is ready too. We’re just waiting for these two little ones to go back and eat,” Wan Niang said. “You all go ahead and eat. We’ll head back now.”

Da Mao and Er Mao stood where they were, holding their rice cakes. Wan Niang called them, but they did not move.

Xiu Niang smiled and said, “Sister-in-law, let them eat at my house. Da Mao, Er Mao, and Tuo Tuo already agreed that they’d stay here to eat meat.”

“What meat? Children say things while playing. How can you take it seriously?” Wan Niang put one arm around each of her two boys. “You hurry and eat.”

Da Mao and Er Mao wanted to eat meat and did not want to go home. Their eyes looked at Tuo Tuo with expectation. Unfortunately, Tuo Tuo only had eyes for rice cakes right now and did not give them even one glance.

Beside the table, Xiao Cong held his rice cake and said quietly, “Let Da Mao and Er Mao stay to eat meat. We already agreed with Da Mao and Er Mao.”

How could adults take a child’s words seriously? Whose meat could be casually eaten at someone else’s house? Wan Niang still wanted to take Da Mao and Er Mao home.

Xiao Cong poked Xi Jue, who was sitting beside him gnawing on a rice cake.

Xi Jue lowered his head and looked in puzzlement at Xiao Cong, who was sitting upright on the stool.

“Xi Jue, say it. Let Da Mao and Er Mao stay and eat meat. Yesterday, Tuo Tuo ate their candy.” Xiu Niang had said the Little Temple Master ate candy. Yesterday, the half piece of candy he brought back had been divided into three portions: one for Xi Jue, one for Dou Ming, and one for himself. Xiao Cong said quietly, “Yesterday, you ate Da Mao and Er Mao’s candy too.”

Xi Jue still understood the idea that when you ate someone’s food, you owed them. Wiping the rice cake crumbs from the corner of his mouth, he spoke in a deep voice.

“Let Da Mao and Er Mao stay to eat meat.”

His abrupt words, carrying a commanding tone, left the several adult humans present stunned.

After Qiu Sheng came back to his senses, he laughed and smoothed things over. “Sister-in-law, look, even Tuo Tuo’s father says Da Mao and Er Mao should stay. These two boys can eat at my house today. I’ll send them both back tonight.”

Xiu Niang found a clean basket, spread a layer of steamer cloth inside it, and placed a few rice cakes in. “Sister-in-law, take these back for Father, Mother, and Big Brother to try.”

Wan Niang accepted the basket and praised her. “Your skill at steaming rice cakes is even better than Mother’s.”

In the end, she left Da Mao and Er Mao there.

Da Mao and Er Mao sat down next to Xiao Cong and said warmly, “Big Brother Xiao Cong.”

Xiao Cong paused in the middle of biting his rice cake. “What did you call me?”

Da Mao and Er Mao said in unison, “Big Brother Xiao Cong.”

After Tuo Tuo finished eating his rice cake, he heard this and immediately became interested. “Then will you call me Big Brother Tuo Tuo too?”

Da Mao pouted. “No way. You look even smaller than Er Mao. You’re a little brother.”

“I’m not little,” Tuo Tuo muttered quietly. “I’m older than both of you.”

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