Several years had passed in the blink of an eye.
Chen Mo had thought he had forgotten, but the moment he stepped out of the car and saw the village marker, all his childhood memories came flooding back.
His sister carrying him, who had been bitten by a snake and was sobbing, up the long stone steps; himself being chased by a chicken and crying as he ran to hide behind his sister; and the time he rushed out, reluctant to let his sister go when she had to return to S City.
All these memories.
Chen Mo suddenly became very quiet. It wasn’t the kind of quiet where he didn’t speak, but rather a state where he seemed completely immersed in his thoughts, unreachable by anyone else.
Ji Nian looked up at him for a while but didn’t say anything, letting Chen Mo sink into his thoughts.
Suddenly, there was a rustling sound from the bushes nearby. Ji Nian turned her head and saw a chicken darting out from nowhere. It stretched its neck, noticed the people standing there, and then turned back.
Ji Nian found it amusing. Was it a wild chicken? It looked like a hen. Maybe if they followed it, they could find some eggs.
“Uncle, I’m going to check over there.”
Ji Nian looked up at her uncle, who was still lost in thought, and then turned to call Wei Yang to follow her as she chased after the hen.
Wei Yang was eager: “Are we catching the chicken, Ji Nian? I’m great at catching them.”
When he was a kid, Shen Rushan had made him a slingshot, and Ji Tingzhou had taught him how to shoot birds. It had been so much fun.
But now he didn’t have a slingshot. He could catch it with his bare hands, heh.
Wei Yang, reliving his childhood, was very excited.
“Can we catch it? If it doesn’t belong to anyone, we’ll take it.”
It just so happened that she hadn’t had time to bring a gift for her grandparents. Catching a chicken would be a nice gesture.
Wei Yang rubbed his hands together, ready to show off in front of the kid: “Leave it to me!”
Ten minutes later, Ji Nian, with chicken feathers stuck in her curly hair, and Wei Yang, clutching his butt where he’d been pecked several times, stared at each other.
Not far from them stood a proud hen, looking disdainfully at the humans, as if to say: “You think you can mess with me?”
[Wei Yang couldn’t even catch it? Is this some kind of warrior hen? It’s so hard to catch!]
Ji Nian couldn’t believe her eyes.
Not just her, Wei Yang also looked utterly defeated.
This was bad. Just a few days ago, Ji Tingzhou had said he was getting fat, like a majestic pig. Was he really so out of shape that he couldn’t even catch a chicken?
“Failure is the third aunt of success, Uncle Wei Yang. Don’t lose heart. I refuse to believe we can’t outlast a chicken!”
At worst, they’d wage a war of attrition and tire it out!
Wei Yang, now fired up, looked at her seriously: “Yes, Colonel.”
Ji Nian nodded solemnly: “Lieutenant, take care of yourself. I won’t allow you to get hurt. If it comes to it, we’ll retreat.”
Hearing this, Wei Yang immediately objected: “No! Colonel! We can’t retreat! If we retreat, what will happen to the thousands of civilians behind us? Even if I have to sacrifice my life, I’ll hold this ground!”
Ji Nian’s eyes welled up with tears, moved by his determination. She closed her eyes, as if feeling the weight of his resolve: “You’re right.”
“They’ve provided for us. Today, I repay them with my life.”
“If anyone wants to pass through here, they’ll have to step over my corpse!”
The two exchanged a glance, silently agreeing. They turned fiercely toward the creature, adopting battle stances, their auras intense, and roared: “Come at us!”
System: What a good blade. Which series is this from?
Chen Mo and the others, who had come looking for Ji Nian after noticing she was missing: “……”
The hen they were yelling at: “……”
Humans, you’re so weird.
In the end, the lone hen couldn’t withstand the humans’ determination and was captured.
Looking at the hen, now held by its wings, looking dejected, Ji Nian and Wei Yang tearfully exchanged glances: “We did it.”
“The civilians are saved!”
The two, one big and one small, hugged each other, tears in their eyes.
Chen Mo, watching from the side, looked both amused and exasperated. The man next to him, Number One, was about to say something but was stopped by his boss with a raised hand.
Chen Mo stepped forward, walked up to Ji Nian and Wei Yang, and clenched his fist: “Colonel Ji, your kindness is beyond repayment.”
“On behalf of the people of Yudu Village, I thank you.”
Number One: “……”
After saying this, Chen Mo turned to look at Number One and the others.
Everyone: So, do we have a part in this too?
“Thank you, Colonel, for saving us.”
Luckily, they all played along.
Ji Nian, covered in chicken feathers and dust, scratched her head sheepishly: “Hehe, just doing my duty. No need to thank me.”
She was satisfied, but someone else wasn’t happy.
“Where are the eggs!? The eggs I left here are gone!!!”
“Who the hell stole my eggs and even took the basket!!!!”
Wait…
Old Master Chen glanced into the chicken coop. All he saw were baby chicks.
He froze.
Where’s the hen?
Where’s his Chen Huahua!?
...
The earlier homesickness had dissipated a bit after playing pretend with Ji Nian.
Back then, when he received the terrible news and rushed home in a panic, only to realize he had missed his sister’s last call, the guilt had nearly crushed him. He couldn’t face his parents.
When he finally mustered the courage to return, he was met with his parents, whose hair had turned white overnight from grief.
Now, Chen Mo wasn’t the clueless child he had been back then.
Sister, next year, I’ll be older than you.
Chen Mo thought bitterly as he bent down to take Ji Nian’s hand and led her up the slope.
Yudu Village was built against a mountain. The scenery was beautiful, and a few years ago, a celebrity had vacationed here, bringing attention to this secluded, idyllic village. Tourism had gradually developed since then.
Of course, the person behind the capital investment was surnamed Chen, something outsiders didn’t know.
“Look, Ji Nian. That used to be the only convenience store in the village. When I was a kid, I loved candy. My grandparents spoiled me and gave me a lot of pocket money. All the kids liked to follow me around, hoping to get some candy.”
“And over there, by that ditch. That’s where I fell in when I was learning to ride a bike. I cried for a long time until my sister jumped in and pulled me out.”
This memory made Chen Mo’s tone a bit lighter. As he spoke, Ji Nian felt as if she had traveled back to his childhood, seeing a little boy with half his butt exposed, crying loudly as he waited for the girl, who was laughing so hard she was in tears, to pull him out.
Chen Mo: “……I didn’t have half my butt exposed.”
Ji Nian covered her mouth, embarrassed, and stuck out her tongue: “Sorry~”
The villagers had grown used to outsiders over the years and had even seen a few celebrities.
But they couldn’t help but stare at Ji Nian and her group.
“Look, that girl has green eyes. She’s a foreigner, isn’t she? She’s so pretty, like a doll.”
“Is that her dad next to her? He doesn’t look like a foreigner. He seems familiar, like I’ve seen him before…”
“Hahaha, you’re dreaming. How could you know someone like that? If you know him, I’ll eat my shoe.”
Chen Mo, walking past with Ji Nian, glanced over and greeted them warmly: “Third Aunt, picking vegetables?”
The woman called Third Aunt froze for a moment.
Only after Chen Mo had walked away did she slowly take off one of her shoes and hand it to the woman next to her.
“Well?”
