Chapter Twenty-Five: The Boy Who Caught Snakes

Over the next two days, in the moments when she was not embroidering or searching for medicinal herbs, An Yi sought out Da Ya and Ni Ni separately to learn more about the situation. Their accounts were much the same as Qiao’er’s. The whole affair seemed too coincidental: Xin Liu accidentally pushed someone into the pond, and Aunt Liu arrived just in time to save her. It was hard not to suspect something was amiss.

The incident of An Yi being pushed into the pond by Xin Liu had already reached Luo Shi and the others through Qiao’er and her companions. But in their eyes, Xin Liu’s actions were unintentional; Aunt Liu had indeed jumped into the icy water to rescue An Yi. They would never suspect the mother and daughter had plotted this, instead viewing the culprit as a savior.

Aunt Liu shared the same surname and lineage as An Qinghe’s birth mother, Liu Shi. From the Liu family’s perspective, An Jian and his siblings would call her aunt. How could Luo Shi and the others ever suspect a relative? Even if someone told them Aunt Liu and her daughter harbored ill intentions, they would likely accuse the informant of ingratitude.

An Yi had already reached her own conclusion about the matter, but she did not act immediately. To quietly and without suspicion rid herself of that mother and daughter, she needed a meticulous plan, one that left no loose ends. Otherwise, she might end up as she had in her previous life, unable to escape unscathed. Who knew if she’d have another chance to cross into a different world, and even if she did, she might not have a loving mother and caring brother as she did now.

After two more spring rains, tender green shoots appeared in the vegetable garden behind the house, and the sky cleared once more. Da Ya came to call An Yi to the mountain to gather mushrooms and wild vegetables.

This time, Qiao’er no longer showed Xin Liu any particular attitude.

Most of the mushrooms in the forest had already been picked by those who arrived earlier. Da Ya suggested they go deeper in, and none of them wanted to return empty-handed. Pushing through a thicket, they found many mushrooms in the woods beyond that had not yet been collected.

“Wow, there are so many big mushrooms here! We’ll be able to fill our basket today,” Da Ya exclaimed in delight.

After a while, Xin Liu slowly approached An Yi, timidly asking in a small voice, “Xi’er, could you teach me to read?”

An Yi looked up at Xin Liu and asked, “Do you have time to learn?”

“Yes, I do!” Xin Liu replied eagerly, afraid An Yi would refuse.

“All right, I can teach you,” An Yi replied with a gentle smile. The closer Xin Liu was, the easier it would be to act. This request helped solve a problem for her.

“Thank you, Xi’er!” Xin Liu’s face lit up with joy.

Qiao’er overheard and called out, “Xi’er, I want to learn too!”

Da Ya and Ni Ni, unwilling to be left behind, also said they wanted to learn.

Xin Liu pressed further, “Xi’er, why don’t you teach us now? Start by writing our names.”

“Very well, I’ll teach you now.” An Yi picked up a small branch and carefully wrote three characters on the ground: “Zhu Xin Liu.”

Qiao’er squeezed closer, “Xi’er, write my name.”

“Luo Qiao’er, Li Da Ya, Zhou Ni Ni,” An Yi wrote out the names of the other three in one go.

The four girls each found a small branch and crouched by their names, copying them.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from nearby. Looking around, they realized only the five of them were in this part of the woods. The most timid, Ni Ni, shrank behind Da Ya, clutching her sleeve tightly and trembling as she asked, “Wh-what… what’s that sound?”

Da Ya swallowed, giving an answer that frightened Ni Ni even more: “It could be a snake.”

“A snake! Ah!” Ni Ni screamed, frantically shaking Da Ya.

After the Awakening of Insects, all manner of creatures emerged.

An Yi’s eyes brightened—letting Xin Liu get bitten by a snake, poisoned, and die would be an effective method.

“Ah, Ni Ni, stop screaming—nothing’s appeared yet, and you’re already yelling. It might just be the wind,” Qiao’er complained, casting Ni Ni an annoyed look. “If the snake doesn’t scare me to death, you’ll do it with your noise.”

Ni Ni quickly clamped her mouth shut and clung to Da Ya, trembling.

The rustling grew louder, and a snake with black and yellow stripes slithered out from the underbrush.

Ni Ni screamed again, and Da Ya joined in. Even Qiao’er panicked, retreating and shouting repeatedly, “Snake! Snake!”

Xin Liu’s face went pale, her gaze vacant, frozen in place.

An Yi stood still, eyes fixed on the snake. Its head was broad and flat, its eyes small, with wide bands and black spots near the tail—this was a yellow-banded snake. She had dissected many snakes in her previous studies of poisons; though this species had venom glands, its fangs were short and the glands undeveloped, making poisoning unlikely. However, yellow-banded snakes moved quickly and were highly nervous and aggressive. If the girls kept shouting, the chances of someone getting bitten were high.

“Stop shouting, this snake isn’t poisonous.” A thin, raggedly dressed boy ran out from the forest, a bamboo basket with a narrow neck and wide belly tied at his waist.

He approached the snake, grabbed its head with one hand, swiftly opened the basket lid with the other, and stuffed the snake inside—all in one practiced motion.

The danger gone, Ni Ni, Da Ya, and Qiao’er collapsed weakly to the ground.

Xin Liu steadied herself, patting her chest, “Li Guyu, it’s you.”

Li Guyu responded indifferently and turned to leave.

An Yi didn’t recognize him, though the name was familiar. In the mouths of Luo Shi and the village women, Li Guyu was a pitiable child, only ten years old, with an elder sister, Li Yuan’er, three years his senior. Seven years ago, his birth mother died in childbirth, and his father, Li Dazhi, remarried Jiang Shi.

Jiang Shi had borne Li Dazhi three sons over six years, winning his favor and indulgence. With a stepmother came a stepfather, and Li Guyu and his sister endured hardship. By age six, Li Guyu was accompanying his father into the mountains to catch snakes, bitten several times. Once, he was bitten by a venomous snake and nearly died, but was saved by a passing monk.

Shaken by the snake encounter, the five girls dared not linger, erased the names from the ground, lifted their baskets, and headed down the mountain. At a fork in the path, they met Luo Dequan and his brothers, coming down another way.

With spring planting yet to begin, Luo Dequan and his brothers had nothing to do and were tagging along with a village hunter for fun. Their luck was good: they’d caught two large rabbits, seven baby rabbits, and a nest of bamboo rats.

“Xi’er, let your second brother carry the basket for you,” Luo Deyou offered, approaching.

An Yi smiled, “No need, Second Brother. I didn’t pick many mushrooms, I can carry it.”

Luo Deyou peeked inside; with only a dozen or so mushrooms, he didn’t insist. He smiled, “Xi’er, would you like to raise a baby rabbit?”

“I would.” Rabbit meat was high in protein, low in fat and cholesterol. An Yi had eaten plenty from the last batch brought from Hetang Village, and spring was the best, most economical time to raise rabbits, with grass everywhere.

Luo Dequan looked at Qiao’er following An Yi and asked, “Qiao’er, would you like one?”

Qiao’er nodded eagerly.

“Wait a moment, Qiao’er, you can catch two to take home,” Luo Dequan said with a smile.

“Thank you, Brother Quan,” Qiao’er replied sweetly.

“No need,” Luo Dequan said.

Da Ya and the other girls were envious but too shy to ask, watching An Yi and Qiao’er with admiration.