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Chapter 146: Chapter 146: Babbling Nonsense
"Pssh! It’s me! Dr. Si’s wife." Tong Yao, with her face looking like a pig’s head, looked rather ridiculous.
"Mom, it’s hilarious, she was also stung by a wasp." Baodan covered his mouth and started laughing; the joy he took in others’ misfortunes appearing on a child’s face was really annoying.
"What business is it of yours that we poked a wasp’s nest?" Recognizing it was Tong Yao, Chen Yanmei’s eyes widened, her face stretching out like a donkey’s. Of everyone in the courtyard, she disliked Li Meiyu the most, always thinking that Li Meiyu, the teacher, was pretentious and stuck up, acting high and mighty all the time with no idea of her place.
However, though she was annoyed by Li Meiyu, she hadn’t had any disputes with her.
Ever since Tong Yao arrived, she found Li Meiyu more tolerable, but everything about Tong Yao irked her. If she could, she would like nothing more than to trample Tong Yao into a mud pit, and only then would she feel satisfied.
They were all women; why should Tong Yao live like a pampered lady, superior to them in every way, and not even give her, the deputy director’s wife, due attention? A newcomer to the hospital, she acted as if she could do anything to Chen, as if she thought herself a real hotshot.
So what if Tong Yao’s family in Kyoto was rich?
In Li City now, she should respect the local customs and her, the deputy director’s wife. They did not acknowledge Tong Yao’s status as a Kyoto princess here.
Even a princess wouldn’t be more than a commoner after marrying into the region.
"Did you really go after a wasp’s nest?" Tong Yao pretended to be surprised, putting on an expression that implied more than what was said, which made Chen Yanmei feel uneasy.
"What’s wrong with going after a wasp’s nest?"
"Nothing’s wrong, nothing’s wrong. Go ahead and poke it!" Tong Yao quickly waved her hands, a mysterious smile playing on her lips. It seemed like she couldn’t wait for Chen Yanmei to go poke it, as if there was something unspeakable hidden inside.
Looking again at Tong Yao’s face swollen from the wasp stings, Chen Yanmei felt a greater sense of unease.
If Tong Yao had tried to stop her from poking the wasp’s nest, she would have done the opposite just to spite her. But since Tong Yao now seemed to be eager for her to do it, Chen Yanmei felt as uncomfortable as if she had a needle stuck in her. Tong Yao and she never saw eye to eye; if something bad happened to her, Tong Yao would be thrilled.
Considering their bad relationship, surely Tong Yao wouldn’t tell her if there was indeed something going on.
Tong Yao was almost out of sight by now, Chen Yanmei wanted to call her back but couldn’t swallow her pride to do it.
Chen’s sister-in-law, as a woman, also felt uneasy. After hesitating for two seconds, she lifted her foot to catch up with Tong Yao, curiously asking: "Little sister, can you tell me, is there something special about poking a wasp’s nest?"
Tong Yao squinted and smiled: "Nothing special. Hurry up and poke the wasp’s nest! That nest deserves it. Look at how my face is stung. To poke it is to do good for the people. Poke it well."
Tong Yao had caught on to the human psychology of curiosity; it is just like this, the more explicit you are, the less people are willing to listen. The more a secret is hidden and covered up, the more they will do anything to find out.
And in fact, the more Tong Yao said so, the more Mrs. Chen wanted to know. She couldn’t help but dig deeper. "Little sister, you live in this courtyard too, right! You are my sister-in-law’s neighbor, so there’s no outsider here. If there’s anything I should know, just tell me!"
"What’s there to know about poking a wasp nest? Just stop looking for trouble, let’s poke the nest and finish this sooner so we can go back." Mr. Chen, her husband, lost his patience. It was boiling hot outside and they were drenched in sweat after standing for a short while. They were about to get sunburned.
"What do you know?" Mrs. Chen glared at her husband, then turned back and said with a chuckle to Tong Yao, "Little sister, just talk to me! I tend to believe in the rules that our ancestors passed down. If it’s really bad luck to poke a wasp nest, I won’t do it."
The wasp nest isn’t inside the residential quarters, so it doesn’t affect their lives. In case poking the nest brings bad luck, that wouldn’t be minor at all.
In recent years, their family has been blessed and their life has been getting better day by day. The fortune tellers even said they would make a fortune in the next few years. They can’t let the Feng Shui of their house be disturbed over a trivial issue like this.
"Sis, actually it’s not a big deal." Tong Yao seemed to lose patience with Mrs. Chen’s incessant questioning, but still answered in a mysteriously cheerful tone, "Some things exist for those who believe in them, and don’t exist for those who don’t."
Chen Yanmei pricked up her ears. She was also curious about what was going on. She had never heard that you shouldn’t poke a wasp nest in her life.
Seeing the look on Chen Yanmei’s face, Tong Yao couldn’t help laughing secretly. However, she put on a very serious face and said, "In my hometown, there’s a saying, ’Poke a wasp nest and your family will have bad luck for three generations.’ That means if you poke a wasp nest, your family will have bad luck for three generations. Normally, people don’t poke wasp nests. If it’s necessary to do so, they hire someone else to do it. They don’t do it themselves."
"There’s such a saying?" Mrs. Chen’s face changed and she looked anxious. "How come I’ve never heard of it?"
"Different places have different sayings. So, it’s all about whether the person poking the wasp nest believes it or not," Tong Yao explained as casually as an old woman chatting with villagers, "You see, everything has been going well for you. Who would look for trouble and bring bad luck on themselves? Even if it’s a superstition, if it turns out to be true, then it’s not a small thing. The nest is in a big tree and doesn’t affect your home. There’s no need to deal with it."
"It’s like the bird nest under the eaves of your house. As long as it doesn’t affect your daily life, who would drive it away? Birds bring good fortune when they come in spring. Even if getting bad luck is a superstition, getting stung by wasps is really dangerous."
"What’s the risk?"
Mrs. Chen was puzzled by Tong Yao’s words. She wished she could immediately take her husband and leave. She didn’t like visiting hospitals. The wasp nest had nothing to do with her. Even if someone gets stung by a wasp, it’s not her problem. But if something bad happens, it will definitely affect her family’s luck.
Tong Yao glanced at the people behind Mrs. Chen and shook her head seriously, "You will laugh at me for talking too much, but just take a look. There are so many people here to poke the wasp nest, and apart from bamboo poles and hemp bags you have brought nothing else. There are thousands of wasps in the nest. If a few get out and sting, it will be unbearable for you. I heard that wasps remember who pokes their nest and they will chase that person relentlessly to sting. Do you think you can outrun a winged creature? I just came back from the hospital. The doctor specifically told me that severe bee venom can be lethal."
Even if what Tong Yao had said previously were lies, the latter part was true. With only these people to deal with the nest, they might not be able to handle it. And it would be inevitable to get stung a few times.
You could say these people were foolish. They were not well-equipped to poke a wasp nest. Did they really think wasps were soft targets?
"Is it that serious?" Mrs. Chen’s face fell. She felt a chill run down her spine but managed to calmly respond to Tong Yao, "Sister, thanks for your warning. Whoever wants to poke the wasp nest, let them. My family isn’t going to do it."
If it weren’t for Tong Yao’s explanation, she would have really gone and disturbed the wasp nest today. Tong Yao was right, even if it doesn’t bring bad luck, being stung by wasps is definitely painful.
