Chapter 13: How to Communicate With Your Pet
It rained yesterday.
Today, it wasn’t as hot.
There was sunlight and a breeze.
Jiang Wan had left.
A faint, refreshing fragrance still lingered in the courtyard.
It wasn’t just the incense on Jiang Wan herself; the old clothes she left behind also carried the scent.
Jiang Mianmian didn’t particularly like that smell.
Jiang Yu sat on a wooden stump in the courtyard, earnestly looking down as she peeled the blistered skin from her heel.
It hurt so much that she hissed, “Ssss, ssss, ssss,” and tears welled up and rolled down her cheeks.
Jiang Mianmian watched, feeling the pain for her.
Her little fists clenched involuntarily.
After peeling off the skin, her older sister didn’t even treat the wound; she just rinsed it with cold water from the courtyard.
Seeing that it had stopped bleeding, she simply went back to her needlework.
Jiang Mianmian lay in her small wooden basin, watching her older sister happily return to work.
Her older sister had a pretty good personality; aside from having a sharp tongue, she was happy most of the time and didn’t hold grudges.
Jiang Mianmian’s infant brain pondered for a moment before getting tired again; she wanted milk.
Just as she turned her head, she saw that little ant had actually climbed up again.
Relentless, it was carefully crawling along the edge of the wooden basin.
Being so close, she could see that this little ant was quite athletic.
Its proportions were beautiful—a slender waist and six thin legs that looked very strong.
Its head-to-body ratio was at least nine-to-one.
Its body was long and slender, dark and shiny as if it had a carapace.
Its abdomen was shaped a bit like a heart, with two mysterious-looking markings on it.
Besides two antennae on its head, it also had two pincers.
The pincers looked quite sharp; if it bit her, it would definitely hurt.
She couldn’t find its eyes, but it seemed like this little black ant was looking at her.
Thinking this, Jiang Mianmian stretched out her hand again, slowly approached the little ant, closed her eyes, and pushed it off…
Then she let out a cry: “Aow, aow, aow, aow, aow!”
Who among the family members would understand? She was terrified even of ants—the closer she looked, the more frightened she became.
Hearing her younger sister cry, Jiang Yu hurriedly got up to check.
Following the same routine, she first felt her bottom.
Alright, it was wet…
She changed her diaper.
Jiang Mianmian took the opportunity to rub the finger she used to push the ant against her older sister a few times.
Once the new diaper was on, her older sister stopped her needlework and started doing the laundry.
Her family was frugal with clothes and didn’t wash them often; mostly, they just washed Jiang Mianmian’s diapers.
Jiang Yu was very efficient; the diapers she washed had no lingering scent of urine.
However, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
Although Mother always warned her to speak less and avoid trouble when out, she was at home now.
With only her younger sister present, and Jiang Wan having just come and gone, Jiang Yu had a stomach full of words she wanted to say.
Even though her younger sister probably couldn’t understand, she couldn’t help but start chattering away.
“If Mother comes back and sees that I accepted things from Jiang Wan, she will definitely be unhappy.”
Jiang Mianmian quickly responded: “Ah, ah.” (Right, right.)
“If brother can take things from a prostitute, why can’t I take things from Jiang Wan?”
“Iya, yayaya.” (That’s true, too.)
“But brother helped them with work and took payment. I didn’t help Jiang Wan, yet she sent these things for no reason. This is probably what Father calls… what was it?’Showing courtesy for no reason means there’s a hidden agenda.’ Never mind, since she sent them, it would be a waste not to take them.”
Jiang Mianmian nodded: “Ah, ah.” (Also true.)
Her older sister was just going in circles, and Jiang Mianmian hadn’t received a single piece of useful information.
Jiang Mianmian felt a bit anxious listening.
Just then, she turned her head, and hey, that little black ant had climbed up again.
It had crawled to the edge of the wooden basin, and it was actually struggling to push a leaf up?
If you didn’t look closely, you would have thought a leaf had just fallen onto the basin.
Jiang Mianmian watched as the little ant dragged the leaf, crawling forward one step, two steps, three steps, until it reached the spot where she had pushed it off earlier.
Hiss! Could it think I’m playing with it?
She really didn’t want to play!
Or was it pushing the leaf to thank her?
It was said that ants ate leaves.
Jiang Mianmian didn’t know how to communicate with this little ant.
If only she had antennae on her head too; maybe she could nudge it and know what it meant.
Watching the little ant struggle to drag the leaf was actually quite fun.
She reached out her hand, wanting to grab the leaf.
But the little ant thought she was going to push it again.
Before her finger even got close, the little ant gripped the leaf tightly and jumped off.
Clinging to the leaf, it drifted slowly downwards like it was using a parachute… drifting… drifting…
