Chapter 2 The Things That Fly in the Sky Are Not Birds

  Before the old man had finished speaking, a middle-aged woman rushed over from a distance.

  "What's going on?"

  "I don't know, I just saw your family's potted plants falling from upstairs while I was walking by."

  The old man shook his head and said.

  The middle-aged woman picked up the duck and saw that there was a wound on its neck, immediately scolding loudly: "Which damn short-lived brat killed your family's ancestor's duck? If your family's ancestor finds out who it is, they will definitely tear his skin off and make him into a rice ball."

  Seeing the middle-aged woman approaching, Song Wenhong and Song Hu couldn't help but take a few steps back. Song Hu even hastily inserted the slingshot in his hand into the leather belt on his back and covered it with his clothes to avoid being discovered.

  "It can't be this bad, right?" Song Hu muttered under his breath.

  "How would I know." Song Wen replied weakly.

  "Didn't you say it was a bird?"

  "It's not a bird that has wings and flies in the sky, could it be an ox?"

  "You're a banana."

  Song Hu was speechless, learning from Song Wen's scolding, hanging his head down, now there is no good way out, can only hope that the gods of the past will bless him to get through this difficult time, otherwise the consequences would be dismal.

  The middle-aged woman scolded for half a day, feeling a bit dry in her mouth, so she stopped and looked around, only to see Song Wen and Song Hu standing upright not far away, with a sudden flash of anger in their eyes, and they strode towards the two people.

  Song Wen Song Hu felt as if the ground was slightly shaking under her feet, and when she approached, both of them secretly swallowed their saliva and called out in unison: "Amu."

  The middle-aged woman was named Shen Chunhua, the wife of their paternal uncle's brother, or in other words, the wife of their grandfather's brother's son. The relationship was a bit complicated, but anyway, she was a relative. Just as they were talking about who broke the water jar, it turned out that it was her family. Shen Chunhua had a strong personality and was fierce, children were a little afraid of her, and Song Hu had been scolded by her before and still had a shadow left.

  "Good grief, it's you again, you little cat! Last time you broke the water jug and I didn't even get to settle the score with you, now you're coming to kill my pet duck? Are you looking for a death wish?"

  Shen Chunhua came before the two of them and, without asking if they were the ones who had beaten up Fan Ya, began to scold Song Hu.

  "Auntie, that was a long time ago. Why bring it up again? Besides, I don't play with water guns anymore." Song Hu said helplessly.

  "Don't hit the water jar, hit the white duck, you're too tolerant."

  "What's there to hit? Ah Mu, even if I wanted to fight, I'm powerless. Look at my empty hands, what can I use to hit?" Song Hu said innocently, flipping over his empty hands.

  Shen Chunhua didn't believe him, staring at him and saying: "If someone else said that, I'd believe it. But if I believed you, the dogs in the village would be able to wear their own pants."

  As he spoke, his hand reached for Song Hu's waist.

  "Amu, what are you doing?"

  Song Hu hastily retreated, dodging her grasping hand, the slingshot was behind his back, and she found it, but the evidence was conclusive. However, he still couldn't defeat the fierce Shen Chunhua, who took out the slingshot from behind him.

  "Look, look, what is this? You said there was nothing. You little scoundrel, if your words were worth listening to, your grandmother would have died from hitting her head on tofu. This guy has done everything except good deeds since he was young. When he was a kid, he bullied Yan Yan, stole sweet potatoes, picked Holland beans, tomatoes, Yangtao, plums, peaches, and pears... what hasn't he done? I just don't understand how Ah Feng's daughter would marry you, is her brain damaged or are her eyes in the back of her head? Why don't you learn from others like Ah Wen, such a good kid. Ah Wen doesn't have a girlfriend yet, I'll introduce him to a pretty one someday."

  Shen Chunhua scolded Song Hu with a loud voice, and finally didn't forget to praise Song Wen beside him.

  In her eyes, Song Wen is the representative of good children.

  Song Wen was speechless, and could only force a smile when faced with the praise of this fierce aunt. As for introducing his girlfriend, he politely declined.

  Song Hu was scolded until he was covered in dog blood, feeling worse than when he didn't do his homework for a week and was publicly criticized by the class teacher. Yes, he admitted that he had done those things Amu said, but wasn't Ah Wen also not a good guy? Didn't he also do those things? Although he looked a bit cultured on the surface and had a word in his name, he was actually a bad egg too. Every time he went to steal something, Ah Wen was there too, it's just that he was unlucky enough to get caught.

  As for Song Hu, Song Wen could only sigh in admiration. Apart from admiring him, he also admired him to the point of worship. In the end, he was speechless and didn't know what to say.

  He went to others' fields and picked peas, he only picked a few and then left immediately, but Song Hu wasn't like that, regardless of size, he swept through the field, it's strange if the owner didn't report him to his family; when picking tomatoes, he only picked one or two enough to eat and stopped, but Song Hu picked a whole backpack full, couldn't finish eating them and even took some to school to share with others, when asked where they were from, he said they were from so-and-so's field; heaven have mercy, most of the students in that school are relatives, one tells ten, ten tells hundred, who doesn't know that the missing tomatoes in the field were stolen by him? There are many such instances, it's really speechless.

  Scolded by Shen Chunhua, Song Hu also got annoyed and said: "Auntie, I've already bought this duck, do you need to nag me about it?"

  Shen Chunhua immediately blew up and shouted: "You think you're great just because you have money? You think you can casually beat my family's ducks just because you have money? I was planning to keep them for breeding, can you afford to buy them? Besides, is that even your money? That's your father's money. If it weren't for your father, relying on the broken shop you opened, you would have starved to death long ago..."

  "Cough, cough..."

  The old man who had been standing beside them all along, hearing Shen Chunhua's reckless and incoherent words, hastily pretended to cough loudly to interrupt her.

  Shen Chunhua seemed to have realized her mistake and stopped, but she was not one to back down, so although she felt a bit embarrassed, she had no intention of taking back what she said. She just loudly declared that she would settle the score with him next time and walked away.

  Song Wen and Song Hu looked at each other with wry smiles, stuck with such a unique Amu, it's really laughable to the point of tears.

  "Huh, aren't you two little rabbits from a distant mountain and a distant river?"

  The old man looked at them for half a day before finally recognizing who Song Wen and Song Hu were.

  Song Wen and Song Hu had already recognized him long ago.

  The old man was called Fu Zhu, and the two of them should have called him Uncle Gong. In the past, when the two of them went up the mountain to play, they saw a patch of melons and picked one to eat. Isn't it said that picking a melon to quench thirst doesn't count as stealing? The problem was with this guy Song Hu, who after eating one thought it tasted good and wanted to pick another to take back and eat. Who knew he would pick one after another, until Uncle Gong woke up from his afternoon nap and saw him. He quickly ran away but was chased by Uncle Gong all the way to his front door.

  Luckily, Song Hu's eyes were sharp and the melons he picked were all ripe and could be sold. Otherwise, this guy would have been beaten by his father with a bamboo stick. Song Wen was fine, but still got teased by his older cousin for a while.

  The old man recognized them but apparently didn't want to settle the score for stealing melons back then, and just chatted with them casually for a few sentences before leaving.

  Looking at the old man's receding figure, Song Wen and Song Hu were sighing endlessly. Thinking back to those years when they stole melons, he was still spry and agile, but now he showed his age, with lines of time etched on his face, truly, time spares no one!