“You’re the youngest in the family; we’re all older than you,” Zhou Wufu said, teasing his younger sister as he ate his eel porridge.
"But Xingxing is very capable." How annoying! Fifth Brother actually undermined her. Even though she's the youngest, she's already learned to do so many things, okay?
"Wufu, you mustn't bully your sister," Zhou Dafu and his four older brothers said in unison.
Zhou Wufu immediately surrendered, saying, "How could I dare to bully my sister? I was just joking with her. Don't glare at me."
"You're smart to know what's good for you," Zhou Dafu chuckled.
While eating, Xingxing kept nodding her little head and even gave a delicate yawn.
"Sweetie, finish your porridge before you sleep, Mommy will hold you while you sleep." Xingxing had thorn marks on her back and couldn't lie down, so Zhao Guihua decided not to plant thorns in the afternoon and would stay home to take care of her daughter.
Xingxing forced herself to finish the porridge, dozed off for a moment, and then fell asleep in Zhao Guihua's arms.
"After you five finish eating, go up the mountain to pick honeysuckle. Remember to come back early. Don't go to places that are too far away," Zhao Guihua whispered in her ear.
"Dad, when you go to work this afternoon, bring a bamboo tube of eels to the village chief's house. He spoke up for us today, so we should acknowledge his kindness." Favors always need to be reciprocated; only through give and take can things last.
Old Zhou finished his meal in a few bites and went to the kitchen to get a bamboo tube of eels to take to the village chief's house. After delivering the eels, he still had to plant thorns.
With the whole village working together, the work was completed quite quickly. In two more days, the thorny fence at the village entrance will be finished, and then two people will be assigned to guard it each day.
Xingxing slept until evening. As soon as she opened her eyes, she heard the quintuplets chattering. It turned out they had returned from the mountain.
“Mother, you don’t know how badly Zhou Dahua was carried back later. She looked so pitiful.” Zhou Wufu said with a gloating tone.
Um?
Xingxing rubbed her eyes and turned to look at her five older brothers.
"I told you to keep your voices down, look what happened, you woke up the stars!" Zhao Guihua said irritably.
"It's okay, I've had enough sleep," Xingxing said like a kitten.
"What were you talking about just now? What happened to Zhou Dahua?"
Zhou Wufu hurriedly came over to explain, "This morning, Zhou Dahua whipped you with a rattan cane. My brother and I originally wanted to find an opportunity to beat her up and avenge you, but we didn't expect her to get her comeuppance this afternoon."
It turned out that Zhou Dahua, Zhou Dajin, and Zhou Dayin also went up the mountain to pick honeysuckle in the afternoon. Although Zhou Laosan did not know what the flower was used for, he saw that Zhou Laojia's six children often picked it, so he also let his three children go to pick it.
In his own words, "Who cares what they're used for? Let's pick them first. They must be useful. Otherwise, why would my brother and sister-in-law let the kids pick so many?"
Zhou Dahua and her two friends didn't know where they could pick more honeysuckle, so they secretly followed the quintuplets. Little did they know that Zhou Dahua had only picked a few when she somehow stirred up a hornet's nest.
Soon, all three siblings were stung so badly their faces turned into pig heads. Zhou Dahua was stung the most, her entire face swelled up, and she eventually collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"Huh? Is she dead or not?" Xingxing was startled. Although she really wanted to beat up Zhou Dahua, she didn't want her to die.
"We don't know about that," Zhou Wufu said, scratching his head.
Zhao Guihua thought for a moment and said, "Dafu, you and Sifu go and take a look. Don't go inside; just listen for news outside."
She had truly hated Zhou Dahua before, but now that the child was suddenly missing and her fate was unknown, she felt terrible. After all, she was Zhou Dahua's niece, and if she really died, she would have to help with the funeral arrangements.
"Okay, we'll be right there." Zhou Dafu and Zhou Sifu ran quickly towards Old Zhou's house.
Xingxing clutched Zhao Guihua's clothes tightly with her little hands and asked in a soft voice, "Mother, will Zhou Dahua die? If she dies, will she be buried in the ground?"
The mention of the dead star reminded her of the grave mounds on the mountain; she felt terrified of being buried there.
"Don't be afraid, Mom is here. They say evil deeds last a thousand years. Da Hua Xin is so wicked that she dared to whip you with a thorny vine. She won't die so easily." Zhao Guihua didn't care whether her words were pleasant to hear or not; she just wanted to comfort her daughter.
To prevent Xingxing from overthinking, Zhao Guihua took her to the kitchen to cook dinner. First, she took out some dried wild boar meat from the cellar, and then she killed five eels.
Wild boar jerky is used to make meat porridge, and eel is stir-fried with wild vegetables and scallions.
"Mom, I want to eat fried loach." Xingxing hasn't had fried loach since the last time she ate it, and she's really craving it.
“Okay, Mom will definitely fry it for you, but not now. You still have an injury on your back. You can eat it after the injury heals, otherwise it will get infected,” Zhao Guihua explained gently.
Xingxing licked her lips, tilted her little face up and said, "I know. People who are injured can't eat fried food, otherwise the wound will get worse. Xingxing is a good girl, I'll eat it after I'm healed."
This child is so sensible it breaks your heart. "Yes, wait until Xingxing's injury heals before you eat. Mom will fry you a big bowl of it."
Not long after, Zhou Sifu's voice came from outside the door, "Mother, I found out that Zhou Dahua is still alive, she's not dead."
"Shh, keep your voice down." Zhao Guihua chuckled and gently scolded. This child had no sense of propriety, unaware that walls have ears. If others heard them, they might think they were hoping for the death of the third son's daughter.
Zhou Sifu lowered his voice and said, "My older brother and I only stood outside Old Zhou's house for a short while when we heard Zhou Dahua wake up and howl like a banshee. The sound of her crying was so eerie, which shows how badly she was stung."
"Da Jin and Da Yin are crying too; wasp stings are really painful," Zhou Dafu chuckled.
“Serves them right, who told them to bully us and even hit our sister?” Zhou Erfu cursed.
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