Chapter 23
Enlightenment
After having his fill, Zhuang Zhuang was so full that his stomach was bulging. Xiaoguo was a little worried, so she made Zhuang Zhuang stroll around the house to help with digestion.
The two cows have been growing well and strong. At this time, they were feeding on the grass. Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang played with the calves in the room for a while. When they came out, they saw that it was still raining. Looking at the vegetable fields in the distance, they were glad that the seeds were planted deep in the ground, otherwise, the rain would have washed them away by now.
After playing for a while, the food in Zhuang Zhuang’s stomach had already been digested. He was beginning to feel sleepy after his full meal. Zhuang Zhuang was now leaning on Xiaoguo and almost dozing off. But he resisted his drowsiness because he wanted to listen to his mother tell him a story. The more he listened, the more sleepy he became. In the end, his eyes slowly closed and he finally fell asleep.
Xiaoguo stopped her storytelling and slowly carried Zhuang Zhuang back to his bed. She turned on her side and snuggled beside Zhuang Zhuang. After a while, she fell asleep too. Xiaoguo did not rest well the night before and had been working non-stop since morning. Listening to the sound of rain while lying in bed made sleep all the more easier.
Outside the window, the rain was still falling. In one of the houses in the fishing village, the man stood watching over a sleeping man in bed. A knock on the door sounded and the standing man froze, his eyes darted warily toward the door.
“Brother Li, it’s me. I’m here to change the dressing.” A girl’s voice sounded outside the door.
Li Shouji put down the knife in his hand and opened the door. “Thank you, Miss Yu.”
Yu Zhizhi smiled shyly and walked past Li into the house. She looked at the man on the bed and her heart began pounding once again. She couldn’t control her emotions. The passion in her eyes were plain and clear, as she greedily took in the view of the man lying in bed.
Li Shouji coughed. “Ahem.”
Yu Zhizhi returned to her senses and gripped the tray tightly in her hands. She walked towards the bed and gently removed the gauze. After removing the blood-soaked gauze, she replaced it with a new one that was laced with medicine. The dressing was then tightly secured. Yu Zhizhi went through each of the steps in a deliberate and slow manner, just so that she could spend more time staying close to the man in front of her.
Possibly due to the intensity of Yu Zhizhi’s gaze, the unconscious man moved his hand and shouted something in his stupor. Li Shouji heard the man’s murmur and quickly walked forward, listening attentively to the muttering.
“Mother… Xiaoguo… Mother…” The man did not wake up. He seemed to be having a nightmare. He went back into a slumber again after muttering a few words.
Although Yu Zhizhi was close to him, she did not understand what he was saying. However, Li Shouji, who was beside her, heard everything. He sighed. ”
It was always these two people… what’s up? Old Jiang.
.. ” Li Shouji thought to himself.
Xiaoguo slept with Zhuang Zhuang until the afternoon. Once awake, they stretched out their bodies at the exact same time—their expressions and actions identical even in the direction they rolled. Xiaoguo yawned and sighed inwardly at this extravagant life. Every day, all they did was eat and sleep.
Having just woken up, Xiaoguo got ready to prepare dinner. Xiaoguo felt that this life of repeated eating and sleeping was really intoxicating.
Getting off the bed, Xiaoguo went to the kitchen. She made some noodles using the chicken stock leftover from lunch. Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang each had a large bowl of the noodles. When they went to bed that night, Zhuang Zhuang pestered Xiaoguo to tell him a story. After some thought, Xiaoguo decided to tell him some philosophical stories. Zhuang Zhuang was three years old. It would be just the right age to begin enlightening him if he were in the modern world. “Let Mother tell you a story about three people and a spider after the rain.”
Zhuang Zhuang immediately rolled over on top of Xiaoguo and looked at her with his big eyes blinking. Xiaoguo smiled and began narrating, “After the rain, a spider crawled with difficulty towards the web that was already torn and tattered on the wall. As the wall was damp, when the spider reached a certain height, it would slide and fall off. The spider tried again and again. The first man saw it. He sighed and said to himself, “Wasn’t my life the same as this spider’s? Busy and fruitless.” He became increasingly depressed. The second man saw it and said, “This spider is so stupid. Why didn’t it make a detour and climb along the dry portion of the wall? I can’t be as foolish in the future.” So he became wiser. The third man saw it and was immediately moved by the spider’s spirit of determination. So he became stronger.”
Xiaoguo had told the story in such a vivid manner that Zhuang Zhuang was wildly entertained. Xiaoguo would speak in a rough voice one moment and raise her voice the next. It was too fun listening to her.
After Zhuang Zhuang was done laughing, Xiaoguo asked him, “Do you understand what I am trying to tell you through the story?”
Zhuang Zhuang was very confused. What is there to understand? He only felt that his mother’s narration was really amusing. But after giving it some thought for a long while, he said apprehensively, “We shouldn’t be like the first man—looking at things in such an unhappy way.” Zhuang Zhuang had never gone to school, so he could only explain in simple terms. He was unable to summarize his thoughts.
Xiaoguo was happy that Zhuang Zhuang understood a little of what she was trying to say. She lowered her head to kiss his cheeks encouragingly. “That’s very well said. Different people have different opinions about the same thing. The pessimistic ones will only see the pessimistic aspects, but the optimistic ones will often figure out a different viewpoint.”
Seeing Zhuang Zhuang’s confused look, Xiaoguo explained simply, “This story tells us that we have to learn to live a positive life and know how to resolve some of the not-so-good things in our lives. This way, not only will we be happier, but we will also be more successful… “
After having his fill, Zhuang Zhuang was so full that his stomach was bulging. Xiaoguo was a little worried, so she made Zhuang Zhuang stroll around the house to help with digestion.
The two cows have been growing well and strong. At this time, they were feeding on the grass. Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang played with the calves in the room for a while. When they came out, they saw that it was still raining. Looking at the vegetable fields in the distance, they were glad that the seeds were planted deep in the ground, otherwise, the rain would have washed them away by now.
After playing for a while, the food in Zhuang Zhuang’s stomach had already been digested. He was beginning to feel sleepy after his full meal. Zhuang Zhuang was now leaning on Xiaoguo and almost dozing off. But he resisted his drowsiness because he wanted to listen to his mother tell him a story. The more he listened, the more sleepy he became. In the end, his eyes slowly closed and he finally fell asleep.
Xiaoguo stopped her storytelling and slowly carried Zhuang Zhuang back to his bed. She turned on her side and snuggled beside Zhuang Zhuang. After a while, she fell asleep too. Xiaoguo did not rest well the night before and had been working non-stop since morning. Listening to the sound of rain while lying in bed made sleep all the more easier.
Outside the window, the rain was still falling. In one of the houses in the fishing village, the man stood watching over a sleeping man in bed. A knock on the door sounded and the standing man froze, his eyes darted warily toward the door.
“Brother Li, it’s me. I’m here to change the dressing.” A girl’s voice sounded outside the door.
Li Shouji put down the knife in his hand and opened the door. “Thank you, Miss Yu.”
Yu Zhizhi smiled shyly and walked past Li into the house. She looked at the man on the bed and her heart began pounding once again. She couldn’t control her emotions. The passion in her eyes were plain and clear, as she greedily took in the view of the man lying in bed.
Li Shouji coughed. “Ahem.”
Yu Zhizhi returned to her senses and gripped the tray tightly in her hands. She walked towards the bed and gently removed the gauze. After removing the blood-soaked gauze, she replaced it with a new one that was laced with medicine. The dressing was then tightly secured. Yu Zhizhi went through each of the steps in a deliberate and slow manner, just so that she could spend more time staying close to the man in front of her.
Possibly due to the intensity of Yu Zhizhi’s gaze, the unconscious man moved his hand and shouted something in his stupor. Li Shouji heard the man’s murmur and quickly walked forward, listening attentively to the muttering.
“Mother… Xiaoguo… Mother…” The man did not wake up. He seemed to be having a nightmare. He went back into a slumber again after muttering a few words.
Although Yu Zhizhi was close to him, she did not understand what he was saying. However, Li Shouji, who was beside her, heard everything. He sighed. ”
It was always these two people… what’s up? Old Jiang.
.. ” Li Shouji thought to himself.
Xiaoguo slept with Zhuang Zhuang until the afternoon. Once awake, they stretched out their bodies at the exact same time—their expressions and actions identical even in the direction they rolled. Xiaoguo yawned and sighed inwardly at this extravagant life. Every day, all they did was eat and sleep.
Having just woken up, Xiaoguo got ready to prepare dinner. Xiaoguo felt that this life of repeated eating and sleeping was really intoxicating.
Getting off the bed, Xiaoguo went to the kitchen. She made some noodles using the chicken stock leftover from lunch. Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang each had a large bowl of the noodles. When they went to bed that night, Zhuang Zhuang pestered Xiaoguo to tell him a story. After some thought, Xiaoguo decided to tell him some philosophical stories. Zhuang Zhuang was three years old. It would be just the right age to begin enlightening him if he were in the modern world. “Let Mother tell you a story about three people and a spider after the rain.”
Zhuang Zhuang immediately rolled over on top of Xiaoguo and looked at her with his big eyes blinking. Xiaoguo smiled and began narrating, “After the rain, a spider crawled with difficulty towards the web that was already torn and tattered on the wall. As the wall was damp, when the spider reached a certain height, it would slide and fall off. The spider tried again and again. The first man saw it. He sighed and said to himself, “Wasn’t my life the same as this spider’s? Busy and fruitless.” He became increasingly depressed. The second man saw it and said, “This spider is so stupid. Why didn’t it make a detour and climb along the dry portion of the wall? I can’t be as foolish in the future.” So he became wiser. The third man saw it and was immediately moved by the spider’s spirit of determination. So he became stronger.”
Xiaoguo had told the story in such a vivid manner that Zhuang Zhuang was wildly entertained. Xiaoguo would speak in a rough voice one moment and raise her voice the next. It was too fun listening to her.
After Zhuang Zhuang was done laughing, Xiaoguo asked him, “Do you understand what I am trying to tell you through the story?”
Zhuang Zhuang was very confused. What is there to understand? He only felt that his mother’s narration was really amusing. But after giving it some thought for a long while, he said apprehensively, “We shouldn’t be like the first man—looking at things in such an unhappy way.” Zhuang Zhuang had never gone to school, so he could only explain in simple terms. He was unable to summarize his thoughts.
Xiaoguo was happy that Zhuang Zhuang understood a little of what she was trying to say. She lowered her head to kiss his cheeks encouragingly. “That’s very well said. Different people have different opinions about the same thing. The pessimistic ones will only see the pessimistic aspects, but the optimistic ones will often figure out a different viewpoint.”
Seeing Zhuang Zhuang’s confused look, Xiaoguo explained simply, “This story tells us that we have to learn to live a positive life and know how to resolve some of the not-so-good things in our lives. This way, not only will we be happier, but we will also be more successful… “
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