Chapter 20: The Head-Slapping Kill

In the end, it was Zhao Maizhou who stood up first and said, “Mother? Didn’t you come here to dig mushrooms? What are you doing?”

 Chen Shuilian didn’t know how to explain this to him, so she casually thought of an excuse to brush Zhao Maizhou off.

“Oh, Mother just wanted to try making some traps. It’d be best if I could catch some wild rabbits or pheasants.”

Zhao Maizhou: “……”

What on earth is she thinking??

Wild pheasants and rabbits are not that easy to catch…

To avoid discouraging  Chen Shuilian’s enthusiasm, Zhao Maizhou tactfully said, “Mother, people come by here often. If you set traps, someone might get hurt.”

 Chen Shuilian rolled her eyes at him, “Do you think I don’t know that? I’m planning to wait here today and see if any careless animals fall into them. When I leave, I’ll bury them so no one gets hurt.”

Zhao Maizhou: “……”

This…

Why does it feel like a pointless gesture, like farting after taking your pants off?

Having come here so many times, he already knew there wouldn’t be any wild pheasants or rabbits.

Even if there were, they’d probably already been hunted out. If he wanted to find wild rabbits or pheasants, he’d have to go deeper into the mountains…

But he looked at  Chen Shuilian’s expression and didn’t dare to say that out loud.

He was afraid she might want him to take her into the mountains…

If he were on his own, that would be one thing, but with his mother, it wouldn’t be safe. He didn’t dare to take that risk.

After hesitating for a while, Zhao Maizhou decided to break his mother’s enthusiasm, “Mother, setting these kinds of traps is useless. You won’t catch anything.”

“Just mind your own business, and dig your hole,”  Chen Shuilian said, and seeing him standing still, lowered her voice, “What’s wrong? Are you so grown up now that I can’t boss you around anymore?”

“Listen, listen, listen,” Zhao Maizhou once again felt the fear of being bossed around by his mother.

He couldn’t afford to relax just because his mother had been nicer to them recently.

If he truly upset her, no one would have it easy.

Zhao Maizhou sighed and immediately began digging small holes in the ground, just as  Chen Shuilian had instructed.

The holes were small but very close together.

However, to Zhao Maizhou, no matter how close they were, they wouldn’t be useful. These little traps could at most trip someone who wasn’t paying attention.

They wouldn’t even be able to trap a small rabbit…

After Zhao Maizhou had finally finished digging the holes, he straightened up and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“Mother, I’m done digging.”

At this moment,  Chen Shuilian was also busy inserting sharp bamboo stalks she had just gathered into the traps.

This left Zhao Maizhou confused.

But  Chen Shuilian didn’t explain much to him. Instead, she ordered again, “After you’re done, go dig a bigger hole over there. Dig it as large as you can and make it a little deeper.”

“Okay, Mother…” Zhao Maizhou resignedly went to dig more holes.

In his heart, he was feeling miserable but still tried to comfort himself.

Forget it, forget it, although this whole thing seems pointless, at least it makes Mother happy. If it makes her happy, then it’s worth the effort.

This went on for an hour.

For that whole hour, everything around them was eerily quiet, and nothing happened.

 Chen Shuilian started to doubt herself. Maybe she had remembered the wrong day…

But when she saw the field of traps she had made, she reassured herself. The traps were set, and they couldn’t be wasted—she should wait a bit longer.

Gurgle~

A sound suddenly came from Zhao Maizhou’s stomach, breaking  Chen Shuilian’s thoughts.

She looked over in the direction of the noise and saw Zhao Maizhou’s stomach.

Zhao Maizhou’s face turned red with embarrassment. He awkwardly scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

 Chen Shuilian quickly reached into her basket and pulled out the bread she had brought.

“Are you hungry? Luckily, I brought the last piece of bread with me. Hurry up, sit over there and eat it.”

Zhao Maizhou nervously said, “No, no, I’m not hungry.”

 Chen Shuilian laughed and gave him an eye-roll. “Your stomach’s growling so loudly, and you’re not hungry? Go eat it already.”

Zhao Maizhou had never been treated this way before. Holding the bread, he didn’t know what to do.

Seeing his clueless expression,  Chen Shuilian couldn’t help but smile.

When Zhao Maizhou saw her smiling face, he snapped back to reality. He quickly broke the bread in half and said, “Mother, let’s share it. You eat with me.”

 Chen Shuilian couldn’t resist patting his head, seeing how obedient he was.

“You eat it by yourself. I’m not hungry. You’ve been digging holes for a long time, and I haven’t done anything. Be a good boy and sit under that big tree while you eat. I’ll pick some mushrooms while you’re eating.”

Zhao Maizhou froze.

Mother… just patted his head!!!

His brain completely shut down. He obediently walked over to the tree, his mind still in a daze.

Under the lush green tree, Zhao Maizhou quickly sat down cross-legged and began eating the bread.

The whole process was smooth and fluid, without any unnecessary movements.

But if you looked closely, you’d notice his eyes were blank, as if his soul hadn’t returned yet.

Like a puppet on strings, he mechanically ate the bread, bite by bite.

When the last piece of bread was gone, he stared at his empty hands for a while, trying to process what had just happened.

Ahhhhhh——

A groundhog-style scream!!!

Mother just patted his head~~~

In his memory, after his father left, nothing like this had happened again.

Patting on the head—something only his older brother ever received.

He absentmindedly touched his head, then slowly smiled. That smile grew bigger and bigger, eventually spreading to the back of his ears.

Wait!

Where’s the bread???

He looked left and right, and only saw some crumbs stuck under his nails…

Zhao Maizhou stared at his hands in disbelief. Had he really eaten the whole bread without realizing it?

He had planned to save half for his mother!

Wuwuwu, Mother, he’s unfilial, he really should die!

He had been so absorbed in his silly joy that he hadn’t even noticed the bread was gone.

Zhao Maizhou felt frustrated.

But as soon as he thought about how his mother had patted his head, he couldn’t help but smile again.

No, no, how can he smile when the bread is already gone?!

Frustration!

Hahaha, Mother patted his head.

Silly grin.

His back-and-forth between frustration and silly smiles was so amusing to watch.

Meanwhile,  Chen Shuilian, who was picking mushrooms nearby, turned her head and caught sight of Zhao Maizhou’s ridiculous behavior. She couldn’t help but laugh to herself. How could she call him foolish when he was even more foolish now?

The mountain after the rain was very quiet.

Since almost no villagers went up the mountain, if  Chen Shuilian and Zhao Maizhou weren’t talking, the only sounds in the forest would be the rustling of trees and the occasional bird chirping.

Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps interrupted the calm.

 Chen Shuilian’s heart tightened. Here it comes!

She immediately called out, “Maizhou, come here quickly. This doesn’t sound right.”

Zhao Maizhou, who had been hunting on the mountain frequently for the past six months, immediately recognized that something was wrong.

That rumbling sound? It could only come from something huge.

He rushed forward, grabbing a large machete nearby and stepping in front of  Chen Shuilian to protect her.

“Mother, we need to go. Hurry!”