At five in the afternoon, after a long day’s work, the sun was ready to enter "slacking-off" mode; it shed its excitement, and its scorching light no longer intense, cooled the whole world down.
A faint vermilion illuminated the world; the evening clouds were colorful—purple, red...
Xue Chuchu gazed toward the west, holding up her phone to photograph the sky, wanting to capture this day, these clouds, this dark green wilderness.
Dongdong shrugged off screen compensation; slingshot in hand, he aimed here and there, firing a mud ball that had the little yellow dog yelping.
Dongdong roared with laughter.
Yet his gaze still occasionally strayed towards the entrance of the Xue Family house, intent on seizing that tablet to play with sooner or later.
When Yuantong was not at home, he’d simply go and take it from the house!
Uncle Zhang squatted for a while; having thought of a method, he went home and brought back a bowl of rice, scooping up a large, fragrant bone with big chunks of meat clinging to it.
Uncle Zhang took big bites of the meat—it smelled so good!
He purposefully passed by Dongdong.
Dongdong was a child who loved to eat; otherwise, how could a six or seven-year-old grow to a height of 1.4 meters?
Uncle Zhang smacked his lips as he ate, tempting Dongdong, who abandoned his slingshot to watch Uncle Zhang eat.
He took two steps forward; if it had been Xiao Fan next door eating the meat, he would have definitely snatched it, but Uncle Zhang was a pig killer, muscular and strong—Dongdong did not dare snatch from him.
"Delicious, really delicious!" exclaimed Uncle Zhang, giving a thumbs up as he devoured a big chunk.
Xue Chuchu, dressed in a plain white gown that was nearly dazzling, her eyes like limpid pools, noticed something unusual in Uncle Zhang’s manner. Her eyes shifted slightly as she glanced at Jiang Ning, as if to say,
"Uncle Zhang seems to have something in mind."
Jiang Ning nodded slightly, indicating there was no need to worry.
Getting the response, Xue Chuchu’s eyes sparkled with ripples, and her pursed lips curled into an attractive smile.
Unaware of the exchange between the two, Yuantong smelled the fragrance and saw the big bone in Uncle Zhang’s hand; the meat on the bone was not bad, but it was too rich if consumed in large quantities.
Yuantong preferred spare ribs.
Uncle Zhang picked up the big bone and waved it in front of Dongdong; the scent of the meat wafted out, tempting Dongdong to reach for it.
But how could Uncle Zhang let him succeed? With a sly grin, he pulled back his hand and took a big bite himself.
Dongdong, frustrated, thought of snatching the meat.
"You can’t eat the big bone meat!" Uncle Zhang declared.
Dongdong, being a little tyrant who, at home, ate whatever he wanted, was indignant:
"Why can’t I eat it?"
Uncle Zhang’s fierce face twisted, a hint of cunning in his eyes: "This big bone meat can only be eaten by real men!"
He flexed his muscular arm, exploding with strength.
Yu Tong scoffed, unimpressed: "Humph, as strong as you are, you still can’t beat Jiang Ning in my house?"
Fortunately, she spoke quietly, or Uncle Zhang would have been furiously explosive like a bull.
Dongdong shouted, "I am a real man!"
He was the strongest kid his age, able to take on three others in a brawl!
If he wasn’t a real man, then what was?
Uncle Zhang challenged, "You’re not a real man!"
Dongdong spread his legs and pounded on his belly, creating a thunderous sound: "I am a real man!"
Uncle Zhang, pushed to his limit, teased: "A real man dares to knock down a hornet’s nest, do you dare?"
Uncle Zhang, seeing him take the bait, pointed to a large tree over one hundred meters away: "There’s a hornet’s nest at the base of that tree; if you dare knock it down, I’ll acknowledge you as a real man!"
"When you come back, we’ll drink big bowls of liquor and eat big bowls of meat!"
Watching ’New Water Margin’ had Dongdong yearning to feast heartily like the heroes within; heat surged through him—never mind the hornet’s nest, he’d dare prick even the sky!
"I’m going now!" Dongdong clenched his slingshot and marched forward, posture announcing his dominion over all!
Passing a small greenhouse where vegetables were grown, he ripped off the plastic cover and draped it behind him like a majestic cape.
His silhouette, challenging the hornet’s nest, was brave yet lonely.
Xue Chuchu looked puzzled, "Hornets are formidable, and they’re poisonous."
Yu Tong’s eyes brightened, "Is there honey in the hornet’s nest?"
She’d only used store-bought honey for her honey lemon concoctions, thinking wild honey might taste even better.
Xue Chuchu denied it, "No, only beehives have honey; hornets are omnivores and don’t produce honey."
Hearing there was no honey, Yu Tong’s interest in the hornet’s nest waned considerably.
Dongdong ran to several trees on the west side, looking up only to see a human-head-sized gray paper bundle, around which large black and yellow hornets circled densely, buzzing intensely.
Unfazed, Dongdong took a small stone from his pocket, placed it in the slingshot’s pouch.
Pulling back the rubber band, he launched—the stone veered off course.
Thinking of the promised big bone, in a burst of anger, he picked up a broken bamboo pole from the ground, raised it high, and charged forward, yelling:
"Eat my stick, old sun!"
He leapt into the air, swung down fiercely, and strikingly hit the large paper bundle.
The hornet’s nest, seemingly fragile, was actually quite sturdy; despite being smacked by Dongdong, it merely shivered intensely without falling.
Dongdong was ecstatic: "I am a real man, I want to eat meat!"
Blood rushing into his head, he grabbed the bamboo pole, readying for another swing, but before he could strike, several large hornets launched a fierce attack.
Dongdong could even see the fuzz on the hornets’ bodies and the terrifying stingers.
Waving his stick like a valiant general facing thousands, he struck at the attacking hornets.
However, the hornets easily dodged the stick, one of their stingers jabbing Dongdong’s arm.
Like being electrocuted, Dongdong felt unbearable pain—a wail escaped him as he dropped the stick.
Yelling in agony, he ran back with several hornets in hot pursuit, striking him once more.