sovbooks Chapter 2 Little Rhinoceros
Chapter 2 Little Rhinoceros
Wang Zhi frowned. This farm usually didn't have many outsiders; the tenants all used the side gate, and the main gate was generally closed.
He stood up and looked out the window, but saw no one.
There was another rustling sound.
Then there was a "thump".
It looks like someone has fallen down.
Wang Zhihuan quickly walked to the door and opened it.
A child was squatting outside the door.
To be precise, it was a child wearing a pale yellow dress.
She squatted there, hugging her knees with both hands, burying her face in her arms, her shoulders twitching.
His hair was half-disheveled, his face was covered in mud, and there was a small bruise on his forehead.
Hearing the door open, the child looked up.
Wang Zhi was stunned for a moment.
It was a little girl, probably three or four years old.
She had a round face, big eyes, and fair skin that made her seem unlike a child from a farming family.
The fabric of the clothes was clearly not something an ordinary family could afford—the pale yellow ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) was stained, but the texture was fine and the embroidery on the cuffs was quite exquisite.
The way she looked up at Wang Zhihuan was like a kitten that had been caught in the rain, pitiful and inexplicably funny.
"Brother, wow, what a beautiful brother, such a beautiful brother..." Her voice was soft and delicate, going from surprise to a sob, "Sizi... Sizi is lost... I'm so hungry..."
Wang Zhihuan squatted down: "Whose young lady is this? What are you doing here?"
The little girl rubbed her nose with the back of her hand and began to speak, sobbing.
She spoke in a childish voice, and some words were not pronounced clearly. She said "butterfly" as "lucky butterfly" and "chase" as "blow". In addition, she was crying while speaking, so it was intermittent.
Wang Zhihuan listened and guessed before finally understanding—she was chasing a yellow-winged butterfly, and as she chased it, it flew away, and when she turned around, she couldn't find her way back.
"That lucky butterfly is so beautiful," she gestured with her hand, "its wings are so big! It's even prettier than the flowers in my mother's hair!"
The little rhinoceros wanted to catch it to show its mother... then the lucky butterfly flew away, and the little rhinoceros couldn't find its way...
As she spoke, she became aggrieved again, her lips trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes once more.
Wang Zhi also saw the little girl, pouting, looking so cute and adorable; she completely melted his heart.
"Young lady, where do you live?"
Sizi raised his hand and pointed eastward, towards Chang'an City.
Where are your parents?
"At home..." she said, then suddenly seemed to remember something, her little face scrunching up. "Sizi shouldn't have run out by herself... Uncle Chen must be so worried... But that butterfly is so pretty, its wings are yellow, Sizi wants to catch it and show it to her mother..."
Wang Zhi also squatted down to be at eye level with her.
"Does your foot hurt?" Facing such a cute little girl, Wang Zhihuan unconsciously added overlapping sounds to her words.
"It hurts." She pouted, looking at him pitifully.
"Are you hungry, young lady?"
"I'm so hungry. Sizi came out this morning."
"Haven't you eaten anything yet?"
She shook her head, and another tear fell.
Wang Zhi turned around, his back to her: "Come on up, I'll carry you inside."
Sizi hesitated for a moment. Then she placed her two small, soft hands on his shoulders.
Wang Zhi also carried her on his back; the little girl was very light, like carrying a pillow.
Her arms were around his neck, her face pressed against his back, and her convulsive breathing gradually calmed down.
"Pretty guy, you smell like grass," she said.
"My brother was working in the field just now."
"What kind of work is it?"
"Work is about doing tasks."
"So what kind of work is it?"
"Working means farming. Growing food."
What is food?
Wang Zhi laughed: "It's the thing you were hungry for earlier."
He carried the rhinoceros into the courtyard and placed it on a stone bench. The little girl sat on it, her short legs dangling and swinging back and forth.
His eyes were still red, and a glistening snot hung from his nose. He wiped it away with the back of his hand.
Wang Zhi also took a damp cloth from inside the house and squatted down in front of her.
"Your face is covered in mud, you look like a tabby cat. Let me wipe it off for you."
Sizi lowered her head shyly. Wang Zhi then lifted her small face and wiped it with a cloth.
First wipe the forehead, then the nose, and finally the chin. The movements are slow and the pressure is light.
Sizi obediently tilted her head up, blinking her eyes as she looked at him.
"Okay, it's clean now."
Sizi touched her face and smiled slightly: "Pretty buddy, you're so nice."
"Don't be so quick to praise me. I haven't cooked for you yet." Wang Zhihuan stood up. "Sit here and wait. Want some scrambled eggs with tomatoes?"
What is a tomato?
"A kind of red fruit, sweet and sour."
"Sizi wants seven! Sizi loves seven sweet things the most!"
"Okay." Wang Zhihuan turned and walked towards the kitchen.
"I want eggs too!" Si Zi shouted from behind. "Si Zi loves eggs the most!"
Wang Zhi glanced back at her and smiled, "Okay, add plenty of eggs too."
Upon entering the kitchen, he found a ember still burning in the stove. He added some dry firewood, and the flames leaped up.
While cutting tomatoes, Sizi jumped off the stone bench and ran to the kitchen doorway, peering through the door frame.
"Pretty guy, what's this?"
"This is a tomato!"
"It's so red! Does it look like a persimmon?"
"It looks like one. But it's not a persimmon, it's a vegetable."
Why is this vegetable called persimmon?
"Because it's popular."
Sizi tilted her head and thought for a moment, then accepted the explanation: "Then if you cut it, won't it hurt?"
Wang Zhihuan paused for a moment, his knife still in his hand. Only a three- or four-year-old child would ask such a question.
"No. It's already been taken off, so I can't feel it anymore and it won't hurt."
"Then can it still be considered a tomato?"
"Yes, it does. A picked tomato is still a tomato."
"Oh—" Sizi said thoughtfully, "Even if Sizi gets lost, it's still Sizi, right?"
Wang Zhi turned back to look at her. Hearing these words from a lost little girl was enough to soften one's heart.
"Yes," he said. "No matter where you go, a rhinoceros is still a rhinoceros. Nobody can change."
Sizi nodded in satisfaction.
The oil sizzles as it hits the pan. The egg mixture is then poured in, and the mixture is quickly stirred with chopsticks until the tender yellow egg flowers are cooked through.
Next, add the tomatoes. The wok is hot enough that as soon as the tomatoes are added, they release a sweet and sour steam.
"It smells so good!" Si Zi exclaimed from the doorway.
"It smells good."
He poured the egg mixture back in, sprinkled some salt, and then, after thinking for a moment, added a pinch of sugar—it's expensive, and he usually doesn't even use it himself. But the little girl wanted something sweet.
The dish was cooked, served with freshly steamed white rice, and placed on the stone table.
Sizi had already climbed onto the stone bench by himself, knelt on the bench, supported himself on the table with both hands, and stared intently at the plate.
"Eat."
Sizi picked up the chopsticks, but her posture wasn't quite right—she gripped the chopsticks tightly, making it a bit difficult to pick up food.
She picked up a piece of tomato, brought it to her mouth, and took a bite.
Juice splashed out, landing on her chin.
Her eyes widened instantly.
"Good job!"