Two or Three Events in the Last Days 016
Chapter 16: Duckie
Meanwhile, Jing Lin and the others had arrived at the vegetable fields.
Jing Lin took a sun umbrella out of the basket, opened it for Le Le, and had him sit somewhere shady while holding it. Meanwhile, he and Zhou Yu each worked their own row, picking yardlong beans.
When his grandfather had still been alive, Jing Lin had often helped with this sort of farm work, so he was very efficient at harvesting vegetables. By the time they finished picking all the mature beans, both of their baskets were half full. Afterward, they went to another plot and picked some bitter melons, cucumbers, chili peppers, and a small winter melon.
When they headed back, Yan Fei’s family was no longer there.
Along the way, they happened to pass a village child herding goslings in the irrigation ditch beside the fields. The moment Le Le saw them, he pointed excitedly in their direction and turned to Jing Lin with eager eyes.
“Uncle, duckies!”
Le Le absolutely loved ducks. His backpack had to be shaped like a duckling, his toys had to be duck-themed, and even his clothes were mostly yellow like little ducks. Now, seeing the fluffy yellow goslings, each only about the size of a palm, he couldn’t tell the difference and assumed they were ducklings. He immediately stopped walking and stared at them without moving.
Jing Lin corrected him. “Those are geese, not ducks.”
Le Le paid no attention to the distinction. Tugging on Jing Lin’s shirt hem, he repeated, “Uncle, duckies.”
Jing Lin lowered his head and met Le Le’s hopeful gaze. Then he understood.
“Do you want Uncle to buy you one?”
Le Le immediately lit up with happiness. He even bounced in place twice.
“Buy! Duckies!”
Jing Lin rarely saw Le Le this excited. Zhou Yu felt the same way. She had always thought Le Le was too quiet, unlike the other lively and mischievous village children.
Before Jing Lin could even respond, she eagerly declared, “Grandma will buy one for Le Le!”
Her family normally kept only a few laying hens and did not raise pigs or geese. She walked over to the child and asked,
“Wenjie, would Grandma Zhou be able to buy one of your goslings?”
Wenjie’s surname was Wang. He was in sixth grade that year. His parents worked away from home and had not yet returned. Since birth, he had been raised by his grandmother.
His grandmother lived frugally and, despite being in her sixties, still took on handicraft work to earn extra spending money. Whenever she bought goslings or other poultry, Wang Wenjie was usually the one who cared for them.
However, selling a gosling was not something Wang Wenjie could decide on his own. He needed to ask his grandmother.
Zhou Yu said, “Grandma Zhou will pay five yuan for one of your goslings. Go ask your grandmother. If she agrees, bring one over later, and I’ll give you the money then, alright?”
A gosling normally cost only three or four yuan, and Zhou Yu knew these particular goslings had only been purchased shortly before the power outage. At five yuan, Wang Wenjie’s family certainly would not be losing out.
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Although Wang Wenjie was young, he was very sensible. After hearing Zhou Yu’s proposal, he nodded and agreed to ask his grandmother after he finished tending the geese. After lunch, regardless of whether they decided to sell one or not, he would come back and let Zhou Yu know.
Now that he had been promised a gosling, Le Le finally stopped staring at them. As they walked home, Jing Lin repeatedly corrected him that they were geese, not ducks. Each time, Le Le looked only half-convinced.
Jing Lin could tell that Le Le still could not distinguish between the two. In the end, he decided not to worry about it. Once they bought the gosling and raised it themselves, Le Le would eventually learn the difference.
Back at home, Zhou Yu began preparing lunch. Meanwhile, Jing Lin sat beside the well and pumped water to wash the yardlong beans they had harvested. Any beans with insect holes had to be removed, and overly mature ones were set aside for seed saving.
The well stood just outside the kitchen. As Zhou Yu rinsed rice, she chatted casually with Jing Lin.
“It’s been several days since the meat seller came by. Tofu Wu hasn’t shown up either.”
Their village was somewhat more remote than neighboring villages, but as long as there wasn’t heavy rain, vendors selling meat and vegetables usually drove electric tricycles through the villages every day. The villagers could buy fresh produce and meat without ever leaving home.
The “Tofu Wu” Zhou Yu mentioned was a tofu vendor who normally came to the area every single day.
Nowadays, no meat sellers came around, and walking to town to buy meat took too much time, so they ate vegetables stir-fried in rapeseed oil. After eating that for several days in a row, their mouths felt bland.
Summer was hot, and without a refrigerator, meat could only be bought in amounts that could be eaten right away. There was no way to store it. It was only after seeing the goslings that Jing Lin thought he might be able to trade some grain for chicks to raise, so he asked Zhou Yu about it.
Zhou Yu said, “Aren’t there two families in Yuming Village running chicken farms? We saw them bring back a truckload of chicks not long ago. In weather this hot, with no electricity, there’s no telling how many of their chicks are still alive. We can go over and ask.”
Jing Lin agreed.
After lunch was prepared, Zhao Chenghuai and Zhao Zhiwen still had not returned. Zhou Yu washed out the pot and boiled water. Once it came to a boil, she put in the yardlong beans Jing Lin had washed. While they cooked, she cleaned the clothesline in the yard. After the beans were done, she fished them out and hung them on the line. After drying under the sun for several days, they could be stored away. When they wanted to eat them later, they only needed to soak them in water. They tasted best sliced and stir-fried with pork belly.
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
About halfway through hanging the beans, Jing Lin heard voices outside. When he went to look, he saw that Zhao Chenghuai and Zhao Zhiwen had returned, but neither looked to be in good shape. Zhao Chenghuai’s shirt sleeve had been torn, Zhao Zhiwen had a swollen corner of his mouth, and there was a wound on the back of his hand.
“What happened?” Jing Lin hurried over and called out to Zhou Yu, who was still in the kitchen.
“We almost didn’t make it back today,” Zhao Chenghuai said. He took off his torn shirt, and Jing Lin saw several bruises on his back.
The moment Zhou Yu saw their condition, she became extremely worried. As she asked what had happened, she searched for the medicinal liquor at home and applied it to their injuries.
Jing Lin also helped apply medicinal liquor to Zhao Zhiwen. Only after Zhao Zhiwen took off his shirt did he discover a long gash across his back. Blood seeped from the wound, though not much, and it was not very deep.
The alcohol stung terribly when it touched the wound. Zhao Zhiwen hissed through gritted teeth and said, “The county town was completely different from yesterday. Not a single shop was open. Along the way, we saw that many storefronts had been broken into and everything inside had been looted. The streets were littered with shattered glass and were a complete mess. We had just come out of a food processing factory in Nanqing Town, and our cart was loaded with supplies. We must have been watched along the way. As we came off the bridge, a group of grown men suddenly rushed out. Some of them were carrying knives. They told us to unload everything before they’d let us leave.”
Of course, Zhao Zhiwen and the others refused. Although the other side had knives, they were not unprepared. Ever since seeing people start looting a few days earlier, Zhao Zhiwen had been carrying two steel pipes in the cart whenever he went out. The other villagers who traveled with him had done the same after his reminder. The two sides argued, and eventually a fight broke out. Although the attackers were all big and strong, Zhao Zhiwen’s group were no pushovers either. They were men who worked the fields year-round, and the strength in their hands was considerable. Once the fighting started, neither side gained an advantage.
When someone swung a knife at Zhao Chenghuai, Zhao Zhiwen stepped in to block it and ended up with the cut on his back. At the time, his eyes had turned red with fury. He retaliated with a savage swing of his steel pipe and struck the attacker across the back. The man screamed and lay sprawled on the ground for a long time, unable to get back up.
In the end, the attackers lost their nerve first. They carried away the man who had been beaten down and fled in disgrace. Only after the adrenaline wore off did Zhao Zhiwen and the others feel afraid. They immediately got on their bikes and rode away as fast as they could, pedaling desperately for fear that the attackers would bring reinforcements and come after them again.
Zhou Yu’s eyes reddened, and her hands trembled as she applied medicinal liquor to Zhao Chenghuai. She still looked shaken and kept repeating, “Thank goodness you’re alright. Thank goodness you’re alright.”
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Jing Lin was uneasy. “We should go have Grandpa Zhao take a look.”
After all, it was a knife wound. The cut was not deep, but it was long. Since the man was a doctor, it was better to follow his advice than handle it blindly themselves.
Zhou Yu immediately agreed. “Jing Lin’s right. Uncle Zhao hasn’t gone to the clinic since yesterday, so he’s definitely at home right now.” Zhao Chenghuai was getting older and no longer had the resilience of a younger man. She would only feel reassured after having him properly examined.
In the end, Zhou Yu accompanied Zhao Chenghuai and Zhao Zhiwen to Doctor Zhao’s house. Jing Lin stayed behind to watch the home and continue processing the yardlong beans. Looking at Le Le, who sat obediently beside him on a small stool, he felt worried. Le Le was still so young—how was he supposed to protect him?
After a while, Zhou Yu and the others still had not returned, but Wang Wenjie arrived carrying a small basket containing several goslings. The sun was blazing, and sweat beaded on the boy’s forehead. When he saw Jing Lin, he gave a slightly shy smile, set the basket on the ground, and said, “Grandma agreed to sell them. She said these are the strongest ones and told Uncle Lin to pick whichever you like.”
Jing Lin wrung out a wet towel for the boy to wipe his face, then let Le Le make the choice himself. The little fellow squatted beside the basket and examined the goslings seriously for a long time. He liked this one and liked that one too. But Grandma Zhou had said they could only buy one. In the end, he reluctantly chose the especially lively “duckie” in the basket. He carefully picked it up and cradled it against his chest, his face beaming with happiness.
Jing Lin did not have a single cent left on him, so he asked Wang Wenjie to sit and wait until Zhou Yu returned. At the same time, he encouraged Le Le to ask Wang Wenjie how to take care of the “duckie.”
Le Le was only close to a handful of people, including Jing Lin. Aside from kindergarten and daycare, he had no playmates his own age, which was not good for him. Although Wang Wenjie was several years older than Le Le, he had a gentle temperament. Even if Wang Wenjie could not play with him often, it was still good for Le Le to spend more time talking with other people.
Le Le took the matter of caring for the “duckie” very seriously. Acting like a little parent, he gathered his courage despite being somewhat timid and quietly asked Wang Wenjie questions such as what the duckie should eat, whether he needed to comb its feathers every day, and whether he should teach the duckie how to swim.
During their conversation, Wang Wenjie repeatedly explained that it was actually a goose. But seeing that Le Le continued calling it a “duckie,” he stopped correcting him. Instead, he patiently explained various things they needed to pay attention to. Jing Lin listened from the side as well. He had to admit that, despite his young age, Wang Wenjie probably knew more about raising poultry than many adults.
Only after Zhou Yu and the others returned and paid him did Wang Wenjie finally leave with his small basket. Before leaving, he patted Le Le on the head like an older brother and said he would come back to play with him when he had time.
Zhao Chenghuai was fine, and Zhao Zhiwen’s injury was not a major problem as long as it stayed dry. Zhou Yu and Jing Lin set out the meal, and the family discussed the situation outside while eating. Zhou Yu also mentioned wanting to trade some grain for chicks, and both Zhao Chenghuai and Zhao Zhiwen agreed that it was a feasible idea.
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: Two of two for the week. Le Le is so cute.
Translator: Miiya
Editor: MushroomKnight73
Proofreader: Yume
Avid BL reader, editor, and translator with 1 story completed (CLWP) and 1 story in progress (TELD). Support this translation with a Ko-fi. Three Ko-fis will add an extra chapter from the stockpile to the next weekly release.
