Seeing those eyes, Lu Qingjiu's breath was choked, and he even thought he was hallucinating. Those eyes seemed to see Lu Qingjiu in the house through the gap, revealing a strong greed.
Lu Qingjiu was stunned and asked, "Am I having a nightmare..."
Before his question was answered, the pair of terrifying eyes above his head disappeared. However, before Lu Qingjiu could recover, he saw a thin, long pink tongue coming in from the small hole.
The tongue was extremely long, covered in transparent mucus, and it shot towards Lu Qingjiu's location. Fortunately, Lu Qingjiu reacted quickly and dodged under the bed, avoiding the tongue's attack. He stumbled, pushed open the door, and ran outside. Only after seeing what was on his roof clearly did he freeze in place.
I saw a huge reptile attached to the roof of the old house. The animal's skin was gray-black, its eyeballs were protruding, and its limbs were easily fixed on the slippery bricks and tiles - it was clearly a giant gecko!
The gecko also noticed Lu Qingjiu's movements, slowly turned its head and looked towards Lu Qingjiu. Seeing that the situation was not good, Lu Qingjiu turned around and wanted to escape, but the next moment he heard a sound of breaking air behind him, as if something was stabbing towards him!
Before Lu Qingjiu could react, he felt a tightness on his waist and his vision turned upside down. He cried out and was rolled up by the giant gecko's tongue.
This is how geckos eat. Once they wrap their tongues around a living creature, they'll swallow it. Lu Qingjiu watched helplessly as he got closer and closer to the giant gecko. Just as he was about to be swallowed by it, the gecko suddenly froze, its huge eyes filled with fear.
Lu Qingjiu was thus suspended in mid-air. He couldn't fully digest all the bizarre things for a moment, but his instinct for survival still made him make the right decision. Taking advantage of the gecko's momentary daze, he pulled out the keychain from his trouser pocket and slashed it fiercely at the tongue that was wrapped around him.
It was not known whether it was because of the pain or for some other reason, but the gecko actually let Lu Qingjiu go. Lu Qingjiu fell from mid-air to the ground and saw a thick dark mass rising above his head.
There seemed to be something hidden in the darkness, but Lu Qingjiu couldn't see it clearly.
The gecko seemed to be extremely afraid of the darkness. It turned around and jumped off the roof to escape, but the darkness quickly spread over and enveloped the gecko.
Then, Lu Qingjiu heard a sound like chewing meat. The gecko was covered in darkness, with only a small part of its tail exposed. Lu Qingjiu watched helplessly as the tail continued to twist and struggle, then the movements became smaller and smaller, and finally there was no movement.
The sounds of chewing meat gradually faded, replaced by the crunching of bones. Lu Qingjiu slowly climbed up from the ground, intending to use this opportunity to leave. However, after taking two steps forward, he felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground. Just before he completely passed out, he seemed to vaguely see a large orange-yellow eye...
The next day, Lu Qingjiu was woken up by a knock on the door. He got up from the bed and stayed there for a while before staggering to open the door.
"What's wrong, Qingjiu? You look so ugly!" Yin Xun saw Lu Qingjiu opening the door and was shocked by his expression. "Did you go out to catch ghosts in the middle of the night last night?!"
When the word "ghost" was mentioned, Lu Qingjiu's face became even uglier. He said, "I seemed to have had a very scary dream last night." As he spoke, he looked up at the roof and did not see any signs of damage on it.
"A terrible dream?" Yin Xun asked, "Are you too tired..."
Lu Qingjiu looked dazed: "Yes... maybe."
"Are you going to the town market today?" Yin Xun asked, "Or are you going to take a rest at home for the day?"
"Go ahead." Lu Qingjiu shook his head to sober himself up a little, "I still need to buy some daily necessities."
"Okay, let's go straight to town for breakfast." Yin Xun glanced at his watch. "Uncle Chen and his friends are heading to town."
Shuifu Village was quite far from town; it took a whole day to walk there, and over two hours by car. There were only two small trucks in the village, and villagers who wanted to go to town could wait until the owner was buying goods and then pay a small fee for the fare. The man Yin Xun called Uncle Chen was one of them. He had a lot of fields, and this time he was going to town to buy some fertilizer.
The two men walked to the entrance of the village, greeted Uncle Chen, and got into the driver's seat.
After Lu Qingjiu paid the taxi fare, Yin Xun handed him a cigarette with a smile. Uncle Chen took it and lit it, then asked Lu Qingjiu what he wanted to buy while chatting.
"I want to raise a piglet," Lu Qingjiu said, "and buy some seeds."
Uncle Chen said, "Sure, there are piglets for sale in town. I'll help you pick them out so you don't get ripped off."
Lu Qingjiu smiled and thanked him.
Then Uncle Chen asked about Lu Qingjiu's recent situation. After learning that he planned to stay here for a long time, he reminded him of some things that needed attention, such as the land had to be plowed immediately so that it would be easier to plant seeds. Farming depends on the season. If you waste time and miss spring, you will have to wait until the next quarter.
Lu Qingjiu listened, nodding his head from time to time. A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. Shuifu Village is small to begin with, and everyone can help each other out if there is anything they need.
The truck drove over the mountain road and arrived at the town market. Unlike the quietness of the night, the town was bustling during the day. Both sides of the road were lined with small vendors selling all kinds of things, including food, useful things, seeds, and livestock.
Uncle Chen said that he had to prepare the goods first, and asked Yin Xun and Lu Qingjiu to buy what they wanted first, and then the three of them would meet at the place where the piglets were sold.
Lu Qingjiu nodded in agreement and entered the market with Yin Xun.
"What do you want to eat?" Yin Xun asked, "That soup dumplings are delicious."
Lu Qingjiu said: "Then try it?"
Yin Xun said, "Hey, let's walk."
Lu Qingjiu followed Yin Xun to a small shop next to the market and ordered two baskets of steaming hot dumplings, two bowls of soy milk and two fried dough sticks.
Lu Qingjiu picked up the steamed bun, took a bite of half of it and hummed, "Delicious." The steamed bun was filled with braised pork, with a thin skin and a large filling. When you bite it open, you will find the juicy meat. There is also chopped lotus root in it, which dilutes the greasiness of the meat. The taste is quite good.
"It's delicious, right?" Yin Xun said, "I can eat several baskets every time I come to his house. Why don't you try this dipping sauce?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Qingjiu dipped his tongue in the dipping sauce again. The sauce contained chili peppers, vinegar, and chopped green onions. It had a completely different taste, spicy and delicious with a rich meaty aroma, making it impossible to stop eating.
Lu Qingjiu narrowed his eyes in satisfaction and smiled: "How much can you eat by yourself?"
"Me?" Yin Xun said, "Three or four baskets are no problem...but if I eat too much, I won't be able to enjoy lunch."
"Oh." Lu Qingjiu picked up another one and was about to put it in his mouth, but he felt a pair of eyes lingering on his back. He turned his head in confusion and saw a man in white standing behind him, looking at him with burning eyes.
Lu Qingjiu was very familiar with the man's appearance. He was the man he met on the mountain road while taking a taxi that day.
"Hello... hello." Being stared at like that, Lu Qingjiu silently put down the chopsticks in his hand, "Hello..." He wanted to say something, but didn't know how to start.
Unexpectedly, while he was hesitating, the man had already walked up to him.
Yin Xun whispered, "Who is this?" The man was handsome, with slightly drooping eyes and a lazy look. His thin lips were pursed into an arc, and all his attention seemed to be on Lu Qingjiu... No, not on Lu Qingjiu. After repeated confirmation, Yin Xun realized that the man seemed to be staring at the steamed dumplings in front of Lu Qingjiu.
Lu Qingjiu: “…” He also discovered the man’s goal, so after hesitating for a moment, he politely asked, “Do you want to eat?”
The man glanced at Lu Qingjiu and nodded decisively.
Lu Qingjiu quickly ordered two more baskets of dumplings. The man didn't even use chopsticks. He just reached out and picked up one and put it into his mouth. Lu Qingjiu wanted to remind him that the dumplings were a little hot, but looking at his expression, he seemed to be completely unaffected. He ate one after another without stopping for a moment.
Lu Qingjiu asked quietly, "Is it delicious?"
The man paused and nodded.
Lu Qingjiu: "Do you want more?"
The man nodded again.
Lu Qingjiu ordered two more baskets. Although he didn't know who the man was, he had a vague feeling that it was the man in front of him who saved his life that night.
One basket, two baskets, three baskets... The steamers in front of him were stacked higher and higher, and Yin Xun's eyes were getting wider and wider.
"Fuck, he's already eaten twenty cages." Yin Xun said horrified.
Lu Qingjiu forced himself to remain calm: "It's okay, he won't get sick."
Yin Xun: "Is this a problem of being stretched to pieces..."
Lu Qingjiu: “What’s the problem?”
Yin Xun: "Do you have enough money on you..."
Lu Qingjiu: "Is that enough...?"
Here, a basket of eight dumplings costs twelve yuan. The man in white has eaten almost twenty baskets. Lu Qingjiu suspects that he can have another twenty baskets without any problem, so he can only touch his wallet to comfort himself that buying a life for more than four hundred yuan is worth it.
The man ate too much, and everyone around him looked at him in surprise. Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun were speechless looking at the tall steamer in front of them. Finally, when Lu Qingjiu asked the boss to bring five more steamers, the man waved his hand to indicate that he didn't need it.
"Are you full?" Lu Qingjiu said, "Don't worry, I can still afford this meal. Eat your fill before you leave."
"Are you full?" Hearing this, the man suddenly turned his head and stared at Lu Qingjiu seriously, "I haven't eaten a full meal in a long time."
Lu Qingjiu: “…”
The man asked, "Can you feed me enough?"
"Haha, I'll try." For some reason, being stared at by the man's black eyes, Lu Qingjiu broke out in a layer of sweat on his back. He didn't dare to refuse directly, so he could only express his thoughts in a more tactful way.
"Oh," the man said, "that's good."
Lu Qingjiu breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could completely relax, the man said, "My name is Bai Yuehu. I'll come find you." He reached out and tossed a small cloth bag onto the table. "Here's the deposit."
Lu Qingjiu was stunned, but in the brief moment he was stunned, the man had already stood up and disappeared into the crowd.
"What is this?" Yin Xun touched the pocket on the table with some curiosity. "What is this? It can't be money?"
Lu Qingjiu opened his pocket, and when he saw what was inside, his expression froze, and he didn't say anything for a long time.
Yin Xun noticed Lu Qingjiu's strange expression. He leaned over and saw what was in the black bag. He was stunned and asked, "What is this? A bug?"
Lu Qingjiu shook his head, but didn't explain what was in the bag. Instead, he sealed it shut. Perhaps others wouldn't recognize it, but Lu Qingjiu knew it clearly—it was a gecko's tail, still twitching slightly, as if it had just been cut off. What he had encountered last night was indeed not a dream.
Yin Xun muttered quietly beside him: "That guy said he wanted to come find you, was he kidding?"
Lu Qingjiu glanced at Yin Xun and said, "Is that so?"
After they said this, they looked at each other and saw a hint of worry in each other's eyes. They both had a bad premonition...
After the man left, Lu Qingjiu took his wallet and calmly paid the bill, then followed Yin Xun to pick some seeds for the family.
Lu Qingjiu's family has a total of eight acres of land, all of which have been rented out to others. This year, the lease period for two acres has expired, so Lu Qingjiu plans to grow some vegetables for his own consumption.
"Then what are you planting?" Yin Xun asked.
"Let's plant a little bit of everything." Lu Qingjiu had no experience in farming, so he decided to start with two mu of land to practice. "Corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other things we usually eat."
"Sure." Yin Xun asked as he picked out seeds for Lu Qingjiu. "You don't know anything at the beginning, so it's okay to practice first. Two acres of land is not a lot anyway."
Lu Qingjiu nodded, and the two of them selected some seeds of various kinds and asked the boss to pack them up and put them in their backpacks.
After selecting the seeds, Lu Qingjiu went to buy some daily necessities, such as pots and seasonings for the kitchen. Yin Xun also asked him to buy some screens to cover the windows, as the mosquitoes at night were very poisonous.
Lu Qingjiu said that he was not bitten by mosquitoes at all.
Yin Xun still didn't believe it. He'd thought it was just a coincidence before, but it had been a few days and Lu Qingjiu was still fine. That was truly bizarre. Who knew he couldn't find a single mosquito bite after searching Lu Qingjiu's arms? He could only say with resentment that these mosquitoes were like wild boars that wouldn't eat fine bran. They wouldn't bite Lu Qingjiu, who had smooth skin, but they were biting him...
Lu Qingjiu stood nearby and thought of the enormous gecko on his roof. Well, it seemed that mosquitoes were the main food of geckos.
After choosing what to choose, it’s almost time to go find Uncle Chen.
Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun carried their things to the place where piglets were sold next to the market. This place was a small livestock trading market. As soon as Lu Qingjiu entered, he saw a shop selling calves.
Yin Xun said, "Come this way. How many are you going to buy?"
"Two," Lu Qingjiu said, "One is too lonely."
Yin Xun paused for a moment after hearing this, looked at Lu Qingjiu, and said seriously: "I have something to remind you, when you buy a pig back, don't give it a name."
"I know that." Lu Qingjiu said, "Once you give it a name, you have an attachment to it. Didn't you name your pig Xiaohua when you were a child?"
"Yes." Yin Xun fell into reminiscence and said with emotion, "I loved Xiaohua so much back then. I would give it the tenderest pig grass every day."
Lu Qingjiu: "Yeah, in the end Xiaohua was killed by your father and you cried for the whole afternoon. Oh, by the way, how did they coax you back?"
Yin Xun: "I made a bowl of braised pork."
Lu Qingjiu: “…”
Yin Xun: "It smells so good."
Lu Qingjiu: “…” This is fine too.
As they were talking, they arrived at the place where they bought the piglets. They saw Uncle Chen already chatting with the owner of the piglet seller. Uncle Chen waved when he saw Lu Qingjiu and the others coming, calling out, "Come here! I picked out two for you!"
Lu Qingjiu walked over and saw two pink and tender piglets tied up next to Uncle Chen. The piglets were just born and still quite clean. They were pink and tender and lying on the ground, humming and looking very cute.
Yin Xun looked at the piglet and said, "So tender..."
Lu Qingjiu: "...Do you remember Xiaohua?"
Yin Xun: "Don't talk about the sad past anymore."
Lu Qingjiu thought to himself, that’s not what you said when you ate braised pork.
"These piglets are of good quality," Uncle Chen said. "We raise a small number of pigs, so we don't have to be so picky. Are you going to eat them yourself or sell them for meat?"
"Eat it yourself." Lu Qingjiu said.
"Oh, that's fine." Uncle Chen nodded.
The standards for raising pigs are strict now. If the number exceeds a certain level, a breeding license must be obtained. However, in a remote place like Shuifu Village, there are no such strict regulations, especially for people like Lu Qingjiu who raise pigs for their own consumption.
Lu Qingjiu was very satisfied with the pig that Uncle Chen picked. When he took out his wallet to pay and leave, he heard a shrill pig cry from the side. The cry was so shrill and piercing that it attracted everyone's attention.
"What's that?" Uncle Chen asked in confusion, "Boss, did you get some wild boar?"
The pig seller shook his head and said, "I didn't get it. I just found it by the roadside a few days ago. It looked like it had been hit by a car and was unconscious. It wouldn't eat anything I fed it, and it looked like it wouldn't live much longer, so I decided to just bring it here and sell it."
"Wild boar?" Lu Qingjiu became interested and asked, "Can I take a look?" He had never seen a real wild boar before.
The boss waved his hand and signaled Lu Qingjiu to help himself.
The few of them walked a few steps towards where the pigs were squealing, and saw two small black balls of flesh huddled in the corner of the fence. The slightly larger one was making a miserable cry. Lu Qingjiu met its gaze and discovered that its small eyes were filled with sad tears.
"Is it crying?" Lu Qingjiu didn't expect that a pig could be so smart.
"Is that so?" Yin Xun said, "But is this thing a wild boar? How come it has fangs at such a young age?" Normally, fangs develop slowly and it is impossible for them to be there at birth.
"Yeah, this pig looks a little weird, maybe it's a mutation," the boss said, not taking it seriously. "And there's a male and a female, and the female has fangs."
The two little meat balls had been huddled in the corner, but now they seemed to have understood their conversation and began to look over here. The sounds they made became quieter. He didn't know if it was Lu Qingjiu's illusion, but he actually heard a hint of flattery in their voices.
"Boss, what are you going to do with these two pigs?" Lu Qingjiu asked.
The boss said, "They won't eat. If we can't sell them, we just kill them and eat the meat."
Lu Qingjiu said, “How much meat can it have when it’s so small?”
The boss asked, "Why, do you want to buy it?"
Lu Qingjiu said, "Look at these two pitiful things, I want to ask if I can add a little money, and you can sell these two to me together."
The boss was a little hesitant.
Uncle Chen chimed in, "Old Xu, this pig doesn't have much meat to begin with, and it looks sickly. I'm worried about eating it. We might as well sell it cheap and see if we can keep it alive."
After being persuaded by the old customer, the boss relented and agreed to sell the two black piglets together to Lu Qingjiu at a lower price. Lu Qingjiu paid the money, took the black piglet out of the pen, and put it into Uncle Chen's truck with the other two piglets.
The two black meat balls seemed to be very disgusted with the other two piglets, and were unwilling to get close to their own kind. Lu Qingjiu sat nearby and watched the little movements of the two. Reluctantly, he reached out and gently pulled the ear of the smaller one, saying, "We are all the same kind, why are you still disgusted with each other?"
The smaller one hummed twice and actually shed tears, looking extremely aggrieved.
Seeing this, the big one snorted fiercely at Lu Qingjiu. However, even if it was too fierce, it would still be that fierce. Lu Qingjiu reached out and flicked its forehead, saying, "You're still rude to me? But I rescued you two from there. I'm your savior, and you treat your savior like this?"
Seeing this, Yin Xun laughed heartily: "Jiu'er, what are you saying to pigs? Do you think they can understand?"
Before he could finish his words, he saw the big black piglet bend its front legs and bow to Lu Qingjiu.
Yin Xun's smile froze: "Fuck, is this pig a spirit??"
Lu Qingjiu: “…It seems so.”
Yin Xun: "Then... this pig spirit..."
Lu Qingjiu: “?”
Yin Xun: "Is it delicious?"
Lu Qingjiu: “…” To be honest, Xiaohua’s death back then was not unjust.
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