"Yan Xiaofei, did you do something sneaky last night? You seem especially cheerful today." First thing in the morning, Xu Xiaoyan asked Yan Fei, who was humming a song with a beaming smile on his face.
"Ah?" Yan Fei was taken aback and nearly threw the kitchen knife in his hand. "What wrongdoings are you talking about? I’m not capable of any wrongdoings. Am I not allowed to be in high spirits? So what if I’m delighted?"
"Humph, don’t try to play dumb," the girl sneered. "I won’t ask then! If you dare, just keep it to yourself!"
Yan Fei stayed silent, his heart itching with discomfort.
How could she just not ask? He had the perfect answer planned. He would tell her he had a prophetic dream, where divine beings revealed the Paper factory would shut down. It would leave her wondering daily how he had such timely insider news.
Having caused such chaos, it’s impossible not to feel a little anxious. After all, the metamorphosis of a gigantic snake had sent many people into chaos.
But underneath it all, he was brimming with pride, having always wanted to sabotage the smelly factory. Let’s see if they can rebuild their factory this time!
However, this sense of triumph wouldn’t be complete without showing off to the girl. Without doing so, he would feel as if his triumph was discounted, reduced to only a tenth of its actual value!
Hence, he planned to boast about his "ingenious scheming" to Xu Xiaoyan when he returned. Given the scale of the incident, she was bound to hear about it sooner or later. A little show-off wouldn’t hurt.
But why won’t she ask? Please ask one more time, and I’ll spill the beans!
Xu Xiaoyan stared at the stove, feigning a smile. She was well aware of his tricks. He had woken her later this morning and hadn’t even started cooking. His air of mystery combined with his gleeful demeanor hinted to her that he had some news for her.
Despite wanting to share his news, he was expecting her to coax him into talking. It was quite apparent from his face – it was practically screaming, "Ask me, and I’ll tell you." How could she not understand his intentions?
Actually, she was curious too. However, it had now become a battle of patience. Although they hadn’t placed any bets, they were like two children playing a game in which the first one to ask would lose.
The pair deliberately acted indifferent during the meal, concealing the fact that they were itching to tell and hear the juicy news. As they enjoyed their meal, they consistently glanced at each other, anxious to see who would break the silence and ask first.
Finally, near the end of the meal, Xu Xiaoyan casually piped up while helping herself to the food, "If you want to say it, just say it. It’s not very pleasant to keep things to oneself, is it?"
Then Yan Fei laughed heartily, and Xu Xiaoyan started to laugh too. She put down her chopsticks and proceeded to nudge Yan Fei, "Stop hesitating and spill the beans already! What happened? Are you afraid you’ll be overcome with anticipation yourself?"
Despite clearly enjoying himself, Yan Fei tried to maintain an air of superiority, "Well, I had a dream last night..."
Fine, it’s not easy expecting him to come up with another opener! So naturally, following his clichéd intro, he began to narrate his tall tale in a very mysteriously manner, "I dreamt that the Paper Factory offended the deities. They sent celestial soldiers to destroy it. It’s going to shut down very soon!"
"Really? Are you making things up again?" Xu Xiaoyan was obviously skeptical.
"If you don’t believe me, so be it. The news will eventually spread, and you’ll know then," Yan Fei said, unfazed by her skepticism, maintaining his aloof demeanor.
"Really? What exactly happened? Did you happen to see something when you snuck out last night? Hurry up and tell me. What did you go out to do in the wee hours of the night, and why did you go so far?" Xu Xiaoyan’s mind began to churn, making some informed guesses.
"Hehe, I originally went out to catch rabbits but couldn’t catch any, so I watched happenings instead!" Yan Fei started telling her a semi-truthful, semi-fictional version of what happened.
Essentially, he went out to catch rabbits and unknowingly ended up near the Paper Factory. He then overheard chaos ensuing inside, culminating in a snake several meters long tipping over a car and swimming away in the river.
Xu Xiaoyan was only half-convinced, given the unlikely tale of a gigantic snake, but the compelling details in Yan Fei’s narration convinced her a bit more.
Well, how could it not be convincing? If a person recounts his own doings, wouldn’t it be very detailed?
In the morning, a drizzle started again, varying in intensity. Yan Fei’s tale gave Xu Xiaoyan some respite from pushing him to do his summer homework. The pair sat at the window of the liquor shop, watching the rain and discussing possibilities of what could have happened to the factory, despite Xu Xiaoyan still having a touch of skepticism.
The morning passed slowly with this idle talk.
When it was time to start preparing lunch, they noticed two umbrella-wielding, uniform-clad people emerge from the path leading up from the river’s dike below the bridge.
The duo paraded back and forth on the bridge for a while, appearing to be surveying the area. Then, one of them started walking towards the small liquor shop window Yan Fei was at.
Upon reaching, they recognized them as familiar— the police officer named Dang whom they’d interacted with before.
"Xiao Fei, do you have any water? Any cool water will do, quickly, I’m dying of thirst..." Before he even arrived, the officer croaked out in a husky voice.
Yan Fei rushed to grab a bowl and filled it with cool water.
The water from their livestock farm was drawn from a deep well, so its quality was pretty good. However, considering the proximity to the stinky river, Yan Fei decided to use spring water from the Vegetable Garden Island for an extra measure of safety.
The officer guzzled down the bowl of water in one go, placed the bowl on the window sill, wiped his mouth, and started talking, "I’m dying of thirst. Ate too much Salted Vegetables this morning, and I was already thirsty on top of that. I’ve been shouting all morning till my throat’s sore..."
"What are you yelling about? Did something happen again?" Xu Xiaoyan immediately piped up.
"No, nothing really... Ah, forget it, there’s no harm in telling you guys. You’re bound to find out sooner or later, just don’t spread it around yet," replied the officer after mulling for a bit. "Last night, the paper factory in the neighboring county upstream was attacked by a python. It’s not too far away from our place, so we came out to check along the river, trying to prevent folks from fishing in the river during the rain, to preclude any accidents."
The stinky river consistently exhibited the same pattern every summer; any significant rainfall would lead to the water level rising slightly, causing the fishes in the river to turn belly up and float, making it easy for the people standing on the bank to scoop them with long-handled nets.
Given the apparent rise in water level, presumably because of substantial rain in the upstream region yesterday, people were out catching fish again. The shouting officer was trying to disperse these people, asking them not to stand by the river.
Understandably, coaxing people who prioritize grabbing dead fish from the stinky river over their health was challenging, which was why the officer was hoarse from shouting.