Chapter 67: Only Idiots Get Tricked

Hua Qi skinned and chopped up the game Xi Jue had brought back that morning, while Xiu Niang hurried to light the stove and cook. They had to eat quickly. That afternoon, they still had to send the stolen children home.

When Xi Jue saw Tuo Tuo’s swollen, chubby face, the sound of Tuo Tuo crying on the mountain echoed in his ears. He had been with the ginseng spirit for more than twenty years, but he had never once seen him cry. This morning had been the first time.

“Tuo Tuo, are you all right?” Xi Jue asked with concern.

After eating something and playing with Yun Shan for a while, Tuo Tuo had already forgotten the unhappiness from that morning. He casually waved a hand and said, “I’m great.”

Hearing that, Xi Jue did not ask any more questions. He picked up the wooden sticks piled in the corner and, following the method Qiu Sheng had taught him, began shaving the round sticks into square ones to save for making furniture.

Zhang Mancang lay beside Tuo Tuo and asked in a small voice, “Who’s that?”

“Xi Jue,” Tuo Tuo answered. Then he heard Shuanzi calling him.

“Tuo Tuo, how are you? I heard my mother say you were stolen by someone and even got beaten.” Shuanzi ran into the courtyard. Seeing Tuo Tuo covered in injuries, he frowned and said quietly, “How are you that stupid? How could you let someone steal you?”

Tuo Tuo was so angry he choked. What kind of way was that to talk? What did Shuanzi mean, saying he was stupid? If it had not been to complete the task, for the sake of Yunling Temple’s incense offerings, and for the sake of the Little Temple Master, would he have delivered himself to their doorstep to get caught?

After Shuanzi finished talking about Tuo Tuo, he looked at Zhang Mancang beside him and asked, “Where are you from? Were you stolen too? They didn’t even leave you any clothes?”

Before Zhang Mancang could answer, Shuanzi turned back to look at Tuo Tuo. “Did they strip off your red bellyband too?”

“What nonsense are you saying!” Tuo Tuo pointed at the clothesline in the courtyard and loudly proved himself. “Both our clothes are drying in the yard.”

Shuanzi stuck his head out and looked. Sure enough, there was a red bellyband fluttering in the wind on the clothesline.

Xiu Niang carried the dishes out. Seeing Shuanzi in the courtyard, she called, “Shuanzi, staying for a meal at Auntie’s house?”

“No, no. I have to go home. My mother already made lunch. I just came to check on Tuo Tuo.” After saying that, Shuanzi dashed out the gate like a puff of smoke.

Qiu Sheng sat for a while. Feeling that his feet were much more comfortable, he smiled and said, “Seems to me Tuo Tuo and Shuanzi have a pretty good relationship.”

“We don’t!” Tuo Tuo still remembered how Shuanzi had just called him stupid.

Hua Qi laughed at him. “How is it not good? Shuanzi even knew to run over and ask about you.”

“You don’t understand.” Tuo Tuo thought bitterly that no one knew how much suffering he carried in his heart. Feeling stifled, he flopped back down beside the cradle, ready to pour out his grievances to the Little Temple Master. Then, after hearing a string of loud farts, he hurriedly jumped away. “Yun Shan, why did you poop again?!”

The culprit was currently clenching his little fists and straining hard. Yun Shan was busy right now and had no time to pay attention to Tuo Tuo.

When Dou Ming stepped into the courtyard, the food was already ready. Tuo Tuo and Xiao Cong were moving stools, and Zhang Mancang was like a little tail, following behind Tuo Tuo the whole time.

Dou Ming did not ask about Tuo Tuo at all and showed no concern for him whatsoever. Holding a grass nest in his arms, he showed it to Xiu Niang and said gleefully, “Duck eggs I found in the mountains. Twenty-five of them.”

“That’s a lot. Perfect timing, the duck eggs at home are all gone. I’ll pickle them in a bit.” Xiu Niang carried the grass nest to the kitchen wall and said to Dou Ming, “Hurry and wash your hands. We’re eating soon. After lunch, we’re going to town.”

Sitting at the table, Tuo Tuo suddenly remembered that he had seen Xiu Niang take duck eggs out from the storage room that morning. He had even gone to count them in the morning. There had been seven in total, just enough for each of them to have one. So where was his duck egg?

Tuo Tuo asked Xiu Niang, “Where’s my duck egg from this morning?”

Xiu Niang smiled and said, “Dou Ming ate your duck egg from this morning.”

“Ah! Why did you eat my duck egg?” Tuo Tuo accused him. “We agreed everyone would get one. Why did you eat mine?”

Dou Ming sat down at the table, picked up his chopsticks, and said with complete confidence, “You weren’t here this morning. It would’ve been wasted if no one ate it.”

“What would be wasted? Duck eggs don’t go bad! You could’ve left it for me to eat when I came back.” Tuo Tuo stood up in anger and stared at Dou Ming. “It’s not like you didn’t know what I was doing this morning. How can you be like this!” Wasn’t this clearly bullying a demon?

Dou Ming ignored him and kept eating on his own.

Out of consideration for the little ginseng spirit’s hard work this time, Hua Qi rarely stepped in to smooth things over. “Dou Ming brought back duck eggs this time. Next time, we’ll let you eat one extra.”

“Why?” Dou Ming held his bowl and muttered, feeling wronged on his own behalf. Why should the duck eggs he had found be given to Tuo Tuo to eat extra?

Hua Qi looked expressionlessly at Dou Ming and asked coldly, “Is that a problem?”

Dou Ming lowered his head and ate without saying anything. Xiao Cong, beside him, leaned a little closer to him.

Seeing the atmosphere at the table turn awkward, Xiu Niang quickly smiled and said, “This afternoon I’ll see whether there are any ducks for sale in town. If there are, we’ll buy a few and raise them. Then we’ll have duck eggs to eat every day from now on.”

With both Hua Qi and Xiu Niang backing him up, Tuo Tuo smugly gripped his chopsticks and shoveled a big mouthful of rice into his mouth.

After Zhang Mancang finished eating, he ran to the clothesline to touch the clothes. He knew they could go home after lunch. But the clothes were still damp and clammy, impossible to wear. He stood beside the clothes, a little worried. If he had to wear wet clothes, then he would wear wet clothes. It was still better than being naked.

Tuo Tuo put down his bowl and wiped his mouth. The grains of rice stuck to the corner of his mouth were smeared onto the back of his hand. He glanced at them, lowered his head, ate the grains, and ran over to Zhang Mancang with his full belly puffed out. “Why are you looking at the clothes?”

Xiao Cong quickly finished the rice in his bowl and ran under the corridor, sitting down on the long bench far away from Hua Qi.

Tuo Tuo glanced at the scorching sun overhead, then walked over and sat down beside Xiao Cong.

Zhang Mancang followed too. There was no room for him on the bench, so he squatted on the ground and talked to Tuo Tuo. “The clothes are still wet. What are we going to wear in a bit?”

“Just wrap a piece of cloth around us.” Tuo Tuo had long been greedy for Yun Shan’s red cloth. Although Hua Qi had said he would buy him red cloth once they went to town, Tuo Tuo wanted to enjoy it a little early. So he raised his voice and, looking at Hua Qi’s back, said, “My dudou isn’t dry. This afternoon, I’ll wrap myself in the red cloth used for making Yun Shan’s clothes and go to town. Once we buy red cloth, I’ll return it to him.”

Hua Qi snorted and turned around. Looking at Tuo Tuo’s eyes full of anticipation, he ruthlessly spat out three words. “Dream on.”

Tuo Tuo’s smile disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye. He pouted and silently cursed at Hua Qi’s back, “Stinky black snake.”

Zhang Mancang looked at Tuo Tuo, then looked at his own clothes, and continued squatting there in worry. If they were not even allowed to wrap cloth around themselves, what were they supposed to do?

“I asked Xiu Niang. She said she can sew you a little pouch out of fabric scraps,” Xiao Cong said to Tuo Tuo. “The kind you hang on your body. You can put little things inside.”

“Good.” Tuo Tuo’s face immediately cleared from cloudy to sunny. “Embroider a little ginseng on it for me.” He leaned close to Xiao Cong’s ear and whispered, “It has to be embroidered exactly like me. I’ll transform and show you tonight.”

“Mm.” Xiao Cong nodded and agreed.

Xiu Niang ate quickly. Industriously, she carried the duck eggs from the corner over to the well and washed them clean, planning to pickle them right away. As she washed them, she counted. After counting back and forth twice, there were only twenty-two duck eggs.

“Dou Ming, did any duck eggs fall out when you came back? I’ve counted over and over, but there are only twenty-two. Why are three missing?” Xiu Niang called loudly to Dou Ming, who was eating heartily at the table.

Dou Ming replied, “No. Impossible for any to fall.” He had watched them very closely.

Hua Qi rolled his eyes in disdain and said to Xiu Niang, “Then it was probably twenty-two. Don’t expect Dou Ming to count. Once it goes past ten, he might not even be able to count accurately.”

Qiu Sheng asked in surprise, “He can’t count a dozen or so? Can he count money accurately?” The child did not look stupid. How could he not even count numbers in the teens correctly?

Hua Qi shook his head helplessly.

Dou Ming’s face reddened slightly. Wanting to salvage a little dignity for himself, he said, “I don’t take money, and I don’t count money. Xiao Cong can count.”

“Xiao Cong being able to count is Xiao Cong’s business. If you can’t count, won’t you get cheated when you go out to earn money in the future?” Qiu Sheng said. “You have to know how to count money.”

Dou Ming pushed the food around with his chopsticks and said awkwardly, “But, but I don’t know how.”

Xiao Cong heard this and immediately ran to Dou Ming’s side. “It’s okay. I know how. I’ll help Dou Ming count.”

Qiu Sheng smiled and said, “Can you follow Dou Ming every single day? When you’re children, you can play together, but when you grow up, you’ll each have your own things to do. You won’t be together all day.”

Xiao Cong smiled too and said, “I can follow Dou Ming every single day.” He had followed Dou Ming for almost two hundred years. In the future, he would still follow Dou Ming every single day.

“Children.” Qiu Sheng smiled and shook his head.

Once Xiu Niang finished pickling the duck eggs, Dou Ming and Xi Jue finally finished eating. Before they had time to tidy anything up, all six people from Xiu Niang’s maternal family arrived.

“I heard he got abducted by human traffickers?” Seeing Tuo Tuo sitting under the corridor, Wan Niang walked over and stroked his head with heartache. “How did they trick you?”

“They said they’d pay him to lead the way,” Xiu Niang said as she stacked the dirty bowls, wiping the table at the same time. “Those human traffickers really aren’t things. Tuo Tuo was only tricked away by them for one morning, and look how badly they beat him.”

Xiu Niang’s mother said angrily along with her, “Exactly. Those people’s hearts aren’t made of flesh. They’re harder than stone.”

“I heard Huaniang kicked the cart over?” Wan Niang smiled and said to Hua Qi, “Couldn’t tell at all. You’re that strong.”

“Everyone in her family is strong,” Xiu Niang said. “Speaking of it, it was really a coincidence. The human traffickers were driving their horse cart past the wasteland, and Xiao Cong just happened to be picking up stones over there. The horse cart was going too fast and hit Xiao Cong. They didn’t even stop and wanted to run. How could Huaniang allow that? She was so angry she charged over while holding Yun Shan. It scared me to death.”

Thinking of it, Xiu Niang still felt lingering fear. She softly reproached Hua Qi, “You should’ve thought about Yun Shan too. If a horse hit him, how terrible would that be?”

Wan Niang had seen Xiao Cong standing by the table as soon as she entered. After hearing Xiu Niang’s words, she looked Xiao Cong up and down several more times. “Was Xiao Cong hurt?”

“No,” Xiu Niang said thankfully. “He fainted on the ground for a while, then climbed back up by himself. Not a thing happened to him.”

“That’s good.” Wan Niang looked at Hua Qi and said admiringly, “Huaniang, you really are amazing. If it were me, my legs definitely would’ve gone weak.”

Hua Qi gave a dry “ah” and made something up. “I was angry at the time, so I didn’t think that much. I just charged over.”

“She does have some ability,” Xiu Niang said. “I saw Hua Qi jump up and kick that slant-eyed man off the cart with one kick.”

“That amazing?” Wan Niang asked, “Do you know martial arts?”

“Xi Jue taught me all of it.” Hua Qi laughed it off and pushed the matter onto Xi Jue.

Xi Jue glanced at him, then sat beside the table and continued staying silent.

“Xiu Niang, Qiu Sheng.” Fifth Auntie ran into the courtyard and said excitedly, “The village head says we’re leaving now to send the children back to town.”

Zhang Mancang stood up and ran to the clothesline to tug down his clothes.

Xiu Niang walked over and touched them. The clothes were still very damp and could not be worn. Even though it was summer, they could not let a child wear clothes that had not dried. “Wait a bit. Auntie will go find some clothes for you.”

There were no clothes for boys at home, so she found two of Qiu Sheng’s summer shirts and gave one each to Zhang Mancang and Tuo Tuo.

After buttoning them up, the shirts reached their knees. Children of a few years old did not look embarrassing wearing them.

Xiu Niang rolled Zhang Mancang’s sleeves for him so his hands stuck out just right.

Beside them, Tuo Tuo stood with his shirt wide open, feeling uncomfortable all over as he said, “I don’t need to wear clothes. I’m not embarrassed.” He felt restricted wearing long sleeves.

Xiu Niang laughed at him. “Even if you’re not embarrassed, you still have to wear it. We’re going to town, and we still have to see the official. You can’t go without clothes.”

Tuo Tuo unwillingly let Xiu Niang button him up and asked, “What’s an official?”

Xiu Niang said, “An official is someone who holds office. We all have to listen to the official.”

They all had to listen to the official? Tuo Tuo was astonished. Could the official be a great demon? Humans had to listen to him? Tuo Tuo suddenly became afraid. Would a great demon eat them? But he had never sensed any demon qi in town.

He thought in tangled distress, should he go or not? If he did not go, there would be no red cloth. If he went, what if he ran into a great demon?

Qiu Sheng harnessed the water buffalo to the cart. Da Mao and Er Mao climbed onto the cart and called Xiao Cong. “Brother Xiao Cong, hurry over.”

“What are you thinking about?” Zhang Mancang asked Tuo Tuo. Tuo Tuo was obviously distracted.

“I’m thinking about the official.”

Zhang Mancang said, “Don’t be afraid of the official. My uncle is the county magistrate.”

“Then,” Tuo Tuo asked quietly, “is your uncle a demon?”

Zhang Mancang burst out laughing. “My uncle isn’t a demon. He’s human. Demons all eat people.”

“Who said demons eat people?” Tuo Tuo immediately retorted. “Bad demons eat people. Good demons don’t eat people.” Humans really had so many misunderstandings about them.

“What do good demons eat?” Zhang Mancang asked.

Tuo Tuo said, “About the same as humans.”

“You two, stop muttering over there. We’re leaving,” Qiu Sheng called toward the courtyard. Zhang Mancang picked up his clothes and ran out of the courtyard together with Tuo Tuo.

The village paths were packed full of people. Hua Qi felt that he had never seen this many people in Dongwang Village.

With faint excitement, Wan Niang said, “In our village, the old and the young have all come. This is a big matter! See Second Great-Uncle lying on the cart? He’s been paralyzed for a long time. Today, after hearing about this, he told his son to carry him onto the cart, saying he wanted to follow to town and take a look. He also wants to go scold the human traffickers.”

The four human traffickers were tied to the village head’s ox cart and followed the group toward town.

Lying on the cart, Second Great-Uncle, whose teeth had all fallen out, cursed excitedly, “Black-hearted! They’re all black-hearted bastards. I’ve lived to this age, and this is the first time I’ve seen people really stealing children.”

Some mischievous children picked up pebbles from the roadside and threw them at the four people from time to time.

Ma Daming lowered his head and walked forward like a walking corpse. He knew what was waiting for him.

The villagers began talking about what had happened that day again. When they got to the part about Hua Qi kicking someone off the cart, they said she was skilled. Some villagers teased Liu Sanxi. “Sanxi, I heard Huaniang wanted to take a stick and break your leg before. Later, your mother and your wife stopped her. Seems to me your wife is good to you. If Huaniang had really hit you, your leg probably would’ve been broken for real.”

Liu Sanxi’s face turned red with anger. It was precisely because of that incident that he had no status at home now. Qiaozi and his mother wanted to pick up sticks and hit him at the slightest provocation. “You, no one will think you’re mute if you don’t talk.”

“Hahaha.”

“Sanxi’s mad. Haha.”

Qiaozi defended him. “All right, all right, what are you laughing at my man for? If Huaniang’s family didn’t have ability, could they bring back game from the mountain every single day?”

Bailing said cheerfully, “I think Huaniang is exactly what storytellers call a heroine among women.”

Next Chapter >