Chapter 66 My Good Son
At 9:30 PM, the team of superhumans gathered at the activity center of Fishery Village No. 3. Seeing the complete group, Chu Qiang was a little confused: "Wait...why are there so many people?"
He just wanted to disturb a beehive, did he really need the whole squad to come out?
Guan Shao looked Chu Qiang up and down with a serious expression: "Do you know how dangerous the world outside the base is? Even if you are a superhuman, you will encounter uncontrollable risks if you go out in the middle of the night. Without full preparation, going out is just suicide. Think things through before you do anything in the future, and don't just act on impulse."
It was rare for Guan Shao to say so many words at once. Although his tone was calm, Chu Qiang felt a chill run down his spine, as if Guan Shao wanted to punch him: "I understand."
Seeing Guan Shao turn around and get into the car, he couldn't help but complain to Wang Chenggang and the others, "Why do I feel like Guan Shao has a lot of temper?"
After gulping down a few mouthfuls of water, Wang Chenggang said, "Maybe the mutant goose is too nourishing. Let alone at this critical moment, I feel very hot right now."
Wang Ting agreed, "Yes, I feel that mutated geese are even more nourishing than mutton. If they could be raised on a large scale, wouldn't it be wonderful if every household could eat goose meat in winter?"
Chu Qiang hesitated, scratching his cheek. "Is...it?" He felt that Guan Tou'er's anger wasn't the same thing as what Gangzi and the others had said. Forget it, why dwell on this? The most important thing now is to get rid of the beehive.
*
On the way to Hongda Gas Station, Guan Shao skillfully gripped the steering wheel and looked ahead: "Back then, how long did it take you to clear the road to rescue Chu Qiang and the others?"
Jiang Rong thought for a moment and said, "Five or six hours..." Before he could finish, Jiang Rong suddenly realized something, blinked and smiled, "You already knew?"
He remembered the first time he and Guan Shao came to Jingyi Optoelectronics. When Guan Shao saw the pile of vehicles on the roadside, he said, "If I knew who cleared the road, I would definitely bring that person into the superhuman team." He greatly admired the person who cleared the road, saying that the person was meticulous and unassuming.
At the time, Jiang Rong was still wary of Guan Shao and didn't tell him that he was the one who cleared the road. He thought the matter was over, but he didn't expect Guan Shao to be waiting for him there.
Guan Shao smiled slightly, his eyes full of admiration: "My partner is really amazing." After a pause, he said slowly, "Xiao Rong, you can actually trust me a little more."
Jiang Rong paused, then couldn't help but laugh, "Okay, I'll trust you more in the future."
*
With the roads clear, the convoy sped up considerably. Forty minutes later, Jiang Rong and his group arrived at Hongda Gas Station once again.
As soon as he got out of the car, Chu Qiang exhaled a breath of stale air: "I, Chu Hansan, am back!"
He almost lost his life at that gas station before. There were no supplies or support, and his former teammates even stabbed him in the back. If Jiang Rong hadn't arrived in time, Chu Qiang wouldn't be alive today.
Leilei pulled Ruan Hanyu's hand and pointed to the houses near the gas station: "Sister Ruan, we were trapped in this house. We were really miserable, we were trapped here for seven days."
Back then, to avoid revealing that she was a superhuman, Leilei had to pretend to be oblivious. The weather was also incredibly hot; I don't know how they managed to endure it.
Jiang Rong looked around, his gaze finally settling on the streetlight in front of the house. Back then, he had used a thorny branch to lift the lynx, slammed it down a few times, and then hung it upside down on the streetlight before leaving with Chu Qiang and the others. He wondered if those people had put the lynx down.
Months later, the solar streetlights were no longer working. Through the night vision goggles, Jiang Rong saw two broken brambles hanging from the streetlights, indicating that the lynx had been rescued.
Seeing Chu Qiang still standing there reminiscing about the past, Jiang Rong reminded him, "It's getting late, let's finish this quickly. Qiangzi, where's that beehive you mentioned?"
Chu Qiang scratched his head sheepishly: "I don't know, I'll have to look for it some more."
He was only stung by a passing wasp and didn't notice the exact location of the hive. However, the fact that wasps were in the vicinity proves that the hive is very close.
As soon as Chu Qiang finished speaking, the members of the superpowered team felt their vision go black, wishing they could pin him down and beat him up.
Wasps are carnivorous and build their nests in the ground, in trees, and even in houses. When foraging, wasps will move within a ten-kilometer radius of their nest, meaning Jiang Rong and his team would have to search the entire ten-kilometer radius around the gas station to have any chance of finding the wasp nest.
The worst part is that it's nighttime now, the wasps are inactive, and everyone's vision is obstructed, making it difficult to find the nest.
After listening to Jiang Rong's explanation, Chu Qiang was completely dumbfounded: "Holy crap..." Could it be that he had made a wasted trip today? If that were the case, he would be in deep trouble.
Just then, Meng Weixian raised the display screen in his hand and shouted, "Found it!"
Chu Qiang was taken aback and quickly stepped forward: "Hey? Where did you find it?"
Meng Weixian pointed to the drone's control screen: "Isn't it said that wasps like to build nests in trees or in the ground? I thought I'd use the process of elimination to see if there were any beehives in the nearby trees. I didn't expect to find one so soon after I released it."
On the screen is a large tree, and in the tree's canopy is a huge oval-shaped honeycomb. According to the software's mapping, this honeycomb is over one meter in diameter and as tall as a person.
A dozen or so thick branches strung together inside the honeycomb made it look as if a large tree was supporting the honeycomb. A layer of wasps with slightly fluttering wings rested on the honeycomb. The wasps were nearly ten centimeters long, and their bodies under their bright wings were covered with black and yellow stripes.
Upon seeing the size of the wasp, Pan Pan's voice trembled: "So big..." It was the first time he had ever seen a wasp the size of a sparrow. If he were stung by such a wasp, he would be dead.
Meng Weixian pointed to the back of the gas station: "The honeycomb is located on a big tree 1,300 meters behind, 13 meters above the ground."
Even if an ordinary person saw such a large honeycomb, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. But those present were all people with superpowers, and a mere ten meters or so was a piece of cake for them.
After confirming the target location, Chu Qiang rubbed his hands together, eager to get started: "I'm going to show them what it's like to experience both extreme heat and cold! Old Jiang, fire the first shot! Then, Han Yu, block the entrance and exit of the hive. Let's wipe out this whole swarm!"
Jiang Jinhu's lips twitched, and he stepped forward helplessly: "Can you speak? Be careful I beat you." As he spoke, two balls of fire flashed in his palms.
Wasps are less active at night, and they've all gathered near their nests. After the supernatural fireball rose into the air, the wasps' wings were quickly burned away. The wingless wasps plummeted downwards with a crackling sound, but before they even hit the ground, they were caught by Little Darling, who was waiting below.
Thousands of wasps scrambled frantically across the web woven from the bloodthirsty vines, their abdomens trembling downwards as their sharp stingers pierced the outer bark of the vines.
The mutated wasp's stinger can pierce through cowhide, so it can easily pierce the little darling's skin as well. However, the little darling is not afraid of the bee venom at all, while the wasps are unable to pull out the stinger and can only stick to the vine and circle around in vain.
Upon seeing this, Chu Qiang broke out in a cold sweat: "My God..." Luckily, the superpowered team was all there today. If it were just him and Xiao Jiang, relying on the thin bee suit he had found, they would have been stung to death by wasps.
After the giant fireball rolled around the hive, the wasps on the shell fell off, revealing their dark red, waxy exoskeletons. The shells were covered with numerous raised whorls, giving them a bumpy and eerie appearance.
The fire outside the hive had just died down when Ruan Hanyu conjured a thick layer of ice crystals around it. The wasps that couldn't fly out were sealed inside the ice crystals, unable to escape the hive any longer.
After confirming that the beehive was completely sealed, the superhumans worked together to cut the branches and remove the enormous beehive from the tree canopy. Once the beehive was moved, the tree canopy grew even taller, demonstrating the beehive's immense weight.
Chu Qiang tapped on the ice crystals outside the honeycomb: "Well done, I wonder how many bee pupae are inside." The mutated wasp pupae must taste delicious, and he couldn't wait to cut open the honeycomb, pull out the pupae, and fry them.
Wang Ting reminded him, "Qiangzi, be careful when you're dissecting the bee pupae. There might still be mature wasps inside. Don't get stung."
Chu Qiang patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I know how!" He had stirred up a lot of hornet's nests when he was a kid, so he was already an expert at dealing with them.
Jiang Rong smiled and said, "You've avenged your great enemy, haven't you? Can you finally get a good night's sleep now?"
Chu Qiang proudly gave a thumbs up: "Absolutely! Brothers, pack up and get ready to go home. Thank you all for today. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll fry bee pupae for everyone."
*
Chu Qiang kept his word. The next afternoon around 4 PM, everyone received a message from Chu Qiang inviting them to his house for bee pupae. When Jiang Rong arrived, she found Chu Qiang and his group had locked themselves in a meeting room on the first floor.
In the corner of the conference room, there were several large glass bottles, each about half a person's height, filled with a clear liquor. In the clear liquor, there were black and yellow mutant wasps.
The beehive they brought back last night was placed on the round table in the conference room, and Chu Qiang was guarding it. He had blocked the entrance at the bottom of the beehive with a large glass bottle. As he gently tapped the outer shell of the beehive, black and yellow wasps began to emerge from it.
Whenever Chu Qiang collected a few wasps, he would quickly transfer them to another jar. Wang Chenggang then took the glass jar containing the wasps and inverted it into a glass bottle containing baijiu (Chinese liquor).
Jiang Rong exclaimed in surprise, "You even brought out mutated wasps to make medicinal wine?!" Chu Qiang is really audacious. Isn't he afraid that mutated wasps are highly poisonous?
Chu Qiang said nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? Wasp-infused wine can treat rheumatism; it's a good thing. Mutant wasps are definitely more effective than ordinary wasps. Just wait and see; when winter comes, my wine will definitely be very useful."
Jiang Rong shook her head helplessly: "Whatever, but remember to take it to the lab and have it tested before you drink it, so you don't poison yourself."
Chu Qiang replied, "Understood."
Seeing Jiang Rong enter, the two children ran joyfully in from outside the yard. They flanked Jiang Rong on either side, and Jiang Xiaoheng looked up at her with a sweet, soft voice and asked, "Daddy, Sister Leilei said we'll be able to see the chicks and ducklings soon, is that true?"
Jiang Hao's eyes sparkled as he held Jiang Rong's hand: "Hmm?"
Jiang Rong smiled and patted the two children's heads: "Yes, if all goes well, we'll see them soon."
Yesterday, some of the chickens, ducks, and geese brought back from the farm were brooding, and several hundred of the hatching eggs already showed embryos inside. I believe that the base will soon welcome its first batch of little lives.
Hearing Jiang Rong's affirmation, the two children cheered. Jiang Xiaoheng pleaded, "Dad, after the chicks and ducklings hatch, can you take me and my older brother to see them?"
Jiang Rong smiled and nodded: "Okay."
Seeing Jiang Xiaoheng come in, Chu Qiang quickly said, "Xiaoheng, Xiaohao, you two little guys go out and play first. Uncle can come in later when he's done with his work."
The mutated wasps are quite powerful; once they break through the hive's outer shell, the adult wasps will fly out. The rest of us are tough and shouldn't be a problem, but the children are still young, and we shouldn't frighten them.
Jiang Xiaoheng looked at the tabletop curiously; the honeycomb shape was strange, and he wanted to take a closer look. But after hearing Chu Qiang's words, he pulled Jiang Hao back two steps, "Let's go out first, okay? Uncle, work hard!"
The two children quietly closed the door. Through the door, Jiang Xiaoheng's soft voice could be heard: "Big brother, let's go a little further away, so as not to disturb Dad and the uncles and sisters' work, okay?" Jiang Hao responded twice: "Okay!"
Ruan Hanyu held her heart with gentle eyes: "Xiao Heng and Xiao Hao are so well-behaved~" She didn't actually like children. She thought they were too noisy and unreasonable. She had lost countless drawings to naughty children.
Until she saw Jiang Rong's son, Xiao Heng, the two little ones were adorable and well-behaved. When they called her "sister" in their sweet voices, she was willing to give them her heart.
Hearing someone praise his child, Jiang Rong's expression softened with pride. The old saying is true: every child is their own, and his two children were indeed outstanding.
After Chu Qiang continuously tapped the beehive for several minutes, no more live wasps crawled out. He stood up and stretched his limbs: "I'm going to break open the shell, everyone get ready."
Hu Hechu quickly enveloped everyone in a soft light, while Jiang Rong, who was closest to the door, locked it from the inside to prevent anyone from accidentally entering and getting stung.
Chu Qiang took a deep breath and punched the beehive. The sturdy outer shell shattered, revealing its layered internal structure. A small gasp of amazement rippled through the crowd: "Wow! This is like a castle within a beehive!"
The honeycomb has ten layers inside, the smallest of which is as big as a bamboo basket when opened. The round, disc-shaped honeycomb is upside down, and several wasps are crawling back and forth on it, their antennae waving.
After dealing with the live wasps, the group disassembled the huge honeycomb layer by layer, revealing its specific structure.
The hexagonal honeycomb was crowded together, with plump, white larvae wriggling inside. The larvae, which had not yet pupated, looked very much like maggots, and because of their large size, everyone could clearly see their opening and closing mouthparts.
Wang Chenggang wiped the goosebumps off his arms and comforted himself: "What's this? We've already eaten the grubs, why would we be afraid of maggots?!"
Chu Qiang said expressionlessly, "Let me correct you, it just looks like a maggot, but it's still a wasp, okay?" As he spoke, he pinched the head of a larva and pulled it out of the hive.
With a "pop," the wriggling larvae slithered on Chu Qiang's fingertips.
This bee pupa was even longer than Chu Qiang's palm. When it was placed in the stainless steel basin, everyone could see its internal organs wriggling beneath its slightly translucent skin. This visual impact far surpassed that of seeing the grubs.
Jiang Rong closed his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down a few times, and he muttered something under his breath.
Guan Shao focused his attention, and then heard Jiang Rong say in a low voice, "It's not scary, it's edible, it's edible..." Seeing Jiang Rong like this, Guan Shao finally understood why Jiang Xiaoheng would sometimes mutter to himself. Like father, like son! The corners of Guan Shao's lips couldn't help but turn up, and afraid that Jiang Rong would notice, he raised his hand and pressed his lips.
Not all honeycombs allow you to see the larvae directly; many are covered by a white membrane. You can see the emerging larvae by gently prying open the membrane with a small bamboo skewer.
Some larvae are just beginning to emerge from their larval stage, still retaining their larval form. Some are entirely milky white, yet the appearance of adult wasps is already visible. Other pupae have developed varying shades of black and yellow, with the darkest ones being almost indistinguishable from the adults. After the white membrane is lifted, they are able to crawl out on their own.
When he encountered these last type of bee larvae, Chu Qiang would mercilessly kill them and throw them into a bottle of liquor. After searching around, Chu Qiang found a beehive with the most white membrane. He handed the beehive to Jiang Rong: "Here, this one has fewer larvae. Be careful when you pick it out, don't get stung."
This wasn't Jiang Rong's first time selecting bee pupae. He took the bamboo skewer and the pupae and sat down. Guan Shao asked with concern, "Should I do it?"
Jiang Rong waved his hand: "It's okay, this is alright." He had eaten bee pupae before and had a pretty good impression of them.
Everyone sat around the table, picking out bee pupae with small bamboo skewers. It was a rare moment of leisure, and everyone chatted and laughed, in a very good mood. The bee pupae were white, tender, and large, and in no time, a large basin was filled with them.
Chu Qiang impatiently picked up the basin containing bee pupae, "Brothers, you guys pick first, I'll ask these guys to go into the oil first, I'll be back in a bit!"
After Chu Qiang left, Jiang Rong locked the door again. The beehive he had chosen had many wasps that were about to emerge from their molts, and just now, several of the white membranes had been eaten away by the wasps' black mouthparts.
Just as Jiang Rong was killing the wasps one by one, there was a rapid knocking at the door, and Jiang Hao's anxious voice came through the door: "Ba...ba...ah ba..."
Jiang Rong was taken aback. "Is it Xiao Hao?"
Jiang Hao's voice grew louder, his childish voice breaking into a sob: "Bab, beep... my hand... is... all... done..."
Jiang Rong was startled and threw the beehive onto the table. Just as he was about to open the door, the lock clicked open. Jiang Hao's face turned pale outside, and large tears streamed down the child's round cheeks.
Jiang Hao's body trembled as he struggled to speak, "Damn, I've got a handball..."
Jiang Rong's heart tightened. Seeing Jiang Hao's condition, something must have happened to Xiao Heng. He couldn't panic, especially now. Jiang Rong bent down, picked up Jiang Hao, and ran quickly towards the courtyard gate: "Don't panic, don't be afraid. Did Xiao Hao hurt his hand? Take Dad to see him."
Jiang Hao pointed towards the activity center, his face streaked with tears: "Didi..."
Jiang Rong was frantic and tried to move even faster, but there was someone even faster than him. Wang Chenggang moved with lightning speed, and in the blink of an eye, he was carrying Jiang Xiaoheng from the direction of the activity center: "Jiang, don't panic, the child's arm isn't broken, it's just dislocated."
The kids were playing wildly when Jiang Xiaoheng tripped and fell, and now he can't move his arm. Seeing this, Jiang Hao turned pale with fright and rushed home to find Jiang Rong.
Compared to the terrified Jiang Hao, Jiang Xiaoheng was quite calm. He looked down at his right hand for a while, then looked up and said aggrievedly, "Dad, I can't move my hand again."
Jiang Rong breathed a sigh of relief: "It's okay, we can find a doctor to fix it and it will be fine, don't worry."
Jiang Xiaoheng nodded obediently: "Xiaoheng is not afraid."
At the beginning of last year, Jiang Xiaoheng fell in the nursery class and dislocated his arm. It was the first time this had happened, and both Jiang Rong and her child were terrified. Holding Jiang Xiaoheng, whose arm was immobile, Jiang Rong's mind was filled with thoughts of whether her child would be permanently disabled.
After taking her child to the hospital, Jiang Rong learned that the child's joints were not fully developed, making them prone to dislocation. This condition is common in children under five years old; after the child reaches five, their arm is less likely to dislocate.
Jiang Rong thought her child would need surgery after the dislocation, but the senior doctor at the children's hospital gently lifted Xiao Heng's hand, and his arm returned to normal.
Although the person who performed the joint repositioning on Jiang Xiaoheng wasn't a senior doctor, he was still an attending physician at the children's hospital. A soft popping sound was heard, and Jiang Xiaoheng's bones had returned to their original positions.
Jiang Xiaoheng was about to move when Jiang Rong pressed him down: "Xiaoheng, don't move around." This time, Jiang Xiaoheng dislocated his shoulder joint, and even after it was put back in place, he would need to have his arm bandaged and in a sling for three weeks to recover.
Jiang Xiaoheng was a little confused. "Dad, last time when I couldn't move my hand, the old man pressed it and I could move it again. Why do you still have to keep my neck in a sling this time? Did the doctor not press it properly? Uncle, do you want to press it again?"
Jiang Rong glanced at the doctor, who was both amused and exasperated, and thanked him. He then ruffled his son's soft hair and said, "This time the injury is more serious than the last one. Xiao Heng, you need to take good care of your body in the future. Look how scared you were of your older brother after you fell."
Jiang Xiaoheng looked up and saw Jiang Hao standing beside him, his eyes red-rimmed. Jiang Hao's eyes were filled with self-reproach. If he had watched over Xiaoheng more, would Xiaoheng have not fallen?
Jiang Hao asked in a low voice, "Does it hurt? Let me blow on it for you."
Jiang Xiaoheng flashed a big smile: "It doesn't hurt anymore! Don't worry, big brother!" After a pause, Jiang Xiaoheng discovered something amazing: "Big brother, you can talk now!"
Jiang Hao was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "Yes!"
Jiang Rong was stunned for a moment, then smiled with delight. He had treated Jiang Hao like an ordinary child all this time, and hadn't even realized he could speak. Coming to his senses, he remembered something: had Jiang Hao just called him "Dad"?
Jiang Rong looked up in surprise and met Guan Shao's eyes. Guan Shao smiled and nodded: "Congratulations."
Jiang Rong smiled and bent down to hug Jiang Hao: "Xiao Hao, thank you so much. If it weren't for you, Xiao Heng would have been in pain for a little longer."
Jiang Hao lowered his head, his smile shy. After shifting his body slightly, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Jiang Rong's neck. Xiao Heng had told him that his father was wonderful and that he was willing to share his father with him. He had already called out Jiang Rong and Guan Shao's names a thousand times in his heart; this time, he was determined to make them hear his voice.
Jiang Hao leaned close to Jiang Rong's ear and called out earnestly, "Dad!" This time his voice was clear; his father must have heard him!
Jiang Rong's heart skipped a beat, and immense joy swept over him. He couldn't help but hug and kiss Jiang Hao repeatedly, "Oh, my good son."
Author's Note:
Jiang Hao: Starting today, I'll protect Dad and my brother! [Opens arms]
Raise your hand if you were prone to joint dislocations as a child! Old Cat raised his hand first.
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