Chapter 9: Materials
"Zhuzhu, here." Song Zhizhong brought Song Baozhu to the foot of the mountain and instructed her to stand still and not move.
Then, as nimble as a monkey, he lunged up a tree and pulled out several bird eggs. He took out a lighter, obtained from who-knows-where, from his pocket and expertly started a fire to roast the eggs.
There were three bird eggs in total. After peeling the shells, he gave them all to Song Baozhu, while he himself swallowed his saliva and turned his head away.
In order to save grain over the past few days, he hadn't been eating his fill.
Other families in the village were also doing everything possible to save rations; almost everyone could only eat until they were half-full.
This led to all the children swarming everywhere in search of food, whether it was wild fruit in the mountains, bird eggs in the trees, or even small fish and shrimp in the river, everything had been scavenged clean.
Finding these three bird eggs had made Song Zhizhong incredibly happy.
"Fifth Brother, you eat them." Although Song Baozhu's meals had changed from pure white rice to a mixture of cornmeal and rice, she could at least eat her fill and wasn't particularly craving these eggs.
She ate one herself and fed the remaining two into Song Zhizhong’s mouth.
Song Zhizhong hurried to spit them out, but Song Baozhu covered his mouth: "Fifth Brother, you eat."
"Mmph, alright, alright, I'll eat." Only then did Song Zhizhong swallow the two eggs, smacking his lips with a lingering sense of wanting more.
"Baozhu, let's go home." Estimating that they probably wouldn't find anything else, Song Zhizhong stood up to carry Song Baozhu home on his back.
To his surprise, Song Baozhu shook her head: "Fifth Brother, I still need to find things."
"What are you looking for? Tell me, I'll help you look."
Just now, while he was roasting the eggs, Song Baozhu had been bent over, crouching on the ground and mumbling; he had thought she was playing with ants and hadn't paid it much mind.
"Jiji leaves, Lingzi flowers, Ground-black grass..." Song Baozhu counted a long list on her fingers.
Song Zhizhong didn't even ask why she wanted these things.
He rubbed the back of his head and bent over to start searching. Whatever it was for didn't matter, if his sister said she wanted it, then he’d find it.
They were just wild weeds and fruit anyway; as long as Zhuzhu was happy, it was fine.
The Song brothers often ran all over the mountains, and his search efficiency was much higher than Song Baozhu’s.
In a short while, Song Zhizhong had found most of what she wanted.
"Zhuzhu, I've found everything else. Lingzi flowers are over by the cliff; I'll go pick those for you in a bit. But what on earth is Ground-black grass?" He had never even heard of such a thing.
Song Baozhu immediately gestured with her hands: "It’s grass that grows underground, about this long, and it's very black."
Song Zhizhong shook his head. "Never seen it. I've run through every inch of these mountains, and I've never seen the grass you're talking about."
Song Baozhu grew anxious. The main ingredient for the medicinal liquid to kill the Five-Footed Bugs was Ground-black grass.
What would she do without it?
"Host, I have performed a scan, and there is indeed no Ground-black grass within Xiangfu Village," the System’s voice rang out.
Song Baozhu stamped her feet in frustration: "Then what should I do? If I can't make the liquid, Papa, Mama, and my brothers will go hungry."
The system was merely a tool to assist learning; it only followed its programming to have Song Baozhu study materials from the database.
Seeing her so anxious, it too became as frantic as an ant on a hot pan deep within the space.
Seeing Song Baozhu’s little face turn red with worry, Song Zhizhong hurried to coax her: "If there’s no Ground-black grass, Brother will find you something else. What’s so fun about some ugly black grass anyway? Zhuzhu, do you like this? Look how pretty these bright red berries are."
He casually wove a garland and placed it on her head.
The red berries and yellow flowers made Song Baozhu look like a little mountain elf.
Song Zhizhong couldn't stop admiring her: "My sister really is a fairy descended to earth." He happily carried her on his back as they headed home.
Clinging to his arm, Song Baozhu remained listless. Usually, she loved hearing everyone praise her, but right now she couldn't produce the pesticide liquid, and her family, the villagers, and all her little playmates were going to go hungry.
She secretly wiped away a tear and suddenly said to the system, "System, when I get back, I want to study all the knowledge about the Five-Footed Bug again. I’ll definitely find a way to kill them."
The system hurried to encourage her: "That’s right, Host! There are always more solutions than problems. Although the database only collected this one method for killing the Five-Footed Bug, that doesn't mean it's the only one. You are so smart; you will surely think of another way."
Song Baozhu nodded firmly: That’s right, I’m so smart, I can definitely do it.
After Song Zhizhong brought Song Baozhu home, she said she wanted to sleep for a while.
Song Zhizhong strongly agreed; the sun was so strong outside, and even though he had been carrying her, she had still been exposed to the heat.
Plus, they had spent so long looking for grass; she must be exhausted.
"Alright, go have a nap. Fifth Brother will close the door for you. When you wake up, don't run off, just wait at home for us to come back, okay?"
Song Baozhu grinned, revealing a row of neat little baby teeth, and nodded obediently.
As soon as Song Zhizhong left, she immediately closed her eyes and entered the Learning Space.
By the time the Song family returned, it was already evening. Song Baozhu had spent a full fifty hours inside the Learning Space.
"Where’s Baozhu?" Wang Guifang didn't see her upon entering and began searching frantically.
After going into the bedroom, she found her lying on the bed asleep.
Wang Guifang’s heart skipped a beat. Old Fifth had come to the fields at noon saying Zhuzhu wanted a nap, but now it was nearly dark, why was she still sleeping?
Could she be sick?
She gently patted Song Baozhu: "Baozhu, Baozhu, sweetie, is something bothering you?"
In the Learning Space, Song Baozhu had reviewed all the materials several times, not missing a single detail.
After finishing, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck her small brain; she had actually thought of a solution and began conducting experiments within the space.
When Wang Guifang called her, her experiment had just concluded.
"Mama?" Song Baozhu blinked her big eyes and suddenly threw her arms around Wang Guifang: "Mama, I know how to kill those pests now! You, Papa, and my brothers won't have to go hungry anymore."
Wang Guifang assumed she had just been dreaming and couldn't distinguish between dreams and reality yet.
The atmosphere in the house over the past few days had clearly affected the child; she was so young, yet she was sensible enough to want to solve the family's troubles.
Wang Guifang tenderly stroked Song Baozhu’s back. "Good, good. Mama will wait for Zhuzhu to kill all those nasty bugs."
Wang Guifang carried Song Baozhu out of the room.
Since the day Wang Guifang had laid down the law, the Song family had stopped eating dinner. They were all sitting in the courtyard now, silent and somber.
There were so many more insects today, crawling all over the crops. Now, those bugs weren't just gnawing on the roots; they had devoured most of the leaves as well.
In another two days, these crops would be stripped bare.
The situation grew increasingly dire, and famine was right before their eyes.
In the past, Song Dezhu and the five Song brothers would always want to hold Song Baozhu the moment they got home, but now they didn't even have the heart for it.
"Papa, I can kill the bugs." Song Baozhu slid down from Wang Guifang’s arms and squeezed herself into Song Dezhu’s embrace.
Her small hand touched Song Dezhu’s tightly furrowed brow, but no matter how she rubbed, she couldn't smooth it out.
Song Dezhu took it as mere childish talk and pulled her onto his lap.
"Alright, Papa is waiting for Zhuzhu to kill the bugs."
The better Song Baozhu behaved, the more his heart ached.
If a famine truly came, how would such a good child survive?
If before he loved her because Wang Guifang had so desperately wanted a daughter and he loved what his wife loved, now Song Dezhu completely regarded Song Baozhu as his heart and soul.
Just the thought of Baozhu, who looked like a little glutinous rice ball, starving until she was skin and bones made his heart hurt as if a giant hole had been ripped through it.
Just then, the village loudspeaker suddenly crackled to life, calling for everyone in the village to go to the threshing ground for a meeting.
Jade: Happy Sunday to y'all.
Comments
Post a Comment