Chapter 11: A Vision
No one would believe the words of a five-year-old child.
"Zhuzhu, don't talk nonsense. Guifang, carry the child back," said someone who liked Song Baozhu, fearing that if she continued to talk nonsense like this, it would provoke more people's anger.
They hurriedly urged Wang Guifang.
Song Baozhu was anxious. "Second Brother, put me down."
Song Zhinan gave an "ai" of assent, and as soon as he leaned over, Song Baozhu nimbly slid down from him.
āi - hey!
She sprinted to Song Deling’s side and grabbed his hand: "Second Cousin, I'm serious, I really have a way to kill those bugs."
Song Deling looked at Song Baozhu, who was staring at him earnestly with a pair of bright, wide eyes.
He forced a tug at the corner of his mouth to squeeze out a smile: "Baozhu, Cousin knows you're a good child and that you want to help everyone. You can do that when you grow up. Everyone is going to be busy tonight, have your brother take you back to sleep like a good girl."
He gestured for Song Zhinan to take her, then shouted to the villagers: "Let's go! Everyone light your torches. Let's strive to get the crops back tonight and tomorrow."
Song Baozhu stamped her feet in frustration. Why wouldn't they believe her!
"Fifth Brother, Fifth Brother..." Song Baozhu called out to Song Zhizhong repeatedly.
Song Zhizhong ran over anxiously with a sickle in his hand: "What is it, Baozhu?"
"Fifth Brother, hurry and bring those materials we found this morning."
No matter how anxious Song Baozhu was, it was useless; she had short legs and could only place her hopes on Song Zhizhong.
"But I... I have to go harvest the crops right now. We can't afford any delay," Song Zhizhong said, conflicted.
Song Baozhu urged him to go: "Fifth Brother, I really can kill those bugs. You'll see once you bring the materials over. Go quickly, or I'll be angry!"
"Alright, then." Song Zhizhong was quite afraid of Song Baozhu being angry, so he turned and ran off like the wind.
Song Zhinan didn't know what 'materials' they were talking about. He picked Song Baozhu up: "Baozhu, Second Brother will take you home to sleep, okay?"
Song Baozhu shook her head: "Can't sleep."
By the time she woke up, the village uncles and grandpas would have finished harvesting all the crops; at that point, even if she killed all the bugs, the crops wouldn't come back!
She insisted on following Song Zhinan to the fields.
Song Zhinan had no choice but to take her. As soon as they reached the field, Song Zhizhong arrived with a large armful of flowers and plants.
"Here, Zhuzhu, the materials you wanted." Song Zhizhong piled the items in front of Song Baozhu.
Song Baozhu knelt down to sort through them and grabbed Song Zhizhong just as he was about to head into the field.
"Fifth Brother, help me mash these kinds up. You have to mash the juice out."
"What use is this?" Song Zhizhong was full of questions, but he still diligently followed his sister's instructions.
Not far away, Qian Xiaoe saw this and anxiously tugged at Song Zhidong's clothes: "Zhidong, go call Fifth Brother over to harvest the crops. Work points are being recorded, if we're short one person, we'll get one less share of grain!"
Song Zhidong bent over to cut the wheat with a muffled voice: "Let him be. We won't be able to harvest much grain anyway, it won't make much difference without him."
Hearing this, Qian Xiaoe was both angry and anxious: "Zhidong, you know as well as I do that when there's a food shortage, even a single sweet potato can save a life. Our child is about to be born, even a little extra grain at home makes a difference! How can Fifth Brother accompany Baozhu in such nonsense!"
She truly could not understand why the Song family doted on Song Baozhu so much that they would indulge her in such folly.
Back at the threshing ground, she had been scared to death, fearing that if Song Baozhu kept talking nonsense, people would blame the Song family for the pest infestation.
How would they live in the village then? It might even affect the child in her womb.
In the past, she thought her sister-in-law was quite cute, but now Qian Xiaoe only thought Song Baozhu was spoiled beyond belief.
What other girl her age in the village wasn't busy working at home?
Only Song Baozhu was still carried around by her family every day, never even allowed to lift a finger.
At this rate, who would ever marry her?
"Baozhu is very sensible and good, she won't mess around. Fifth Brother will be over in a moment. You sit down for a bit and don't worry."
Song Zhidong disagreed with Qian Xiaoe's claim that Baozhu was making trouble, but thinking that his pregnant wife was naturally prone to bad moods, he went to support her: "Xiaoe, why don't you and Baozhu go back and rest? Don't exhaust yourself while you're pregnant."
"No way! If Fifth Brother doesn't get into the fields to earn work points, and I head back too, what will we have left to claim? Is the child supposed to live on air when they're born!"
She picked up a sickle and bent over, nimbly cutting the wheat.
This was the first time since marrying in that she had spoken to Song Zhidong in such a forceful tone, and she couldn't stop the resentment toward the Song family and her husband from welling up in her heart.
Song Zhidong had no choice; he could only continue cutting wheat while keeping an eye on her out of the corner of his eye.
Others also noticed that the Song family was actually letting a laborer accompany their little daughter by the field to smash grass for fun instead of earning work points.
Some didn't care, while others frowned in disapproval.
However, since one less work point for the Song family meant less grain for them, these people didn't say much.
Some, however, spoke to Wang Guifang with a touch of schadenfreude: "Guifang, your girl really is precious, a grown boy who can earn work points has to stay behind and play with her."
Wang Guifang glared at them: "I'm happy to let it be so, none of your business!"
The person curled their lip and stopped talking. Act tough now, but you'll be crying when the grain is distributed.
Everyone was in a rush to bring in the crops, some digging potatoes and sweet potatoes, others breaking off corn. Only a few people noticed what Song Baozhu and Song Zhizhong were doing.
"Zhuzhu, like this?" After Song Zhizhong had crushed the various grasses and flowers Song Baozhu had picked out, he followed her instructions to mix the juices in a jumble and crush them further.
Song Baozhu seemed quite particular; even one leaf too many or too few of the same grass wouldn't do.
"Finished." Finally, Song Baozhu had Song Zhizhong squeeze a type of red berry and drop it into the herbal liquid in the stone hollow.
The moment it was added, the red berry melted instantly and began to smoke. Then, an indescribable scent began to emanate, growing stronger and stronger.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz..."
Suddenly, a vibrating buzzing sound rose from the fields. Then, in the patch of land closest to Song Baozhu and Song Zhizhong, the insects that had been lazily gnawing on the crops suddenly began crawling toward them.
Even those clinging to the roots of the crops surged out.
It was a dense, black mass—a truly terrifying sight.
Song Zhizhong was startled; he scooped up Song Baozhu and ran.
The swarm of black insects seemed highly agitated, crawling faster and faster. They scrambled over one another to reach that stone hollow, as if it held a fatal attraction for them.
As the scent from the stone hollow grew more intense, insects from further away began crawling toward it as well.
Gradually, the stone with the carved hollow was covered by layer upon layer of insects until it looked like a giant black ball from a distance.
This strange phenomenon caught everyone's attention.
"Village Chief, look at these bugs!" The villager closest to Song Deling gave him a tug, pointing at the ground in horror.
They saw many insects crawling out of the soil, circling frantically in place. Further away, every single insect was crawling in one direction.
"What... what's happening?" Song Deling watched the scene ahead in shock.
The author has something to say:
All inventions are just the author talking nonsense.
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