Chapter Thirty-Three: The Great Beast

By the shimmering creek, where the willows danced in the breeze and the river’s surface lay tranquil, everything felt beautifully serene.

If only there weren’t those few little rascals, bare-bottomed, splashing about in the stream, it would have been perfect!

“Ah—this feels amazing!” The little wolf, tormented daily by his stern tutor, dashed to the water’s edge and dove right in, letting out a long sigh of relief.

No more glowering tutor reciting lines all day, no more ruler striking his palms until they swelled and ached—pure bliss!

Later, Gou Dan would remark: He’s in for another round of bamboo-stick stir-fry when he gets home—his mother just washed those clothes!

“Wow! Little fishies, little fishies, I’m coming to catch you!” Fubao waddled over to the water, chubby hands stirring the cool ripples.

Since Fubao was still so young, she was only allowed to play on the bank. As for the stream itself—absolutely not!

The little ginseng, eyeing the shallow water that didn’t even reach her belly, thought these three were being awfully dramatic.

Still, the ecosystem here was wonderful. This was a branch of the great Cang River. Only children ever came to catch the fish, and occasionally, an adult desperate for a meal might come to catch a few to stave off hunger.

As for big fish—there were none to be found!

Fubao delighted herself for a while, splashing water and playing with mud.

“Fubao, I’ll play with you!” called Sanya, Uncle Dazhuang’s youngest daughter and the eldest son of Village Chief Lin’s big brother.

Five-year-old Sanya adored her little cousin, and every time Gou Dan took Fubao out, she insisted on joining.

“Sister Er Ya, come quick—there’s a big strange bug here!” Fubao, having found a twig from who knows where, was poking at a mysterious creature.

“Huh? What is that? It looks so strange!” Er Ya ran over, scratched her head, and admitted she had no idea.

The creature had a pointed head with two long whiskers, eight legs by the looks of it, and a pair of fierce pincers waving menacingly.

“Fubao, what is this thing? Will it bite?” Er Ya, equally clueless, found herself a stick and started poking at the “bug.”

Fubao pouted, chubby hand rubbing her chin—a gesture she’d picked up from her uncle Meng Xuan.

Her big eyes sparkled, and in a milky voice she declared, “Let’s take it home and feed it to the chickens.”

“Feed it to the chickens?” Er Ya wondered aloud. Was that even possible?

“Sister Er Ya, it’s a bug. Chickens love bugs, especially Dahua—she loves big bugs the most!” Fubao continued to prod at the so-called “bug.”

Er Ya: Dahua???

Rooster Dahua: I’m not about to eat just any weird thing!

Later: It was actually delicious.

At last, the exhausted “bug” surrendered and was willingly placed in a little bamboo basket.

The unknown creature could only wish for a swift end.

Now, only Gou Dan remained in the stream, seemingly focused on catching fish, but in truth, keeping an eye on Fubao. What if something happened to his little sister?

At this moment, Gou Dan was alert, eyes and ears peeled. As for the little wolf and Cenhǎi...

Heh.

They’d long since vanished, determined to search for duck eggs. Who knew what possessed those ducks to lay eggs in the grass by the creek?

Heh. Gou Dan could attest—there were no eggs in the grass.

But nothing could dampen his two foolish brothers’ enthusiasm.

Fine, let them be!

Meanwhile, Er Ya and Fubao were busy preparing dinner for Dahua back home.

That meant hunting for “big bugs” by the creek, but after searching for ages and finding none, they decided to rummage through the grass along the bank. Fubao here, Er Ya there—

Wait—what’s this?

Fubao dug and dug, and to her surprise, unearthed several eggs!

Wow! Such big eggs!

Just then, Gou Dan, realizing the two girls had vanished, rushed over in a panic—scared half to death!

But—“Fubao, what’s that?” he cried, his voice rising with excitement.

“Eggy Brother, look, there are eggs here!” Fubao cradled an egg as big as her own head, her voice soft and sweet.

Gou Dan: “...” Eggy Brother? Where did that come from?

“Wow! Fubao, that’s a huge egg!” Er Ya exclaimed as she arrived, astonished by the sight.

Gou Dan: That’s not a chicken egg, is it?

In the end, there were three eggs—one for Er Ya, one for Gou Dan, and one for Fubao.

The first two were likely to be eaten that night, but as for the last one—Fubao planned to raise it.

The Lin family: ???????

Fubao hugged her egg and said in her baby voice, “This egg is for hatching babies, I can’t give it to you!” With that, she nestled her precious egg on her little bed, insisting it was still a baby.

The Lin family was speechless.

The little ginseng: My nest is gone again—where did that egg come from!

In the rabbit hutch, the rabbits cast a haughty glance at the little ginseng: What a calamity!

The Lin family dined on stir-fried eggs and pork, washed down with fish soup—the little wolf’s catch.

Meanwhile, the chickens in the coop fought furiously—That bug is mine!