Chapter 25
Chapter 25
"Auntie."
"Auntie."
"Auntie."
The rooster crowed.
"Wow..."
"Wow..."
"Wow..."
Jiang Changtian spat blood.
Jiang Feng spat.
Jiang Mianmian spat up milk.
Shuguang suddenly rushed in from outside the door.
She came in a mighty rush, in a flutter.
In that instant, everyone came alive.
Jiang Mianmian had just heard her father's stifled sobs. She couldn't stand it. She had probably been restless all night too, caught a chill, or was too emotionally strained, and spat up milk directly.
Master Jiang Changtian spat a mouthful of blood, pent-up emotions finally released.
Big brother spat, spat slimy liquid everywhere, a hundred times more putrid than Jiang Mianmian's poop.
The stench was vicious.
Jiang Mianmian caught a whiff of that smell, already spitting up milk, and couldn't help but spit up again, stomach full of sour liquid.
But looking at her parents' faces full of joy helping clean up and wash, not disgusted at all.
Sister Jiang Yu helped clean up Jiang Mianmian.
She didn't dare wash her, just changed her into new clothes.
Probably no hot water or hair dryer in these times, washing a baby would easily make her sick.
Jiang Mianmian could still smell a little sourness on herself.
Jiang Feng spat even more buckets of black water, not like a human at all.
But at this moment, the Jiang couple didn't find it odd at all, just overjoyed.
Probably even if their son had turned into a monster demon, they'd still be happy, as long as he was alive.
Their hearts and eyes were full of nothing but delight.
The feeling of losing something and getting it back, the couple gazed at each other, more determined, more steady.
No one knew, this couple had embraced each other in the dark of night.
Embraced each other in front of the child they thought had died.
What they thought, what they went through.
If anger and resentment could take form, destroying a city wouldn't be enough.
That was a father's love, a mother's love, in its most primal form.
Jiang Feng blankly looked ahead, and weakly said, "Is this Mianmian's poop on me? Why's it so smelly?"
Jiang Mianmian: "Awawa." (Hey! Don't falsely accuse my innocence)
Hearing her son say this, Qin Luoxia laughed through her tears.
"Don't talk nonsense, your sister is a sweetheart. Are you hungry? Let mother make you some food."
"Dad, I'm so hungry, I want to eat beef," Jiang Feng's voice was still weak, but what he said was still infuriating.
Usually he'd surely get scolded, his parents would scold him a bit.
Wanting beef, where would common folk get beef, why not ask for the heavens while you're at it.
Unexpectedly Master Jiang Changtian said, "Alright, we'll have beef tomorrow. You've only just recovered, rest for now."
Jiang Feng looked at his father in great surprise.
Lying there, Jiang Feng suddenly laughed again.
...
Dawn broke.
Qin Luoxia went to cook.
Jiang Changtian brought in a bamboo chair into his son's room and laid down, instantly falling asleep.
Soon came the sound of snores.
Jiang Yu was young, she had also been up most of the night, but she had napped a few times. Now in her brother's room, eyes wide staring at her brother.
She wanted to speak, but her brother made a shushing gesture.
She could only stare wide-eyed at her brother. Stared for a while, and unexpectedly fell asleep sitting up.
Cleverly wedging her head against the back of the chair so she wouldn't fall over.
Jiang Feng looked at his sister, then his father.
He seemed to have had a long dream.
Last night after lying down he felt awful, his whole body hurt, he wanted to spit up, he thought maybe sleeping would help.
His father and mother had work tomorrow, though he felt bad, he thought he could tough it out and it would pass.
Moreover he had taken medicine, had meat soup at night, he was already much better.
Just hazily faded into unconsciousness like this.
But losing consciousness didn't make him better.
He vaguely sensed his parents feeding him medicine.
He heard his parents crying.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't open his eyes or speak.
It was as if he had really died.
He panicked, he couldn't die, what would the family do if he died?
His little sister was still so small, that dummy Jiang Xiaoyu would surely be tricked, father was ill, mother had never enjoyed a day of good fortune. He couldn't die.
But the harder he struggled, the worse it got.
He felt like he was changed into new colorful clothes, placed in a coffin, buried in the dirt.
Mother had dug the hole herself, father and Jiang Xiaoyu shoveled the dirt together.
He didn't want to be alone in the dark.
He wanted his father, mother, sister, Jiang Xiaoyu.
But he couldn't get out, he could only watch his own body slowly rot away in the dark.
Then one day, a hole appeared next to him.
A familiar feeling, another coffin, small.
He saw that it was his youngest sister, so tiny, eyes closed, lying in the hole beside him.
He saw the mother who dug the hole, the father, didn't see Jiang Xiaoyu.
Father's hair had turned white, mother had many more wrinkles, it was cold in the dirt, winter.
Originally he desperately wanted to get out, because he saw his parents.
But now his tiny little sister was beside him, he worried she would be scared, she was so small.
He could only stay here accompanying her, watching his own body rot further, fall apart.
Later, he became bones, and his sister became bones too.
Strangely, theirs were unattractive bones, not white.
The quality wasn't great either, brittle.
Later, another hole appeared next to him, he saw that it was father.
Father dug the hole, mother didn't dig, because this hole was to bury mother.
Jiang Xiaoyu still wasn't there.
Jiang Feng saw mother, always on his mind, he was just bones now, but in this moment, the bones still felt like they could cry, they could ache.
Because he saw father digging the hole alone, burying alone.
That day, he heard someone crying outside the dirt, crying for a long, long time.
Just one person.
He wanted to keep them company.
He thought sister had mother's company, she wouldn't be scared now.
He wanted to crawl out again, crawl out and keep father company, he missed Jiang Xiaoyu again, didn't know where she had been tricked off to.
But he couldn't get out, time flew, mother also turned to bones, mother's bones were white and beautiful, but the neck bones were shattered.
He often heard crying sounds.
Maybe it was the wind.
He couldn't stand these sounds, later he couldn't tell the cries from the wind anymore.
His bones had gone bad, slowly turning to dust, he suddenly glanced at himself, even forgot who he was.
He only knew he couldn't stand the crying.
Especially men's crying.
The crying was so noisy, noisy for so long.
But suddenly one day, the crying stopped.
Stopped for a long time.
No one cried anymore.
He started missing it again.
Missed it a lot.
Forgot why, just missed it a lot.
Then he heard crying again.
Very near, right by his ear.
He opened his eyes.
He saw flesh, felt father and mother.
Saw Jiang Yu, Jiang Mianmian.
Then he threw up.
Wildly threw up.
He didn't know what he spat out, like rotten earth, he spat a lot of black water, he came alive.
He was still alive.
Little sister was also alive, Jiang Xiaoyu was right before his eyes, mother was alive, father was too.
His whole body shook, eyes bloodshot.
He came alive.
He crawled out.
He tried to speak.
"Is this Mianmian's poop on me? Why's it so smelly?"
He heard a response.
"Awawa."
He was certain he had crawled out, because in the dirt, he had said many things to his sister, but his sister never responded.
"Don't talk nonsense, your sister is a sweetheart. Are you hungry? Let mother make you some food."
Mother's voice.
Mother would respond now too.
Jiang Feng's eyes brimmed with tears.
He continued, "Dad, I'm so hungry, I want to eat beef."
Father also responded, "Alright, we'll have beef tomorrow. You've only just recovered, rest for now."
Jiang Feng lay back down, smiling.
He had crawled out.