Chapter 109 Chapter 109

Li Zhaodi stared at the scarecrow. She didn't know if it was an illusion, but the scarecrow, which was tied to the wood, suddenly tilted its head, scaring Li Zhaodi so much that her pen fell on the table.

She rubbed her eyes and stared at the scarecrow again. The scarecrow was motionless again, as if it were a real dead object.

She heard her younger brother Li Youfu crying in the yard. She didn't have the heart to do her homework anymore, so she put down her pen and walked into the yard. She saw the boy sitting on the steps crying heartbreakingly.

"What's wrong?"

"It hurts so much." Li Youfu cried loudly.

Li Zhaodi walked forward and helped her brother up. She glanced at the ball that had rolled to the side of the stairs and roughly understood what had happened.

He must have not paid attention to his feet while playing ball and tripped and fell on the stairs.

"Okay, don't cry, it's okay." Li Zhaodi wiped her brother's tears, "Does it still hurt?"

Youfu cried so much that snot bubbles came out of his nose, which mixed with his tears and became a dirty ball.

Li Zhaodi wiped her brother's face in a good-tempered manner: "Go wash your face, I'll cut an apple for you, don't cry anymore, understand?"

When he heard there was food, Youfu's eyes lit up immediately. He forgot the pain and stood up with a grin.

"Also, don't destroy Second Sister's things again, understand?"

Li Youfu pouted: "I didn't break it, I just wanted to take a look, but she wouldn't give it to me."

"You can't steal it even if you don't give it to me. My second sister will be sad if you damage it."

"She's not sad, she even wants to beat me up!!" Li Youfu stomped his feet.

"Did she hit you?"

"I told my mother to tell her, and she ran away." Li Youfu seemed very proud. "She doesn't dare to hit me, my mother will scold her."

Li Zhaodi patted her brother's head and said, "Anyway, don't do that anymore."

Li Youfu said "oh" and turned to go into the house, but was stopped by Li Zhaodi again: "Youfu, was the scarecrow in the rice field across the street there before?"

The boy turned his head blankly to look at the rice field outside the door, saw the scarecrow opposite, tilted his stupid little head to think about it, and nodded heavily: "Yes!" His tone was full of determination.

Facts have proven that one should not trust the memory and judgment of an eight-year-old child. At least for Li Youfu, it is amazing to be able to remember what he ate yesterday.

However, Li Zhaodi believed her brother's words, thinking that she was too focused on reading and doing exercises and ignored the changes in the world around her.

In the evening, my parents came back.

Children from remote areas have to grow up early. When they return home, Li Zhaodi has already prepared a meal. It's nothing special, just a pot of porridge, stir-fried vegetables and bean sprouts, and some pickled radishes.

But today there were two boiled eggs. Li Zhaodi and Li Pandi shared one, and the remaining one was for Li Youfu.

During the meal, everyone was silent. The parents were tired after a long day of work. Li Zhaodi was thinking about a difficult question she had done in the afternoon, Li Youfu was burying his head in the bowl and slurping his food, but Li Pandi was the only one who looked at this and that, pouting and looking unhappy.

The chopsticks kept poking the rice in the bowl.

Li Zhaodi noticed her little movement and said, "Eat it quickly, or it will get cold soon."

Li Youfu raised his head from the bowl, with a grain of rice still on his nose, and looked at Li Pandi. Seeing that she hadn't eaten half of the egg yet, he immediately reached out to take it: "You don't want to eat eggs? Then I'll eat it!"

After saying that, he swallowed half of the egg in one gulp, smacking his lips. Li Pandi was stunned, and then tears began to roll in her eyes. She looked at her mother and said, "Mom, he stole my food again!!"

The mother didn't even raise her head: "Eat it, half an egg. I'll give you another half tomorrow."

Li Pandi stared at Li Youfu with her eyes wide open. It just so happened that her brother had quarreled with Li Pandi today, and seeing that she was also angry, he pouted and glared at her.

Finally, Li Pandi couldn't bear it anymore and put down her chopsticks with a snap: "You are all biased, I don't want to eat anymore!!" After that, she turned around and ran out of the room.

Her father frowned and raised his head. Li Zhaodi immediately said, "I'll go find her right away."

"Sit down." The father said coldly, "Finish your meal first and don't get used to her bad habits."

Li Zhaodi wanted to get up, but seeing that her father was in a bad mood, she slowly sat down again.

Anyway, the village is not that big and everyone in the village knows each other. Although it is a little dark, there are no wild wolves or anything, so we can still rest assured about safety.

Even though she was thinking this, Li Zhaodi still ate faster.

Eight-year-old Li Youfu didn't think anything of it. He lowered his head and continued eating, his eyes constantly glancing at Li Zhaodi's half egg. In the past, his elder sister always gave him the food he wanted, but this time Li Zhaodi shook her head.

She planned to keep this half egg for Li Pandi.

On the other side, Li Pandi ran out of the house in a rage, but didn't know where to go, so she wandered along the path with her head down, kicking the stones under her feet from time to time and sobbing softly.

"Hello." The boy's voice rang out, startling Li Pandi. She turned her head and saw a boy standing beside the rice field.

Because it was dark and there were no street lights in the countryside, Li Pandi couldn't see the boy's face. She could only vaguely judge that he was about the same age as her based on his height.

Li Pandi looked at the other person, comparing this boy's age with other boys in the village, and found that they were not similar, so she asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Qin Xiaocao."

Hardly had he uttered these words when the Scarecrow Boy heard a low, muffled laugh coming from the tree, and he nearly threw the sickle hidden behind him at it.

“I’ve never heard of that name.”

"I just came here yesterday to visit relatives." Qin Xiaocao said, "Are you sad? If you have any unhappy things, you can talk to me."

"I don't know you."

"Now we can get to know each other."

Li Pandi curled her lips. Normally she wouldn't want to talk to such a strange boy, but now, she really wanted to find someone to talk to. If that person was the same age as her, maybe he could understand her thoughts.

Thinking of this, Li Pandi walked down the path, climbed over the ridge and came to the boy. When she approached him, she found that he was wearing very old clothes and a tattered straw hat, but his face was still hidden in the shadows and could not be seen clearly.

But it doesn't matter, she just wants someone to vent with her when she is feeling depressed.

"You don't look like you're from a wealthy family." Li Pandi sat on the edge of the field, "But you're a boy, and boys are great."

The straw boy sat down next to her. "Where is good?"

"Boys have privileges. In the eyes of their parents, they are better than girls." Li Pandi said, "My name is Li Pandi. You can tell from the name that my parents always wanted a younger brother. Well, they got one. Li Youfu, what a blessed name."

Qin Xiaocao: "Are you not treated well at home?"

"It's so bad! My younger brother chooses food first. He asks for clothes first. He plays with toys first. I won't touch anything he doesn't give me, but he can just take my things!" Li Pandi grabbed a yellow rice leaf and twisted it in her hand. "The straw grasshopper I asked Brother Cai for was destroyed by him. It was given to me by Brother Cai, and it belongs to me. Why? They all said they should give in to my younger brother because he is younger than me. Why? He is unreasonable. It's not my fault, but everyone blames me."

"He broke my things more than once. He broke my pencil case and tore up my new notebook. I told my mom that I wanted to buy a new one, but she told me it was sold out. Others were writing in new notebooks, but I was using my old notebook, erasing the old words with an eraser and then writing again."

"He was the first to start the fight, but everyone blamed me first." Li Pandi said, and then she started crying, wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "He also said that he had no money, so all my clothes had to be altered from my sister's. Why can he wear new clothes? I only have two pairs of shoes a year, but he has three pairs in one summer."

"It would be great if I didn't have this younger brother." said Li Pandi.

"It would be nice if he wasn't around, is that what you think?" Qin Xiaocao asked in a low voice.

Li Pandi did not notice the danger in the other party's words, she nodded heavily.

"So, if I could make him disappear, would you thank me?"

Li Pandi finally realized something was wrong and turned to look at Qin Xiaocao.

Qin Xiaocao's face was very close to Li Pandi at this time. Li Pandi finally saw the boy's face clearly. He had very delicate features and was a little handsome. But soon, Li Pandi noticed something was wrong. Why did the boy's skin look a little rough? Even had strange textures?

It looks like traces of straw weaving...

Qin Xiaocao smiled and stood up: "Then let him disappear."

"This is your wish, Li Pandi."

The straw boy disappeared out of thin air, and Li Pandi was the only one left sitting on the ridge of the field. She finally felt a chill on her back and realized that the person who had just communicated with her might not be a human.

There are always some horror stories circulating among children, and the more backward the area is, the more likely it is that some strange legends will exist.

The elderly in the family often scare the children, saying that they will be eaten by monsters if they don’t obey.

Of course, Li Pandi, who was in junior high school, never took those words seriously. She thought they were just to scare children.

As a result, I encountered it for real today.

Li Pandi was so frightened that her face turned pale. She crawled away from the ridge of the field and ran home.

Li Zhaodi had just finished her meal and went out to look for her sister. As soon as she reached the door, she was bumped into by Li Pandi. Seeing her panic, she quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Li Pandyi pointed behind her in panic, unable to speak out of fear. It was pitch dark, and Li Zhaodi saw nothing in the direction she pointed.

"I didn't see anything. What happened?" Li Zhaodi asked again.

Li Pandi's lips trembled. Thinking of Qin Xiaocao's words "Let him disappear" and "This is your wish", she dared not say what she had just said. She looked into the room and saw Li Youfu finishing his meal, patting his belly and leaving the table. When he saw Li Pandi, he pinched his nose with his hands and turned his eyelids outward to make a face.

Li Pandi turned her head away in fear and anger: "Nothing..."

Li Zhaodi stopped asking and looked at her sister. Seeing that she had nothing but some mud on her body, she said, "Come in and have dinner. I left half an egg for you."

Li Pandyi's lips moved and she wanted to stubbornly say she didn't want to eat, but her stomach began to growl. She lowered her head and followed Li Zhaodi into the house.

Her parents and Youfu had finished eating, and she was the only one left. The food on the table began to get cold. Li Pandi sat back in her seat and started eating absentmindedly with chopsticks in hand.

The boy just now wouldn't really...

"Sister, before..."

Li Zhaodi was cleaning up the empty bowls from her parents and younger brother. When she heard her words, she looked at her in confusion.

"...Nothing." Li Pandi lowered her head again.

"Remember to do your homework after dinner." Li Zhaodi didn't take her sister's awkwardness to heart. She just thought that she was embarrassed about the unpleasantness at the dinner table before, so she instructed her as usual.

Li Pandi lowered her head even lower: "Yeah."