Accidentally-Born-C40

Chapter 40

Back home, Grandma Li had gotten used to seeing Zhen Zhen carrying a wild chicken in her hand. Instead, she circled around Ming Bei, who was shirtless. Ming Bei was holding a vest with mushrooms in each hand, his right hand clutching his dirty pants. He shivered under Grandma Li’s gaze: “Grandma, your stare is a bit scary.”

Grandma Li took a puff from her pipe and looked at Ming Bei with a meaningful glance: “Why did you change your pants?”

Ming Bei’s brow twitched, and he quickly smiled, saying, “I tripped and fell into a water pit on the mountain, luckily I found a pair of pants along the way, but they’re a bit big for me.”

Grandma Li glanced at Ming Bei’s pants, her eyes fixed on the dirty ones: “Why does it smell so stinky? Are you sure you didn’t wet yourself?”

Ming Bei’s face immediately turned red. Thankfully, his dark complexion made it less noticeable, but Grandma Li, who knew her grandson’s every move, could tell from his expression that she had guessed correctly. She burst out laughing. Ming Bei threw the mushrooms onto the ground, grabbed Grandma Li, and dragged her to a corner: “Grandma! Grandma! My dear grandma! We can’t mess with me like this!”

Grandma Li walked a few steps with him, and once they stood firm, she looked at Ming Bei with a teasing expression: “I’m not messing with you, I’m just speaking the truth. But you’re not a little kid anymore. You’ll be marrying a wife in a few years. How can you still wet your pants?”

Ming Bei was so anxious he almost jumped. Stretching his neck to make sure no one else had come out, he lowered his voice and pleaded: “Grandma, can we lower our voices?”

“Fine!” Grandma Li puffed her pipe, smiling happily at Ming Bei: “Then tell Grandma how you wet yourself.”

Ming Bei didn’t dare mention the tiger incident. He stammered, “I held in my pee, and when I was looking for a place to go, I almost stepped into a trap and got startled, and then I wet my pants.”

Grandma Li laughed loudly and slapped Ming Bei on the head: “Go wash your smelly pants. Don’t wait for everyone to find out.”

Ming Bei grinned, rubbed the back of his head, and went back inside. He found a basin to wash his clothes, soaked his pants, and asked Wang Sufen for a piece of soap. He sat in the yard washing his pants.

Zhen Zhen sat nearby, also with a basin, picking mushrooms. Seeing no one around, Ming Bei couldn’t help but lower his voice and say to Zhen Zhen, “Next time we go to see Da Huang, remember to call me.” Ming Bei looked around to make sure no one had come out, then asked Zhen Zhen quietly, “Does Da Huang have any little tiger cubs? I also want to tame a tiger like you.”

Raising wild beasts was the best way to tame them. In the past, some brave hunters tamed fierce tigers or wild animals, but generally, no one dared to take such risks. Now, Beicha didn’t have any specialized hunters. Most men carried hunting rifles and knives to the mountains for a trip. A girl like Zhen Zhen taming a tiger was unheard of.

Zhen Zhen tossed the mushroom roots onto the ground and tucked her stray hair behind her ears: “Da Huang doesn’t have any tiger cubs. It’s a male.”

Ming Bei sighed regretfully and couldn’t help but ask, “Then how did you save it? Did you really treat it like a cat?”

Zhen Zhen blinked, lowered her head, and continued with her work: “I saw it trapped by a rope net in a trap, so I freed it and gave it the wild chicken I had found. Later, when I went up the mountain, it would often come find me to play.”

“How come you’re so lucky?” Ming Bei asked, fully believing her without any doubt. “I heard people say that wild animals repay those who saved them. You’re really lucky to have had that encounter.”

Zhen Zhen washed the mushrooms several times and took them to the kitchen. Ming Bei finished washing his pants, then washed his vest, wandered into the vegetable garden, grabbed a tomato, and rinsed it with water. Just as he was about to take a bite, Zhen Zhen came out: “Brother, you’re pretty free, huh?”

“Huh?” Ming Bei took the tomato away from his mouth, confused, and looked at Zhen Zhen, hesitantly offering it to her: “Do you want some?”

Zhen Zhen glanced at him and turned to go into the storeroom. A few minutes later, she came out with a stack of summer homework and threw it into Ming Bei’s arms: “Grandma asked you to go to school and exchange your summer homework for second-year work. Didn’t you say you didn’t have any? What’s this?”

Ming Bei scratched his nose awkwardly, his gaze wandering: “Well, I already did the second-year homework last year.”

“Then you can do the third-year exercises,” Zhen Zhen said, washing her hands and snatching the tomato from Ming Bei’s hand. She washed it thoroughly, then took a bite, savoring the sweet and sour taste.

Ming Bei looked at his homework with distaste: “I don’t even know how to do the third-year ones. Can’t I just do it next year?”

“No way,” Zhen Zhen said, glaring at him. She quickly finished the tomato and grabbed Ming Bei, pulling him toward the house: “Hurry up and go write your homework. If you can’t get into high school next year, Da Huang’s going to bite you.”

Ming Bei was about to argue, but when he heard this, he almost collapsed: “Zhen Zhen, my dear sister, Da Huang’s not Li Mingzhong. One bite from it could kill me, right?”

“Then are you going to write it or not?” Zhen Zhen smiled sweetly at him.

Ming Bei shuddered and resigned himself, lowering his head as he went into the house: “Fine! Fine! Fine! I’ll do it! You’re the boss.”

With the weather hot, the mountains and fields were full of fresh vegetables. Wang Sufen didn’t want to cook too many hot dishes. Besides the stewed wild chicken mushroom soup, the other dishes were all various dipping vegetables, including cucumbers and tomatoes.

The food was ready, and Wang Sufen called everyone to eat. When she entered the east room, she was surprised to see Ming Bei sitting quietly at the window table, doing his homework.

“Wow, Ming Bei actually knows how to do homework,” Wang Sufen said with a laugh. “Did you get scolded by Grandma?”

“My grandma didn’t scold me. Now my sister’s even fiercer than her,” Ming Bei raised his head, looking at Wang Sufen with hopeful eyes. “Mom, is the food ready? Can we eat now?”

“It’s ready. Go eat,” Wang Sufen replied, calling Zhen Zhen. “You’ve already eaten two tomatoes. Are you still eating dinner? Hurry up and go to the west room. Didn’t you ask for mushroom chicken soup? It’s all ready. You and Meatball each get a chicken leg.”

“I don’t want the chicken leg. Let Grandma have it. Just give me the two wings,” Zhen Zhen said, hopping off the kang. Ming Bei tossed his pen and was about to run outside when Zhen Zhen, quick as a flash, grabbed him: “Where are you going?”

“To eat?” Ming Bei looked at Zhen Zhen in confusion. “Didn’t Mom call us to eat?”

“How many pages have you done?” Zhen Zhen went to the table and flipped through Ming Bei’s homework with a look of disdain. “You’ve only done half a page after all this time? Don’t even think about eating until you finish these two pages.”

“Why?” Ming Bei protested, rubbing his stomach with a pitiful look. “I’ve been hiking all afternoon, washing clothes, and doing homework. I’m starving.”

Zhen Zhen grinded her little white teeth: “You haven’t done anything useful all day. Hurry up and finish your homework before it gets dark, or…” She glanced at Wang Sufen, who was laughing nearby. “Or I’ll tell Mom about your pants.”

Ming Bei immediately slumped, dragging his feet as he sat down on the stool, holding his pen and staring outside: “Leave me some meat from that wild chicken. Don’t just leave me the soup. I can’t get full.”

Zhen Zhen patted Ming Bei’s shoulder: “Don’t worry. If you write your homework well, you won’t miss out on the meat.” She turned and dragged Wang Sufen away. “Mom, let’s hurry and eat. I can already smell the chicken soup.”

Ming Bei stretched his neck and watched as Zhen Zhen and Wang Sufen disappeared from view. He sighed and rubbed his belly, saying, “This isn’t a little sister, it’s practically an ancestor.”

“What did you say?” Zhen Zhen’s voice came from the room next door. Ming Bei shuddered and quickly responded sweetly, “I said my little sister is so good. I’ll definitely listen to her and hurry up to do my homework.”

Laughter immediately erupted from the room. Wang Sufen served a bowl of soup and handed it to Grandma Li, saying, “Ming Bei is always so mischievous, just like a monkey. Only his sister can manage him.”

“That’s for sure.” Grandma Li took a sip of soup, then picked up a chicken wing and placed it in Zhen Zhen’s bowl. “When Bao’er starts watching him do his homework tomorrow, just wait and see. Once he finishes his summer homework, he’ll be copying books. I don’t believe his grades won’t improve. This hydrolysis plant is such a good place, and they only hire a few people every year. Does he think it’s easy to get in?”

“Exactly.” Wang Sufen agreed, then told Zhen Zhen, “Once you see your brother finish his summer homework, I’ll give you some money to go to the hydrolysis plant and watch a movie.”

“Really?” Zhen Zhen’s eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly. “Don’t worry, mom, I’ll make sure my brother finishes his homework in three days.”

Although movies at this time were mostly old black-and-white films, for Zhen Zhen, who hadn’t seen television for five or six years, being able to watch a movie was already a great treat. She could even enjoy a silent film. With this motivation, Zhen Zhen felt even more determined to push Ming Bei to do his homework.

When Ming Bei first entered second year of middle school, his studies were fine, with Ming Nan watching over him. Although he had forgotten half the material after playing around for a year, flipping through the books brought some memories back. With much fumbling and effort, Ming Bei finally finished two pages of homework before nightfall. He handed the homework book to Zhen Zhen and didn’t even want to wash his hands. He grabbed the cooled chicken soup and gulped down half a bowl.

Zhen Zhen sat beside him, smiling and constantly picking meat for Ming Bei. “Brother, eat more.”

Ming Bei, flattered, quickly replied, “No need to serve me, just eat it yourself.”

“You need to eat more. Doing homework uses a lot of brainpower.” Zhen Zhen even put a chicken head into Ming Bei’s bowl. “Eat to nourish your brain, take a bite of the chicken head.”

“…” Ming Bei stared at the chicken head, which had little meat, for a long time, clearly unwilling to eat it. “Actually, I think I’m pretty smart, so maybe I don’t need to replenish.”

“Fine, after dinner, you can write two more pages of homework, and I’ll see if you’re really that smart.” As soon as Zhen Zhen finished speaking, Ming Bei immediately took a bite of the chicken comb. “I think my sister’s right, I should still replenish.”

The chicken, which had been squatting by the window, looked at the braised chicken pieces below with disdain: …No integrity at all!

—

With the promise of watching a movie and Zhen Zhen watching over him, Ming Bei honestly finished all his summer homework. He then reviewed all his textbooks from start to finish. Finally, he managed to get fifty cents from Wang Sufen, feeling excited as he took Zhen Zhen to the hydrolysis plant to watch a movie.

Zhen Zhen had been to the hydrolysis plant many times before, but it was always to go with Wang Sufen and Guihua to the bathhouse. This would be her first time watching a movie there. Based on her previous experience with movies, Zhen Zhen fried the sunflower seeds (melon seeds) stored at home, then packed some cleaned tomatoes and cucumbers in a cloth bag, and finally brewed a pot of honey water. With everything ready, she felt prepared.

Ming Bei squatted by the door, watching Zhen Zhen prepare everything. Frustrated, he asked, “Little sister, don’t you have enough to eat at home? Why are you thinking about food while watching a movie?”

“You don’t understand. Watching a movie is more fun when you can eat and watch at the same time.” After packing everything up, Zhen Zhen handed the bag to Ming Bei. “Alright, let’s go.”

Ming Bei immediately jumped up, happily grabbing the key to the bicycle. He pushed out the “two-eight large bar” bicycle that Li Mu Wu had polished to a shine.

After Li Mu Wen took the gold bars, he had sent about 200 yuan home over the years. The bicycle ticket had been sent back last year during the Spring Festival. Li Mu Wu used the ticket to buy a “permanent” manganese steel bicycle he had seen many times before. The neighbors were all excited and gathered around to look at it and touch it.

Normally, Li Mu Wu only rode the bicycle when visiting relatives, and it was usually hung on the wall. Today, because he didn’t want Zhen Zhen to walk too far, Li Mu Wu made an exception and allowed Ming Bei to ride it, even repeating several times his instructions not to ride through mud pits or over rocks and to clean the bicycle after returning. Ming Bei promised several times, and Li Mu Wu finally handed him the keys.

Pushing out the long-desired bicycle, Ming Bei was so happy that he thought it was even more exciting than watching the movie. He hung Zhen Zhen’s cloth bag on the handlebars and asked her, “Little sister, want to sit in front?”

Looking at the narrow bar in front, Zhen Zhen felt like it would hurt her butt. “I’ll sit in the back. I’m afraid I’ll fall off if I sit in front.”

“It’s fine,” Ming Bei reassured her. “Kids always sit in front. Besides, how are you going to get on if you sit in the back?”

“I can climb trees, so I’m not afraid of this bicycle.” Ming Bei remembered how Zhen Zhen used to move like a monkey among the trees on the mountain, and it seemed more difficult than this. “Alright, I’ll ride slowly, but be careful when you jump onto the seat.”

Ming Bei pedaled a few times and stretched his long legs to climb onto the back seat. Zhen Zhen ran a few steps behind and, holding Ming Bei’s waist, jumped and securely landed on the back seat.

Finally riding the bicycle, Ming Bei felt the urge to show off. Seeing that no one was around, he intentionally raised his voice and shouted, “Zhen Zhen, you’re really amazing! You can even jump onto the back of the bicycle so high!”

At this time, every household had their doors open, and as soon as they heard someone shouting about a bicycle, they came out to look. Ming Bei was so proud of himself that he rode around the two rows of houses several times to ensure that his classmates saw him. Only then did he proudly head towards the hydrolysis plant.

The hydrolysis plant’s area was so large that it didn’t have a main gate. The only beautiful courtyard was in the four-story office building in the center of the plant. Ming Bei specially rode the bicycle with Zhen Zhen to have a look. Inside the courtyard was a wooden corridor that looked quite grand.

“This big yellow building is the tallest building in Beicha,” Ming Bei said, not daring to enter the courtyard. He only circled around the entrance on his bike. Zhen Zhen patted his back. “You like the hydrolysis plant so much? Then study hard and try to get in. Then you can get movie tickets and watch movies every month.”

“I just think exams are a bit of a headache.” Ming Bei rode the bicycle towards the movie theater. “Places like the forestry management office don’t need exams, and they make quite a bit of money.”

“How can they be the same?” Zhen Zhen slapped his back in frustration. “Carrying logs is hard work. Every day, several people have to carry thick logs from dawn to dusk down the mountain. Look at those people working at the forestry office, none of them are not hunched over or have their faces weathered by the wind. If you go, there’ll be no pretty girls around you.”

At this point, Ming Bei, who was secretly fond of pretty girls but too shy to admit it, hesitated when he heard he’d become unattractive. “Maybe I’ll try taking the high school exam?”

“Go ahead. Grandma said it’s never bad to study more. Besides, you were doing well in school before. It’s just this year that my third brother didn’t manage you, and you got a bit carried away. If you buckle down and work hard for another year, after graduating from high school, you can go straight into the plant. That’ll be great.” Zhen Zhen pointed at a girl dressed in red with floral patterns by the roadside, poking Ming Bei’s waist. “Look at the girls around here, they look so good.”

Ming Bei secretly glanced at the girl, around fifteen or sixteen years old, with two long braids, fair skin, and a bright red outfit that made her look even more beautiful.

While Ming Bei was distracted by the girl, he forgot to watch the road and accidentally rode his bike straight into a large stone. Since he was not used to riding bicycles, he turned the handlebars in a panic, and Zhen Zhen quickly jumped off the bike to help. Just as she was about to steady the bicycle, Ming Bei had already fallen to the ground with the bike.

“Bang!” As dust rose from the ground, Zhen Zhen quickly stepped back two steps, watching her cloth bag fall to the ground, scattering sunflower seeds everywhere. She picked up the bicycle and then helped Ming Bei up.

Ignoring the pain in his backside, Ming Bei first checked the bike carefully, relieved when he saw the handlebars weren’t broken and the paint wasn’t chipped. “Luckily, it didn’t break. That scared me to death. If I broke it, dad would’ve beaten me to death.”

Looking at the spilled sunflower seeds, Zhen Zhen showed her teeth in a smile. “Li Ming Bei!”