Niu Niu is Aunt Ma's granddaughter. Although the little girl is just over three, she's quite a handful.
Yi Chichi's first encounter with her was when she went to the team clinic to buy processed herbs from Old Yaozi.
Halfway there, she met a tottering little girl coming toward her, holding an Amur viper snakelet in her hand.
This snake is venomous, and quite potent at that.
If bitten, it might not be possible to save you given the brigade's medical conditions.
At that moment, Yi Chichi was almost scared to death by the little girl, but the kid was pretty nonchalant and even boasted to her about going back home to eat the meat.
Yi Chichi had to use some tricks to get the snake from the little girl's hand and send her back home.
Then, the little girl's butt did not escape a spanking.
Nevertheless, this child isn't one to hold grudges.
When Yi Chichi helped her up, she patted her own butt, grinned with her little millet-colored teeth, and smiled at her.
"Sister, we're going to catch fish."
"Where are you going to catch fish?"
"At the water bog."
The little finger pointed to the water bog to the east, and she warmly invited, "Sister, come with us."
Yi Chichi's mouth twitched a little, "Do your parents know about this?"
The little girl covered her mouth with her little hand, looked at her innocently, and shook her head.
It's clear that this was an unsupervised excursion.
Bai Chen's face changed upon hearing, "Yi Chichi, you go inform the brigade leader and the others, I'll see if I can bring them back."
"I'll go too."
Zhang Yunhao and the others immediately followed, while Yi Chichi picked up Niu Niu and started running back.
Zhou Qiuyu followed quickly, "Chichi, I'll go with you."
"Okay."
Wang Nan and Ge Sujuan looked at each other.
"Where should we go?"
"To the water bog."
That place is dangerous, with too many kids going past; if something happens, Bai Chen and the others might be overwhelmed.
Two more people can help more.
"Let's go."
Ge Sujuan lifted her leg and chased after Bai Chen and the others, with Wang Nan immediately following.
By this time, Yi Chichi was already holding Niu Niu and had run to the drying ground.
"Uncle Captain, Auntie, Dun Dun and the others went to the water bog."
The villagers, who were squatting in front of the large warehouse chatting after the autumn harvest, jumped up in shock when they heard her words.
They rushed over, bombarding her with questions.
Amid the crowd and noise, Yi Chichi couldn't hear what they were saying, so she simply held up Niu Niu, "I managed to bring Niu Niu back, but Dun Dun and the others have run far ahead."
The brigade leader took a deep breath to quell his anger, waved his big hand, "Let's go, let's go catch them."
The men poured out in droves, hurrying toward the water bog.
Yi Chichi saw the brigade leader took off his shoes and carried them in his hands. Niu Niu saw it too, clapped her little hands and shouted loudly——
"Oh oh, the brothers are going to get their butts whipped."
Her tone was quite gloating.
Yi Chichi and the others were silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Aunt Niu laughed the loudest, "You little girl, why do you enjoy watching the brothers get spanked so much?"
The little girl grinned, "Granny spanks me too."
Aunt Ma took her back from Yi Chichi, gently patted her with her big hand.
"You're being naughty."
This little girl from their household, truly nothing could be done about her, the whole family spoiled her, and she's becoming a bit unruly.
"I do what my brothers do."
This means whatever her brothers do, she does too, they shouldn't just punish her alone.
"Your brothers won't fare any better."
The kids who went to the water bog shouldn't think they're going unscathed.
"Come on, let's go and watch the show."
This could be interesting.
Halfway there, loud wailing cries could be heard coming through.
Yi Chichi clicked her tongue, "Crying so miserably!"
Aunt Niu burst into laughter, "Their butts must be swollen from the spanking."
The little Niu Niu instinctively touched her own butt, and Zhou Qiuyu teased her with a smile, "Does your butt hurt too?"
"No."
The little girl, feeling wronged, hugged her grandmother's neck, "Granny, I didn't go, don't spank me."
"If your sister Chichi hadn't brought you back, you'd have been spanked too."
This kid is clever, and upon hearing this, decisively released her grip on her grandmother's neck, twisting her little body in her arms, reaching out to Yi Chichi.
"Sister, hold me, Granny is going to spank me."
Yi Chichi laughed despite herself, reaching out to take her, "Niu Niu, that's not how you ask for eye drops, you need to avoid the spanker."
"Exactly, I haven't even spanked you yet."
Aunt Ma's direct granddaughter also retorted, leaving the little girl bewildered, glancing innocently from one adult to another with wide eyes.
Finally, she sighed heavily, "Sigh, you adults really don't understand, always saying things kids don't."
Hearing this, Yi Chichi and the others burst out laughing.
After the laughter, Aunt Niu shared some news.
"On the 6th of next month, there will be a big market at the neighboring Ma Family Village; do you want to go?"
"There's a big market?"
Yi Chichi and Zhou Qiuyu exchanged looks, as they genuinely didn't know about this.
Wang Nan and the others hadn't mentioned it.
"Yes, there is."
"Will it be safe?"
Zhou Qiuyu confused the big market with the black market, thinking they were the same and looked like she wanted to go but was concerned.
"What's unsafe about it? The big market is allowed by the commune."
It's legal and compliant, this big market she likes, safer than going to the black market.
In an instant, Yi Chichi became interested.
"What do they sell at the market?"
Zhou Qiuyu's eyes brightened, ears perked up.
"There are plenty of things, but yellow beans, peanuts, pork—these are purchased and sold under national control and are contraband."
She paused, adding one more sentence.
"You'll see when the market day comes."
"I'll definitely go."
Zhou Qiuyu was full of anticipation, Yi Chichi now also had a strong idea of what to expect.
If she was lucky, she might even get genuine local pork.
Contraband or not, people in any era will take risks for money.
However, finding such a market truly was beyond her expectations.
"Waaah, I'm being spanked again, wailing..."
Just as she was about to speak, Dun Dun's loud crying suddenly came through.
Then—
"I told you not to come to the water bog, what if you fell in."
The brigade leader's angry voice followed, along with the sound of slaps.
Dun Dun and the others' cries grew louder.
"Is the water bog really dangerous?"
"Dangerous!"
Aunt Ma's eyes were tinged with sadness, "Before, a kid from the village drowned in the water bog; when you have nothing else to do, don't go running there, it's deserted."
Yi Chichi didn't quite grasp how deserted Aunt Ma meant until she got there and realized it truly was desolate.
A huge water bog stretched out of sight.
It was surrounded by some unnamed grass, half yellow half green, tall as a person, many of which were flattened, as if trampled by people.
Yi Chichi looked down at the little Niu Niu in her arms, "You come here to catch fish, being this little?"
"Meat!"
The little girl's voice was sharp, "There are eggs in the grass, fish in the water, and long strips of meat."
"I've told you, that's not long meat strips, that's a snake. A snake, with venom that can bite and kill."
Aunt Ma was exasperated, tugging at her ear loudly, "Listen to me, Niu Niu, next time you come to the water bog, I'll have your mom beat you hard, understand?"
"I respect that."
A mother's power was unrivaled, the little girl shrank her neck in fear, nodding quickly to show she was obedient.
Yi Chichi felt it wouldn't work; kids don't learn their lesson until they suffer enough, and once they start playing, everything else is forgotten.
She suggested, "Let's send Niu Niu to school."
"She's too young to be accepted."