Chapter 158 You Kneel Down As Well

Strapping the earthenware jar to his back and picking up the bamboo basket, Bai An'an finally recovered his composure completely.
"Great-aunt, how did you know there were black bees here?" he asked. Glancing out of the corner of his eye at Little Black's figure, realization dawned on him: "Was it Little Black?" After all, Little Black frequently wandered deep into the mountains, so it wouldn't be surprising if it had made a discovery.
Since Great-aunt understood animal speech, Little Black knowing meant Great-aunt knew as well.
Bai Xi nodded.
"Great-aunt, Little Black has this kind of ability too?" Bai An'an looked at Little Black, finding the pride in its eyes quite incredible.
The white tiger raised by Great-aunt seemed much smarter and more formidable than any other animal.
Had he not witnessed it with his own eyes, anyone telling him that a tiger's roar could shake flying bees out of the air would have sounded like they were boasting.
Bai Xi hummed smugly, saying proudly, "Of course. Little Black can do anything."
Praise from Bai Xi made Little Black immensely happy; its tail was practically wagging into the air, and if its face weren't covered in fur, it surely would have blushed.
Riding atop Little Black now, Bai Xi remembered that this was Bai An'an's first time encountering such a situation, so it was no wonder he was terrified.
Since he was so scared yet refused to run away by himself and instead tried to carry her to safety, Bai Xi would be utterly heartless to stay angry. Thus, she decided to turn the page and let go of the matter of Bai An'an hoisting her over his shoulder.
"Why didn't you just run away by yourself when you were so scared earlier?"
Hearing this, Bai An'an froze. He shook his head instinctively: "I don't know. Even though I was scared, the thought of leaving Great-aunt behind to run alone never crossed my mind."
His tone turned firm: "Great-aunt, no matter which villager it was, nobody would ever leave Great-aunt behind alone when facing danger."
Hearing this, a warmth spread through Bai Xi's heart. She thought to herself, no wonder that flower spirit was still so worried about all of you before she left.
"Don't worry, I'm not a child anymore. I won't do anything reckless."
Bai An'an looked as though he had more to say in response to Bai Xi's words. He certainly didn't think Great-aunt truly understood; Great-aunt was still a child who didn't consider the consequences of many things and acted entirely on impulse. Someone still had to keep a close eye on her.
Unaware of Bai An'an's internal thoughts, Bai Xi caught the sweet fragrance of honey and felt extremely happy. She raised her small hand, shaking it as she boasted, "There are five spots in this mountain. If we harvest all of them, we can probably sell them for a lot of money. I'll give you some pocket money then."
This time, Bai An'an didn't raise any objections, though he offered a somewhat awkward reminder: "Great-aunt, you're holding up four fingers."
Hearing this, Bai Xi tilted her head, glaring with mock annoyance: "Are you silly? There were five spots to begin with, but didn't we just clear one of them? That leaves four."
"Do you really take me for some five-year-old baby who doesn't understand anything?" Bai Xi glared at Bai An'an with a fiercely cute expression.
Bai An'an rubbed his nose and hurriedly coaxed her in a gentle tone: "Of course not. Great-aunt, you are six years old this year, and once the New Year comes, you'll be seven."
To himself, he thought that five and six didn't make much difference anyway—Great-aunt was still very small.
Besides, when Great-aunt turned five last year, she had constantly insisted she wasn't a three-year-old toddler and understood everything.
Could it be that as soon as she turned a year older, she started looking down on age five for being too young?
Seeing this, Bai Xi put on a deeply earnest expression and lectured, "An'an, a person shouldn't be too greedy. No matter how formidable your Great-aunt I am, I can't conjure up five spots out of thin air for you to harvest, can I? Four spots is already quite good."
"Uh... Great-aunt, I didn't say anything." Bai An'an was dumbfounded; he hadn't even said he wanted to harvest more.
However, Bai Xi clearly ignored Bai An'an's explanation and smoothly steered the conversation to something else.
"It's getting late. Let's head down the mountain quickly."
Bai Xi hadn't even taken her afternoon nap; she had headed into the mountains right after lunch.
Now, the initial wave of excitement having passed, she felt rather drowsy. Riding on Little Black's back, she yawned continuously. Several times, Bai An'an feared Bai Xi might topple off, scaring him into hastily extending his hand to support her from behind.
The round trip had taken nearly four hours. Of course, if she had been traveling alone with Little Black, it would have been much faster, but now, with the addition of a laborer like Bai An'an, their pace naturally slowed down.
By the time the two of them and the tiger emerged from the mountain, it was almost time for dinner.
Chen Zhaodi was anxiously pacing back and forth beneath the treehouse; she had been waiting there for half an hour.
Usually, even when Great-aunt went out to play, she would return on time for meals, but today she was nowhere to be seen. Just as Chen Zhaodi was about to head into the village to look for them, she caught sight of Bai An'an, with Bai Xi right beside him.
"Great-aunt." Chen Zhaodi greeted Bai Xi first before fixing a stern gaze on Bai An'an.
"Did you take Great-aunt up the mountain?"
Chen Zhaodi was so certain because the direction they came from led straight to the back mountain, and both of their bodies and hair were covered in the wild grass burrs unique to the mountains.
Bai An'an looked at Bai Xi and then nodded. Even though it was Great-aunt who wanted to go, he hadn't managed to stop her after all.
Chen Zhaodi immediately rebuked in a cold, low voice: "You've got a lot of nerve! Don't you know the mountains are dangerous, and Great-aunt shouldn't..." Was this considered guarding a thief while being the watchman?
Bai Xi spoke up, interrupting her: "Is dinner ready? I'm hungry."
"Not yet. Great-aunt, since you weren't here, I hadn't asked what you wanted to eat yet, so I didn't start cooking." Chen Zhaodi gently brushed a wild grass burr from Bai Xi's head while coaxing, "Great-aunt, go back inside first, drink some water, and rest for a bit. Dinner will be ready very soon."
Bai Xi nodded, pointing at the two dead pheasants in Bai An'an's hands, and said, "Perfect, Little Black caught two pheasants along the way. Stew one of them, and I'll eat the other tomorrow." With that, she unceremoniously ordered Bai An'an to carry her harvest up to the treehouse for storage.
Chen Zhaodi first boiled some bathwater for Bai Xi, mixed it to the right temperature for her to bathe, and only then began preparing dinner. Of course, she didn't forget to send Bai An'an to summon the village chief.
Bai Xi was extremely pleased with today's haul. The earthenware jar was by no means small, capable of holding fifty-eight catties of honey. Even after filtering out the propolis and honey residues, there would still be around forty catties left.
By the time Chen Daliu arrived, Bai Xi had already finished her bath and was happily sipping honey water while waiting for the honey-stewed chicken.
Bai An'an knew what Chen Zhaodi meant by having him fetch the village chief. Not intending to hide anything anyway, Bai An'an had already told the village chief all about it on the way here.
"Little Liu is here." Bai Xi smiled cheerfully. "Would you like some honey water? Go ladle some yourself."
"Great-aunt, you just enjoy your drink. I came over because of a little matter." After warmly greeting Bai Xi, Chen Daliu turned around and glared fiercely at Bai An'an: "Get down on your knees."
Without a second word, Bai An'an obediently dropped to his knees. Taking Great-aunt up the mountain of his own accord was indeed a grave mistake, and he deserved to be punished.
Seeing this, Bai Xi immediately understood what was going on. Before Chen Daliu could lecture Bai An'an further, she barked at him as well: "You get down on your knees too."
Chen Daliu was momentarily stunned, but seeing Bai Xi's furrowed brow, he knelt down as well.