Chinese New Year is the most anticipated time for children. The adults in the family would visit relatives and friends, or entertain guests at home with good food and wine. This allows children to eat tasty food that they usually don’t have access to. During this period, they don’t have any chores to do, so the children in the village would gather in groups and play together.
"Hey Xiao Bei, look! There’s a big bird’s nest up on that branch. Let’s go and take the eggs out. I bet there’s a lot of eggs in there!" Gou Dan rubbed his palms together in excitement.
Xiao Bei blinked and nodded, "Okay! But be careful, if you accidentally knock down the whole nest, all the eggs will be ruined."
"This small task is nothing for me! Let’s make a fire later, and we can grill the eggs!" Gou Dan said with a beaming smile, rolling up his sleeves and climbing up the tree.
Xiao Bei wasn’t as skilled at climbing trees as Gou Dan, who spent his entire day playing outside. Xiao Bei could only stand underneath the tree, worried that Gou Dan might fall.
The tree was thick and sturdy. Gou Dan climbed up swiftly, and when he reached the top, he carefully extended his arm towards the nest.
Xiao Bei was clearly excited, "Almost there! Almost there!"
Gou Dan gritted his teeth, reaching a little further. Just as his hand was about to touch the nest, they heard a "thump". The bird’s nest was knocked down, falling from the high treetop and smashing into pieces on the ground.
Xiao Bei widened his eyes at the sight of the ruined nest
He then burst out laughing, "Ahahaha."
Looking frustrated, Gou Dan glared at the kids who were laughing.
These kids were dressed exceptionally well. Their clothes were extravagant, indicating that they belonged to wealthy families. Among them, one familiar figure was laughing the most joyously.
Ji Xiaobao!
"Ji Xiaobao! Was this your doing?" Xiao Bei angrily asked.
Ji Xiaobao proudly waved the slingshot in his hand, "So what if it was? Are you scared of me?"
He did this on purpose, using his slingshot to knock down the nest when Gou Dan was almost in reach.
"You!" Gou Dan, filled with anger, wished he could rush at him and beat him up.
But then, a richly dressed young master stepped forward and arrogantly said, "Country bumpkins are indeed uncultured. Not only did you dare to touch the bird’s nest that I wanted, but you also dare to argue with me. Do you believe that I will tear your mouth apart?"
As he finished speaking, several servants came out and glared menacingly at Gou Dan and Xiao Bei.
It was clear that the kids Ji Xiaobao was playing with, were from wealthy families in the town. If it was just a fight between the kids, who would back down? However, they had grown-up servants to protect them, and so what could Xiao Bei and Gou Dan do against them?
With clenched teeth, they had no choice but to swallow their anger!
Only then did the group of bullies burst out laughing and move away, "I thought it would be boring to come to the countryside, but I didn’t expect to encounter such fun. It was so satisfying knocking down the bird’s nest!"
These spoilt bullies could only find pleasure in tormenting others.
As for Ji Xiaobao, following behind these bullies made him feel powerful.
Xiao Bei looked at the destroyed bird’s nest on the ground, feeling both angry and sad. When he returned home, he was in a bad mood.
On this day, Ji Xinhe was preparing to send out Chinese New Year gifts to Li Zheng’s family: "Li Zheng’s family have been quite helpful to us in the past, we should not skimp on their New Year gift. How about sending them a 5 kilo jar of canned oranges, some assorted pickles, and five kilos of flour, brother, what do you think?"
"Just do as you see fit." Ji Dong said with a laugh.
As they were talking, Xiao Bei returned home. He walked in with his head hung low and mumbled "I’m home," before going into his room.
Ji Xinhe looked surprised, turning to Ji Dong, "What’s happened to Xiao Bei? He was so excited when he left."
"He might have had an argument with Gou Dan. Kids these days...he’ll be alright in two or three days." Ji Dong replied.
But Ji Xinhe felt like there was more to it. Xiao Bei has the most pleasant temperament, and he always got along well with Gou Dan. They had never argued before. Putting aside what she was doing, she said "I’ll go check on him."
Ji Xinhe walked into Xiao Bei’s room and said with a smile, "Why are you looking so glum? Are you still hungry from not having enough to eat at lunch?"
Xiao Bei hung his head, "Xiao Bei is not hungry."
Ji Xinhe gently touched his head, "So what’s the problem? Did you have an argument with Gou Dan?"
"No..." Xiao Bei hesitated, didn’t tell the real reason. He didn’t want Ji Xinhe to feel upset as well.
In the past, whenever Ji Xiaobao bullied him, Ji Xinhe would cry and hug him every time she found out. Later, when he was bullied, he never said anything. He suffered alone and didn’t want his sister to feel upset too.
Ji Xinhe seemed to understand his thoughts and pretended to be angry, "Xiao Bei, you’re all grown up and want to hide everything from your sister. I’m truly heartbroken."
Xiao Bei quickly replied, "No, no that’s not it!"
"Then what’s the matter?" Ji Xinhe asked.
That’s when Xiao Bei, with a frown on his face, told her about what had happened.
"I’m not upset because the nest was ruined, it’s just that Ji Xiaobao, being backed by those young masters, bullied Gou Dan and me. He acted so arrogant and domineering and I was just so annoyed," Xioa Bei grumbled.
It wasn’t just that he was angry at Ji Xiaobao, he was angry at himself too. Why was he still so young, so helpless? If today he could fight off the grown-up servants that those young masters brought, he wouldn’t have had to suffer Ji Xiaobao’s humiliation. If he were stronger, he could protect himself and his sister.
Ji Xinhe frowned slightly. Now she remembered that Lady Ding looked down on the village kids and raised Ji Xiulan like a princess. Ji Xiaobao was always running after the rich kids from the town, regardless of whether they looked down on him or not.
Xiao Bei said with an upset tone, "Sister, I feel useless. If I could fight like you, I wouldn’t have had to swallow this."
Ji Xinhe laughed as she stroked Xiao Bei’s head, "You know, not every fight has to be physical to be won. Since you don’t know how to fight now, you should learn to use other methods to win."
Xiao Bei stared at Ji Xinhe blankly, "What methods?"
"By using your brain."
"Huh?"
"If they bully you again next time, you don’t need to argue with them directly. You just need to do this..." Ji Xinhe whispered with a smile.
Xiao Bei nodded as if a light bulb just went on in his head, "Hmm! Sister, you are indeed the most clever!"
——
Ever since Ji Xiaobao took advantage of the situation and gained prestige last time, he became increasingly overbearing. He brought the young masters to the village almost every day to play, and at the same time, found opportunities to bully the children in the village.
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