Chapter 2 Green Hat

  Her face suddenly flushed, and tears flowed from the corners of her eyes to her cheeks like a small stream. She didn't make another sound, but quietly gazed at me with those tear-filled eyes, staring at me, watching me...

  "The child is yours!"

  After a moment of silence, she lifted her pale small face with a flush and tear stains, and said one sentence solemnly.

  "I've decided, I'm going to give birth to him for you!"

  Xu Yan finished speaking and turned around to leave.

  I stared at the woman's back, feeling a bit silly, and muttered to myself:

  "This woman is crazy!"

  "Crazy bitch! Shameless, no face, vulgar, despicable... die, three eight..."

  Xu Yan left.

  After returning from the hospital entrance, I never saw her again.

  In the following days, she didn't call me again either.

  I don't know if she really went to have the baby or found someone else to be the father of this child. Although I'm a bit annoyed about this matter, I didn't have the leisure to contact her.

  Such a scatterbrained woman can't hide anywhere, where else can she go to cause trouble. Besides, graduation is approaching and I need to find a job too. Employment is the most important thing for current senior graduates.

  So, this absurd thing was temporarily put down by me.

  But a month later, on the third day after I graduated, a strange number suddenly called me.

  "Ah Peng, the baby is born!"

  I could tell it was Xu Yan's voice, and there was a hint of excitement in her tone.

  "Get out!" I flared up, "Xu Yan, you crazy woman, are you done yet? You held my hand for a moment and said you were pregnant with my child, then after a month you said the kid was born? Are you laying eggs or giving birth to kids? Do you think you're a hen or something? Can lay an entire nest of eggs in just one day?"

  The more I scolded her, the uglier my words became. This can't be blamed on me, the key is that this woman was too crazy.

  "I don't want to say much." Xu Yan's tone was very calm. "Do you still remember the old man who sold you the green hat?"

  "Old man selling green hats?"

  Xu Yan mentioned the green hat, and I suddenly remembered something. On that day when we went hiking, I bought a hat from a roadside stall, and the vendor was an old man who looked very suspicious.

  "What's it got to do with what I'm saying?"

  "Wasn't that the hat you were wearing when you climbed the mountain that day?" Xu Yan didn't answer me, and instead continued to ask.

  "Really." For fun, I even wore that green hat when climbing mountains.

  "That's enough."

  Xu Yan let out a long sigh over the phone.

  "That child is yours now."

  "What? What the hell?! Because of a hat, the kid is mine now? Is there even anywhere to reason with this?"

  "Ah Peng, I won't say much to you either," Xu Yan said, suddenly sounding very helpless. "If you want to know the truth about what happened, you can go find that old man."

  "Which old man?" I didn't react for a moment.

  "The one who sold you the hat." Xu Yan said and hung up the phone decisively, I don't know if it was because she was disappointed in me or afraid that I would ask more questions.

  Sell me green hat old man? My child? Pregnant? Xu Yan?

  I pieced these things together in my mind, but I really couldn't think of any connection between them. Intuitively, I felt that this woman Xu Yan was playing me! Treating me like a fool.

  However, since Xu Yan told me to go find that old man who sold me the green hat, I still plan to go find him. Maybe that old man can tell me why Xu Yan is such an idiot!

  That's right!

  Green hat? Where is the green hat?

  I suddenly found that green hat was gone, it seemed like I lost it when I came back from climbing the mountain.

  Was it thrown away on the mountain?

  I can't remember where I put that green hat.

  Let's go ask that old man what's going on first?

  I couldn't find that green hat anywhere, so I had to go look for that old man. This was the lead Xu Yan gave me, and if she dares to play tricks on me, I guarantee I won't let her off easy.

  Damn it, I've been single for twenty years, and I'm not that easy to bully.

  Any shameless woman thinks she can play me? Humph, no way!

  I stormed out of the door and soon arrived at the back hill of the school.

  So many days have passed, I don't know if that old man who sells things on the street is still selling at the mountain gate.

  I hesitated and looked ahead.

  Isn't anyone here? There isn't even a single vendor in front of the mountain gate.

  Damn it! That shameless Xu Yan has cheated me again! That old man is probably no longer here selling his stuff, where am I supposed to find him?

  I found myself being fooled and was about to go back and find a way to settle the score with Xu Yan when I suddenly heard someone calling my name.

  I looked around and didn't see anyone nearby.

  "Ah Peng, Ah Peng."

  The voice came from behind me again, with a hint of slyness and familiarity.

  "Who?" I turned around abruptly.

  "Me!" Something behind me with no one answered my words.

  That thing is not human, it's a pheasant.

  There are many quails on the mountain, but those that can speak human language, this is my first time seeing.

  "Damn it, are you messing with me? Who is it exactly? A decent person doesn't do things in secret, come out and show yourself!"

  I don't believe a quail can speak human language, there must be someone hiding behind it and singing in harmony with the quail.

  "Come with me! Come with me."

  The sound of human voices continued from the pheasant's body.

  Then, the quail flapped its wings and took off. As it flew away, it kept turning back to me and saying "Follow me! Follow me!"

  I rubbed my eyes, hardly daring to believe the scene before me.

  Damn it, am I hallucinating?

  I pinched myself hard on the face, and a sharp pain came instantly, but the scene in front of me didn't change at all.

  That pheasant kept flying and turning back to me, saying "Follow me! Follow me!"

  Its voice was perhaps seductive, and as it spoke, my legs moved involuntarily, following it step by step.

  The two sides of the mountain road are mountain forests.

  The pheasant led me into a thicket of trees on the left.

  The woods here are very dense, and the pheasant flew in front of me for a while before landing on a tree.

  "Quail, quail, arrived, arrived." The quail chirped twice more and then shut its beak, turning its head to look down at the base of the tree.

  My goodness!

  Good grief! There's a ghost! The bird can talk like a human!

  The temptation of the quail's call was gone, and my legs suddenly went soft.

  Just now I wasn't afraid because I thought there was someone behind it, but after such a long time, it's obviously impossible for someone to be behind the scenes with this quail singing in harmony.

  The only explanation is that this quail really knows how to speak human language and speaks standard Mandarin very well.

  The more I think about it, the scarier it gets, and I'm so frightened that I even forget how to run away.

  "Cough cough."

  A fit of violent coughing broke out.

  "Ah Peng ah." Then someone or something else called out to me again.

  "Who? Who is it?" Fearful of returning fearful, I still subconsciously replied a sentence.

  "It's me!"

  "Who are you?" I only heard someone speaking, but didn't see anyone.

  "I'm your grandfather!"

  "My mother!"

  I'm furious. Just now, I inexplicably gained a child, and this moment, I inexplicably gained a grandfather. This would make anyone angry.

  "Who is this son of a bitch daring to take advantage of me? Get out! Is it that crazy bitch Xu Yan who called you to fool with me?"

  "Turtle egg? Your grandfather was a turtle egg a million years ago."

  Ten thousand years ago?

  I'm totally stunned! I've already had the bad luck of running into that crazy bitch Xu Yan, and now another idiot who thinks he's a king has appeared? This world really is so big that all sorts of birds exist!

  No!

  He said I was his grandfather and also said it was an old turtle egg from 10,000 years ago. Put together, is he scolding my grandfather as an old turtle egg?

  Damn it! This guy is fooling me again.

  "Get out of here! If I don't beat you up, I'll be your grandson!"

  "Cough cough."

  Another loud, coarse coughing sound came over.

  "You were originally my grandson!" This statement was made with absolute certainty, as if he really was my grandfather.

  "Get out!" I shouted again in exasperation.

  "Don't be in a hurry, don't be in a hurry. Am I right?" The voice slowly floated over.

  "Where?" I looked around and still didn't see anyone.

  Heard his voice but never saw him, this guy is mysterious enough.

  "Take two steps forward." the voice said.

  I took two steps forward.

  "Lowering my head, I am here."

  I followed the sound and looked down, finally seeing the person who said those words.

  No, it wasn't a man, but a turtle, a turtle with a greenish tint on its head.