Chapter 19: Hotpot Preparations

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Because of the gloomy weather, everyone in the village stayed at home and did not go out. This turned out to be a convenience for Xiaoguo.

Xiaoguo followed the markings she had made in the morning and arrived at the traps. From afar, she saw something moving inside. Xiaoguo was overjoyed and quickly ran over.

A big pheasant was in the trap. At this moment, it was breathing heavily. Judging from the chicken feathers scattered on the ground, the bird must have been trapped for some time.

Xiaoguo observed a moment of silence for it. “Have a good journey, lovely little pheasant. I will make you into a delicacy. Rest in peace.” After the moment of silence, she killed it with one sweep of the machete.

Xiaoguo placed the dead pheasant in the basket and moved towards another trap. When she arrived, she saw that the trap was intact. She was not disappointed that there wasn’t any prey inside. It was already a great surprise for her to catch a pheasant.

Xiaoguo restored the traps and headed down the mountain. She stopped and walked along the way, cutting grass as she wandered around to familiarize herself around the mountains. Unknowingly, she had reached the other end of the mountain base.

She stopped and looked around at the towering trees. These trees looked so familiar. Based on her observations, she was sure that these were coconut trees. She was shocked. Was Peach Blossom Village located next to the sea? With such a large coconut forest, it was definitely the sea if she went any further.

Xiaoguo looked up to see if there were coconuts growing on the trees. After looking at several trees in a row, she found one with two small coconuts growing on it. She wondered how she could get the fruits off the tree. Now that she has a pheasant, she can make coconut chicken soup.

Xiaoguo started looking for a thick branch to knock the coconuts off the tree. But she could not find anything satisfactory. After walking for a while, she saw a small tree, its trunk was about the thickness of a person’s wrist.

Without another thought, Xiaoguo chopped it down and returned to the coconut tree. Fortunately, the small tree which she had just chopped down was quite tall, and the coconut tree was rather short. She placed a basket at the bottom of the tree and took swings at the coconuts on top. After trying for a long time, she finally knocked the two coconuts down.

Xiaoguo carried everything home happily, not forgetting to leave marks along the way. She would come back another time to find coconuts.

Although it took a while to get the coconuts, Xiaoguo did not feel tired. By the time she arrived home, it was already dark. As she approached the main door, she saw a tiny figure sitting in front of the house. Other houses were already illuminated with candles with the exception of Xiaoguo’s house. The lights streaming through the neighbors’ windows shone on the little man sitting at the door—making him seem so lonely.

Zhuang Zhuang, who was looking into the distance, did not blink until he saw a figure walking over from afar. He quickly ran over and hugged Xiaoguo tightly. He buried himself in Xiaoguo’s lap like an abandoned little animal.

Xiaoguo didn’t expect Zhuang Zhuang to be so emotional. The boy’s eyes were turning red. It was all her fault. If she hadn’t been trying to get to the coconuts, she wouldn’t have been so late. She squatted down and picked up Zhuang Zhuang. The three-year-old child was still light and small, it didn’t take much effort to pick up the little boy.

Zhuang Zhuang, who was now in Xiaoguo’s arms, buried his face into her neck. He wrapped his arms tightly around Xiaoguo’s neck to prevent her from looking at his swollen red eyes.

Xiaoguo carried Zhuang Zhuang home and lit the candles as soon as she entered. A warm yellow light instantly lit up the whole house.

With Xiaoguo comforting him, Zhuang Zhuang had also stopped crying. In between sobs, he told her intermittently why he was crying so hard.

It turned out that he had started to cry when the sky turned dark. He remembered Xiaoguo saying that she would return soon, but she didn’t return after quite some time.

As it was already dark, Zhuang Zhuang was afraid that something had happened to his mother. So he sat at the door and waited for her, but when she still didn’t come home, he cried again. “Didn’t she promise that she wouldn’t leave me anywhere? Mother… boo hoo… ”