Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The same thing happened everywhere. Wang Yao had found in the other villagers in the county, especially those isolated ones, the empty nest phenomenon was more common. More than half of the houses in those villages were empty. Compared to those villagers, Nanshan was not too bad.
âMaybe in the next 10 to 20 years, people from those big cities will want to move to countryside,â Wang Yao said with a smile.
Compared to living in the city, living in the countryside had its advantages. First, the environment in the countryside was better. The air was fresher, and there was less pollution. Second, the vegetables people ate in the countryside were mostly from their own backyard. Therefore, people living in the countryside had more chances to access healthy food.
In fact, a lot of people from the big cities nowadays chose to settle in smaller cities, which were less polluted and more suitable to live in. Haiqu was one of those smaller cities. A lot of people from Beijing had purchased a property in Haiqu. They came to Haiqu to escape the heat every summer.
These things happened as time changed. It was not a bad thing for a city to have a smaller population. At least, Wang Yao didnât think it was a bad thing.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âDad, I think you should smoke less,â Wang Yao said.
He gave each of his parents a massage after dinner. When he was massaging his father, he noticed Wang Fenghua was a bit short of breath. He took a look at his father, who was generally fine, but shouldnât smoke so many cigarettes every day. He didnât want his father to quit smoking completely, since he knew smoking was his fatherâs biggest hobby. Wang Fenghua could live without alcohol but not cigarettes.
âOK,â Wang Fenghua said. He had been smoking a lot lately.
It was very quiet at night in the village. Wang Yao walked alone on the concrete road. He then went up to the hills in the distance. Soon, the light of his cottage on Nanshan Hill was turned on.
Baa! A sheep was baaing in the midnight. It was actually an usual thing. People who had sheep in their household would find that sheep were timid animals, especially at night. They barely made any sound. Sheep were the easiest to steal. However, this sheep was loud at night.
âHey!â The hostess of the house poked her husband, who was sleeping.
âWhat?â her husband asked.
âThe sheep was baaing just now. Can you go out to take a look?â she asked.
âReally? How come I didnât hear anything?â Her husband sat up and rubbed his eyes. He intently listened but didnât hear anything.
Both of them listened but neither of them heard anything.
âAre you sure you were not dreaming?â the husband asked.
âI really heard a sheep baaing just now. Just go and take a look,â his wife said.
âOK, OK. Iâll go out to take a look.â As his wife insisted, the man put on a jacket and went out with a torch. He flashed the torch at the sheep-pen. He didnât find any sheep missing or anything wrong. Then, he walked around the sheep-pen to make sure everything was alright before returning to the house.
âIs everything alright?â his wife asked.
âYes, you must have misheard something. Letâs go back to sleep,â her husband said.
The woman looked through the window. She was sure she heard something.
The next morning, a sheep died in the sheep-pen. The woman found the dead sheep on her way to the toilet.
âOh my god!â the woman shouted.
A sheep was worth several hundreds of yuan. Plus, it was a female sheep, which could breed more sheep.
The womanâs husband didnât say anything. He had a close look at the dead sheep and patted its belly. Something was not right.
âI need to cut it open,â the man said.
Most of the villagers didnât know how to butcher a sheep. It was not an easy job to butcher a pig or a sheep. One couldnât just simply stab the animal. It was a job requiring skills. Therefore, the man asked a villager who knew how to butcher a sheep to do the job.
âHoly sh*t!â the butcher shouted. âWhat the hell is this?â
After the sheep had been cut open, they found a large number of black spots inside the sheepâs stomach. Those black spots were moving, like bugs moving on rotten meat. It really scared them.
Bugs! Everyoneâs face went pale. They shivered with horror. The scene was absolutely terrifying.
The bugs had been gobbling up organs inside the sheep. All the organs had been damaged, and these bugs were creeping around.
âBurn it!â one of the villagers shouted.
Someone fetched the gas immediately to light the sheep up. The sheep was on fire and releasing and unpleasant odor and crackling sound.
âWhy are there bugs inside the sheep?â the owner of the sheep asked.
Those who witnessed the horrible scene were all shocked and worried.
âFengmin, what did you feed your sheep?â a villager asked.
âNothing unusual.â Wang Fengminâs face was pale. He was still in shock.
He was concerned that the same thing could happen to his other sheep. What concerned him more was whether the same thing would happen to his family. Suddenly he ran toward his house like a maniac.
âWhatâs wrong with you? Have you sold the sheep?â his wife grumpily asked. âYou still have blood on your hand.â
âWhere is Haoxiang?â Wang Fengmin asked anxiously.
âIn the room, why?â his wife asked.
Wang Fengmin rushed into the room and found his son playing blocks happily.
âHi, Dad,â Haoxiang said.
âCome on, letâs go to see a doctor.â Wang Fengmin carried Haoxiang and walked toward the door.
âWhat are you doing? Itâs so cold outside!â His wife came into the room. She was bewildered by her husbandâs behavior.
âPut his clothes on. Letâs go see Yao,â Wang Fengmin said.
âWhatâs wrong?â his wife asked.
âThe dead sheep was filled with black bugs. It was disgusting!â When mentioning the bugs, he shivered again.
âBugs? Where are the bugs from?â His wifeâs face changed.
âHow am I supposed to know? What if the bugs went into your body?â Wang Fengmin asked.
This was what concerned him most. He couldnât imagine what would happen if his stomach was full of black bugs.
âOK, letâs go!â His wife helped Haoxiang put on the clothes. Then, they went to Wang Yaoâs clinic all together.
Wang Yao hadnât been in the clinic for long. He heard people coming into the clinic and banging the door. He frowned. Then, he saw Wang Fengmin, his wife, and their son.
âHello, Uncle, Auntie,â Wang Yao said.
âYao, please take a look at Haoxiang to see if there are any bugs inside him,â Wang Fengmin anxiously said.
âBugs?â Wang Yao asked with surprise. âWhat bugs?â
âPlease take a look at him,â Wang Fengmin said.
Wang Yao immediately took a look at Haoxiang, who was about 6 years old.
The bugs have invaded into the villagersâ bodies?
He didnât find any parasites inside Haoxiangâs body. Haoxiang was healthy.
âHeâs fine,â Wang Yao said.
âThatâs great!â Wang Fengmin breathed a big sigh of relief.
âCan you also take a look at me and my wife?â Wang Fengmin asked
âSure,â Wang Yao said.
Wang Yao took a look at Wang Fengmin and his wife without asking what had happened.
âThere is no parasites inside you or your wifeâs body. However, you have stones in your kidney. Be aware of your lifestyle,â Wang Yao said.
âWhat? Stones?â Wang Fengmin asked.
âYes, kidney stones,â Wang Yao said. âItâs not serious at this stage. You need to drink a lot of water and exercise to get the stones out of your body. Try not to drink too much alcohol or eat too much meat.â Kidney stones were most likely caused by poor lifestyle. âNow, tell me why you think there are bugs in your body.â
âWell, itâs a long story!â Wang Fengmin told Wang Yao what had happened in the morning.
Poisonous insects! Wang Yao immediately knew Wang Fengmin was talking about the poisonous insects left behind by Huang Zhicheng. Damn!
What Wang Yao had been worried about had happened. Those poisonous insects were reproducing, and the speed of multiplication was rapid. It was horrible. As for what Wang Fengmin and his wife had been concerned, what if those poisonous insects had invaded a human body?
âUncle, Iâll take a look at your house.â Wang Yao was worried.
âOK,â Wang Fengmin said.
Wang Yao went to Wang Fengminâs house to check his sheep.
âYao, you know how to treat animals as well?â Wang Fengmin asked curiously. He had heard from the other villagers that Wang Yao was a good doctor, but he didnât know Wang Yao was also a vet.
Of course, Wang Yao was not a vet. However, he had some idea of an animalâs body structure since he tested herbs on San Xian from time to time. In addition, there was not much difference between treating an animal and treating a human being, let alone that animals were equal to human being in terms of rights.