Chapter 33: The Ant Queen
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Early in the morning, Mother was chopping firewood.
Usually, she would split a piece of firewood into two, or at most four, just enough to fit into the stove.
But this morning, Qin Luoxia was so excited she had nowhere to vent her energy.
When others get excited, they get nervous and jittery, but when Mother gets excited, she’s like a tank!
She kept splitting the firewood that was already split.
Thick logs were chopped into tiny pieces and stacked neatly.
Jiang Mianmian thought they could even serve as her toys; once she grew a bit older, she could use them to build blocks.
Qin Luoxia looked at her husband’s appearance and felt it was all thanks to the fierce python gallbladder she had brought back.
Her husband was handsome, of course, but he always seemed a bit frail, possessing an air of sickly weakness.
The gossiping women in the village often said that she, just like her Mother, was a curse to her husband, destined for widowhood, and that her husband didn’t look like he would live a long life.
Although she had always felt those women were just jealous of her good fortune and envious of her husband’s looks and kind nature.
Deep down, she still had her worries.
But now, everything was fine. Seeing her husband this morning, he looked incredibly well. One look made her blush, two looks made her blush even more, and by the third look, Qin Luoxia couldn’t help but reflect on herself: what virtue or merit did she possess to be able to marry him?
She thought that in her past life, she must have saved thousands of lives to have such good fortune in this one.
As she chopped the wood, she wondered where else in the dense forest there might be fierce pythons. Usually, pythons of that size were solitary creatures that marked their own territory; it was remarkable to find even one in a forest.
She really wanted to go to the Huayuan Mountain belonging to the Zhao family; she heard that forest was huge.
Qin Luoxia thought while chopping away with all her might.
She chopped with the intensity of Pangu creating the world, her face flushed red.
…
In the morning, Jiang Yu woke up and saw Father.
She was stunned for a long while before asking: “Father, are you really my biological Father?”
Jiang Changtian reached out and tapped his daughter’s forehead lightly.
“What are you spouting nonsense for so early in the morning?”
Jiang Yu looked at Father and shook her head with a sigh: “It’s over, I won’t be able to get married. With Father looking like this, I really can’t bear to look at those Brother Wu or Brother Guo anymore.”
Perhaps this was the reason why A-Cui, even though they often argued, was still willing to play with her; she really wouldn’t spare a second glance at Brother Wu.
Jiang Changtian looked at his daughter and said: “Don’t worry, if you don’t like them, Father won’t let you marry them.”
Jiang Feng looked at his Father, who was radiating an aura of light, but his heart ached all the more.
His Father, such a good man, should not have had to go through those things.
He became even more silent.
Having finished chopping the wood, Qin Luoxia shooed the children away, not letting them crowd around her husband anymore.
She dragged her husband into the house.
Jiang Mianmian was also dragged in because she was in Father’s arms.
“Husband, you can’t go out like this. If others ask, I won’t be able to encounter such a bold snake again. Husband, shall I help you tidy up?” Qin Luoxia asked cautiously.
Jiang Changtian nodded with a smile, though he also felt a bit of bitterness.
Qin Luoxia began to smear things on her husband’s face. She remembered that in the past, when she wanted to become beautiful and be like the other girls in the village, she would smear things on her face, but it always had the opposite effect; everyone would laugh hard whenever they saw her, so it must not have looked good.
Jiang Mianmian watched Mother’s handiwork… This is like applying putty, it won’t work, it’ll fall off.
Jiang Changtian took it from her and said: “Let me do it.”
He washed his face again and looked at his reflection in the water basin.
He was also stunned for a moment.
It was as if he had seen this face before.
But it was a fleeting thought. With a gentle touch, the water in the basin rippled, and the image dissipated.
He began to tidy himself up.
He had actually known how to do this since he was a child.
He felt that his Mother always looked at him with disgust. He wondered if it was because he didn’t look like his older brother; when his Mother looked at his older brother, her eyes were filled with love.
He would subconsciously smear his face to look more like his brother—a bit darker, a wider face, a shorter chin, a narrower forehead…
Thus, Qin Luoxia saw her husband tidy himself up in just a few moments.
He seemed to be the same as usual—handsome, but without that feeling of making her heart skip a beat and stumble.
He even had that sickly, frail look again.
Jiang Mianmian, in Mother’s arms, witnessed the process and was amazed.
My family all have strange and peculiar skills…
Magical reverse-makeup technique; Father is so skilled at it.
With just a black charcoal pencil, he can even change his face shape.
…
A new day.
Father went to work.
After Father left, brother also went out.
Mother went into the mountains to dig for wild vegetables again.
Jiang Mianmian and her sister Jiang Yu were left at home.
Sister had put on her new embroidered shoes early in the morning and was very happy at home, walking with a cheerful patter.
Jiang Mianmian wasn’t envious; she easily grabbed her own little feet, sniffing them when she wanted, gnawing on them when she wanted—her feet were free.
She was thinking about yesterday’s red bubbles; they were so sweet.
When she looked at her little black ant again, even its dark, ugly appearance felt very endearing.
The little black ant was quite impressive, because given the current food shortage, any food would surely be scavenged instantly; she didn’t know where it managed to get it from.
When Jiang Mianmian was placed on the wooden basin by her sister, she started looking for the little ant.
The little ant was still in the hole it had dug, and seeing her arrive, it poked its head out.
In order to eat a red bubble, Jiang Mianmian boldly reached out to touch the little ant’s head.
She felt two little needles, giving a tingling, numbing sensation.
Then she tried hard to think: Want to eat, want to eat.
But after she touched it, the little ant didn’t move and just lay back down…
Jiang Mianmian curiously widened her eyes. Could it be on its period? Not wanting to move?
Come to think of it, the little ant she was raising should be male, right? Only the queen ant should be female.
Jiang Mianmian couldn’t help but babble a few complaints.
It was so hard to communicate; she couldn’t talk, and the ant couldn’t talk…
Even if she could speak in the future, the ant wouldn’t understand…
She was raising a lonely companion.
Jiang Yu sat under the tree, beating the laundry.
Although the family was poor, there were five people, and the housework was tedious and plentiful.
Jiang Mianmian decided to ignore the little ant and not touch it again, preparing to soak up some sun and then sleep.
Then she turned her head and saw what looked like a long red line on the road not far away.
Looking closer, a group of little ants was carrying one, two, three… red bubbles, heading this way.
Oh my god!
Jiang Mianmian thought she was hallucinating.
She reached out with her chubby little hand and rubbed her eyes.
Then she saw clearly: on average, four ants were carrying one red bubble, and the red bubble procession was advancing in an orderly fashion.
Jiang Mianmian felt like she was witnessing an industrial assembly line from a land of Lilliputians.
The red bubble procession reached the bottom of the wooden basin, and her little black ant actually got up to meet them…
Jiang Mianmian was used to her little ant and didn’t think it was big, but when she saw it standing with the other ants, it stood out like a crane among chickens—it was incredibly big.
And it looked incredibly imposing.
While the other ants needed four to carry a red bubble, her little black ant carried the red bubble all by itself, huffing and puffing as it climbed up, reached her, and pushed the bubble onto her hand.
Happiness came too quickly and too suddenly.
Jiang Mianmian felt as if she saw the little ant waving its strong little arms and saying: I’ll support you!!
Today, Jiang Mianmian was already skilled enough to stuff the bubble into her mouth.
It was a bit sour, not as ripe as yesterday’s.
Jiang Mianmian’s tears rolled out, her face scrunched up. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if it was the sour red bubble, or if she was touched that her little ant actually had underlings—a whole group of them…
Turning her head, she saw Sister still beating the laundry, very intently.
Water splashes even got on her face.
She had so many more red bubbles in her hands.
There were also many more red bubbles on the wooden basin.
She felt she was about to be buried by red bubbles…
Would she be mistaken for the Ant Queen?
A group of ants was huffing and puffing, transporting food to her.
She was such a big, white, and tender thing that couldn’t move…
Drooling all day, asking for food…
Awoo.
