Degeneration

Wu Meilai let go, washed her hands, took off her apron and walked towards the back of the house.

"Where is the boss going? Do you still want some pig liver?" the butcher asked while smoking.

"Tell the owner to leave half for me."

There are several more households behind Lin Yue's house, and after that are the fields for growing crops. Even so, the paths are interconnected.

Fortunately, the snow had melted in the past two days, and the road was flooded. She followed the footprints on the muddy road, all the way up the mountain, and finally found her in a bamboo forest.

Zhou Qianling squatted on the bamboo leaves covering the ground, pushing the tip of the bamboo shoot that was sticking out with his index finger.

"Are you feeling bad?"

Zhou Qianling turned around and curled his lips at her.

"Isn't that very hypocritical?"

Wu Meilai shook her head, slowly walked to her side, squatted down and poked the poor little winter bamboo shoots with her.

"You haven't seen such a scene before, so it's normal to feel fear and sympathy when you hear the wailing and see the killing."

"If you've ever raised pigs, you'll find that they're actually quite human-like."

She laughed and said, "The first time I saw a pig being slaughtered, I hid in the house and cried for a long time. I was the one who raised that pig. Later, even after the meal was ready, I didn't dare to eat it."

"It took a full half month. Finally, I saw my parents enjoying the delicious food. I was so greedy that I started eating it too."

Wu Meilai explained, "Nature is a world of the jungle. We are humans, omnivores who need to eat meat, so we keep pigs in captivity. Unless we stop eating pork, those pigs won't exist. What if we were pigs? Pigs are omnivores too. We can either become stronger than humans and keep them captive, or we can see the purpose of captivity early on and escape into the mountains to become wild boars."

Zhou Qianling listened carefully and frowned, saying, "But domestic pigs have long since degenerated. Without their tough fur and sharp fangs, how can they get out?"

Wu Meilai was stunned, unable to think of a solution, so she said, "Don't think about pigs. We are human. Pigs think about pigs, and humans think about human things."

Seeing that she was still frowning but had been distracted, Wu Mei came and plucked a handful of bamboo shoots, blinked and said, "This bamboo forest belongs to my classmate's family. I'll take you to steal bamboo shoots."

Bamboo forests generally require no maintenance; bamboo shoots sprout naturally when the season arrives. Villagers don't often eat these bamboo shoots, so they often freeze and rot in the soil.

Having said that, she still greeted her classmates in advance.

In the end, each of them broke off two or three.

On the way back, Zhou Qianling realized that the place was full of graves, both new and old.

So scary.

"I was wondering how you could be so brave, but it turns out you weren't paying attention when you got here. The locals work on the graves, and they have to wrap up and go home in the evening."

Wu Meilai laughed softly, put all the bamboo shoots aside, and held her wrist.

The original intention was to comfort him, but when she felt the delicate touch on the palm of his hand, which was different from her own, she became inexplicably nervous and let go of his hand as if she had been electrocuted.

Zhou Qianling was not willing to let her go, and he didn't even want the bamboo shoots. Instead, he held her hand.

Wu Mei struggled a bit, but when she couldn't break free, she stopped moving and let her hold the hand with her lips pursed.

"Is there no one here at night? Wouldn't it be scary?" Zhou Qianling said this, pink bubbles already gurgling in his heart.

"There are basically no people. As for the horror... there are some stories."

Wu Meilai forgot the warmth of their hands, and maliciously collected all the ghost stories she had heard and told them all to her.

How about a young man who was invited to a home by a beautiful woman in red, only to be discovered drinking tea at a grave? Or how about waking up every day with back pain and muddy nails, only to discover it was the old man who sleepwalked through the grave and gnawed on bones every night?

As Zhou Qianling listened, he moved closer and closer to her, holding her hands tightly with both of his hands.

Seeing this, Wu Meilai couldn't help but curl her lips and said, "Don't take it seriously, they are just rumors."

She looks very pretty when she smiles, like the new leaves sprouting under the withered lotus leaves, full of energy and a little playful.

Zhou Qianling whispered to her as if afraid of disturbing something: "Yeah, but I'm still a little scared."

Her voice was so weak that it made people want to bully her.

Wu Meilai turned around to say something, but her expression suddenly changed. She stared at the side of them and asked, "Did you see anything just now?"

Zhou Qianling turned around in confusion, but there was nothing there except an old grave.

"A ghost has come out!"

Their hands were pulled up and they were carried forward. The two of them ran happily in the mountains like children.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, Zhou Qianling bent over with his knees raised, gasping for breath, while Wu Meilai put her hands on her hips, chuckling softly for some unknown reason.

Both of their foreheads were hot, and some hair was stuck to their faces, but no one let go to tidy it up.

Zhou Qianling had rested enough, stood up, shook his hands, and scolded with a smile: "Okay, you scared me."

"Who told you to be timid?" Wu Meilai retorted without any apology. When she saw the other party's eyes full of doting, she turned her head away as if burned, and her breathing became a little disordered.

Her face gradually became hot. She lowered her head, pursed her lips, kicked the stones, and walked forward on her own. However, she did not let go. She allowed the two people to raise their arms and gently pull the person behind them over.

Zhou Qianling's heart was moved. He took two steps to her side and gently shook their clasped hands.

The breeze blew the treetops, and the snow on the pine trees fell quietly, some of which fell on the two people who were walking hand in hand, making small, thudding sounds.

Zhou Qianling has never been in a relationship, but she feels that the two of them now look like a young couple who have just fallen in love.

Perhaps, Wu Meilai is not that old-fashioned.

After leaving the trail, walk for a few minutes and you will reach the village.

"The two sisters have such a good relationship."

Wu Meilai was startled and subconsciously shook her hand away.

Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw an old lady standing at the corner. She looked to be in her early sixties, holding a bowl and looking at them with a smile.

In the past, Wu Mei would have definitely chatted with her, but now, as if she was afraid of seeing something from her smiling eyes, she just casually said, "Old man, feed the pigs," and left quickly.

Zhou Qianling stared at her back, thoughtfully.

When they returned to Lin Yue's house, the New Year pig had been slaughtered and cut up, and Wu Meilai was nowhere to be seen.

Lin Yue was washing the dam when she saw Zhou Qianling. She wiped her hands, took out a few banknotes from her apron pocket, and said, "Xiaoling, this is the money Boss Wu gave me for the pig liver. You said she worked so hard to help press the pigs, but she didn't even have a pig-killing meal to eat. Why should she pay? Please transfer it to her for me."

Zhou Qianling took over, and Lin Yue asked again: "The boss just called you to eat, but you didn't respond. What do you want to eat now?"

Zhou Qianling smiled and said, "Aunt, you don't have to be so polite. I can find food for myself when I'm hungry.

After saying that, Zhou Qianling returned to the bedroom, counted the amount of banknotes, and transferred the money.

With a ding-dong sound, Wu Mei, who had not yet returned home, received the message and opened it to take a look.

Zhou Qianling: Auntie, don’t want it.

When Wu Meilai stared at this sentence, she didn't even notice that the corners of her mouth were quietly curved up.

Just saying "Aunt" makes it sound like she is the aunt of both of them.

Before I could think about where the slight feeling of happiness came from, I heard an angry shout.

"Going to buy pig liver in another country? Look at the time!"