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The two of them quickly made their way into the hawthorn forest and began picking fruit.
Wang San, though clumsy and slow, still picked diligently. His shoes were soaked with dew, but he didn’t care.
In truth, Wang San had physical strength and wasn’t totally incapable.
His problem was — he was lazy.
When he could lie down, he wouldn’t sit. And if sitting was possible, he’d never choose to stand.
Soon, both of them had filled over half of their baskets and were getting ready to head back.
Suddenly, Wang San felt an urgent need to pee.
He tried to hold it in and wait until they got home, but the more he thought about it, the worse it got.
Feeling a bit awkward, he turned to Wang Man and muttered:
“Man-niang, can you wait for me a bit? I’m gonna go over there and take a leak.”
Wang Man nodded,
“Go. Make it quick.”
As Wang San finished and was heading back, his foot suddenly stepped on something.
He stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.
Cursing, he steadied himself, turned around, and prepared to kick the thing that had tripped him.
But when he looked down — he froze.
A long, brightly-colored creature was still wriggling where he’d stepped.
His mind blanked for a few seconds. Then, without hesitation, he turned and ran, shouting:
“Man-niang, run! There’s a huge snake!”
Wang Man had just picked a handful of ripe, red hawthorn fruit and was about to place them in her basket when Wang San suddenly barreled toward her and grabbed her arm, pulling her along as he bolted.
Now, say what you want about Wang San — yes, he was a delinquent, yes, he was lazy —
But when push came to shove, he did care about Wang Man.
Even when scared enough to nearly wet his pants, he didn’t forget to grab his little wife and take her with him.
Caught off guard, Wang Man nearly tripped from his sudden yank.
The fruit in her hands spilled all over the ground.
“What the hell? What snake? Where?!”
Wang San, seeing she’d shaken off his hand, looked in panic toward where he had just peed:
“Right over there! I—I stepped on its tail!”
Wang Man immediately sensed something was wrong too — the grass in that direction was rustling unnaturally, and she could hear a hissing, slithering sound.
No time to think.
She quickly snapped off a hawthorn branch for defense.
Wang Man realized the branch she’d broken was too small, so she stuffed it into Wang San’s hands:
“Hold this.”
Then, lifting her foot, she stepped onto a thicker branch and stomped down hard. With a crack, the branch snapped clean off from the trunk.
Wang San trembled from head to toe, voice shaky with fear:
“Why are you breaking branches? What’s the use of that? Let’s just go!”
As he spoke, he reached for Wang Man’s arm again, trying to drag her away.
But she calmly continued to strip the leaves off the branch in her hand, focusing on sharpening it.
“You think you can outrun it?
Don’t go luring it back to the village — you’ll scare the others.”
Wang San froze, deflated by her words.
She was right. Even if he had four legs, there was no way he could outrun that giant snake.
He’d only seen the tail earlier, and it was already as thick as a baby’s ankle.
Who knows how thick the upper half was?
No wonder it could swallow a whole person.
“Man-niang,” Wang San said suddenly, voice solemn and trembling,
“I’ll hold it off here — you go!
If I get eaten, please… take care of my mother.”
He genuinely believed this might be the end for him.
He was good-for-nothing anyway, couldn’t make a living, couldn’t protect anyone.
Maybe dying like this wouldn’t be so bad.
At least he could entrust his mother to Wang Man — she was more capable than him and truly cared for his mother too.
That thought gave him some comfort.
But as he imagined himself being swallowed whole by the snake, his legs still shook uncontrollably.
To say he wasn’t afraid would be a lie.
Wang Man didn’t even spare him a glance.
Her eyes were fixed on the rustling patch of grass.
The snake had clearly noticed them. It slowly raised the upper half of its body, revealing a large, wedge-shaped head as it flicked its tongue toward them menacingly.
Wang Man’s eyes widened with surprise —
This snake was huge. Its head alone was larger than her clenched fist.
Wang San shrieked, “Mamaaa!”
Then grabbed Wang Man’s arm in a death grip.
“Man-niang! Y-y-y-you! Hurry and run!”
Wang Man snapped, clearly annoyed:
“Run what? Run where?
Relax, don’t be scared — I’m here, aren’t I?”
Then she turned to the giant snake and, astonishingly, began to talk to it:
“Big wormy, judging by your size, you’ve probably lived quite a few years.
You should be able to understand me, right?
We’re just here to pick some red berries.
We don’t mean to disturb you at all.
Pretend you didn’t see us and slither on out of here, alright?
We promise we won’t come back again. How’s that?”
The massive snake continued to stare them down, showing no intention of backing off.
Of course, it didn’t understand a word she was saying.
All it saw was her mouth flapping up and down, and it got even more suspicious —
Was this human plotting something?
It began flicking its tongue more rapidly, warningly.
Wang Man sighed inwardly.
This snake must’ve lived a long time to get this big — maybe it was even close to gaining some sort of spiritual awareness.
If she could spare it, she would.
What a pity it would be to kill such a creature.
But if it really insisted on coming at them, if it refused to back off —
Well, she wasn’t going to hesitate either.
Her own life mattered more than a snake’s, no matter how ancient or rare.
While Wang Man was talking to the snake, trying to reason with it, Wang San took the chance to quietly back away.
Once he’d retreated far enough, he spun on his heel and bolted, sprinting back toward the village like his life depended on it.
Wang Man didn’t care about Wang San at all; if he stayed, she’d only feel he was a burden.
But the giant snake noticed Wang San fleeing and suddenly lunged fiercely toward Wang Man.
Wang Man was ready—immediately, the two began a tense standoff.
She sneered coldly at the snake,
“I originally planned to spare you, but you’re ungrateful and want to take me on?
Looks like you’re courting death!”
The snake struck, missing its target, then shook its massive head and charged again.
Wang Man had practiced martial arts since childhood, knowing various moves and techniques.
Though the original Wang Man only had a little skill, this body had been trained for a long time.
Her flesh and spirit were perfectly aligned, moving without any awkwardness.
Meanwhile, Wang San ran faster than he ever had in his twenty-plus years.
Without stopping, he dashed straight to his eldest Uncle Wang Yida’s house.
Bursting in, he shouted loudly,
“Uncle! Help!”
His shout startled Wang Yida, who was sitting on a stool, causing him to jump up suddenly and trip over a stool leg, falling down.
Wang Yida’s son, Wang Daniu, quickly helped him up,
“Dad, are you okay?”
Wang Yida shook his head,
“I’m fine. Now, what’s wrong with that little rascal?”
His eldest daughter-in-law, Li Xiaotong, frowned,
“Could it be he lost again gambling and got chased home for debts?”
Wang Yida glared at her,
“When have you ever seen Wang San chased home for debts?”
Truth was, though Wang San gambled, he never borrowed money from the gambling hall, nor was anyone ever after him at home.
Meanwhile, Lu Shi was tidying up in the kitchen. Hearing the commotion, she hurried out and saw Wang San bent over, gasping heavily.
Worried, she quickly helped him up,
“Ah San, what’s going on? Why are you shouting for help like that?”
To her, shouting “help” meant something seriously wrong.
Still catching his breath, Wang San grabbed Lu Shi’s hand,
“Uncle’s wife, quickly get someone to save Wang Man!”
Wang Yida’s face turned serious as he asked,
“What happened? Tell me clearly, what’s wrong with Wang Man?”
“Red hawthorn forest… Wang Man… big snake!”
Wang San gasped out the words with difficulty.