One day in October 1978, in an ordinary household in a small mountain village in central Hunan.
"He's born, he's born! A big, healthy boy!" said Doctor Xiao, the village's barefoot doctor. Just then, a man walked in from outside.
Doctor Xiao said, "Congratulations, Teacher Zhu. It's a big, healthy boy."Teacher Zhu smiled broadly, rubbed his hands together, and went over to hold the newborn. He carried the baby into the inner room and said cheerfully to the woman lying on the bed, "Wife, look—our son is finally born! Haha, thank heaven and earth!"
The woman on the bed showed a tired but happy smile from childbirth. "Let me hold him and have a look—does he look more like you or like me?"
"Siqi, be careful. Don't run around," a voice warned."I know, Mom," replied a child about three years old.
By now it was 1981. Our protagonist was already three. But the past three years had not been easy. When he was less than three months old, his whole body had broken out in red bumps, frightening the entire family. His mother carried him everywhere seeking treatment—large and small hospitals nearby, barefoot doctors, traveling healers—none were missed. Every day his body had to be rubbed with herbal medicine. At one point, they almost thought he wouldn't survive. But the little life was stubbornly resilient, and in the end he pulled through.
Now he was three years old. The illness was gone, but he was extremely mischievous—a real little troublemaker. Every day he ran around everywhere, following other kids like a little soldier. As long as there was something to play with, he wouldn't miss it. When mealtime came, he was usually nowhere to be found.
Let's get to know this family. The man of the house was named Zhu Kun, a private teacher at a nearby middle school. He had been teaching for over ten years, and everyone in the village called him Teacher Zhu. The woman of the house was a genuine farm woman. All year round she worked in the fields; when she wasn't farming, she went to the market to buy daily necessities. She rarely visited others' homes and was widely regarded as a virtuous wife and good mother.
They had three children. The eldest daughter, Zhu Qi, was ten years old. The second daughter, Zhu Mei, was seven. The youngest was our protagonist, Zhu Siqi, three years old. In 1978, the country began implementing family planning. Since they already had three children, if they had another, Teacher Zhu would lose his job. So Zhu Siqi would remain the youngest in the family.
Their living standard was average for the village. They had a few mu of land, and since Zhu Kun earned a salary, life was manageable.
Days passed like this, one after another—until an accident happened.
"Siqi, let's go play!" said a five- or six-year-old boy, Zhu Siqi's cousin."Okay! Let's go, big brother!" Siqi ran out as soon as he heard the call."Come back early for dinner," his mother called after him."Got it!"
Back then, there was no kindergarten in the mountain village. There was only a preschool class, and usually children had to be six years old to attend. There were no entertainment places for kids, so they wandered around every day. Children are naturally curious—give them even a stone, and they can play with it happily.
"Where should we go play?""Let's go to the back hill."
They were talking about a small hill behind the village. There weren't many places to play—there was a railway by the village, with a small station five or six li away, and behind the village was a hill only a few dozen meters high, but still considered high ground there. Usually they played by the railway throwing stones, or on the hill climbing trees, playing hide-and-seek, or pretending to be PLA soldiers in battle.
That day, several children went up the hill together.
"What should we play today?" little Siqi shouted when he saw there were many people."Hide-and-seek, how about that?" someone suggested. It didn't really matter what they played—as long as they could play."Okay!" No one objected.
Next came choosing the seeker. The old rule: rock, paper, scissors!
After a round of laughter—"Haha! Zhu Daibiao, you're it again today! Come on, I'll blindfold you."
"Start!"
At the signal, everyone scrambled to find hiding places. There weren't many—trees, small holes, behind rocks, pits, bushes, and the like.
As soon as the game began, Zhu Siqi ran off. He was small and couldn't climb trees, so this time he headed straight for a large bush. He dove inside at once, held his breath, and stayed silent.
Zhu Daibiao tore off the blindfold and started hunting for his "prey." Since they played often, he quickly found two people. Soon, he walked toward the bush where Siqi was hiding. Siqi saw him getting closer and closer. His heart pounded so hard he could barely breathe.
Oh no—he's here!
The bush was large. Zhu Daibiao glanced at it, felt there was no one inside, and ran off again. Siqi secretly let out a sigh of relief. Let's see how you find me. He squatted inside, not moving at all.
Suddenly—oh heaven! A centipede crawled along his foot. Most centipedes are green or black, but this one was red. Siqi's foot happened to block its hole. The red centipede crawled over the top of his foot, found the way blocked, turned around and tried again from the side—still blocked.
The centipede must have "gotten angry." Normally, centipedes don't bite people, but now it had no way home. It bit down hard on the top of Siqi's foot.
"Ouch!" Siqi felt sharp pain.
Hold it in. Don't get found. Children have a strong desire to win. He grabbed a stick and flicked the hateful centipede away. The pain eased a little. Ignorance breeds fearlessness—he thought it was nothing, like a mosquito bite. He casually wiped it with some grass and forgot about it.
After a while, Zhu Daibiao found a few more kids, but there were still two or three he couldn't find. Finally, he shouted in the open space, "Alright, alright! I can't find you! Come out—I give up!"
Hearing this, Siqi immediately crawled out of the bush, overjoyed. He hadn't won in a long time—if he hadn't hidden in that big bush today, he would have been found long ago. All the children came out.
"That's it for today. Let's go home."
The children scattered happily and ran down the hill back to the village.
That night—
"Mom, my foot hurts!" Siqi began to feel something was wrong and told his mother."Let me see—ah! It's all swollen! What happened, Third?" Since he was the third child, his parents often called him that."This afternoon when we were playing, I think a centipede bit my foot. It didn't hurt much at first, so I thought it was nothing. Now it hurts a lot!" Siqi said, his voice trembling with tears.
His mother immediately put down what she was doing and carried him on her back to Doctor Xiao's place.
"Doctor Xiao, is Third's foot going to be okay?""It's nothing serious. Apply some anti-inflammatory medicine and give him an injection. He'll be fine tomorrow," Doctor Xiao said, assuming it was just an ordinary centipede bite."That's good, that's good," Siqi's mother said.
"Be more careful next time. Don't go playing on the hill, understand?" she warned."I understand," Siqi replied casually, thinking to himself: Not going to the hill is impossible. Once my foot heals, I'll go again.
Doctor Xiao disinfected the top of Siqi's foot, applied medicine, prepared the injection, and got ready to give the shot.
"Mom, injections hurt a lot. Do I really have to get one? I'm scared," Siqi said."You have to. Otherwise your foot won't heal," his mother replied.
"Third is very smart, isn't he? I heard he can already do arithmetic at such a young age," Doctor Xiao added, deliberately changing the subject.
"Yes! I can recite the multiplication table, count from one to a hundred, and use an abacus! One up one, two up two, three up five minus two, four subtract six carry one…" As soon as he started talking about this, Siqi became animated. His father, Zhu Kun, taught math, and perhaps it ran in the family—Siqi loved math and learned it well. For a child his age, being able to count to ten was already impressive, not to mention multiplication and the abacus.
"Good! Then don't cry when you get the shot. Third is brave!" Doctor Xiao said, well-versed in dealing with children after more than twenty years as a barefoot doctor."I won't cry," Siqi said proudly.
After the injection, his mother carried him home. But the next morning, not only had the swelling not gone down—it was even worse. Siqi was in great pain. His mother immediately carried him back to Doctor Xiao.
Doctor Xiao took one look and frowned. "That's not right. It should have gone down overnight."
"Third, are you sure it was a centipede that bit you?" he asked, worried the child might have mistaken it."Yes, Doctor Xiao. But it was a red centipede," Siqi answered."Red? I've never heard of red centipedes."
"Third's mother, where's Teacher Zhu? I think you'd better take him to the town hospital or the county people's hospital for a check."
Hearing this, his mother panicked. "Old Zhu has been staying at the school lately—graduation exams are coming up, and he's busy tutoring students. I'll go get him right now."
That afternoon, Zhu Kun took his son to the county people's hospital. The doctors there had also never heard of red centipedes. They gave him a standard anti-centipede injection and sent them home.
As soon as they got back, neighbors came by to ask about the situation. Hearing what happened, everyone offered suggestions—folk remedies, rumors of specialists who treated centipede bites. Zhu Kun thanked them all. He had some education and knew this kind of thing required a major hospital, but he was still grateful for everyone's concern.
Just then, a voice came from the doorway:
"Is there any food to eat?"