Chapter 83
Hearing Guanguan say that, Wei Cheng thought for a moment, then pulled the pistol tucked at the back of his waist. “If you want to learn how to use a gun, the first thing you need to know is how it’s put together. Come on, brother will teach you.”
Guanguan’s eyes lit up. He plopped back down on the grass. “Okay!”
Wei Cheng removed the magazine and tossed it aside, then skillfully and quickly disassembled the pistol, laying out all the parts in order on the ground.
Guanguan clapped enthusiastically. “Brother is amazing!”
“You silly little can, what’s so amazing about taking apart a gun?” Wei Cheng said. “Look, the part we hold is called the grip. This is the slide, the barrel… the slide cap, the recoil spring guide…”
Guanguan shook his dizzy little head, the soft flesh on his cheeks jiggling along with it. “They don’t sound as nice as Guanguan.”
Wei Cheng laughed. “Then do you still want to learn about it?”
Guanguan nodded like a pecking chick. “I do!”
He held up his thumb and forefinger and went biu biu at the air. “Baby will use it to fight monsters and protect the farm!”
“Alright, then let’s keep learning…”
Wei Cheng explained what each part did, using baby-language because he knew Guanguan wouldn’t really understand otherwise.
“Look, this is the magazine. It’s also the home for the eight little bullet babies.”
Guanguan leaned closer and curiously poked a bullet. “The bullet babies are skinny, but baby is chubby.”
Wei Cheng fought back a laugh. “That’s okay. When Guanguan grows up, he’ll be skinny too. And the bullet babies have to be skinny so they can go into the little trumpet barrel.”
He took the pistol apart over and over again, teaching Guanguan to recognize each part.
“See this? This is the gun’s front door.”
“When we’re practicing, we have to learn how to check the gun. After taking off the bullet babies’ home, first you open the gun’s front door—that is, take off the safety…”
Wei Cheng pulled the slide back twice, and the gun made a crisp sound. “After pulling the slide back at least two or three times and confirming the gun is fine, what do we do next?”
Guanguan could already answer before being called on. “Close the front door! Let the bullet babies go home!”
Close the safety, put the magazine back in.
Wei Cheng smiled faintly. “Very smart.”
After a moment’s thought, he put all the bullets into his pocket. “This little pistol belongs to Soldier Guanguan now. There are no bullets in it, so you can play with it.”
Guanguan’s eyes went wide. “Really?”
“Really. Go ahead and play.”
Wei Cheng thought to himself that he still didn’t dare let Guanguan practice with a real loaded gun, but he could at least let him handle the pistol every day, get used to it, and truly become familiar with guns.
Holding the silver pistol carefully in both hands, Guanguan was overjoyed. “Guanguan has a gun now!”
Just then, the others had finished most of their training.
When he saw his uncles and brother coming over, Guanguan copied his brother and tucked the little pistol into the waistband of his pants.
Then he folded his pudgy arms and strutted over proudly.
As always, Uncle Shen and Uncle Yi were the most enthusiastic audience.
Shen Zheng bent down and smiled at Guanguan. “Guanguan has a gun now too?”
“Wow, where did this little sharpshooter come from?” Yi Qi flicked his double chin. “You smug little thing, what kind of adorable expression is that?”
Guanguan had gotten tickled, but he stubbornly refused to move so he could keep his pose.
His dark, curling lashes lowered, and he lifted his little face proudly. “You can’t bully Guanguan anymore now.”
He patted his waistband. “I have a gun!”
Only four years old, yet already a sharpshooter.
Yi Qi burst out laughing. “Wow, Guanguan’s a person of status now.”
Guanguan pulled out his little silver pistol. “That’s exactly right!”
Hands on his hips, one little foot cocked out, he declared grandly, “Baby will protect the farm together with the uncles from now on!”
Shen Zheng was completely charmed. Such a tiny little peanut saying grown-up things to you—who could possibly resist?
He laughed. “Good baby. Ambitious.”
The children clustered together, laughing and joking as they ran toward the core area. Shen Zheng headed for the watchtower, while Yi Qi took Lin Xiangfeng and Zhao Bin to stand guard at the main gate… Su Min and Sun Dali had the day off, but they were taking the others to clear the vegetable field. The mature corn had all been picked, and now they needed to dig the yellowed stalks out of the soil.
It was autumn now, winter would arrive in a blink, and Director Wang still wanted to plant white radishes and pickled mustard greens—perfect vegetables for getting through the cold months.
Once the corn dried for a few days, the kernels could be stripped and ground into flour for steamed buns and corn cakes. Later, when the white radishes and mustard greens were ready, they could be dried too and used as fillings for buns. Vegetables were precious now, so the more they could grow, the better.
From mid-September to early October, life on the farm was calm and busy, and everyone enjoyed it.
Last month, the system had issued a mandatory task: once every month, they had to take Guanguan out to gather supplies.
It was meant to train Guanguan’s courage and also prevent the secret of the system marketplace from being exposed in front of others.
Luckily, even if they came back without finding anything, the system would still reward them with 200 coins. If they found important supplies, the reward could be as high as 5,000 coins.
Ever since the system stopped handing out free money for literacy and weight-loss tasks, their monthly income now basically depended on these “field missions.”
With six more strong, growing high school boys added to the farm, the bottled water and food they’d prepared the previous month had nearly run out.
That evening, Wei Cheng was getting ready for their trip the next day.
After returning to the safe house, he first brought over a cup of warmed milk. “Guanguan, come drink your milk.”
“Coming!”
Guanguan reluctantly left the toy pile in the corner of the living room. Holding the cup of milk, he didn’t drink it right away. “Brother, is the milk sweet?”
Wei Cheng said, “It’s sweet. Drink it.”
Children’s tastes changed from stage to stage.
Lately, Guanguan had become a little resistant to drinking milk.
He was always finding fault with it.
Once, he had even pouted and complained that a little calf had bullied him in his dream.
Because of the rebirth and the Twisty Car, Wei Cheng had become a little superstitious. He’d asked, What kind of cow? What did it look like?
Guanguan had solemnly answered: a baby calf.
What milk could a baby calf possibly have?
Wei Cheng had figured it out then—Guanguan was simply dreaming about what he was thinking about during the day. The kid didn’t want to drink milk, so he’d dreamed up that excuse.
Guanguan took a big gulp, smacked his lips, and said, “Brother, what kind of sweet is this?”
Wei Cheng replied, “Air sweet.”
Guanguan had no preschool diploma, so his brother could still fool him easily. He drank several more gulps and scratched his cheek. “Air sweet is so weird.”
In the end, there were still a few mouthfuls left. He truly seemed unable to endure any more of that “air sweet.”
He rubbed his cheek against his brother’s hand and whined, “Can’t drink anymore.”
“Then give it to brother.” Wei Cheng drank the rest in one go, then rinsed the cup and said, “Don’t play with your toys anymore. Go upstairs and wait for me. We’re going on a long expedition first thing tomorrow, and later brother will tell you another story about Little Soldier Fink.”
The little baby in one-piece pajamas cheered, “Okay!”
As soon as Guanguan heard that, he happily stomped upstairs.
After hanging the washed cup in place, Wei Cheng wiped his hands and headed toward the toy pile.
They had more and more things now, and the house felt smaller and smaller. The toys in the corner had piled up into a little hill.
He picked up a few dolls and stuffed them into a box, then paused.
Inside the little children’s castle was a small bed made of building blocks.
On it, the parts of the silver pistol had been laid out.
Every single piece was arranged neatly and precisely, in exactly the same order as the first time he had taught Guanguan.
His little brother was a genius.
Wei Cheng hurried upstairs and looked at the child rolling around on the bed with his bare little butt. “Where’s Guanguan?”
Guanguan rolled over, his fluffy hair sticking up like a baby chick’s nest. “Here!”
Wei Cheng sat down beside him, astonished and delighted. “When did Guanguan learn to take a gun apart?”
Guanguan tilted his head. “Brother taught Guanguan.”
Wei Cheng laughed. “I only taught you the names of the parts and the structure of the gun. I didn’t expect you to actually take it apart by yourself.”
Guanguan flung himself into his brother’s arms, kicking his white, plump little radish-legs as he explained with both hands, “Take off the bullet babies’ home, then like this, and the little trumpet falls off too, pa pa, and the little gun comes apart!”
“You’re only four years old, and you’re really that smart.”
Wei Cheng’s heart surged. Without any more hesitation, he said, “Once we get back from this trip, brother will teach you how to shoot!”
The next morning, before dawn, the four of them drove away from the farm again.
This time, their destination was downtown Linshui City.
Lin Xiangfeng and the others had to stay behind to protect the farm. Mingming, Xiaotiao, and Xiaoyue still had poor aim with both guns and crossbows. Most importantly, the three children were still somewhat resistant to going outside.
They would get their chances to train eventually, but for now, for the sake of safety, it would have to wait until their shooting improved.
After all, they didn’t have a “life-saving trump card.”
Lin Xiangfeng and Zhao Bin shut the main gate behind them.
Patting his chest, Lin Xiangfeng frowned. “I don’t know why, but my heart’s racing. I just have this feeling something big is going to happen.”
Zhao Bin patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. Uncle Yi and Uncle Shen are amazing. Little Chubby and little Chengcheng will be fine.”
“Yeah, they’ll definitely be fine.” Lin Xiangfeng nodded.
The two boys took over the dawn watch from Ying Hui and Feng Xiaoli at the gate, while Sun Dali stood watch in the tower.
As the sun rose, golden morning light spread across the wide farm.
Seeing that his good brother was in a bad mood, Zhao Bin started telling embarrassing stories from their training days, and eventually even Lin Xiangfeng smiled.
Not long after, the gate to the core area opened, and several children came out with Auntie Su Min.
Su Min brought over their hot breakfast. “Here, eat while it’s hot.”
The two boys tucked into their corn buns stuffed with braised pork, eating with gusto.
While swallowing, Zhao Bin asked, “Auntie… when are Uncle Yi and the others coming back?”
Su Min estimated the time and said, “I heard they went into the city this time to look for supplies. However you count it, it should be at least seven or eight days.”
Lin Xiangfeng paused. “That long?”
“Supplies are only going to get harder and harder to find.”
Su Min pointed with her chin toward a stretch of grassland below the core area. “Next year, a third of the farm will be used for crops. This year, building the walls delayed a lot of the planting.”
Zhao Bin nodded. “No problem. We’ve got strength. Leave the plowing to us!”
Su Min liked these sunny, cheerful boys quite a lot. Pulling her thin coat around herself, she said, “Eat up. I’ll come relieve you later.”
She had just turned to leave when Ying Hui came running toward them, shouting.
“There are people!”
Then a blast of static tore through the air, and a somewhat distorted, strange-sounding voice spoke from a loudspeaker in halting Mandarin.
“Hello. May we make a trade with you?”
Su Min pressed a hand to the gun at her waist and shouted back, “Who are you?!”
There was no one outside the farm gate. The speaker had to be somewhere up in the mountains.
“We can provide you with rice and flour…”
“Hand over our Son of God.”
