Chapter 6: Hands Covered in Bee Stings

The two hadn’t gone far—about two li (roughly 1 kilometer)—when the bees once again vanished from sight.

“Jie (Sister), I think if we follow a few more, we might find the hive. Both bees flew east, so we’re headed in the right direction.”

Not bad—this kid’s got some sense.

Meng Ling gave him an approving look. “Yeah, it’s still early. Let’s search a bit longer.”

They continued tracking the bees, hiking another five or six li through the mountains.

Meng Ling, completely unable to spot the bees herself, followed blindly behind her younger brother.

Suddenly, Meng Shiqiao stopped in his tracks, causing Meng Ling to nearly crash into him.

“You found it?”

Meng Shiqiao pointed to a distant bush. “I saw it fly into that shrub.”

If it went in there, then the hive must be nearby!

“Where exactly? I’ll go take a look,” Meng Ling said.

He led her toward the bush, and sure enough, tucked beneath it in a crevice of rock were several golden honeycombs glistening with honey.

“Not bad at all. One, two, three… seven!”

Meng Ling counted them—seven full combs, each as big as a washbasin.

“Jackpot! That’s more than enough for a meat feast!”

She couldn’t help shouting in excitement.

“Really?” Meng Shiqiao was in disbelief.

They hadn’t had meat in half a year—of course he was excited.

Meng Ling nodded firmly. “Really!”

“We can finally eat meat!” Meng Shiqiao was practically bouncing with joy.

They’d gone out just hoping for luck and actually found a hive—and a big one, too.

Meng Ling was also thrilled, though she held it in better than her younger brother.

The opening was just wide enough to fit a hand, but inside was spacious, with seven or eight honeycombs hanging heavy with honey.

But without protective gear, they couldn’t retrieve it safely. Smoking them out might kill all the bees.

“Jie, is that what you call honey?” Meng Shiqiao asked, pointing at the golden substance.

Meng Ling nodded. “Yep, that’s it.”

“But there’re so many bees in there—how do we get it without getting stung to death?”

“We can’t just grab it like this. Let’s go home and prepare. We’ll come back tomorrow. No one else comes here anyway, so it should be safe.”

“Okay!”

Back home, they started prepping gear. Their parents were still out in the fields.

Bees aren’t that aggressive—far more docile than hornets.

The next day, they returned to the mountain with all their makeshift gear.

“Jie, is this cotton coat enough? I still have a lump on my head from yesterday’s sting.”

“If it’s not enough, I’ll be one big welt!” he muttered.

“It’ll work!” Meng Ling said confidently.

She wore a thick cotton coat, head wrapped in layers of coarse cloth, with only two tiny slits for her eyes. No bee was getting through, though her vision was impaired.

Her cuffs and sleeves were sealed tight, hands wrapped in double layers of cloth—any thicker and she wouldn’t be able to move.

“Okay, light the cow dung and fan the smoke toward me,” she instructed.

Smoke calms bees, but disturbing their hive will still provoke a lot of stings.

The hive was crawling with bees—just looking at it made her scalp tingle.

She used a thin, sharpened bamboo strip to cut the comb from the stone, holding her other hand beneath to catch it.

Soon, a honeycomb was cut loose. Bees swarmed out, flying everywhere, surrounding them. Fortunately, they were well protected.

Meng Shiqiao was also fully geared and fanning smoke like mad, but it wasn’t enough. Bees still stung Meng Ling.

“Hiss—ow! That hurts!”

Stung several times on her back, she couldn’t help crying out.

Meng Shiqiao heard her but couldn’t help directly. He could only fan harder.

They managed to remove four large honeycombs, each weighing several jin (over a kilo).

“We’re good. Let’s go,” Meng Ling said, packing up the honey.

“But Jie, there’s still a lot left. Aren’t we taking the rest?”

“No, we’ll leave some for the bees to survive winter. That way we can come back for more later. If we take everything, they’ll starve.”

He nodded, and she didn’t waste time explaining further—just hoisted the honey and hurried away.

Once out of range, she quickly shed her heavy coat. Her clothes were soaked in sweat. Shiqiao didn’t look much better.

They collapsed on some rocks to rest, catching their breath.

“Try it!” Meng Ling broke off a piece and handed it to her brother.

“We’re eating it just like this?”

Shiqiao cautiously took it and licked it.

“So sweet!”

He couldn’t stop after the first bite—it was the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted.

Meng Ling popped a piece into her own mouth. The honey, with its floral notes, made her eyes squint with delight.

Shiqiao copied her, stuffing his mouth and catching drips with his hands to avoid wasting a drop.

“Spit the wax out,” Meng Ling reminded him—bee wax isn’t edible.

Once full and rested, she removed her hand wraps and saw several bee stingers embedded in her hands, each surrounded by a large welt.

“Ahh!”

She gritted her teeth and pulled them out one by one. The relief was immediate.

“You okay, Jie?” Shiqiao asked, seeing her grimace.

“It’s fine. Just hurts a little—like chili burn.”

He spat into his palm. “Here, I’ll rub some spit on it!”

“No thanks! Keep that for yourself!” she said, holding him off.

“Mom used to do it for me,” he muttered, disappointed.

“That was when you were little. Doesn’t work anymore.”

“Really?”

“Of course!” she said, brushing sand off her pants. “Let’s go home.”

—–

At home, their mother Shen was doing laundry, their father Meng Liang was splitting bamboo, and little sister Meng Qingqing was chasing dragonflies.

“Dad, Mom, Qingqing—look what we brought back!” Meng Shiqiao shouted proudly.

“What is it? You look so smug,” Shen asked, amused.

“Guess!”

Qingqing, hearing there was food, ran over and hugged his leg. “Gege, where’s the yummy stuff?”

“Hang on!” He reached for the honey, but Meng Ling shot him a glare.

“Wash your hands first!”

“Oh, right!” He obediently went with Qingqing to wash up.

Then he gave her a small piece.

“Spit out the wax, okay?” Meng Ling reminded.

Qingqing nodded and carefully licked the honey, savoring it.

He handed two more pieces to their parents.

“Honey!” their father exclaimed. He hadn’t eaten it before but recognized it from the market—expensive stuff.

“Try it, it’s delicious!” Shiqiao said eagerly.

“Mmm, so sweet!” Shen looked utterly satisfied.

“There’s more—have more!” Shiqiao brought over the whole basin.

They stared at the honey for a moment, then shook their heads. “No, you kids eat it.”

It was clear they wanted to but were reluctant to use up something so valuable.

Meng Ling could tell—they probably knew how much honey was worth.

Then Meng Liang said, “Keep some. Sell the rest in town.”

Honey fetched a good price—could be sold for several dozen coins per jin. They were short on food, so trading for grain was smarter.

“Jie said we could get chicken legs if we sell it—is that true?” Shiqiao asked.

“Of course!”

“Then let’s sell it all and everyone gets chicken legs!”

Meng Ling agreed. Eating honey didn’t matter as much as eating enough. Selling it was the right move.

“You just want your chicken leg. We’ll go to town tomorrow,” she said.

“Yay! Chicken legs tomorrow!” he cheered, dancing in place.

Kids really are easy to please.

“I want chicken legs too!” Qingqing chimed in.

“Okay, you’ll get one too!”

Shen bent down to pick up her daughter, but her eyes landed on Meng Ling’s swollen hands.

“Oh my! Daya, did the bees sting your hands?” She grabbed her daughter’s hands to inspect both sides.

Meng Liang looked too, face full of guilt. Why hadn’t he thought to check before?

His expression shifted from concern to guilt—he’d been too focused on the honey.

“I’ll get some medicine,” Shen said, rushing inside.

Qingqing came over and blew on the welts, mimicking her mother. She even dabbed spit on the bumps.

“Jie, it’ll stop hurting soon!”

Her soft, milky voice made everyone laugh, and Meng Ling really did feel a little better.

Shen returned with ointment, gently applying it. “Next time, don’t go. Let your brother do it—his skin’s tougher.”

Shiqiao: “I’m made of flesh too, you know!” 😤