Accidentally-Born-C39

Chapter 39

In an instant, Mingbei’s hair stood on end. He was shouting with a voice that broke into a wail, “Zhenzhen, don’t come here, quickly leave, there’s a tiger here!” The striped tiger, hearing the sound from behind the tree, froze for a moment. Its body, which had been crouched, relaxed immediately, and it leisurely took a few steps forward.

Seeing the tiger getting closer and closer, Mingbei was filled with despair but couldn’t help but look back to check if Zhenzhen had run far enough. However, when he turned around, he saw Zhenzhen still leaning against a tree, stuffing fruit into her mouth. Mingbei was instantly so furious that he felt like his lungs would explode. Not knowing where the courage came from, he pushed Zhenzhen backward and screamed at her, “I told you to go, and you’re still eating! Hurry up and go home, don’t look back!”

Zhenzhen staggered from the push, scattering the fruit all over the ground. The tiger immediately let out a roar. Mingbei was so frightened that he shivered, and his pants became wet again. Zhenzhen, pinching her nose in helplessness, looked at Mingbei and then shouted at the tiger, “Why are you roaring? Can’t you see my brother is scared? Stay away from us.”

Mingbei almost wanted to kneel down in front of his sister. That’s a tiger, my dear sister! Do you think it listens to us like Li Mingzhong does?

Mingbei stared in astonishment as the tiger flicked its tail, then turned and walked back about ten steps, lying down in a sunny spot and lazily reaching out a paw to catch the butterflies fluttering above its head.

Something seemed off. Normally, shouldn’t the tiger pounce and bite my neck? Why did it turn around and lie down to chase butterflies?

The wild fruit scattered across the ground, and Zhenzhen was left with only two. She casually shoved one into Mingbei’s mouth and ate the other in a few bites. Then she took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped her fingers clean.

With the tiger now a little farther away and showing no signs of aggression, Mingbei finally sighed in relief. He slightly moved his stiff back, but the tiger seemed to notice, immediately turning to look at him. Mingbei collapsed back against the tree again.

Sweat from fear soaked his body, his pants were covered in urine, and the tiger was still glaring at him. Mingbei had never felt so hopeless in his life. Looking at Zhenzhen, who was still wiping her hands, he couldn’t understand how his sister was so unbothered.

“Sis!” Mingbei’s voice trembled in fear. “Don’t you recognize a tiger? The one lying in front, see it? That’s a tiger, it can eat people!”

“That’s a tiger?” Zhenzhen smiled teasingly. “I thought it was a big cat. I’ve always thought of it as a cat.”

Mingbei almost knelt before his little sister. “Isn’t there a picture of a tiger in the textbook? Does your cat grow that big?”

“I haven’t gone to school yet, and you never showed me the textbook,” Zhenzhen said proudly. Since she was born in the 1960s, although her family often warned her not to run too far into the mountains because of tigers and black bears, many children didn’t know what they looked like.

Mingbei regretted not knowing where he had thrown the elementary school textbook. Looking at the tiger now lying down and chasing butterflies, he quickly lowered his voice and said to Zhenzhen, “Let me tell you, that’s a tiger. Never go into the deep mountains again. While the tiger isn’t paying attention, sneak away quickly. I’ll stay here to distract it.” Pausing, his voice became choked with emotion. “When you get home, tell Grandma and Mom and Dad that I wasn’t filial, and they should stop worrying about me. Oh, by the way, I hid my summer homework under the broken basket in the shed. Can you go home and throw it away? It annoys me just thinking about it.”

Seeing Mingbei almost on the verge of tears, Zhenzhen stopped teasing him and quickly wiped his face with her handkerchief. She smiled and said, “Okay, stop crying. I know that tiger. It won’t eat you.”

Mingbei swallowed nervously. “No, you don’t understand, that’s a tiger…”

Zhenzhen took two steps forward and cheerfully shouted, “Dahuang, come here.”

The tiger immediately jumped up, startling Mingbei, who turned and hugged the tree, pressing himself against it. The tiger wagged its tail and walked over to Zhenzhen. Then, lazily, it lay down again, rubbing its big head against Zhenzhen’s chest.

Zhenzhen smiled and scratched its head, then lifted her leg and sat on the tiger’s back. “Dahuang, let’s run a lap.”

The tiger immediately pranced around the area twice, stopping at places with wild fruit and waiting for Zhenzhen to pick them. Mingbei, watching from the tree, almost had his eyes fall out. His sister had been scolding Li Mingzhong at home and eating braised chicken pieces, but here, she was treating a tiger like her own big dog, even calling it Dahuang. That name sounded more like a dog’s name than Li Mingzhong’s!

Sliding down from the tree, Mingbei sat on the ground, panting heavily. Looking at his pants, which were now covered in mud, Mingbei finally realized: the tiger probably wouldn’t eat him anymore, but with pants this dirty, what would he do if his classmates or neighbors saw him? It’d be better if the tiger just ate me!

Zhenzhen returned after riding the tiger around the area. Dahuang stopped beside Mingbei, who shuddered and moved back two steps. “Sis, can you get your tiger to stay away from me? I’m scared.”

Zhenzhen patted Dahuang on the head, and the tiger obediently moved two steps away. Mingbei looked at his sister in admiration. She was incredible, treating the tiger like a dog.

Jumping off the tiger’s back, Zhenzhen laughed at Mingbei, who looked so disheveled. “Brother, what are you going to do about your pants when we go down the mountain?”

Mingbei, relieved that the tiger wouldn’t attack him anymore, sat on the ground with his legs crossed and sighed, “Should we wait until it’s dark? I really don’t want anyone to see.”

Zhenzhen laughed aloud. “What will you do this afternoon, then? Won’t it be uncomfortable?”

“It’s better to be uncomfortable than to be embarrassed,” Mingbei replied, staying seated on the ground, refusing to get up.

After laughing to her heart’s content, Zhenzhen covered her stomach and called Dahuang over. She jumped onto its back and turned to Mingbei. “You stay here. I know where there are some pants.” With that, she squeezed her legs together, and Dahuang took off with Zhenzhen disappearing into the forest.

Zhenzhen was very familiar with every corner of the forest. During the many years that bandits had escaped from the area, they buried their belongings in the mountains, hoping to return someday. Over the years, Zhenzhen had found several boxes buried underground. One of them, which seemed to have been buried wrongly by the bandits, was filled with clothes.

When she arrived at the place, Zhenzhen opened the box and took out a pair of cloth pants. She rode Dahuang back to the original spot, tossing the pants to Mingbei with a smile. “Hurry up and change.”

Mingbei immediately jumped up, shaking the pants with joy. “Wow, where did you find these great pants? They don’t even have any patches!”

“I picked them up in the mountains. Hurry up and find a place to change,” Zhenzhen urged. Mingbei grabbed the pants and found a secluded spot, where he took off his dirty pants and changed into the clean ones. The pants were a bit too large, and after putting them on, they were long and baggy. Holding the pants, he looked around and used his hunting knife to cut some grass. A few minutes later, he had woven a grass rope. He tied the waist of the pants and hung the hunting knife on his waist. He also tied the pant legs tightly with two short grass ropes to keep insects from crawling in.

The dirty pants couldn’t be thrown away, so Mingbei made a rough little net with some coarse grass, placed the dirty pants inside, and emerged from the grass behind the tree.

Zhenzhen, still sitting on the tiger’s back, looked at Mingbei, who was still keeping his distance from the tiger. “Zhenzhen, why don’t you come down so we can talk?”

Zhen Zhen looked at him and laughed, “Brother, do you want to come up? I’ll let Da Huang carry you for a run.”

Ming Bei was a bit tempted by her suggestion. He took a small step forward, but Da Huang yawned, and Ming Bei noticed its sharp fangs in its mouth. He silently took two steps back and shook his head firmly, “I’m afraid of dying.”

Zhen Zhen helplessly reached out her hand towards him, “Don’t worry, I’m here. It won’t dare to do anything.”

“My dear sister, how can you be so bold? What if it turns against us?” Although he didn’t understand why the tiger was so well-behaved in front of Zhen Zhen, it was still a wild animal. What if it suddenly got mad?

“It won’t,” Zhen Zhen reasoned, coming up with an excuse, “Da Huang is very sensible. I saved it last year, so it won’t hurt me.”

“Really?” Ming Bei looked at the tiger longingly, imagining himself riding it like the warriors in the stories, feeling so heroic. He cautiously stepped forward, and seeing no reaction from the tiger, he carefully stretched out his hand and touched Da Huang’s back.

Zhen Zhen patted Da Huang on the head, and it obediently lay down. Ming Bei swallowed nervously. Thinking of how Zhen Zhen had looked sitting on the tiger’s back so majestically, he gathered his courage and climbed onto Da Huang.

Da Huang got up from the ground, and Ming Bei immediately wrapped his arms around Zhen Zhen’s waist, his body stiff with fear, too scared to move. Da Huang seemed to feel the weight, and instead of charging forward as usual, it took slow steps, strolling through the forest under the sunlight.

Sitting on the tiger’s back, Ming Bei’s face flushed with excitement. He felt so bold and heroic, and grinned from ear to ear, “Am I dreaming? I’m really riding a tiger!”

Zhen Zhen turned around and smiled at him, “It’s not a dream, but don’t mention it when we get home. If Grandma finds out we rode a tiger, she’ll definitely beat you with the smoking pipe.”

A gust of wind blew by, and Ming Bei immediately sobered up. He remembered the terrifying things Zhen Zhen had done today. He was sure that Grandma would only scold her a little and keep her at home, but the one who would be punished would be him. And it wouldn’t just be Grandma; maybe even his parents would join in.

Thinking of the consequences of speaking too much, Ming Bei immediately patted his chest in assurance, “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.” He then took the hunting knife from his waist and handed it back to Zhen Zhen, “Here’s your knife, but you can’t mention the part where I wet myself.”

The siblings shook hands, agreeing to the terms. Zhen Zhen casually threw the knife into the grass and signaled Da Huang to walk down the mountain. Ming Bei, feeling distressed, exclaimed, “You threw such a good knife into the grass! What if it gets lost?”

“It won’t get lost. Not many people come here, and besides, Da Huang’s watching over it,” Zhen Zhen said nonchalantly. In fact, as soon as Ming Bei couldn’t see, the knife had already sunk deep into the ground.

Zhen Zhen felt that her ability to control the earth was almost as useful as her space power. She could bury anything in the ground, and whenever she was free, she would come to the mountains to dig for treasures. It felt amazing.

The siblings rode the tiger down the mountain for about half an hour. As they approached a spot where they might encounter people, Zhen Zhen patted Da Huang, signaling it to stop. They helped each other dismount from the tiger.

“Thank you, Da Huang,” Zhen Zhen affectionately rubbed Da Huang’s head. “I’ll come play with you next time. Now go back.”

Da Huang let out a small roar at Zhen Zhen and nuzzled its head into her arms, acting as if it was being spoiled. Zhen Zhen laughed and pushed its head to the side, whispering something in its ear. As she lifted her head, a dozen wild chickens suddenly appeared from all directions, flying and running towards the mountain.

Da Huang rubbed its head against Zhen Zhen’s hand before running towards the mountain. Ming Bei, watching in shock, saw a lagging wild chicken get pounced on by Da Huang. With a few bites, it snapped its neck. A cold shiver ran down his spine, and his legs started trembling, “Sis, we should head down the mountain quickly.”

A three- to four-kilo wild chicken was finished in minutes by Da Huang. It then turned and pounced on another one. As Da Huang disappeared from sight, Zhen Zhen turned back and pointed at the nearby grass, “Brother, do you see that wild chicken tangled in the weeds?”

Ming Bei turned around and saw that a wild chicken was indeed caught tightly in the wild grass, struggling. He quickly ran over, pulled the grass away in a few motions, and proudly showed Zhen Zhen the chicken, “It’s pretty fat. I’ll bring it back and cook it for you.”

“The meat is too tough for Grandma to chew,” Zhen Zhen wrinkled her nose. “Let’s pick some mushrooms and make a soup. Grandma will have a couple of bowls, and Meat Bun will like it too.”

“Okay, whatever you say,” Ming Bei was completely in awe of his sister now. She had even trained a tiger to obey her; what was making chicken soup compared to that?

After saying this, he noticed that Zhen Zhen was staring at him, unsure of what she wanted. He scratched his head, “So should I go pick mushrooms?”

“Where are you going to put them?” Zhen Zhen looked at him helplessly, “We didn’t bring a basket. Take off your vest and tie it at the bottom. We’ll use your vest to carry the mushrooms.”

“…” Ming Bei resignedly took off his vest, “Okay, whatever you say.”

———

The author’s note: Speaking of the big salmon we ate in the last chapter, I once ate a fake one two years ago. A colleague invited me to a special restaurant where they served a big pot of salmon. We all sat around the iron pot, with a stove burning wood underneath and cakes around the pot. When I was eating, I thought the texture of the meat felt strange, but since I hadn’t eaten it in many years and it was someone else’s treat, I didn’t say anything. When I went to the bathroom at home, I was shocked to see the toilet full of red oil. I asked Baidu and learned that many unscrupulous merchants sell oily fish pretending to be salmon. If you try it, be careful.