"Xiao Ya? Why aren't you saying anything?" Secretary Wang turned to look at her.
Xiao Ya finally spoke in a soft voice: "Usually, to catch centipedes, you can use some chicken bones, cover them with grass or broken tiles, and wait for the centipedes to come out, but..."
"But what?"
"But it's early spring now, centipedes haven't started being active yet."
Secretary Wang let out a soft "ah": "So we have to wait for the right season."
"Yes, they're easier to catch after the Awakening of Insects. Grasshoppers are best caught between summer and autumn, spiders become more numerous and easier to catch during the May rainy season, and cicada pupae usually emerge from the ground to climb trees in June and July..."
Secretary Wang wasn't discouraged and said: "What if we brought an excavator here and dug up the whole place?"
Xiao Ya remained silent, just looking at him quietly.
Secretary Wang held her gaze for five seconds.
"Alright, I guess that won't work. I was hoping we could dig them up, fly back, and fry them while they're fresh," Secretary Wang leaned against a large tree. "What should we eat now?"
Xiao Ya turned to the assistant who was following far behind: "Did you bring a thermometer?"
"Uh, no. Why?" The assistant didn't know about Secretary Wang's fever that morning.
"We need to buy one," Xiao Ya decided.
The assistant silently looked at Secretary Wang.
Secretary Wang shrugged: "Then let's buy one."
They retreated from the woods, walking toward the car parked by the road.
The village didn't sell such things; they would need to go to town.
But just as they reached the car, Xiao Ya stopped in her tracks: "Aunt Man?"
Aunt Man, who had been standing there in a daze, suddenly came to her senses and exclaimed: "Xiao Ya? Is it really you?"
Secretary Wang leaned against the car, smiling: "She's not called Xiao Ya anymore, this is Miss Zhang Ruoshui."
Fear flickered in Aunt Man's eyes as she nervously wrung her hands, thinking to herself how this was just like something out of television...
With the luxury car, someone who looked like a secretary, and this obviously wealthy young man, everyone had to be addressed as "Miss" and "Young Master" now.
Aunt Man didn't dare speak, but her husband asked: "You changed your name?"
Secretary Wang spoke first: "Yes, haven't you seen the news? Her grandfather took her back into the family, they're the Zhang family. You can find it all online."
Aunt Man froze: "Isn't her father Li Jiang?"
"Li Jiang? That fugitive's name? No, he's not."
Aunt Man sighed: "That's true... how could he have produced someone like Xiao Ya, I mean, Miss Zhang?"
She thought to herself, is this the right way to address her?
However, Aunt Man's husband's expression slightly changed, and he couldn't help but carefully observe Xiao Ya's expression: "Then, this time you've come back..."
Was it to take revenge on Li Family Village?
After all, if she wasn't Li Jiang's daughter anymore, there was no need to save face anymore.
"We were digging for centipedes, but couldn't find any," Xiao Ya answered crisply.
"Dig-digging for centipedes?" The couple was dumbfounded.
"Yes."
"Haven't eaten yet? Why don't... you come to my place for a meal?" Aunt Man asked cautiously.
"No need."
Hearing these words, Aunt Man was a bit disappointed but understood that the young girl was no longer the little duckling from their mountain village.
"We need to go to town to buy something," Xiao Ya continued.
Aunt Man quickly asked: "What do you need to buy? We have a small shop in the village."
"That shop only sells knockoff products..."
"No, no, there's a new one now," Aunt Man smiled sheepishly. "I run it. Brother Dou gave me the idea, and we even sell medicine."
Aunt Man emphasized: "He told me that he helped me because of you, saying that I had been kind to you before... though really, I didn't do much."
Aunt Man smiled again embarrassedly, wrinkles spreading from the corners of her eyes, but the bitterness in her expression had been replaced with hopeful joy.
Xiao Ya's eyes brightened.
When she returned to the county, she would also need to see Dou Dawei.
Secretary Wang interjected: "What are you making for dinner?"
Though Secretary Wang appeared very approachable, Sheng Yuxiao and other city people had left quite a sharp and deep impression on Li Family Village, making Aunt Man somewhat afraid to speak with city folk.
She answered meekly: "Sweet potato rice, some steamed meat, we'll kill a chicken, stir-fry some mushrooms and bamboo shoots..."
Secretary Wang turned to Xiao Ya: "How's her cooking?"
Aunt Man was stunned, feeling that the young man before her was very... different!
He only cared about whether her cooking was good or not.
Xiao Ya nodded slightly: "When you have limited ingredients, you can't afford to cook badly. Wasting food isn't an option. So Aunt Man's cooking is good."
Secretary Wang clapped his hands: "Then let's go eat! Do you sell thermometers at your shop?"
Aunt Man replied, overwhelmed by the honor: "Yes, yes we do."
Aunt Man couldn't believe she had actually managed to invite these guests over.
Her husband ran ahead quickly, rushing back to tidy up their home so the guests wouldn't find fault with it.
The path they walked was familiar, but Xiao Ya's state of mind had completely changed.
Secretary Wang occasionally made conversation with her.
"What's that?"
"A rapeseed flower field."
"And that?"
"That's where water chestnuts grow. They're sweetest in January."
Secretary Wang suddenly fell silent, just staring at Xiao Ya.
Xiao Ya felt strange under his gaze and couldn't help asking: "What is it, Secretary Wang?"
Secretary Wang smiled: "Ah, people with life experience are really charming."
Xiao Ya said quietly: "That's because you have so little life experience!"
Secretary Wang heard her mumbling but didn't mind, smiling as he said: "Take me to eat them next January."
Xiao Ya asked puzzled: "You're an adult, and a wealthy one at that. Couldn't you have eaten these things before?"
"Do you know what an information cocoon is?"
Xiao Ya shook her head.
"People are confined to whatever circle they live in. Whether rich or poor, it's the same. People in the mountains can't see the world of the city. People in the city can't see the world of the mountains."
Secretary Wang paused here, "Or in simpler terms, the people around me would consider your water chestnuts too cheap to be served to me, and I wouldn't know when they taste best."
Secretary Wang shrugged and said: "We're all frogs in a well, but it's good..."
His gaze shifted to Xiao Ya: "You've become a bridge between two worlds, showing me new things, interesting things that I like."
Xiao Ya looked at him and said seriously: "Secretary Wang, you're also a very interesting person."
Secretary Wang smiled happily: "I love hearing that. This world is too boring, how can people get through their long lives without finding some joy..."
"Isn't your life interesting enough?" Xiao Ya asked curiously.
Secretary Wang said something rather provocative: "If one day you discover that people in this world are so easy to manipulate, that everything can be accomplished according to your wishes, you'd find it boring too."
Xiao Ya quietly accused him: "That's why everything you try to raise dies."
Secretary Wang pretended not to hear and raised his voice to ask Aunt Man: "Do you have chestnuts? I want to eat chestnuts."
He turned to Xiao Ya and said: "I saw you roasting chestnuts for them on the show, it looked so delicious, I want to try some too."
Xiao Ya mercilessly informed him: "The chestnut trees haven't even bloomed yet."
"Then what can I eat?"
"Oranges."
Secretary Wang suddenly fell silent again.
Xiao Ya couldn't help but look at him.
She heard Secretary Wang sigh softly: "Could you stay with me for ten years?"
Xiao Ya: ?
Secretary Wang counted on his fingers: "That way you could take me to eat water chestnuts in January, oranges in February... spiders in May..."
That's what it feels like to truly live in this world.
Secretary Wang couldn't finish his words.
"We're here," Aunt Man turned to look at them.