Chapter 126 Scared to Tears

Chapter 126: Scared to Tears

After naptime, Zai Zai, Niu Niu, and Ji Liangchuan were taken out to play by the Fu family children.

Su He didn’t stop them, just told them to be careful before staying home alone.

Looking at the two chickens in the backyard, Su He thought for a moment and decided to wait until Fu Tinghua returned on the weekend to kill them.

So, Zai Zai and Niu Niu now knew—every time Dad came home, there would be chicken to eat.

At dinnertime, only Zai Zai, Niu Niu, and Ji Liangchuan returned.

Zhuang Zhuang and the others knew better than to stay and went back to their own home, planning to meet Zai Zai and the others after dinner to catch swamp eels in the fields.

When Wu Yanhua heard that Su He had told the kids to go catch swamp eels, she didn’t say no, only reminding Da Ya and Zhuang Zhuang to take care of their younger siblings and stay safe.

Auntie Su was like magic—even Grandma didn’t say no when she suggested catching swamp eels.

These days, the fields were full of rice.

The kids could only look for swamp eels in ditches or along the edges of the fields.

Still, swamp eels were quite plentiful in this era. Not brave enough to bother others’ fields, they stayed in their own family’s fields.

Wu Yanhua kept an eye on the kids from afar, just watching quietly.

“There’s a super, super big swamp eel here! Can someone help me catch it?”

Niu Niu stood in the field, nervously staring at the slippery eel.

“Niu Niu, I’ll help you.” Ji Liangchuan, who wasn’t far from her, immediately walked over when he heard her.

Zai Zai wanted to help at first, but seeing Ji Liangchuan already on his way, he stayed where he was.

He saw another eel and wanted to catch the one in front of him.

Otherwise, if it got away, it’d be hard to find again.

“Where is it?” Ji Liangchuan asked.

“Here—ahhhh! Brother Chuan, it’s wriggling toward my feet! I’m scared!” Niu Niu yelped, backing away.

“Don’t be scared, I’ll grab it. It doesn’t bite.”

Ji Liangchuan crouched down and grabbed the eel’s tail.

But the eel was too slippery and soon slipped out of his hands.

Then, it wriggled right back toward Niu Niu again.

“Brother, I’m scared!” Niu Niu cried, trying to run toward Zai Zai.

Seeing this, Zai Zai immediately rushed over and grabbed the swamp eel’s body.

Ji Liangchuan also hurried over, and together, the two managed to catch the eel and dropped it in the bucket.

“Niu Niu, don’t be scared. Maybe you should wait for us on the ridge?” Ji Liangchuan offered.

“No! I’m not scared at all,” Niu Niu muttered stubbornly.

She lifted her foot and suddenly saw a long, black thing stuck to her leg.

Suddenly, piercing screams echoed across the field.

"Mamaaa!"

Wu Yanhua was spacing out not far away when she heard Niu Niu's cries. Startled, she immediately swept over toward Niu Niu.

"Mamaaa!" Niu Niu was completely freaked out, flailing her legs to shake off the thing while bawling her eyes out.

"Creepy-crawly, creepy-crawly~"

That black thing was so disgusting. Niu Niu had no idea what it was, but she just couldn’t get rid of it.

"Niu Niu, what’s wrong? Don’t be scared," Ji Liangchuan rushed over asking.

Zai Zai also came over. The two of them, being the closest to Niu Niu, bombarded her with questions.

"Niu Niu, what happened?" Zai Zai asked with a worried frown.

"Creepy-crawly, creepy-crawly." Niu Niu pointed at her leg, repeating "creepy-crawly, creepy-crawly" over and over.

She shuddered and didn't even have the courage to look at the bug a second time.

Zhuang Zhuang ran over at this point and asked, "[Grandma] What’s wrong with Niu Niu?"

Zai Zai and Ji Liangchuan were at a loss. They didn’t know what was wrong with Niu Niu either—she just kept saying "creepy-crawly," but they couldn’t see anything.

Both of them had grown up in the city and rarely spent time in the fields. They had never seen a leech before, so naturally, they didn’t recognize it.

Zhuang Zhuang, however, understood immediately.

"Niu Niu, don’t be scared. The creepy-crawly you’re talking about is probably a leech. It’s not scary," Zhuang Zhuang comforted her.

But Niu Niu was still terrified. That thing kept pulsing and squirming, stuck to her leg, and she couldn’t shake it off.

"Scared~" She could only repeat the words "creepy-crawly" and "scared," clearly scared stiff.

By then, Wu Yanhua had also reached Niu Niu. She swept up the still-crying girl and asked, "What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Tell [Grandma], where does it hurt?"

She didn’t often help Su He watch the kids, and if something happened now, it would be troublesome.

If Su He thought she wasn’t careful enough, she’d feel totally yuanwang (wronged).

Wu Yanhua could handle being misunderstood a little, but she didn’t want her relationship with her younger daughter-in-law to become strained again.

"Leg, creepy-crawly~" Niu Niu cried.

Wu Yanhua went silent.

She seemed to understand what was going on.

She lifted Niu Niu’s leg and saw—oh honey, just a little leech. Poor thing.

"It’s okay, let me get this leech off for you," Wu Yanhua reassured Niu Niu.

With that, she pinched and pulled at the leech clinging to Niu Niu’s leg.

The leech’s grip was incredibly strong. Wu Yanhua stretched it out, but still couldn’t pull it off.

Niu Niu, who witnessed the whole incident: .......

"Waaah!"

She cried even harder.

"I want Mommy~"

Wu Yanhua: .......

"There, there. No crying now. This thing just sucks a bit of blood, it's not scary at all."

Niu Niu: ......

"Nuh-uh! Not listening!"

Wu Yanhua tried again and finally yanked the leech off.

As soon as she pulled it off, she threw the leech far away, where it landed in another field.

"See? Grandma got the leech off and threw it far away," she comforted Niu Niu.

"Gramma, I'm scared." Only after seeing no leech on her leg did Niu Niu finally calm down.

"Shhh, nothing to be scared of." Wu Yanhua patted Niu Niu's back while comforting her.

"Grandma, is Niu Niu okay?"

Zai Zai and Ji Liangchuan, who had watched the whole scene, stood nearby as Wu Yanhua stretched the leech out long and threw it into another field.

"Eww! That thing... It's so tiny, why is it so disgusting?"

"It's fine, it's fine. This leech just sucks a bit of blood, nothing to be afraid of. When we do the planting, we get bit by leeches all day long and think nothing of it."

That just made it worse—after hearing this, Niu Niu wanted to go home even more.

"Grandma, I want to go home to Mommy," Niu Niu said.

Asking for Mommy already? Wu Yanhua wasn't happy, afraid Su He would think she couldn't handle her kid right.

"But the others aren't leaving yet. How 'bout Grandma holds you here while we wait for them? Or we can go over there to wait."

Wu Yanhua pointed to the spot where she'd been keeping an eye on the kids earlier.

Niu Niu thought about it, then nodded and followed Wu Yanhua to the side.

After this, she'd never dare to step into the fields again—that leech scared her for good.