pjbooks Chapter 140 A Clay Pot
Chapter 140 A Clay Pot
"Don't shout later, understand?"
Once inside the grove, Bao Ya gave the two little ones a heads-up, worried that their shouting might scare the birds away.
Bao Ya first found some small pebbles of roughly the same size on the ground and put them in her pocket. The two younger ones followed suit, stuffing their pockets full, until their clothes looked like they were about to burst.
Bao Ya called the two of them over, took half of it from their pockets, and put it into her own pocket.
"Auntie, look over there."
Wang Muchen pointed to several sparrows in the tree and said, "Bao Ya took out a small stone, aimed at one of the sparrows, and with a 'whoosh,' a sparrow fell to the ground."
"Got it! Got it!"
Seeing Bao Ya shoot down a sparrow, the two little ones' faces turned red with excitement, and they skipped and hopped over to pick it up.
In a short while, Bao Ya had caught more than ten, filling the two little ones' bags to the brim.
Bao Ya didn't put it in her bag; she had just seen pigeons and wanted to try her luck.
"You two stay put."
After saying that, Bao Ya took out a small pebble from her pocket, held the slingshot horizontally in her left hand, placed one of the pebbles in the middle of the rubber band, pulled it back to form a straight line, aimed at the pigeon on the branch, and with a "snap," the pigeon fell down.
"It's a pigeon, it's a pigeon."
Before she could even walk over, the two little ones had already started cheering.
Bao Ya rushed over to check; the pigeon wasn't dead, its wings were still flapping. Bao Ya pressed down on its back, took a piece of straw rope from her bag, and tied its tail and feet together.
Since it's for eating anyway, she's not that picky.
Bao Ya had shot three pigeons that morning. When she was tying up the third one, she felt something was wrong. She noticed that a two-centimeter-long reed tube was tied to the pigeon's leg and sealed with wax.
What does this mean? Is it a message sent by carrier pigeon? Bao Ya took it in her hand and looked at it, then slipped it into her pocket when the two little ones weren't looking.
My heart started pounding. Had I shot down one of the pigeons the army kept? If I'd shot down important intelligence along with it, it would be a real problem. Thinking about this made me feel uneasy.
The pigeon was half-dead from that blow; it probably wouldn't be able to fly even if released. I'll just take it back and stew it.
After returning home, Bao Ya asked Liao Chunhua to clean up the pigeons, chop them into small pieces, and take them all to the hospital's small kitchen, leaving none for the family.
I'll give my comrades some nourishment and also divert some of the firepower, since I made the mistake because I was trying to help them recover.
After Bao Ya distributed lunch to the soldiers in their beds and watched them finish their soup, she smiled and approached Jiang Tao.
"Brother, I need to tell you something."
Jiang Tao stopped eating, looked at his smiling and attentive younger siblings, his brow twitched, and he forced down the food in his mouth, his voice slightly strained:
"What is it? Tell me."
As Jiang Tao spoke, his heart was in his throat. Had something happened at home again?
Seeing Bao Ya lean close to Jiang Tao to speak, everyone else in the room quieted down their eating and pricked up their ears to listen to what was happening. In their hearts, they kept thinking, "It's here, it's here, it's here again."
"Don't be nervous, I didn't mean to..."
Seeing Jiang Tao's tense demeanor, Bao Ya also started to feel nervous, wondering if he could handle things if she caused trouble.
Seeing that they both seemed quite nervous, Fang Mingda turned around and said reassuringly:
"It's okay, take your time, your brother can handle it."
He waited for ages, wondering why the two of them hadn't said anything yet, and felt like he was being tickled by tiny hands.
Jiang Tao and Bao Ya turned to look at him at the same time, and then Jiang Tao nodded to her as if to encourage her.
Jiang Tao instantly came to terms with it; what was going to happen had already happened, and there was no point in worrying anymore.
"It's this..."
Bao Ya took the wax-sealed reed stalk out of her pocket and handed it to Jiang Tao, lowering her voice to say:
"I accidentally got this; I hope it won't cause you any trouble."
She said she was causing trouble for Jiang Tao, but didn't include herself in the mix, which clearly meant that he should handle things himself.
"What is this? Where did it come from?"
Before Jiang Tao could ask any questions, Fang Mingda frowned, reached out and took the reed stalk, examining it repeatedly in his hand.
Jiang Tao also looked puzzled. He had never seen this before, and it didn't seem to be anything valuable.
Bao Ya raised her chin, gesturing for them to look at the bowl of pigeon soup.
"The pigeons' legs are tied to them. Aren't you afraid of being discovered using pigeons to deliver messages?"
Bao Ya knew that the technology at that time was backward, but she didn't know exactly how backward it was. The fact that they still used carrier pigeons to send messages was beyond her imagination.
Jiang Tao and Fang Mingda were both stunned. They exchanged a glance, their expressions turning serious. Then they turned to Bao Ya and tentatively asked her:
"You only found this one? There aren't any others?"
"Of all the pigeons I shot, only one had this tied to its leg."
Are there many pigeons in the grove?
"Not many, but you can often see a few."
……
Fang Mingda asked Bao Ya a few questions, but didn't say anything else. He was more concerned about whether there were any other pigeons flying over from that direction.
Bao Ya felt something was off, as if she had realized something. She forced herself not to overthink it; knowing wouldn't do her any good, so she should stay as far away from it as possible.
With the pigeon problem temporarily resolved, Bao Ya felt much more relaxed. She prepared lunch for them in the afternoon, told Jiang Tao's guard to deliver it to them on time, and then went home.
As Bao Ya passed by Aunt Zhang's house, she saw Aunt Zhang sitting on a stool in the yard picking vegetables. Wasn't this the old lady who had caught her attention the other day?
Suddenly remembering the clay pot she had borrowed, Bao Ya thought, "What a coincidence!" She stopped at the doorway.
"Aunt Zhang, when are you going to return the clay pot you borrowed from my house?"
The old lady merely glanced at her, then continued slowly picking vegetables.
"What casserole? I didn't borrow it, you must be mistaken, kid."
The old lady curled her lip in disdain as she spoke, thinking that the old woman and the young girl from the Jiang family were just there to serve others, and the master hadn't said anything yet, so why were they in such a hurry?
Bao Ya wasn't surprised by Aunt Zhang's reaction; it was just that she had never seen this breed before, and she happened to have some free time.
Bao Ya wasn't angry. She smiled and leaned forward slightly, continuing to speak gently:
"There's a red string attached to the lid and handle of that clay pot. You borrowed it from my mother and said you'd return it this afternoon. It's been three days now, and my mother has been looking for you several times, but your house is always locked."
Grandma Zhang put down the dishes and glanced sideways at Bao Ya:
"Red string? No, no, I've never borrowed that. Are you mistaking someone else for me? I'm old enough not to lend things out randomly."
"Aunt Zhang, you can't be wrong. My mother has a good memory. Did she forget where she put it?"
Old Mrs. Zhang's face darkened:
"How can you talk like that, child? Do you think I would lie to you about a clay pot? Your mother must have misremembered."
"Auntie, that red string was hand-woven by me, and it's the only one. If you still want to use it, I'm not in a hurry. You can return it to me when you're done using it, but please don't deny it."
Grandma Zhang threw down the vegetables in her hand, stood up from the stool, and put her hands on her hips: "I just won't admit it! Show me the proof if you dare! It's just a broken clay pot, is it really necessary for you to chase after me for it? The more stingy you are, the more you fuss over nothing!"