Manbao puffed out her chest with pride and said, "I caught it!"
Manbao then detailed how she discovered the bamboo rat and used a torch to smoke it out.
Only then did Zhou Wulang realize that the half-burned fire in the bamboo thicket was lit by her. He was scared witless and hurriedly searched her, "Why were you carrying flint? Where is the flint now?"
Manbao was taken aback and said nothing.
Zhou Wulang searched and, finding nothing, breathed a sigh of relief, "Lost it?"
Manbao could only nod.
Zhou Wulang sternly said, "You are not allowed to play with fire again, do you understand? What if you accidentally start a wildfire in the mountains?"
Manbao, not convinced, retorted, "Didn’t you also light a fire?"
Erlang replied seriously, "Can you compare yourself to us? We’re all grown up, and how old are you? In any case, you’re not allowed to play with fire anymore, especially not in the mountains."
Zhou Wulang was strict, and Manbao had no choice but to reluctantly agree. She then looked in the direction they had come from and asked, "Why hasn’t Four arrived yet?"
Zhou Wulang also looked toward the road and slumped down, not moving, "Let’s wait a bit longer; he should have found the note we left by now."
The three of them sat, talked, and waited. Zhou Liulang pushed the two bamboo rats together—though the one they had caught was quite large, it was still a bit smaller than Manbao’s.
Both bamboo rats were chubby. Zhou Liulang weighed them by their necks and estimated, "This one must be at least five pounds, and this one has to be at least six pounds. There’s even more meat than on a chicken."
Manbao, who had dragged the bamboo rat all the way, was no longer afraid of it. Hearing this, she asked, "Do bamboo rats taste good?"
"Delicious, even better than chicken and mutton."
Manbao swallowed hard, somewhat skeptical, "Really?"
"Of course, it’s true. You’ve eaten it before, but you probably forgot."
Zhou Sanlang’s field was mostly bamboo, making bamboo rats plentiful. Every autumn and winter, he would take them bamboo rat hunting.
They would always catch a few each year, but since the three sisters-in-law were afraid of these creatures, the boys would kill and clean them by the river before bringing them back. Manbao had never seen a live one, but she had definitely eaten one before.
Manbao had always had a good memory, and with Zhou Wulang’s reminder, she truly recalled. Her eyes brightened as she looked at the bamboo rat, and glancing at the sky, she became restless, "Let’s go home. It takes time to butcher bamboo rats. After all, Four is an adult; he definitely knows his way home."
Zhou Wulang thought it made sense and, pulling his sore legs, got up. He whispered to Manbao, "Manbao, you mustn’t tell anyone at home that you got lost today. Don’t mention the fire either, got it?"
Manbao understood and nodded vigorously, "I know. If dad and mom find out, we’ll definitely get beaten."
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang nodded; they might not know if Manbao would get beaten, but the three of them certainly wouldn’t escape punishment.
Since they had reached there, they were not in a rush to get back. Manbao refused to let Zhou Wulang carry her and walked ahead on her little legs.
Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang each held a bamboo rat.
The siblings passed through the village, surprising the villagers.
It was winter, and most people were idly soaking up the sun outside, resulting in many sitting by the roadside.
Seeing the bamboo rats in the hands of Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang, the villagers’ eyes nearly turned green with envy.
Meat! And such large chunks of it.
"Wulang, where did you catch those bamboo rats?"
Zhou Wulang held the bamboo rats tighter and replied, "We caught them up in my brother Si’s mountain."
"That far away? Are there any more?"
Zhou Wulang thought for a moment and said, "There should be more, but the bamboo on my brother Si’s mountain isn’t as plentiful as the one by the village entrance."
"Uncle Jin’s family sure has good luck this year; the children just step outside and catch two such fat bamboo rats."
"Yeah, Manbao, you’ve got meat to eat again."
Amid envying comments, the siblings walked back home.
Junior Ms. Qian felt her skin crawl at the sight of the bamboo rats. Although she liked to eat them, she absolutely disliked killing them, so she turned away and called out to Zhou Dalang inside the house, "Datou’s dad, come out quickly!"
Zhou Dalang, who was rarely home for a lazy morning, came out groggily, "What’s happened?"
Junior Ms. Qian pointed to the bamboo rats in the children’s hands, "Take them out and deal with them."
Zhou Dalang’s spirits lifted when he saw the chubby bamboo rats. He happily stepped forward, "Where did these come from?"
"They’re from brother Si’s mountain."
Zhou Dalang took the bamboo rats, called Zhou Sanlang to join him, and cheerfully said, "Let’s go kill them by the river. Right, where’s Four?"
Zhou Wulang’s gaze wandered as he replied uneasily, "He fell behind. He should be back soon."
Zhou Dalang and the others didn’t mind, for Zhou Silang was grown up and couldn’t be lost.
They didn’t ask Zhou Wulang and the others to help. Dalang and Third took the bamboo rats to the river to kill them.
By the time they returned with the clean bamboo rats, Zhou Silang still hadn’t come back.
Junior Ms. Qian had steamed the rice. She glanced at the sky and frowned, "It’s almost time for supper; how come Four hasn’t returned?"
Zhou Wulang was also anxious, whispered to Zhou Liulang and Manbao, "Could Four have missed the note I left?"
Manbao was worried as well, similarly whispering, "Shall we go back to look for him?"
Zhou Wulang thought for a moment and said, "You stay here; I will go with Sixth Brother."
Zhou Silang was oblivious to all this; his mind fixated on the half-burned fire he had encountered, convinced that someone had been there.
Following the main road all the way to White Horse Pass without finding a trace of Manbao, Zhou Silang collapsed on the ground, tears streaming down, almost drowning in fear.
He wiped his tears, hesitated, and then rushed into the town to inquire. If the person who made the fire had taken Manbao, they would either go back to their village or come to White Horse Pass.
Their village was crowded and if someone had taken her through, the villagers would notice. However, going to White Horse Pass was different.
He had to ask if anyone had seen Manbao passing through the town.
When Zhou Silang emerged from the town, the sun was nearly down. His legs trembled, but he dared not rest, running back along the road.
He planned to go up the mountain, get Zhou Wulang, and call the villagers to search together.
With the sun about to set, Zhou Silang ran desperately. He couldn’t let the sun go down; what would become of Manbao in the darkness?
Zhou Silang rushed back under the big tree, first calling out "Five" towards the mountain; when no echo came, he started looking around, then noticed the stone under the tree.
He ran up to it and found a large leaf pressed beside the stone, covered with mud and what looked like paw prints. He carefully observed and found the words in front a bit blurred, but "go home" at the end was very clear.
In that moment, Zhou Silang lacked the energy to ponder deeper meanings. He tucked the leaf into his pocket and turned towards home.