Two or Three Events in the Last Days 027
Chapter 27
Finally, Zhao Shaoqian, as the village doctor, brought up the examples of Ma Xiaoyuan and Gao Honghai. He explained that the world had already changed, and many things were no longer what they had once known. He urged the villagers to remain vigilant at all times.
Afterward, the villagers split into two groups to register their numbers. Jing Lin and several others all wanted to go out and investigate the next day. After writing down their names with Ma Renshan, they returned home to gather weeding tools.
This round of weeding was open to everyone regardless of gender. The village’s twenty-some households managed to gather more than twenty people. Most of the weeds covering the concrete road had spread in from the surrounding fields, while some had sprouted from cracks forced open by tree roots. The grass stems and vines were tangled together like a giant ball of yarn, making them somewhat difficult to clear. Fortunately, most of the villagers were experienced workers accustomed to farm and household labor. With so many people helping, progress was quick. Starting from the processing station on the eastern side of the village, they managed to clear half of the main road in a single morning.
The guard dog at Gao Honghai’s house had been strangled to death by a mutated loofah vine. The vine had wrapped itself around the dog’s neck and squeezed so tightly that it broke the animal’s bones. He had developed blisters on his hands while butchering the dog meat at home that morning; just before wrapping up work at midday, he came over to the crowd to ask if anyone wanted to buy—or trade for—some of the meat. Quite a few villagers went home to fetch items and exchanged them for some meat. Jing Lin had never owned a dog, but Zhao Zhiwen’s family had once raised one that eventually died of old age. Both families had been deeply attached to it, so neither ate dog meat. Yan Fei’s family also declined.
Later, Jing Lin brought out the chicks that had been crushed to death the previous night. He gave one to Yan Fei’s family and the remaining two to Zhao Zhiwen’s family, then stayed there for lunch. No one had smelled meat for many days. The chicks were only palm-sized and had very little meat on them, but even that was enough to satisfy a craving.
Since the roads had not yet been fully cleared, it was still difficult to move around the fields. At noon, Zhou Yu did not dare go out to pick vegetables. Instead, she boiled water, cleaned the chicks, then took out a bowl of pickled bokchoy and stir-fried it together with the chicken. As soon as the aroma of meat began to drift through the air, everyone felt their mouths watering.
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.
While they were eating, Duckie sat beside Le Le’s feet. The goose seemed equally tempted by the smell. It kept wandering around Le Le and Jing Lin, pecking at them occasionally and honking every now and then.
Le Le picked up a piece of pickled cabbage and fed it to it. Duckie eagerly swallowed it, only to be jolted by the sour taste. Its feathers puffed up instantly. A moment later, it flapped its wings and bounced excitedly a couple of times, honking even more enthusiastically at Le Le. However, Le Le did not feed it any more. He gently shooed it aside and whispered, “When I’m done eating, I’ll cut up some vegetable leaves for you.”
After lunch, Yan Lu arrived with Yan Fei. Earlier that morning she had finished clearing the tree roots from around her own house. She carried an axe far larger than an ordinary one and announced that she had come to help cut down the walnut branches at Jing Lin’s house. Thanks to Jing Lin, Yan Fei’s family had been able to enjoy a bit of fresh meat at noon, so before leaving, Yan Lu had even brought several packets of beef jerky for Le Le.
Although Jing Lin had already witnessed Yan Lu’s incredible strength, she was still a young woman. He felt embarrassed about asking her to do such heavy labor for his family and quickly tried to refuse.
In truth, it was Zhou Feifei who had sent Yan Lu over. Since her son hoped to build a future with Jing Lin someday, she felt the family needed to show sincerity. Jing Lin’s household was small and overwhelmed with work, so helping out was only natural. Zhou Feifei knew exactly how strong her daughter was. The combined strength of the other three family members did not compare to Yan Lu’s. Branches as thick as an arm looked like chopsticks in her hands and snapped with a simple twist. Chopping them down required almost no effort. The oversized axe she carried had even been custom-made by a blacksmith from another village.
Although the Yan family had enjoyed good living conditions growing up, neither Yan Fei nor Yan Lu had been spoiled. In fact, because of Yan Lu’s strength, whenever the family bought rice, furniture, or other heavy items, she was usually the one who moved them. That morning’s weeding had cleared the road in front of Zhao Zhiwen’s house. Under the eaves sat a pile of weeds mixed with roots as thick as a person’s arm. Yan Lu selected the thickest root from the pile and held it up for everyone to see. Then she exerted force with both hands, and the tough root snapped cleanly into two pieces.
The crowd stared in stunned silence. Yan Lu casually tossed aside the broken root, dusted the dirt from her hands, and stood there looking completely relaxed. It was an extremely convincing demonstration.
So when Ma Renshan gathered everyone for the afternoon weeding session, and Zhao Chenghuai headed toward Jing Lin’s house carrying a ladder, Yan Lu simply rose to her feet, slung the axe over her shoulder, and quietly followed behind them.
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.
The heat was intense. Whenever they bent down to pull weeds, the distant air appeared distorted from the temperature. Everyone worked drenched in sweat, their faces flushed red by the sun. At one point, Zhou Yu brought Jing Lin a pot of cooled warm water mixed with medicinal drops used to prevent heatstroke. It did not taste very good, but nobody could afford to be picky.
They worked until darkness fell before finally clearing the village’s main road. After eating dinner at Zhao Zhiwen’s house, Jing Lin returned home with Le Le.
As he opened the gate, a sudden croak sounded behind him and nearly made him jump out of his skin. Turning around, he saw what appeared to be the same ugly toad he had spotted that morning. It crouched on the opposite side of the road, staring directly at them.
“Toad,” Le Le said.
The toad seemed able to understand human speech. After Le Le called out to it, it croaked in response and hopped toward them. With a single leap, it crossed the roadside and landed less than a meter away from Jing Lin.
Jing Lin immediately scooped up Le Le and ran into the yard. He slammed the gate shut behind them, locking the dangerous-looking mutated toad outside. However, before he could relax, a loud thump sounded nearby. Looking over, he saw that the toad had actually leaped over the wall and landed inside the yard. It croaked at him, then hopped over to a corner and settled there. Every so often, it flicked its long, wide tongue into the air.
Jing Lin rubbed Le Le’s head and asked, “Can you understand what it’s saying?” After all, Le Le had claimed he could understand Duckie’s honks.
Le Le tilted his head thoughtfully before answering, “It says it can jump in, so closing the gate is useless.”
Jing Lin, who had been extremely nervous only moments before, fell speechless. He felt as though the toad had just mocked him.
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.
Seeing that the toad remained motionless in the corner, Jing Lin might have mistaken it for an ugly rock if not for the occasional flick of its tongue. Deciding to ignore it, he brought Le Le inside the house, though he still shut the living room door tightly. When he entered the backyard, he discovered that all the newly grown walnut branches had already been cut away. Every branch within reach had been removed, leaving only bare trunks behind. The higher branches remained, providing useful shade. The weeds that had sprung up overnight had also been cleared away. Yan Lu and Zhao Chenghuai had neatly stacked both the weeds and the cut branches beneath the eaves, saving Jing Lin additional work. Zhao Chenghuai had already repaired the roof of the storage shed as well. As for the two injured chicks, they still looked somewhat listless, but they were far more energetic than they had been the previous night. It seemed likely that they would survive.
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: One of two for the week.
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.
