Watching her younger sister run off, Shen Baizhi chuckled softly and shook her head. Having such a lively little sister—how wonderful.
There wasn’t much time to dwell on it. The most urgent task right now was collecting cow dung. These days, everyone scrambled to pick it up, but luckily she had done this often before and had some experience.
She circled the old “treasure spot” a few times and only managed to find two pieces of dried cow dung. Good enough—it would have to do.
When she reached the small river where they had agreed to meet, Shen Baizhi used a stick to dig a small pit by the bank, tossed the two dried pieces in, poured in several handfuls of water, and then sat down to wait.
Before long, Shen Baisu came running over in a hurry, carrying a manure basket with a fresh pile of cow dung inside.
“Sis, we’re really lucky! I picked this up on the way here. This is way more useful than your soaked stuff!”
Clearly, at this moment, Susu’s resentment toward Shen Baiwei was even stronger than hers. To disgust Shen Baiwei, she was really going all out.
Pinching their noses, the two of them used a small shovel to scrape the now-soaked cow dung into the basket, mixing it thoroughly with the fresh dung.
Shen Baisu watched the sticky mess and still wasn’t quite satisfied. She added a few more handfuls of water, stirred it again, and only then nodded in approval.
“It’s better thinner. If it’s too dry, it won’t flow!”
Shen Baizhi helplessly reached out and patted her sister’s head, saying apologetically,
“You’re probably going to get scolded again today.”
Shen Baisu waved her hand indifferently.
“Haven’t the two of us been scolded unfairly plenty of times already?”
“As long as Shen Baiwei eats shit today, it’ll be worth it even if I get beaten!”
“Alright, Sis, you hide and wait. I’m going!”
With that, she stretched out her arms straight, holding the manure basket, and headed toward home.
The Shen Household
Shen Baiwei stood in the courtyard, staring in the direction of the back mountain. A restless feeling made it impossible for her to sit still.
After pacing around the yard a few times, she finally couldn’t hold back anymore and headed for the gate. She had to go check the back mountain.
“Weiwei, where are you going? It’s almost lunchtime!”
An elderly woman called out to her.
“Grandma, I want to go take a look at the back mountain.”
Old Madam Shen’s face lit up with surprise.
“The back mountain? You’re sensing something again?”
“Wait a moment—it’s already noon. I’ll get you a few boiled eggs to take along.”
On ordinary days, Old Madam Shen was always complaining of sore legs or an aching back in front of Shen Baizhi and her sister. But now she moved briskly toward the kitchen. In no time, she returned holding three boiled eggs.
“Here, take these and eat them on the way. Be careful, and come back early!”
Her face was creased with smiles. Weiwei was the lucky star of their family. Not long after her birth, a mysterious expert had come by and said that as long as they treated Weiwei well, the whole family would enjoy blessings through her.
And it wasn’t just talk. Weiwei truly had good fortune—she often found small animals in the mountains, and sometimes even picked up small amounts of money outside.
It was just unclear when the great opportunity the expert spoke of would finally arrive.
“Okay, Grandma, I’m leaving then. Save my lunch for me!”
Shen Baiwei took the eggs and walked out the gate.
Hidden outside the door and eavesdropping, Shen Baisu was secretly delighted. Her luck was good—she didn’t even need to look for an opportunity. Shen Baiwei was delivering herself right to her.
Just as Shen Baiwei lifted her foot to step out of the courtyard gate, a figure came charging at her, knocked her to the ground, and dumped a basketful of watery cow dung straight over her head…
“Ah—!”
Shen Baiwei’s scream was sharp and short, because the moment she opened her mouth, the foul-smelling stuff poured right in. She immediately started spitting it out.
“Peh! Peh! Peh peh peh!”
Old Madam Shen was stunned by the sudden turn of events and froze for a long moment before reacting. She wanted to help up her favorite granddaughter, but couldn’t find a place to put her hands. So she turned and started scolding Shen Baisu instead.
“You wretched girl! Are you rushing to reincarnate or something? Look what you’ve done to your cousin!”
Shen Baisu used all her strength to hold back her laughter and explained with a wronged expression,
“Grandma, I picked up this fresh cow dung and wanted to hurry back to store it. Who knew I hadn’t even entered the gate yet, and Cousin just ran into me…”
Old Madam Shen looked down at the cow dung all over Shen Baiwei and felt a bit regretful.
“Can’t you watch where you’re going? Such good stuff, wasted just like that…”
“Grandma!”
Shen Baiwei had finally spat all the cow dung out of her mouth. She couldn’t even open her eyes properly, yet she heard her grandmother feeling sorry for the cow dung. Her anger flared instantly.
Realizing she had misspoken, Old Madam Shen hurriedly corrected herself.
“Look what your cousin’s been turned into. What’s a little cow dung worth? Hurry up and help your cousin clean herself and support her back to change clothes!”
“Oh—oh!”
Shen Baisu quickly ran under the eaves, pulled down Shen Baiwei’s newly changed pink face towel, and scrubbed her face hard.
Only when Shen Baiwei couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed the towel herself did Shen Baisu withdraw her hand, saying apologetically,
“Cousin, I’m really sorry. I didn’t see you coming out. Look at you, covered in shit—hurry back and change clothes. Don’t worry, I’ll wash them for you!”
Shen Baiwei wiped her face several more times before she could barely open her eyes. She glared viciously at Shen Baisu.
“Shen Baisu, you did this on purpose!!!”
“Hey! Cousin, you really shouldn’t talk anymore. What if the cow shit on your head falls into your mouth again?”
“Come on, I’ll take you back to change clothes and ask Grandma to boil some water so you can wash up!”
Shen Baiwei hurriedly shut her mouth, stomped her foot in fury, and headed toward her room in the main hall. Yes—despite there being elders present, Shen Baiwei could bypass them all and live directly in the east room of the main house. That alone showed how favored she was in this family.
Shen Baisu quickly followed her inside.
“What are you following me in for?” Shen Baiwei snapped.
“I’m helping you take the clothes to wash. Leaving clothes covered in cow shit on the floor is so filthy!”
Shen Baiwei couldn’t be bothered with her. She stripped off her padded jacket, sweater, and undershirt, then used a clean towel to wipe her face, neck, and head all over again. Only then did she put on a clean padded jacket.
Shen Baisu wrapped the dung-stained parts of the clothes with the clean sections and held them in her arms. Pointing at Shen Baiwei’s neck, she said with a disgusted look,
“Cousin, do you want me to wash that broken stone on your neck too? Look, the string is covered in cow shit!”
Shen Baiwei hesitated. She liked that stone—it suited her somehow—and didn’t really want it to leave her body. But she also didn’t want to wash something covered in cow dung herself.
After struggling internally for a while, she finally took off the stone and handed it to Shen Baisu.
“Take it and wash it. Don’t lose it, no matter what!”
“And remember to tell Grandma to boil some water for me to wash!”
To others, the stone just looked ordinary. No one would deliberately take it. Besides, she had worn it for several years and nothing special had ever happened. She had started to wonder if she’d just imagined things.
With the stone in hand, Shen Baisu immediately turned to run out.
“Cousin, wait here. I’ll go wash your clothes right now!”
Shen Baiwei called after her,
“Remember to tell Grandma to boil hot water!”
“Got it, got it!”
Shen Baisu replied as she went, but once outside, she didn’t slow down at all and ran straight toward the river.
As for boiling water—her biased grandmother surely wouldn’t let her most beloved granddaughter sit there with a head full of cow dung waiting, would she?