Chapter 93
Yi Qi sat down, delighted. “Elizabeth was way too skinny when we brought her back. I really couldn’t tell then. It was only when I was driving her into the sheep pen just now that I noticed her body had changed. Then I felt her belly, and sure enough, there were a few little hard lumps.”
Zhao Bin shoveled rice into his mouth and asked, “Then how many lambs can she have?”
“She’s an older ewe. Two or three for sure,” Yi Qi said. “Older pregnant sheep eat more too, so tomorrow we’ll need a few extra people to go up the mountain and cut grass.”
Gnawing on a sauce-red, dripping piece of pig trotter, Guanguan raised his chubby little fist. “Guanguan go!”
Wang Xiaotiao and Xiaoyue also got excited. “We want to go too!”
Su Min smacked the back of her daughter’s hand. “No making trouble. Your uncles and brothers have to herd the sheep and cut grass. How are they supposed to keep an eye on so many children?”
Xiaoyue pressed her lips together and obediently said, “Okay, Mom.”
Xiaotiao and Xiaoyue were best friends. He puffed out his little neck and said, “If Xiaoyue’s not going, then I’m not going either!”
“You’re the naughtiest one. Good if you don’t go.”
Director Wang turned to Xiaoyue again and said, “There are too many snakes and bugs in the mountains. Girls don’t need to join that kind of excitement. In the next couple of days, you and your mother can thin out the radish seedlings in the vegetable patch. Grandpa will make you some pickles.”
Xiaoyue sounded a little down. “I know, Grandpa.”
Su Min sighed too.
Ever since Sun Dali had been bitten by a zombie, she had become even stricter with Xiaoyue.
When they went to the church to rescue the children, no matter how much Xiaoyue begged, she never relented.
Her husband’s life had been saved, but he had lost one hand. After waking up, his condition kept fluctuating, and his spirits were low. Would he become a burden on the farm in the future? Under that kind of pressure, there was no way she could let anything happen to Xiaoyue too.
Shen Zheng changed the subject at the right moment. “By the way, the barbed-wire cages and traps around the farm walls need some repairs. We’re really going to be busy these next few days.”
Everyone started brainstorming improvements to the traps over the meal.
Someone suggested hanging bells on the wire cages, since the watchtower also had blind spots. Someone else suggested mounting the flamethrower directly on the wall, so they could set things on fire the moment something went wrong. Another said that if they had landmines, they could bury a few along the mountain road leading from the forest to the farm…
The older boys played games all the time, so their minds were quick. Zhao Bin, Lin Xiangfeng, and the others came up with all kinds of ideas, but most of them either weren’t practical or could easily hurt their own people.
In the end, they decided to keep lining the walls with sharp nail boards and broken glass bottles. As for the deep ditch below the wall, they could run an electric net across it with the generator, though to save diesel, it could only be turned on when a fight actually broke out.
The meal was rich with meat and vegetables, and everyone ate until they were stuffed.
After a midday nap, the adults went to repair the walls and traps, while the children drove their little cars around on the grass and played. A black dog and a gray one chased after them.
They had lived through another day.
—
Early the next morning, Yi Qi and Shen Zheng took the Wei brothers up the mountain to graze the sheep and cut grass.
The tall black wolf dog walked quietly behind them, wagging its tail.
In autumn, the morning dew was heavy, and the hems of everyone’s pants were damp with wet blades of grass.
Wei Cheng carried a sturdy bamboo basket on his chest, and inside it was one whole Guanguan.
The child wore a black children’s windbreaker set, zipped all the way up to his chin. The mountain path was bumpy, and his brown curls bounced like springs.
“Brother, did you carry basket Guanguan before?”
Basket Guanguan?
Carried Guanguan in a basket?
Wei Cheng shook his head and laughed. “No. This is the first time I’ve carried you in a basket.”
Guanguan frowned. “You did.”
“I really didn’t.” Wei Cheng said. “But I did carry you in a child harness before. Did baby remember it wrong?”
Guanguan scratched his cheek and muttered, “Okay, okay.”
Then he patted the edge of the basket. “Want down!”
“Not afraid of getting tired? Uncle Yi said the ryegrass grows deep in the mountain.”
Guanguan tried to stand up. “Not scared of tired!”
Wei Cheng set the basket down steadily before lifting him out. “You got heavier again.”
Guanguan blinked his big eyes and swung one booted foot. “Shoes are heavy.”
Wei Cheng just smiled and said nothing.
From the foot of the mountain to the top, Guanguan stayed full of enthusiasm and never once complained of being tired. He just thought everything he saw was a treasure.
He said a branch looked like a sword, and a stone looked like a jewel. Wei Cheng’s bamboo basket barely had any sheep grass in it yet, but it was already half full of rocks and sticks.
Not hearing the two brothers talking behind him anymore, Shen Zheng turned around and saw the older one feeding the younger one water.
The brothers wore matching black windbreakers and little combat boots. Standing there, they looked like they were filming an outdoor children’s clothing ad.
Guanguan was a little troublemaker. Even while gulping water, he still reached out to play with the black dog’s big ears. He only drank a few mouthfuls before spilling it all over himself.
Guanguan looked down at his new clothes. “Brother, clothes dirty.”
“Brother will wipe them.” Wei Cheng took tissues out of his pocket and wiped the child’s face and hands. “Did you choke?”
Guanguan went right back to playing with the dog’s ear. “No.”
Chengcheng calmly finished helping the little one drink, then took out the dog bowl from his backpack, poured water for the black dog, and fed it too.
Watching this, Shen Zheng sighed with feeling. “Other children are born and just get to be children. Chengcheng feels like he was born already being somebody’s brother.”
They had reached a high slope where the grass grew thick and lush, so Yi Qi tied Elizabeth to a tree and let her eat her fill first.
Hearing that, he laughed so hard he nearly bent over. “You really can say that again.”
After resting and drinking a little water, the adults got to work cutting grass. With the black dog watching Elizabeth, there was no need to worry about the sheep running off.
Little Guanguan, who couldn’t even focus properly while drinking water, obviously wasn’t qualified to hold a sickle. He could only stand there watching eagerly as his uncles and brother swung their sickles and cut the grass.
He crouched beside his brother for a while in a little farmer squat, then crouched beside Uncle Shen in another little farmer squat. Seeing that neither of the two people who spoiled him the most would let him play with a sickle, he hugged himself tightly and decided to secretly be fat-angry, so angry he’d float away and they’d never find him again.
His mighty Guanguan could totally handle a sickle!
Yi Qi found it hilarious. The kid squatting there like a sulky little dumpling was too funny.
Wiping sweat, he waved. “Guanguan, come here.”
Guanguan came pattering over. “Want to let Guanguan play with knife?”
Yi Qi gathered a long bunch of wheat grass into his hand and said, “Time to test where all that chub of yours went. Pull this.”
In autumn the soil was dry, and wheat grass was hard to pull out. That was why they used sickles to cut it.
He figured the kid could tug on it for fun anyway. No way he’d actually pull it out.
“Okay!” Guanguan got interested. He squatted down with a plop, hugged the grass with all his strength, and yanked. Even his little eyebrows were straining upward.
Suddenly his grip gave way. He, the grass, and a clump of dirt all flew backward at once.
Hearing the commotion, Wei Cheng turned around just in time to see a mud-covered Guanguan lying on his back in the grass, still clutching a tuft of wheat grass, staring blankly upward.
Yi Qi immediately dropped his sickle and scooped Guanguan up, laughing and crying at the same time. “Oh my treasure, you actually pulled it out.”
Guanguan looked at the grass in his hand. He kind of wanted to cry, but he was too proud to admit it. “Guanguan’s chub wasn’t grown for nothing.”
Shen Zheng got so mad he pounded Yi Qi on the back. “Who coaxes a child like that! Hurry and wipe Guanguan’s face. Mud got in his mouth.”
“Sorry, sorry, I really didn’t think he’d pull it out.” Yi Qi apologized. “Baby, don’t be mad at Uncle. I really didn’t expect you to be so strong.”
Guanguan spat out a mouthful of mud. “Am strong.”
“Give him to me.” Wei Cheng stepped forward and took Guanguan from Yi Qi, smiling helplessly.
Still usable after washing.
He carried the child to an empty patch nearby, took out wet wipes and bottled water, and said, “Close your eyes.”
Guanguan obediently closed them, still gripping the wheat grass.
Wei Cheng used half a pack of wet wipes before Guanguan’s face and clothes were finally clean again.
“Drink some water and rinse your mouth.”
Guanguan obediently rinsed too.
Seeing that the child still looked a little pitiful, Wei Cheng lifted the back of his shirt and checked. Luckily, there were no injuries and no red marks.
He pulled the child into his arms and rubbed his back. “That hurt, didn’t it?”
Guanguan buried his face in his brother’s chest and muttered through his shirt, “It hurt, but Guanguan flew like a little bird.”
Wei Cheng suppressed a laugh. “Was it fun?”
Guanguan showed his little teeth again. “Fun. Want again.”
“We can’t do that again, even if it’s fun. It’s dangerous.” Wei Cheng told him. “Good thing you were wearing thick clothes today. Otherwise your arms and legs could’ve gotten scraped and bled, and that would hurt a lot and feel awful. Then you wouldn’t be able to take bubble baths anymore, and you wouldn’t be able to wear lots of pretty clothes either.”
At that, Guanguan hurriedly shook his head. “Won’t do it again.”
Then he rolled out of his brother’s arms and stood up, waving the grass in his hand. “Want feed baa-baa.”
“Okay. Brother will go with you.”
Seeing that Guanguan could still walk fine, Wei Cheng relaxed.
At that moment, Yi Qi came over with his hands behind his back and bent down. “Guanguan, you’re okay, right? Forgive Uncle?”
“After this, you can’t let children play with dangerous things!” Guanguan pointed his little chubby finger at him with great force. “You’re such a big person already. Do you know your mistake?”
Yi Qi wanted to laugh but held it in. “I know I was wrong. I won’t let little kids play with dangerous things anymore. So forgive Uncle, okay?”
Then he held out a little dragonfly woven from wheat grass. “Here, this is for you.”
Guanguan’s eyes lit up. He took the little dragonfly and hugged it in his arms. “Wow.”
His eyes shifted. “Baby forgive you today. Maybe still angry tomorrow.”
Yi Qi said, “That’s easy. Uncle will make you another little dragonfly tomorrow.”
That was all it took to cheer Guanguan up. He took Uncle Yi’s hand on his own initiative. “Then you come feed baa-baa with us!”
When Little Apricot saw Guanguan coming, it wagged its tail and went right up to him.
As Uncle Yi and his brother went to lead over the sheep, Guanguan secretly lifted one of Little Apricot’s big ears and tattled, “Little Apricot, Guanguan fell down just now. One uncle let little child play with dangerous thing…”
Yi Qi laughed so hard his face wrinkled up. How was this little brat actually tattling to the dog?
“Come on, Guanguan, feed the—”
Just as he was about to bring the sheep over, Chengcheng’s expression changed slightly. He made a soft shushing sound. “Don’t talk.”
Wei Cheng’s gaze fixed on a patch of long, wild grass. He quickly unslung the crossbow at his waist and fired a steel bolt directly at the dark shadow that flashed past.
A shrill animal scream rang out across the whole slope.
