Chapter 18

In the cotton field of Xiao Fei's family, Xiao Youjin and his wife and daughter worked until the sun set and the moon rose. Only then did they straighten their backs, and Xiao Youjin muttered in annoyance, "Where has that boy Yang gone? He hasn't been seen all afternoon and hasn't come to help in the field."

"Xiao Fei went with him. The two of them must be up to something. They're being so secretive. Don't worry about them. The work in the field isn't urgent; the three of us can finish it," his mother said.

"That boy, I'll deal with him when he gets home!"

Xiao Youjin said resentfully, waving his hand to signal the end of the day's work.

The three of them, famished, returned home to find the courtyard deserted, with no sign of Xiao Fei and his brother. The pigs at home were grunting hungrily in their pen.

"It's already dark, and they haven't come home. They didn't even feed the pigs. Are they trying to turn the world upside down?" Xiao Youjin was even more angry at the sight.

Xiao Yan sniffed and said to her mother, "Mom, I smell something strange."

Her mother nodded; she had noticed it too. The air was indeed filled with a strong smell, a mix of the aroma of oil and the fragrance of alcohol. Although a bit odd, it was quite pleasant.

"What are those two boys up to at home?"

Xiao Youjin, looking suspicious, lifted the lid of the pot and found the noodle soup inside.

The noodles had absorbed so much water that they had turned into a solid mass.

Her mother sighed with relief, "At least they made us a meal. But from the looks of it, the noodles were cooked a long time ago. They've soaked like this."

Xiao Yan laughed, "Add some more water, boil it, and it will turn into a mushy noodle soup. We can manage to eat it."

So, Xiao Yan washed her hands and went to reheat the food, while Xiao Youjin sat in the courtyard and smoked two pipes of tobacco.

Her mother was busy mixing food for the pigs.

She just poured a basin of water into the trough, added some wheat bran, cottonseed cake, and vegetable leaves, stirred it, and that was the pigs' meal.

It was then that she noticed something was wrong with the bag of wheat bran. It was missing a lot. She called out, "Husband, did you use too much wheat bran when you fed the pigs this morning? I remember there was half a bag left yesterday, but now there's only a little bit left."

Xiao Youjin went over and took a look. He remembered there was half a bag of wheat bran left in the bag, but now it was almost empty.

"Think about it, would I do something so irresponsible? If I fed the pigs that much this morning, they would have been stuffed to death. It must be what Yang and Fei did," Xiao Youjin defended himself, distancing himself from the blame.

Their pigs, weighing only about 60 to 70 kilograms, couldn't eat that much.

"What did Yang and Fei do with the wheat bran? They're not pigs! Could they be eating it themselves?" her mother wondered.

But soon, they discovered more things were amiss. The oil in the oil drum was significantly less, and the half bottle of liquor that Xiao Youjin had hidden was also missing a lot.

Moreover, the flat cart was gone.

The water buckets for fetching water were also missing.

Three burlap bags were missing.

Even the flashlight that Xiao Youjin kept by his pillow had disappeared.

"When they come back, I'll give them a good beating! What are they up to? Are they trying to ruin this family? These two rascals!" Xiao Youjin said angrily.

"Yes, we must scold them severely. They're so disappointing, not even discussing it with us, sneaking out, and not coming home at such a late hour!" his mother chimed in.

She was a bit worried.

Xiao Yan timidly asked, "Dad, Mom, should we go look for them?"

"Why should we look for them? They're grown boys; they won't get lost. We won't look for them! I want to see when they decide to come back!" Father knocked the ashes out of his pipe, his eyes blazing with anger.

Xiao Youjin had always thought he could control his family well.

Although the family was poor, the children were obedient, his wife was virtuous, and the family worked hard, living a stable and peaceful life. This was more important than anything.

But now, his two sons were doing something behind his back, and this feeling of losing control was very unpleasant.

At that moment, at the foot of the mound, Xiao Fei and his brother were sitting under a locust tree.

The night grew deeper.

The moon rose high, casting a silver glow over the land, making everything hazy and giving the scenery a poetic tranquility that flowed across the plain.

The sultry heat began to subside.

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, making a rustling sound.

An owl screeched eerily, sounding like a mix of crying and laughing, sending shivers down one's spine.

Xiao Fei and his brother had no watches and didn't know the exact time, but they estimated that it had been about an hour since they had laid the bait.

"It's time. Get ready. You have to be quick when picking up the soil beetles, or they'll run away," Xiao Fei stood up.

The brothers divided the work, one taking the south side of the mound and the other the north side.

Xiao Fei tied a burlap bag around his waist, carried a bucket in one hand, and held a flashlight in the other. He climbed the mound and started along the first cross path.

At the first spot where he had scattered the wheat bran, Xiao Fei shone the flashlight and his heart almost leaped out of his throat.

My God! He saw a large, dark cluster of soil beetles feasting on the wheat bran, each one plump and thick, looking very promising.

Xiao Fei quickly put down the bucket and grabbed the soil beetles by the handful, throwing them into the bucket. At this one spot alone, he caught four or five handfuls, about a kilogram of soil beetles.

He carried the bucket and moved quickly forward.

He was so focused that he didn't even feel the pain when thorns scratched his body.

He heard his brother shouting and exclaiming with joy from the other side of the mound.

After just one cross path, Xiao Fei had filled a bucket with soil beetles, weighing about 40 kilograms. He poured the soil beetles into the burlap bag, tied it up, and quickly moved to another cross path.

Xiao Yang was clearly much faster than Xiao Fei.

By the time Xiao Fei had finished three rows, Xiao Yang had already moved from the other side of the mound to Xiao Fei's side, shouting and exclaiming with joy.

"Awesome!"

"Great!"

"Who would have thought we could catch soil beetles like this!"

He shouted as he moved quickly, the burlap bag he carried on his back, tied with a flexible vine, was already half full, weighing about 100 kilograms. He was still moving swiftly, and Xiao Fei was in awe of his strength.

That physical fitness was truly like a bull!

After the first round of picking, which took about half an hour, the two brothers dragged the heavy burlap bags down the mound.

Xiao Yang was beaming with joy.

"There must be more than 300 kilograms here. My God, wet soil beetles sell for 5 yuan per kilogram, and someone in our village buys them. We must have earned about 1600 yuan tonight? Fei, am I dreaming? Pinch me, see if it hurts. I'm afraid I'll wake up and find out it was all a dream," Xiao Yang babbled.

Since his brother had volunteered for the pinch, Xiao Fei was happy to oblige.

He pinched Xiao Yang's arm.

"Ouch! It hurts! It really hurts! So, this isn't a dream, it's real!" Xiao Yang stroked the burlap bag filled with soil beetles, as if caressing his own child, his eyes filled with love.