Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Before returning to the county town for work, Shen Guoqing made sure to tell his mother all about Shen Banyue's misdeeds. It was one thing for the little girl to run off with Shen Wenyi to see the commotion at the fire, but at the Fu house, she had been so audacious as to climb over the wall into the courtyard without waiting for the adults to act.

The other party was a knife-wielding thug. Thankfully, Shen Wenyi, as if possessed, performed exceptionally well and knocked the man down. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

As the saying goes, a young twig bent will stay bent when old. If this little girl isn't properly disciplined now, she'll be getting too big for her britches in no time.

Thus, Shen Banyue learned what it meant to "play now, pay later."

Wasn't she full of energy, nimble at climbing trees and scaling walls? Wang Guizhi made her follow Shen Dechang every day to work on the family's private plot.

School? No problem. She could go before and after school. Besides, the weather was getting cold, and winter break was just around the corner, so it wouldn't interfere at all.

What could Shen Banyue do? She had no choice but to go along with it.

The other children weren't punished, but they voluntarily helped Shen Banyue. So every afternoon after school, a group of kids would follow behind Shen Dechang, whooping and hollering as they ran toward the private plot—

It didn't look like a punishment; it seemed more like participating in some fun game.

Not just the children from the family, but other kids in the brigade, led by Shen Wendong and Zhao Xuehai, also came in small groups to "help."

It was a rare opportunity to help "Xiao Yue the Hero," and the children were overjoyed.

Before long, a strange sense of competition even emerged among the brigade's children: comparing who had "helped" more times, who had done more work while "helping"... As a result, the Shen family's private plot was often dotted with kids like scattered beans.

After tending the private plot, they naturally often picked fresh vegetables to take home. What gave the parents of these mischievous kids headaches was that the children not only helped pick the Shen family's vegetables, but they also took it a step further, picking things from their own family's private plots to give to the Shens.

With so many children, Shen Banyue often didn't know who had tossed the extra vegetables together, and Wang Guizhi naturally knew even less.

There was no choice but to preserve the extra vegetables by pickling them and then give each child two dried sweet potato strips as thanks. This led to even more children secretly tossing vegetables into her vegetable basket. Wang Guizhi didn't have enough sweet potato strips to distribute to the mischievous kids every day. Helpless, she could only cancel Shen Banyue's punishment.

The mischievous kids were crestfallen, but their parents breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Amidst such noisy commotion, the brigade primary school held its final exams.

The brigade school didn't have a mimeograph machine. The test papers were handwritten by the two teachers using carbon paper. Chinese and math were on the same paper. There weren't many questions, they were simple, and grading was lenient. Most children could pass, though a few got low scores or even goose eggs (meaning a zero).

Under the diligent tutoring of classmate Lin Mian, several children scored one hundred points. Even the "auditor" Xiao Dizi, because she correctly filled in "1+1=2" and wrote the crooked, disjointed characters for "Dizi" on the test paper, was, in her generosity, given a perfect score by Teacher Wang Lihua.

Shen Wendong also scored one hundred, while Zhao Xuehai got ninety.

Although Zhao Xuehai had the lowest score among the group, he wasn't sad at all. After getting his test paper, he giggled happily for a long time.

Because this was the first time since starting school that he had scored above ninety, and his mother, Comrade Jin Qiaohe, had said earlier that if he scored ninety or above on a test, she would reward him with one yuan in pocket money.

One yuan in this era could buy over a jin of pork. That was a significant sum even for adults, let alone for a child.

Shen Banyue suspected that Jin Qiaohe actually thought her son definitely couldn't score that high, so she had carelessly made that promise. When Zhao Xuehai went home waving his test paper, she'd probably regret not saying ten cents or one cent instead.

Anyway, Zhao Xuehai was now strutting around proudly: "Ninety points! I got ninety points! Zhao Jinshun only got fifty-five, hahaha, he failed!"

The village mainly consisted of two major surnames: Shen and Zhao, together accounting for about seventy percent of the entire village. The remaining twenty to thirty percent were other surnames, like Old Liu the pot mender, Wang Daniu the butcher, and Grandpa Song the carpenter, and such.

Those with the same surname were more or less related. Zhao Xuehai and Zhao Jinshun were too—distant relatives you'd need a long pole to reach. Plus, both their fathers worked in the brigade office, and the kids were around the same age, so they were inevitably compared.

Zhao Xuehai's grades hadn't been much better than Zhao Jinshun's before; they were brothers in misery floating around the passing line. This time, he suddenly scored ninety, so saying he shot up like a rocket wasn't an exaggeration. No wonder he was so pleased with himself.

Zhao Jinshun, who had been behind them, hearing Zhao Xuehai's words, scurried past them, glaring at Zhao Xuehai: "Hmph, my cousin said revolution isn't about rote learning. Test scores aren't important at all!"

He suddenly grinned mischievously: "Just you wait, you'll get what's coming to you soon!" With a wave of his hand, he dashed off with his motley crew, afraid Shen Banyue would catch up and give him a good beating.

His mother had said this wild girl had no upbringing, didn't know her own strength when hitting people, and shouldn't be provoked.

Shen Banyue watched thoughtfully as Zhao Jinshun ran away.

We'll get what's coming to us soon?

What kind of "good fruit"?

Persimmons hit by frost?

Thinking of bright red persimmons, Shen Banyue's mouth began to water. After a moment's thought, she said, "How about we go to the mountains tomorrow?"

It was now or never. Any later, and even if there were wild persimmons left, they'd probably have all fallen.

Since the Militia had gone into the mountains, there hadn't been many sightings of wild animals in the nearby hills, so the brigade no longer restricted people from going up the mountain. But recently, the kids had been wrapped up in the private plot, so they hadn't had a chance to go to the mountains.

Zhao Xuehai was the first to support: "Yeah! Let's go catch wild rabbits!"

Shen Wendong hesitated slightly: "Will Auntie Wang let us go?"

Lin Mian indicated this wasn't a problem: "We're on vacation, we don't have school. We won't stay home all the time. We can say we're going out to play, or to dig for bamboo shoots, or pick mushrooms."

Zhao Xuehai muttered, "Bamboo shoots are hard to dig in winter; we're not Xiao Zhuzi," but immediately burst out laughing again, winking at Lin Mian: "Bro, you usually act so serious, but you're a little devious too!"

Lin Mian looked at him coolly with a stern little face.

Shen Banyue was amused by his expression.

Xiao Jie and Little Stone naturally supported their friends' decision. Xiao Dizi also raised her little fist, saying in a milky voice: "Go mountains, catch little chickens, catch rabbits, slurp!"

After planning the next day's activity, they each went home.

Wang Guizhi was overjoyed to see them all scoring one hundred points. She made a fuss over each child in turn, then went into the kitchen, took the last piece of cured meat from the pickling jar, and decided to make cured meat with potatoes as a reward for the little ones that evening.

"Once we eat this, there won't be any left. The New Year's pig slaughter is still over a month away. How troublesome," Wang Guizhi muttered to herself, figuring out who to partner with to make some tofu tomorrow to add another dish for the kids.

Wang Guizhi's cooking skills were truly excellent. The aroma of the cured meat soon wafted through the courtyard. The group of children played while drinking in the savory aroma.

The sun set in the west, colorful clouds filled the sky, cooking smoke curled up from the small village—a scene of peace and tranquility. Until a moment when heart-wrenching wails pierced the quiet, kicking off the biannual "Got a Bad Grade, Get a Beating" event.

As dusk was about to fall, some children were getting beaten, some were eating meat, some were chasing their mothers to "collect debts"... A night of mixed fortunes quickly passed, and a new day arrived.

Since there was no school, Shen Banyue wanted to sleep until she woke up on her own, but Zhao Xuehai and Shen Wenyi showed up bright and early.

Zhao Xuehai complained to Wang Guizhi in the courtyard about his mother reneging on her promise. She had said she'd give him a one-yuan reward for scoring ninety, but in the end, she only gave him fifty cents, saying the other fifty cents was his share as the older brother given to his younger sister, and then she, as the mother, was keeping it for the sister.

Zhao Xuehai declared in anguish that adults were too cunning. Saying they were keeping it for the sister was just her keeping it for herself.

Wang Guizhi, never one to shy away from stirring the pot, gave Zhao Xuehai advice: next time something like this happens, have her hand the money over to the brigade leader right then and there. That way, he could have the brigade leader arbitrate later. Zhao Xuehai exclaimed it was a great idea.

With all Zhao Xuehai's jabbering, every child in the house was woken up. The boys soon ran out to chat with Zhao Xuehai. Xiao Jie and Little Stone showed off the cured meat with potatoes they had eaten last night—so delicious they each ate an extra half-bowl of mixed grain rice.

Shen Banyue sighed inwardly. I never should have told them yesterday about going to the mountains today. Ah.

Xiao Dizi gave her sleeve a tug: "Sister, go mountains, catch little chickens, catch rabbits." Then she showed a pleading smile.

Shen Banyue: "..."

So even you're thinking about it!

She sprang out of bed: "Let's go, let's go! Wash up, eat, and head out!" Then she turned to Little Flute and made a "shh" gesture, whispering, "Don't tell Grandma about going up the mountain!"

Little Flute blinked her big, round eyes, grinned, and nodded, extending her soft, white little finger to mimic the "shh" expression.

Shen Banyue smiled and gave her head a pat.

Her hair seemed to have gotten a lot longer. It was already thick, and now it looked even more tousled.

Shen Banyue took a wooden comb from her "treasure bag." This wasn't some piece of junk; it was a gift from the grandmother of Little Potato and Little Pumpkin, the two children she had saved earlier. Their family lived next door to Carpenter Grandpa Song, who had made the comb.

The comb was polished smooth and shiny, engraved with patterns of the moon and clouds. Shen Banyue absolutely loved it.

However, even with a good tool, her disastrous hair-styling skills remained unchanged. Soon, Little Flute sported a messy little bun on her head, followed by Shen Banyue creating an almost identical one for herself.

After combing their hair, Shen Banyue led Little Flute outside to check their reflection in the mirror hanging under the eaves. Two girls, one tall and one short, were reflected in the mirror, both looking perfectly satisfied with themselves—

Ever since he noticed these two girls loved looking in the mirror, Shen Guoqing had found a fragment of a mirror and nailed it low on the wall, just for them.

Wang Guizhi watched this scene, her lips twitching. She couldn't figure out what was up with these two little girls. Clearly, their hair was a mess every day, yet whenever they looked in the mirror, they wore expressions as if they were all dolled up.

But they were just kids. As long as they were happy, Wang Guizhi naturally wouldn't interfere.

After breakfast, the children went to the storage room next to the kitchen to fetch baskets, sickles, and small hoes. Seeing this, Wang Guizhi asked, "What are you all planning to do?"

Lin Mian said very seriously, "We don't have much else to do during the break. Before it snows, we thought we'd go dig up some more wild vegetables and bamboo shoots, and pick some mushrooms."

Wang Guizhi chuckled. A few days ago, when Shen Guoqing came home, she had discussed the same idea with him—gathering more firewood before the snow fell. She hadn't expected this kid not only to take it to heart but also to apply it differently, planning to stock up on wild vegetables and mushrooms.

She waved her hand. "Alright, go ahead then. But don't bother with bamboo shoots. Winter bamboo shoots are hard to dig; you might not find any and just waste your effort."

Zhao Xuehai winked at the other boys. Wang Guizhi glanced at him and said, "Wendong, Xuehai, you two are the older brothers. Keep an eye on them. Just dig in the usual spots everyone goes to; don't wander off too far."

Shen Wendong blinked guiltily, while Zhao Xuehai thumped his chest loudly, promising readily, "Don't you worry one bit! We promise to be careful and definitely won't go to any dangerous places."

With that, he waved his hand and shouted, "Brothers—uh, and sisters—charge!"

A group of children scampered out joyfully.

Shen Banyue glanced back at Wang Guizhi, who was beaming, thinking to herself that Granny Wang was being a bit too trusting. She hadn't noticed that while Zhao Xuehai made his declaration, he never actually promised not to go far.

—

Since all the kids were on holiday, they kept running into small groups of children heading toward the foot of the mountain along the way.

There had been intermittent rain recently, so the vegetables in everyone's private plots were growing well, which should theoretically be enough to eat. But that's how it was in this era. People who had experienced hunger would try to stockpile as much food as possible even in good years, preparing for potential famine.

Besides, with the mischievous kids at home chasing chickens and dogs around, it was better for them to go up the mountain to dig wild vegetables and pick mushrooms instead.

Halfway there, Shen Banyue and the others ran into Shen Wenyi. With him was a tall, thin young man who always wore a bit of a smile on his face. Shen Banyue remembered his name was Zhao Hui.

Seeing these two, Zhao Xuehai's eyes darted, and he immediately put on a surprised expression: "Hey, Brother Hui, Brother Wenyi, you're going up the mountain too?"

Shen Wenyi tapped his head and laughed, "You little rascal, don't you start any mischief. We're here to go up the mountain with you."

Zhao Hui also smiled, ruffling Zhao Xuehai's hair, and said, "Don't worry, I promise I won't tell your dad."

Zhao Xuehai: "..."

That didn't sound reassuring at all.

Zhao Hui looked at the large and small group of children, his lips twitching. "Shen Wenyi, you really do spend all your time hanging out with kids. You said there would be kids, but you didn't say there would be *this* many kids! Just the two of us, with so many children—how are we supposed to keep an eye on them all?"

He pointed at Little Flute. "And there's one this small!"

Little Flute blinked her big, clear black-and-white eyes and protested in a milky voice, "Little Flute is grown up! Little Flute is good! Little Flute wants to go up the mountain!" Puffing out her cheeks in indignation.

Zhao Hui: "..."

Shen Wenyi immediately started coaxing her skillfully: "Yes, yes, yes, our Little Flute is grown up, almost another year older. Such a good Little Flute should definitely go up the mountain."

Then he nudged Zhao Hui with his elbow and whispered, "These kids can take care of themselves. Stop yapping. Little Flute has Xiao Yue; you don't need to worry."

Zhao Hui sighed. "Alright, I'm already on this pirate ship with you, what else can I do? It's fine. Let's not go too deep anyway. We'll just look around nearby and gather some firewood and pick mushrooms." Hoping for any other kind of harvest was definitely out of the question.

The group first went to the hillside area commonly visited by commune members. The younger ones took baskets to look for mushrooms together. Shen Wendong and Lin Mian exchanged a glance and volunteered to stay behind to watch the younger siblings. The remaining Shen Banyue and Zhao Xuehai followed the two adults further in.

Seeing the younger kids not crying, making a fuss, or demanding to come along, Zhao Hui was somewhat surprised. "These kids really are quite well-behaved, huh? No wonder..." He glanced at Shen Banyue and swallowed the rest of his sentence.

Shen Banyue wasn't interested in what he had swallowed. She pointed in a direction and said to Shen Wenyi, "Let's go over there. I remember there are two wild persimmon trees there."

Shen Wenyi found it strange. "You remember? When did you remember that?"

They hadn't been up the mountain recently.

Shen Banyue looked at him and stated firmly, "That time we ran into the jackals. Just past the chestnut tree, there are two persimmon trees."

Shen Wenyi was amazed. "You still remember from that long ago?"

Shen Banyue thought he was stating the obvious and said expressionlessly, "Trees don't have feet; they're always there, aren't they?" Since they were always there, how could she not remember? If she couldn't even remember a little path like that, she probably wouldn't have survived many missions in her previous life.

Hearing about wild persimmon trees, Zhao Xuehai got excited. "Hey, Comrade Shen Wenyi, stop dawdling and being so wishy-washy! Following Xiao Yue the Hero is definitely the right move. Let's charge!"

Shen Wenyi scratched his head. "Alright, alright, let's hurry up. Fewer people go that way. If we can really find persimmon trees, there's bound to be fruit!"

Zhao Hui looked in that direction with half-belief and half-doubt. He had also participated in carrying the wild game that time; it was indeed in that direction. But could such a small child really remember the way after so long? Mountain paths were hard to recognize; he was a bit skeptical.

Over half an hour later, they found two wild persimmon trees laden with "little lanterns" behind a cluster of towering trees.

Zhao Hui: "..."

This kid really has something to her!

This season, the persimmon trees had shed all their leaves. Their bare branches were covered with fruit, looking particularly beautiful.

Zhao Xuehai cheered and ran over first. Shen Banyue followed at a leisurely pace. Shen Wenyi was also overjoyed and slapped Zhao Hui. "See? When your buddy calls you, he doesn't steer you wrong, right? Come on, come on! Persimmons left until now are the tastiest!"

Zhao Xuehai picked a persimmon, broke it open, and finished it in a few bites, his face smeared with juice. He sighed contentedly, "So sweet!"

Shen Banyue also broke open a persimmon. The fully ripe persimmon flesh was soft and delicately sweet—truly delicious.

Having found good fruit, she was satisfied.

These two trees weren't too tall. Most of the fruit was within reach for the two adults, Shen Wenyi and Zhao Hui. For the slightly higher ones, without the adults even saying anything, the two children swiftly scrambled up the trees and picked them.

Zhao Hui watched the two children climbing the trees as nimbly as monkeys, his mouth slightly agape in surprise. He couldn't help but ask Shen Wenyi, "Wait, are kids nowadays all this capable?" This made their own childhood seem a bit useless in comparison!

Before Shen Wenyi could reply, he negated his own statement. "No, that's not right. My nephews and nieces are all as dumb as pigs; they're not this capable!"

Shen Wenyi shot him a sidelong glance. "I'll tell your brother and sister when we get back."

Zhao Hui was speechless...

Was that really the point? The point was that these two kids were a little *too* agile, wasn't it? Especially that little girl—he watched her zip up to the treetop, her toes balancing on those slender branches. That wasn't just monkey-like; she was practically a little bird.

Shen Wenyi thought he was making a fuss over nothing. "Kids are light; of course they can climb higher without a problem. Besides, she's Xiao Yue the Hero, the Great Hero. She's no ordinary kid, is she?"

Zhao Hui nodded helplessly, thinking to himself, *I know she's not an ordinary kid, but I didn't expect her to be this extraordinary!*

He suddenly felt that his earlier skepticism toward these children had been really out of line.

Compared to this kid, not only did his nephews and nieces seem like fools, but he himself didn't seem much better either.

His expression shifted for a few seconds before Zhao Hui patted Shen Wenyi's shoulder. "Man, I finally understand why you hang out with these kids all the time. As the old saying goes, talent isn't measured by age!"

Shen Wenyi thought he was being ridiculous but reiterated, "Since I invited you along, shouldn't you thank me?"

Taking a big bite out of a persimmon, Zhao Hui said, "Absolutely! Thank you, thank you so much!" Just these persimmons alone were a great haul. His foolish nephews and nieces would be over the moon when he brought them back.

After stripping both persimmon trees bare, Shen Banyue pointed to a spot not far from the trees. "I thought I saw something over there when I was up in the tree."

It was a patch of weeds, not very tall, so it didn't seem dangerous.

Shen Wenyi widened his eyes. From here, it just looked like a patch of weeds, but he trusted Shen Banyue. This little girl had sharp eyes. At the movie, with that crowd, hadn't she spotted Zhu Juncai at a glance?

"Let's go check it out."

Both Shen Wenyi and Zhao Hui had brought large bamboo baskets. The persimmons filled nearly one basket, which Zhao Hui volunteered to carry.

As they approached, they discovered a pheasant nest hidden in the grass, lined with dry grass, feathers, and leaves, containing about twenty eggs.

Zhao Hui sucked in a sharp breath.

Shen Banyue glanced at him and whispered, "The nest is here, so the pheasants probably aren't far. Should we look around nearby?"

The others nodded.

The four split into two teams. Zhao Hui and Zhao Xuehai searched east, while Shen Banyue and Shen Wenyi headed west.

Asserting his status as an adult, Shen Wenyi took point. Seeing he was heading in the right direction, Shen Banyue didn't comment.

Seven or eight minutes later, they reached a weedy depression. Sunlight shone on the grass, and a flock of brightly colored pheasants were chasing and playing together.

Shen Wenyi, hiding behind some bushes, gaped. "..."

So many! A good seven or eight pheasants!

There were plenty, but how were they supposed to catch them?

He looked back at Shen Banyue. She whispered, her expression serious, "Let's just run over and grab them. With this many, we should be able to catch one or two, right?"

Perhaps the confidence from his previous beating up of that thug influenced him. After a moment's thought, Shen Wenyi decided Shen Banyue was right.

After all, they didn't have any tools. With so many pheasants, they should be able to catch at least one or two. They didn't need to wipe out the whole flock; one or two would suffice. The little girl had caught a pheasant bare-handed before; he could do it too.

Exchanging a glance, Shen Banyue silently counted "one, two, three." On three, Shen Wenyi darted out.

He was so intent on his dash that he failed to notice Shen Banyue hadn't moved. Instead, she held a handful of pebbles, which she threw at the pheasants from angles Shen Wenyi could hardly detect.

So, as Shen Wenyi charged out like a madman and frantically pounced on the pheasants, he found they weren't as agile as he'd imagined. Sensing someone approaching, they hopped but not very far. One or two flapped into the air, only to soon tumble back down, looking rather dazed.

With surprising ease, he caught five birds.

Two other pheasants, panicking, actually ran toward Shen Banyue's hiding spot. She effortlessly "picked them up" as they came.

Clutching the five still-struggling birds, Shen Wenyi wore an expression of disbelief. "What? Am I this good now?"

Shen Banyue: "..."

Holding a pheasant in each hand, she said gravely, "Maybe it's because the weather's cold, and the birds are a bit stiff and less agile. But, Brother Wenyi, you really are impressive. Look, I only caught two, but you caught a full five!"

This was inspired by Shen Wenyi's previous thug-beating. If she didn't want to expose herself, she could just let the person beside her be the "hero."

See? The pheasants were caught, Shen Wenyi was happy, and she hadn't exposed herself. A win-win all around.

Ten minutes later, they returned to where they'd found the eggs. Zhao Hui and Zhao Xuehai were also back. Having found nothing, the two of them gaped, mouths nearly wide enough to swallow goose eggs, at Shen Banyue and Shen Wenyi's "bountiful return."

"Th-that many pheasants?!" Zhao Hui's voice cracked with astonishment.

"Did you wipe out the whole flock?" Zhao Xuehai's eyes nearly popped out, then he quickly spotted the key point. "Brother Wenyi, you caught so many! Even more than Xiao Yue?!"

Having accepted his newfound prowess and feeling rather inflated, Shen Wenyi puffed out his chest. "Of course! How could I, an adult, be worse than a kid?"

Zhao Xuehai scoffed. "Yeah, right. If it weren't for Xiao Yue, would you have even found the pheasants? She definitely let you win. Xiao Yue, were these pheasants just too dumb, so you couldn't be bothered catching more?"

Shen Wenyi: "........"

Truth be told, he secretly felt the same way. These pheasants did seem a bit stupid. Of course, he must have become more capable too; otherwise, even if the pheasants were dumb, he wouldn't have caught them. After all, in the past twenty years, he'd never caught a pheasant.

After his shock subsided, Zhao Hui also joked with a smile, "I think the birds must have gotten dumber too. It's just that Little Hai and I didn't run into any, or we would've caught one or two as well."

Pausing, he asked curiously, "But, Shen Wenyi, weren't you carrying a bamboo basket? Why didn't you put the birds in it?"

Zhao Xuehai cackled a few times. "Why else? Definitely to show off! If he put them in the basket, who'd know he caught so many? If I caught pheasants, I'd hold them in my hands too, so everyone could see."

Shen Banyue asked meaningfully, "And then hand them over to the brigade headquarters?"

Zhao Xuehai's cackle died. Of course not. Handing them over meant the whole brigade would share, and he'd be lucky to get a piece of meat.

"Hurry, hurry, let's put the birds away. And these pheasant eggs, let's gather them all up."

Having caught so many pheasants, they figured there must be more than one nest of eggs. Sure enough, they later found two more nests.

Now, not only were Shen Wenyi and Zhao Hui's bamboo baskets full, but even Shen Banyue and Zhao Xuehai's baskets were packed.

They covered everything with some foraged wild vegetables before heading back.

Walking all the way to the hillside where the other kids were gathering mushrooms, Zhao Hui couldn't help but glance back at the path they'd descended, his expression still dazed with disbelief.

He'd grown up at the foot of these mountains, but aside from following the Militia up here, this was the first time he'd had such a bountiful harvest.

Thank goodness he'd had that brainwave and agreed to help Shen Wenyi watch the kids.

This trip up the mountain was a huge win!

"Shen Wenyi, from now on, I'll call you big brother!"

"Forget it. Calling me big brother won't get you an extra bird."

Author's Note: Pheasants: Weren't we promised you wouldn't wipe out the whole flock?