The ducks quacked noisily, flapping their wings, rushing noisily into the 'pen'. The gander was a couple of steps slow, so Fourth Grandfather He simply herded it to another side.
Zhao Ger rolled up his trousers and waded into the water to help catch a duck. Guaizai waited obediently on the riverbank. A gander swimming nearby noticed the boy. Its aggressive honks drew Guaizai's attention, and he stared curiously at the large bird. Without any apparent provocation, the gander suddenly charged toward the shore.
This gander held its long neck high. Its size was larger than an ordinary duck. When it rushed up to Guaizai, it was actually taller than him.
It honked at Guaizai. Guaizai didn't understand what it meant. This part of the riverbank was shallow. Children used to come here to play often, but later there was an accident—a child accidentally drowned. Zhao Ger had repeatedly warned Guaizai not to come here. Guaizai was obedient and never came here to play, so he had never seen a goose before.
Now, seeing one for the first time, he was a little curious. However, the gander was honking fiercely and was bigger than him. Guaizai felt a little scared and instinctively stepped back. The moment he lifted his foot, the gander suddenly flapped its wings and pecked at his chest.
Fourth Grandfather He was an expert at catching ducks. By now he held one in each hand.
"Zhao Ger, take a look, which one do you want? This one is a bit heavier, fatter."
"I..." Zhao Ger had just started to speak when Guaizai's cries for help came from behind.
"Ah... Daddy~ Daddy, save me, quick, save me..."
Zhao Ger's heart sank, thinking he had fallen into the river. He turned his head sharply to look and immediately didn't know what to say.
The gander had pecked Guaizai on the chest. His eyes were brimming with tears. His two small hands were pulling at the goose's neck, trying to wrench it away. The goose's beak was still clamped on his flesh, the more he pulled, the more it hurt. The pain made his tears stream down uncontrollably.
The gander flapped its wings, occasionally hitting him on the head. The force was so strong it made his whole body stagger. He felt dizzy. The little bun he had tied in his hair this morning was now crooked to one side. Tears smeared all over his face, his appearance was utterly pathetic.
"Aiyo..." Fourth Grandfather He was so startled he shivered.
The gander had always been aggressive. He'd raised it for nearly two years, and even he himself wasn't safe from its pecks. He'd forgotten this earlier, but now that it had actually attacked someone, he feared the consequences would be severe.
A goose wasn't like a wolf, pecking someone would hurt for a few days at most, it wouldn't kill you. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't be this nervous. The children in the village were as wild as monkeys. Every couple of days, they were either fighting or falling down. If they got hurt, they got hurt. If it wasn't too serious, the adults at home usually turned a blind eye. But Guaizai was different. Who in the village didn't know that Fang Zichen treasured this stepson like the apple of his eye, cherished him like his own lifeline?
He had heard last time that Guaizai was bullied by the two boys from the Zhou family—they just pushed him once, didn't even injure him anywhere—and Fang Zichen had beaten those Zhou boys until they howled in pain. If he came back and found out his son had been pecked by his goose, and even had his skin broken, he was probably going to come over directly with a knife.
Fourth Grandfather He grabbed the gander by the neck, using a great deal of force, before the gander finally let go.
Guaizai's long eyelashes were still dotted with teardrops. He kept rubbing his chest, not daring to stop his little hands. If he stopped, it hurt, he simply couldn't stand it.
Zhao Ger wiped his tears, comforting him: "It's alright, it's alright."
"Wuwuwu..." Guaizai sobbed: "Daddy, Guaizai hurts!"
"Daddy knows," Zhao Ger said. "Come, lift your clothes and let Daddy take a look."
When he lifted the clothes, his stomach was fine and unscathed, but the area around his little nipple on his chest was red and swollen, the skin was broken, and the mark was clearly visible.
Guaizai looked at it, rubbed it again: "My... my nipple... hurts! It's... it's broken."
The gander was currently being held by Fourth Grandfather He. Guaizai asked: "Daddy, does it... does it want to eat my nipple?"
Zhao Ger: "...... Probably not."
Zhao Ger guessed that the gander had probably just pecked randomly. He just never expected his son to be so unlucky as to get pecked in such a fragile and sensitive spot.
Zhao Ger blew on it for him: "It's alright, it won't hurt in a little while."
"Mm!" Guaizai lifted his hand and wiped his face roughly himself. Then he looked down at his chest again and said, "This goose is stupid. Guaizai doesn't even have milk. It still bit Guaizai. Guaizai will only have milk when he has a baby. It doesn't even understand, so stupid."
Zhao Ger: "......"
Last time, Guaizai said he wanted to see the little brother, so Zhao Ger took him to the Du family for a visit. That day, Wu Ger happened to be resting at home. A sister-in-law from his maternal family had come to visit. The sister-in-law's child was only a few months old. They were all playing with the child when Wu Ger's son suddenly started crying. Old Madam Du said the child was probably hungry and went to cook some gruel. The sister-in-law waved her hand dismissively, saying it wasn't necessary to go to such trouble, and that she would simply breastfeed the baby.
Zhao Ger and Wu Ger felt it wasn't appropriate to stay in the room, so they stepped out. Guaizai, however, was curious and said he wanted to see the little brother drink milk. Zhao Ger tried to pull him out, but the sister-in-law said it was fine, what would a three-year-old child understand.
So Zhao Ger let him stay inside and went out by himself.
He didn't know what exactly the boy saw, but now he came out with such words.
Guaizai clenched his little fists, tight as eggs, and said: "It bit Guaizai, Guaizai is going to go bite its nipple too."
Zhao Ger: "......"
Fourth Grandfather He: "......"
This child really is a silly one.
Zhao Ger coughed: "It doesn't have nipples."
"Ah? Why doesn't it have any?" Guaizai's big head was full of question marks.
Zhao Ger had no idea why.
Guaizai persisted with his questions. He was at the age of boundless curiosity. But Zhao Ger couldn't produce a single word in response. At this moment, he really missed Fang Zichen. If Fang Zichen were here, he could probably answer Guaizai's question.
Even if he couldn't answer it, he could still baffle him with nonsense until he couldn't tell east from west.
Zhao Ger, however, didn't have that skill.
"Zhao Ger," Fourth Grandfather He said with a bitter face, "I'm really so sorry about this!"
Zhao Ger shook his head: "It's fine."
This kind of thing, who could have predicted it? It wasn't intentional, so how could he blame others?
Fourth Grandfather He breathed a sigh of relief and was about to throw the gander back into the bamboo pen when Guaizai pointed at the fleshy knob on its beak and asked Zhao Ger: "Daddy, the goose has a bump on its head. Where did it bump into? Its head is all swollen!"
Zhao Ger laughed: "Silly son!"
Since he was just practicing and testing the method, Zhao Ger had picked a smaller duck earlier. Fourth Grandfather He weighed it, just over four jin.
If this duck were taken to town to sell, one jin would cost about ten copper coins. But in the village, among fellow villagers, it was a bit cheaper, nine copper coins per jin, about the same as pork.
Zhao Ger paid the silver and led Guaizai back home. Guaizai held his clothes, not daring to let the fabric touch his skin, because if it rubbed against his chest, it would hurt.
Fourth Grandfather He had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Guaizai say to Zhao Ger: "When father comes back, I'm going to tell father."
He didn't necessarily want Fang Zichen to do anything, he just wanted to say he was injured, that it hurt, so Fang Zichen would feel sorry for him, kiss him, comfort him. But these words, falling on Fourth Grandfather He's ears, took on a different meaning.
He looked at the big goose pecking at grass in the bamboo pen, his gaze full of pity.
My old friend... I'm afraid I can't protect it.
The day Young Fang returns... will likely be this goose's last.
Ah...
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