Chapter 47: Punishing the Brat

Qiu Sheng was angry, angry that his eldest brother and sister-in-law had no sense. What did they mean, something had come up at home and they would come in a bit? They had clearly rushed over right at mealtime.

He sat under the tree in a gloomy huff, not saying a word.

Xiu Niang advised him, “Don’t be mad. Er Gou is ignorant. Why are you getting angry with him?”

“What do you mean, Er Gou is ignorant? I think it’s Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister-in-law who are ignorant.” Qiu Sheng lowered his voice angrily. “Those two don’t even act like proper people anymore.”

Xiu Niang smiled and pushed him. “How are they not proper people? What nonsense are you saying? Go dish out the food. I’ll call Hua Qi and the others to come eat.”

Xiu Niang went to the west room window, knocked on the windowsill, and called, “Time to eat. Hurry and bring Yun Shan out so I can have a look at him.”

Every word spoken in the courtyard just now had passed through the window into the west room. The demons had naturally heard Er Gou shouting that he wanted meat. Dou Ming had rolled his eyes right then. A human brat who had tried to snatch his food, injured Yun Shan, and still dared dream of eating meat? He would not even be willing to let him gnaw on bones.

Hua Qi carried Yun Shan out of the room. Xiu Niang stepped forward and took Yun Shan from him. Seeing him happily sucking on his right hand, the stone in her heart finally dropped completely.

The black bracelet Yun Shan wore on his left hand was exposed outside his sleeve. Curious, Xiu Niang touched it. It felt cool and warm at the same time. She looked up and asked Hua Qi, “Is this jade too?”

“It’s jade,” Hua Qi made up. “Xi Jue dotes on Yun Shan and took out even his treasure from the bottom of the chest. I heard this bracelet has been passed down for several generations and can keep him safe.”

“Then it really is a treasure.” Xiu Niang felt puzzled. How could something meant to keep one safe be black? Black was unlucky. Looking at the bracelet more closely, she saw that the black was faintly translucent, wrapped in a layer of warm yellow, with flecks of green inside.

Xiu Niang had never seen a jade bracelet before. The only jade she had seen was the temple master token hanging at Yun Shan’s neck. The temple master token was a translucent pale green. Compared to it, the black bracelet had richer colors and felt more alive. No wonder it was a treasure kept at the bottom of the chest.

Tuo Tuo and Xiao Cong ran into the kitchen to help Qiu Sheng carry out the food. After making two trips back and forth, when they came out again, they found Yun Shan lying in the cradle under the tree.

They dragged Yun Shan’s cradle to the table. Before picking up his chopsticks, Xiao Cong confirmed that Yun Shan was lying properly in the cradle. Only then did he begin eating.

Seeing how careful he was, Qiu Sheng thought again of his own thoughtless elder brother and sister-in-law. He sighed softly, picked up his bowl, and shoveled down nearly half a bowl of white rice in one breath.

Xiu Niang picked up some food for him with her chopsticks. Knowing Qiu Sheng was still angry, she could only coax him, “Eat properly. Didn’t you say last night you wanted wontons? I wrapped some today. They’re all in the duck soup.”

Dou Ming rolled up his sleeves, poured duck soup over his rice, and casually mixed it together. He could eat five big bowls of rice like this. After scraping clean one bowl, he saw that Qiu Sheng was distracted and unlike his usual talkative, cheerful self. He could not help asking curiously, “Uncle Qiu Sheng, what’s wrong? The duck is really tasty.”

Qiu Sheng forced out a smile. “Nothing’s wrong with me. If it’s good, eat as much as you can. The wontons your auntie makes are the best.”

Dou Ming nodded, then lowered his head and kept eating.

“What did Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister-in-law bring?” After gnawing clean a duck wing, Qiu Sheng suddenly remembered this matter.

Xiu Niang unconsciously pulled the corners of her mouth down, then quickly put away her expression and said flatly, “Eldest Sister-in-law brought a bundle of greens.”

Qiu Sheng’s eating paused. He felt that the breath stuck in his chest truly would not go down. What kind of thing was this? Xi Jue’s family was clearly short on money themselves, yet they had still lent his family money to buy an ox. Just for that kindness alone, for Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister-in-law to do something like this made Qiu Sheng feel ashamed. He had no face to meet Xi Jue’s family.

He barely managed to finish the meal, then returned to his room with his head down and his mood heavy.

Hua Qi turned to ask Xiu Niang, “What’s wrong with Qiu Sheng? What’s troubling him so much?” He stayed with Xiu Niang every day and had not heard of anything happening in Xiu Niang’s family.

“Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister-in-law handled things badly. Qiu Sheng is angry.” Xiu Niang still could not help muttering a couple of words. “No matter how you put it, Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister-in-law shouldn’t have brought only one bundle of greens. Not to mention more, they at least should have given a few eggs.”

“I thought it was something serious.” Hua Qi said unconcernedly, “We’re not short of those few eggs. They’re not even enough to fill the gaps between Dou Ming’s teeth. Tell Qiu Sheng not to be angry. We didn’t take it to heart. You and Qiu Sheng treat us well, and we remember it in our hearts.” They were only a few humans. If they had not injured Yun Shan, he would not even have looked at them.

With the two sides compared, Xia Sheng and Qin Niang became even more unpleasant to look at. Just look at how Hua Qi’s family handled things. Then look at their own eldest brother and sister-in-law’s family. They only wanted to gather all the benefits into their own arms and let others suffer losses.

“It’s no use even when I try to persuade him. He can’t get over it himself.” Xiu Niang stacked the bowls one by one, and Hua Qi helped her carry them to the well.

Hearing Hua Qi’s words, Dou Ming could not help thinking again of how Er Gou had tried to snatch his egg that morning. They did not give eggs and still wanted to snatch them? Those few eggs they had not given had to be brought over!

“How can his family be like that?” Tuo Tuo originally did not understand these social obligations, but after hearing Xiu Niang’s muttering, he immediately understood just how excessive what Qin Niang’s family had done was. “I think they’re not good people.”

“I have a way to punish Er Gou,” Xiao Cong said quietly.

“What way?” Tuo Tuo’s eyes widened slightly. His skyward braid bobbed as he leaned closer. “Make him drink honey water with salt in it again?”

Xiao Cong shook his head. Looking at Yun Shan, who was smiling at him, he said, “Hit him.”

“How?” Tuo Tuo leaned in even closer, blinking his big eyes as he asked, “How do we make Er Gou hit us first?”

Xiao Cong lowered his eyes and said softly, “Not us.”

After feeding Yun Shan half a bottle of goat milk, Hua Qi leaned by the kang and gently patted Yun Shan’s little belly. The breathing of the demons in the room soon became even.

Tuo Tuo’s mouth hung half open, his head tilted to the side, and drool slid down the corner of his mouth. In a daze, he suddenly startled awake, slurped at the corner of his mouth, rolled over, and continued sleeping on his side.

When he opened his eyes again, he was the only one left in the entire west room.

Tuo Tuo clung to the window and looked into the courtyard. Wan Niang was holding cloth and sitting beside Xiao Cong, while Xiu Niang sat on the other side. The three of them were sewing something. It had to be handkerchiefs.

Putting on his shoes, Tuo Tuo ran out of the room, greeted Wan Niang, exchanged a glance with Xiao Cong, and ran out of the courtyard.

A circle of children had gathered outside the courtyard, chattering and arguing noisily.

“Er Gou said honey water is bitter. He drank it at Uncle Qiu Sheng’s house today, and when he got home, he drank half a bucket of water.”

“Nonsense. My mother said honey is sweet.”

The children argued endlessly. Although the children here had never drunk honey water, each had their own opinion.

When Shuanzi saw Tuo Tuo come over, he immediately pulled him over and asked, “Tuo Tuo, you tell us. Is honey water sweet or bitter?”

Tuo Tuo immediately said, “Sweet.”

“See? I told you it was sweet.” The child who had just insisted that honey water was sweet instantly became smug.

Tuo Tuo’s eyes rolled, and he asked with a beaming smile, “Do you want to taste what honey water is like?”

Before his voice had even fallen, the whole group of children stared at him in unison, their eyes full of expectation.

“You’ll let us drink your family’s honey water?” Shuanzi asked, his eyes shining.

“Sure. But you can’t drink it for nothing. Honey water is something we sell for money. If you help me with something, I won’t charge you. My house still has a whole jar of honey.”

“We’ll help.” Shuanzi agreed without even thinking. The other children also nodded along.

“Good. Then go help me beat up Er Gou. He hurt my little brother Yun Shan today.” At this point, Tuo Tuo was still rather angry.

“Fine.” The children nodded readily. Er Gou was six. With more than a dozen children here, no matter what, they could beat him up.

“Then wait here. I’ll go get the honey.” Tuo Tuo happily ran back into the courtyard, charged straight into the kitchen, picked up the honey jar, and ran out.

“Tuo Tuo, what are you taking the honey for?” Hua Qi asked the little ginseng spirit curiously.

“My friends want to eat honey.” Tuo Tuo dropped that sentence and quickly ran out of the courtyard.

Friends? Hua Qi looked out of the courtyard. Tuo Tuo was being surrounded by a group of human children. This little ginseng spirit actually had human friends now? He was already a hundred-year-old ginseng spirit, yet every day he mixed with the human children who ran wild all over the village. In the past hundred years, Hua Qi had not seen him grow taller, nor had he seen him grow a brain.

“There are too many of you. You won’t drink honey water. I’ll give each of you one mouthful of honey.” Tuo Tuo opened the honey jar and scooped out a full spoonful of honey. “Who wants to eat first?”

Honey dripped from the spoon and fell back into the jar. Shuanzi swallowed his saliva, squeezed in front of Tuo Tuo, and stretched out his mouth impatiently. “Me first! Me first! Tuo Tuo, let me eat first!”

Tuo Tuo shoved the head of the spoon into Shuanzi’s mouth. Shuanzi held the honey in his mouth, his tongue pushing it this way and that, reluctant to swallow. He made a few muffled “mmph mmph” sounds. Honey was sweet.

One after another, the children were fed by Tuo Tuo. After swallowing the honey, they stared longingly at the honey jar again.

Tuo Tuo hugged the jar tightly in his arms. “You ate the honey, so you have to help me. Go beat up Er Gou. After you finish and come back, I’ll make honey water for you to drink.”

Shuanzi licked his lips and led the way, running into the village. Tuo Tuo hurried back into the courtyard, gently put down the honey jar, and called, “Xiao Cong, let’s go play outside.”

Xiao Cong, who was embroidering a handkerchief, put down his needle and thread, stood up, and ran out with Tuo Tuo.

Wan Niang thought to herself that children were still children. They loved to play. You could not expect him to do too much. It was already very good that he could embroider three handkerchiefs. Still, Xiu Niang was right. Xiao Cong’s hands were clever, and his embroidery was good.

Xiao Cong and Tuo Tuo followed the children into the village. The two of them trailed behind, standing behind a tree. From far away, they heard Shuanzi shout toward a courtyard, “Er Gou, come out and play.”

Er Gou and San Gou quickly ran out of the courtyard.

Shuanzi led the two of them to a place with fewer households. He raised his fist and shouted, “Beat him.”

The children swarmed forward, pushing and shoving. With so many of them hitting one person, the children knew the proper limits. Most of it was pushing and shoving, or kicking Er Gou once when he was not paying attention.

Even so, Er Gou was furious. He cursed as he blocked kicks that might come at any moment.

Seeing others hit his second brother, San Gou rushed over, wanting to help Er Gou, but Shuanzi grabbed him around the waist and carried him aside.

“You’re a four-year-old kid. What are you butting in for?” Shuanzi scolded San Gou. “Be careful or we’ll step on you to death with one kick.”

“Why are you hitting my second brother? I’m going to tell my mother.” San Gou cried as he shouted at Shuanzi.

“We just want to hit him. I’m happy to.” Shuanzi threatened, “If you dare tell your mother, next time I see you, I’ll hit you. I’ll beat your butt swollen so you can’t lie down to sleep at night.”

San Gou was bluffed by Shuanzi’s two sentences. He sniffled and shed tears, not daring to say he would go home and complain anymore.

The children stopped while they were ahead. After beating him, they ran back happily. Back to drink honey water.

Er Gou had been beaten for no reason at all. Furious, he cried loudly and ran home. “Da Gou, Da Gou, someone hit me! Someone hit me! Shuanzi brought people to hit me!” San Gou chased behind him, crying as he ran. “Second Brother got beaten!”

Da Gou was nine this year, considered one of the older ones among this group of little brats. As soon as he heard that his younger brother had been beaten by another group of children, he called the neighbor children he was close to and charged toward Qiu Sheng’s house.

Shuanzi had already finished drinking the honey water. Squeezed beside Tuo Tuo, he asked, “Does beating Er Gou mean we get honey water to drink?”

“No.” Xiao Cong immediately corrected him. “Only this one time you beat him gets honey water. If you hit him again in the future, we won’t give you any.”

Shuanzi asked, “Then what do we have to do to get honey water?”

Xiao Cong was stumped. This group of human children had nothing they could help him with.

Just then, Da Gou arrived with another group of children. He rushed over, shoved Shuanzi to the ground, and questioned him. “Were you the one who brought people to hit Er Gou?”

“It was him!” Er Gou still had tear streaks on his face. He ran over and kicked Shuanzi in the calf.

Now Shuanzi would not let it go. He jumped up, fiercely shoved Er Gou down, and started fighting Da Gou. A group of children shouted and hollered as a group fight broke out.

Tuo Tuo hugged the honey jar, and Xiao Cong held a bowl. The two stared dumbfounded at the human children who had suddenly started fighting. Clearly, just a moment ago, they had still been discussing honey water. How had it turned into this?

Shuanzi and another child pinned Er Gou beneath them. He slapped Er Gou hard on the back. “Stinking Er Gou, you dare hit me? You don’t want to live.”

“Da Gou, save me. Wuu, wuu, wuu.”

On the other side, Da Gou was being chased and pummeled by five children. Seeing there were too many people on this side and knowing they could not win, the children he had brought had all slipped away right at the beginning. Only the two brothers, Da Gou and Er Gou, were left being held down and thrashed.

Shuanzi deliberately wanted to show off in front of Tuo Tuo and Xiao Cong. After beating Er Gou until he cried, he went to help chase Da Gou.

He had originally wanted to avenge his younger brother, but in the end, Da Gou and Er Gou both went home crying.

Seeing Shuanzi look toward him, Tuo Tuo immediately hugged the honey jar and stepped back. “This time has nothing to do with me. You fought on your own.”

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