Chapter 141
The next day, before dawn, Fan Xiaoxiao was woken up by the Ghost Doctor through the carriage.
"Baby! Come on, come on! You promised I'd go get some honey!"
Fan Xiaoxiao's eyes were drowsy as she peeked out the window and glanced at the sky. She could only see that the sky was still tinged with blue, and she could even vaguely make out some starlight, indicating that it was quite early.
She yawned, her eyes still sleepy, as she looked at the old ghost doctor in front of her, who was beaming with excitement and had already prepared his basket on his back. No matter how she looked at the old man, his round belly looked like a soft, fluffy pillow.
"Grandpa, isn't this a bit too early..."
You have to understand, her body isn't even an adult yet, and she's suffered quite a few injuries recently, so she really needs to rest. Judging by the sky, going to collect honey might be a bit too early.
"Oh dear! It's getting late! Let's go collect honey, and you can sleep however you want when we get back! Come on, let's go!"
With a forceful pull, the Ghost Doctor dragged Fan Xiaoxiao out of the carriage and out with him. After yawning several times, she finally realized what the Ghost Doctor was talking about.
"Honey... Oh, yes, that's true."
After saying that, she closed her eyes again and dozed off against the side of the carriage.
"Oh dear! Baby! Wake up!!! Honey! Old man, I want that honey! Roasted pigeon! You promised me!"
The Ghost Doctor grabbed Fan Xiaoxiao and shook her violently, making her feel as if the stars in the sky were spinning.
"Grandpa, please, please put me down. I feel like I'm going to throw up."
"Um, Grandpa Fatty, where are you going?"
The noise from their conversation outside woke Xiao Bao, who lifted the curtain, rubbing his eyes and looking sleepy.
As soon as the little baby woke up, the Ghost Doctor darted in front of him and urged, "Little one, your auntie said she's taking me honey-gathering! Have you ever tasted honey? It's so sweet! Do you want to come along? I'll share some with you! It's good for your health!"
"Sweet? Good for your health?" Xiao Bao keenly grasped the key point in the Ghost Doctor's words, and his drowsiness vanished instantly.
"Let's go! Xiaobao is going! Auntie! You should take Xiaobao too!"
Just moments ago, it was only the Ghost Doctor making a fuss about going, but now with Xiao Bao joining in, the two of them are constantly buzzing in Fan Xiaoxiao's ear about going to collect honey. The noise has completely banished the last bit of sleepiness from Fan Xiaoxiao's head; a vein bulges on her forehead, and she grits her teeth, yelling, "Enough!"
Her shout successfully stopped the old man and the child from their rambling. However, her sudden outburst did not frighten them much. Instead, they blinked their big eyes and looked at her with a pitiful expression.
Fan Xiaoxiao sighed helplessly. She realized she had promised the Ghost Doctor she would go find Honey, and since she was already up, she might as well go. Having figured this out, Fan Xiaoxiao rubbed her forehead listlessly: "Alright, let's go get some things and leave."
The Ghost Doctor stroked his beard, somewhat puzzled. "Things? What do we need to get?"
"Naturally, it's something used for collecting honey."
After saying that, Fan Xiaoxiao turned around and went into the carriage to search for what she needed, leaving Ghost Doctor and Xiaobao outside looking at each other with some doubt.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Fan Xiaoxiao and her group finally arrived at the location of the beehive that the Ghost Doctor had mentioned yesterday. The beehive was located at the bottom of a hillside, hidden by some bushes.
From the outside, it's not very obvious. It's thanks to the Ghost Doctor that this place was found; if it were anyone else, they would probably have just ignored it.
"Baby, the bees here are huge, and I saw that hive yesterday, it's quite large! Are you really brave enough to go and collect the honey?" When the Ghost Doctor saw the hive, he felt a slight pain in the place where he had been stung yesterday.
Looking at Fan Xiaoxiao's thin arms and legs, if she were really targeted and bitten...
The Ghost Doctor shook his head, suddenly having second thoughts: "Child, why don't we go back? Forget about the honey. If you really get stung, that girl surnamed Fan will definitely kill me."
Fan Xiaoxiao glanced at him speechlessly. It seemed this old man was only now realizing he wanted to back out. She shrugged, a wry smile on her face, and said with a hint of teasing, "So now you remember my sister? Oh, don't worry! We're already here, we can't go back empty-handed!"
After saying that, she took out a piece of coarse linen that she had prepared from her basket and covered her head and hands with it.
"Alright, you all wait here. Remember to wrap your heads and any exposed skin with coarse linen!"
Xiao Bao hesitated for a moment, wanting to go forward and help, but Fan Xiaoxiao waved her hand at him, signaling him not to come over.
"Don't make a sound, or I'll be the first to suffer if you disturb the bees."
After giving this instruction, Xiao Bao didn't do anything else, afraid that he might accidentally cause the bees to sting his aunt.
After intimidating Xiao Bao, Fan Xiaoxiao took a tinderbox and lit a handful of slightly damp grass, then slowly and gently approached the beehive.
When he was close enough, he aimed the straw, which was already billowing white smoke, at the beehive. With the help of the smoke, the bees inside the beehive were quickly driven out. They scattered and flew away, looking somewhat disoriented.
Fan Xiaoxiao waited quite a while, until her hands were a little numb, before placing the damp grass directly beneath the honeycomb. Then, she took out a bamboo knife and gently extracted the honey. The honeycomb was indeed very large, just as the Ghost Doctor had described. It was about the size of two water buckets.
Seeing that the baskets were almost full, Fan Xiaoxiao picked up the still-smoking wet grass from the ground and retreated to the side of the Ghost Doctor and the others.
"That's enough, let's go back. The bees will turn around and sting us soon!"
The Ghost Doctor responded and hurried back with Xiao Bao and Fan Xiaoxiao. On the way, Xiao Bao looked at his aunt with an extremely adoring gaze, which made Fan Xiaoxiao feel a little uncomfortable.
However, to Ghost Doctor and Xiao Bao, who witnessed her entire honey-collecting process, Fan Xiaoxiao was now practically a god.
"Auntie! You're amazing!"
Xiao Bao looked at Fan Xiaoxiao with starry eyes and an expression of admiration.
"Yes, yes! Baby, what kind of grass did you use to smoke them? They all flew away in no time!"
Fan Xiaoxiao was in a good mood; the bamboo basket was full of honey, enough for their group to eat for quite some time. So she patiently answered the Ghost Doctor's questions.
"Those are just ordinary grasses. The smoke can soothe the bees and prevent them from getting angry. I used to have very little to eat, so I would go up the mountain to collect honey myself. Come to think of it, I was never stung many times before!"
Fan Xiaoxiao was actually referring to how, in the real world, she went into the mountains several times to collect honey in order to film videos and also to get a good price for it.
However, it was clear that Ghost Doctor and Xiao Bao were forced to go up the mountain to collect honey because she was having a hard time making a living under her stepmother.
After a long silence, Xiao Bao suddenly said in a low voice, "Auntie, teach Xiao Bao how to collect honey... This is good for your health. But, but Xiao Bao doesn't want you to get stung."
Xiao Bao still had the mind of a child, and as he spoke, he pouted and became somewhat sad.
The ghost doctor, standing to the side, remained silent for a long while before saying, "Baby, I... I'll only eat this roasted pigeon this once! Next time I'll go collecting honey!"
"You two..." Fan Xiaoxiao was both amused and exasperated, and was about to say something more.
Xiao Bao then made the final decision: "Okay! It's settled then! From now on, when we go honey gathering, we won't let Auntie get stung!"
"right!"
As the sun slowly rose, Fan Xiaoxiao looked at the old man and the young girl in front of her, and felt a warm feeling spreading through her heart.
(End of this chapter)
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