Chapter Five: The Hornet's Nest Incident

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Yu Qiang thought to himself, a sparrow that falls into cow dung is hardly worth rescuing—it’s just disgusting to eat. He noticed several fresh piles of cow dung nearby, a valuable resource indeed, and hurried home to fetch a dung basket.

Seeing Wang Hongbing briskly making his way home ahead of him, Yu Qiang guessed that Wang had also set his sights on those piles of dung. Realizing it was too late to return home for a basket, Yu Qiang decided to seize the initiative and turned back to gather the dung first.

He gathered the piles into one, mixed them thoroughly, and shaped them into dung cakes, laying them out on the grass. At this time of year, when green shoots are scarce and firewood is in short supply, dried dung cakes make excellent fuel—perfect for cooking meals or barbecues.

As expected, Yu Qiang saw Wang Hongbing approaching quickly with a dung basket, glancing around as if searching for something. Amused, Yu Qiang called out softly, “Stop looking, I’m right here!”

When Wang was nearly upon him, Yu Qiang sat on the grass, propping himself up with his hands behind him, gazing up at the sky with a smile that betrayed his inner joy.

Wang Hongbing glared fiercely at Yu Qiang and turned to leave. Unable to hold back, Yu Qiang burst out laughing. Angered, Wang spun around and loaded all the dung cakes into his own basket.

Yu Qiang stepped forward to tussle with him, but Wang struck him down with a palm, growling, “You little brat, just like your father.”

After Wang left, Yu Qiang sat stunned, unable to believe that this man, who had always enjoyed a good reputation, could act so honorably.

Resigned, he got up, dusted himself off, and noticed his pants were smeared with dung—he had fallen right where he’d been mixing the cow dung.

Watching Wang’s retreating figure, his anger mounted. He wasn’t skilled at insults or fighting and could think of no better way to vent his frustration.

Then he recalled a saying: "A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even after ten years." Yu Qiang disliked this notion, wondering who this gentleman was to be so slow. His own deadline was much shorter: Yu Qiang’s revenge would not wait ten years, but ten days.

Returning home empty-handed with his slingshot, he saw Wang Hongbing affixing dung cakes to his own house wall.

Yu Qiang also noticed the huge wasp nest hanging above Wang’s head and instantly recognized an opportunity. He picked up his slingshot, pulled out a small stone from his pocket, and aimed it at the wasp nest.

Unexpectedly, the nest was teeming with wasps, a dark, buzzing mass that quickly surrounded Wang. Yu Qiang hurried inside and shut the door.

In Yu Qiang’s memory, the wasp nest had been under Wang’s eaves for a long time, starting small but growing larger over time. No one dared disturb it, but as long as the wasps were left alone, they didn’t attack people, and a peaceful coexistence had been maintained.

This time, however, Yu Qiang’s provocation enraged the colony. The wasps swarmed out in force, covering Wang from head to toe, launching frenzied assaults on his exposed face, hands, and arms.

Wang flailed his hands wildly, trying to fend them off, but the relentless wasps continued their barrage. He feared bringing them indoors and harming his family, so he ran toward the pond to the west of the village and plunged into the water.

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Wang dove sharply into the pond. The wasps refused to relent, circling above the water’s surface. Each time Wang surfaced for air, they swarmed him again, forcing him to dive repeatedly.

He tried to swim underwater far away to shake them off but found his clothes impeded his swimming. Stripping off his garments underwater, he swam a considerable distance before surfacing and finally saw no wasps nearby, letting out a sigh of relief.

When he returned to retrieve his clothes, a sudden, intense headache, dizziness, and nausea overwhelmed him. Blood continuously trickled from his face, which, along with his hands and feet, was swollen and covered in blackened blisters. His eyes were so swollen he could hardly open them.

Urgent medical attention was needed. Dressing quickly, he took a detour through the back door. His family immediately rushed him to the township health clinic.

Due to the severity of the injuries, with breathing difficulties and unconsciousness developing, he was transferred to the county hospital for emergency treatment.

News of Wang Hongbing’s wasp stings spread rapidly through the village. Everyone was eager to know why the wasps had attacked him and how his condition was.

Some said he was still being treated; others claimed he had died and his family was handling funeral arrangements.

Yu Qiang was terrified—how could such tiny wasps be so deadly? It was beyond his expectations.

When he first heard Wang’s face had been disfigured by the stings, he felt uneasy and pondered whether to tell his parents. Now, it seemed he had no choice.

“Mom, have you heard that Wang Hongbing died?” Yu Qiang finally broached the subject.

“Died? No, that can’t be. I didn’t know wasps could kill people,” his mother replied skeptically.

At that moment, Fa Cai came in and told Cai Yun, “Wang Hongbing is dead.”

“Really?” Cai Yun asked.

“Yes, someone just returned from the county and said his family is making funeral arrangements.”

“Dad, do you know how he was stung by the wasps?” Yu Qiang asked timidly.

“I heard he disturbed the wasps by sticking dung cakes on his wall,” Fa Cai said.

“No, it was me who shot the wasp nest with the slingshot,” Yu Qiang confessed.

Fa Cai became furious and moved to strike him, but Cai Yun stopped him. “Calm down! Let me think.”

She explained, “Everyone says Wang Hongbing disturbed the wasps himself, so no one knows it was Yu Qiang. If you hit him now, it would be like confessing.”

Hearing this, Fa Cai agreed, “Right, that means Wang himself didn’t see who did it, or he would have said so already.”

Yu Qiang added, “When they took Wang to the hospital, I saw the stone still lying under the wasp nest. I picked it up and threw it into the pond.”

“That’s good. No witnesses, and he’s gone—no proof. From now on, we must act as if nothing happened and carry on as usual, without losing our composure,” Cai Yun instructed both Fa Cai and Yu Qiang.

After pondering a moment, Cai Yun asked Yu Qiang to bring her the slingshot. He looked puzzled but handed it over.

“Yu Qiang, from now on, except for collective village actions, try to use this slingshot as little as possible to avoid suspicion. But don’t throw it away—keep it safe,” she said, and Yu Qiang nodded repeatedly.

Wang Hongbing’s family waited anxiously outside the emergency room. After several hours of treatment, Wang finally stabilized. The doctors said that if treatment had been delayed by a few more hours, he might not have survived.

Once recovered, Wang began to wonder about the cause of the wasps’ fury. He suspected Yu Qiang, but couldn’t be certain.

Although he hadn’t seen Yu Qiang around at the time, he did hear the wasp nest being struck and a hard object falling to the ground.

Afterward, he sent family members to search the site for any hard objects but found nothing. So he couldn’t confirm Yu Qiang was responsible, but neither could he rule it out, as the timing was suspicious—right after two disputes between them.

After several days of treatment, Wang was discharged and returned home.

Villagers came by to offer their regards. Cai Yun brought some eggs as a gift and checked on him. Seeing him in good spirits, with his face and hands mostly healed, she felt much reassured.

The first thing Wang did upon returning was to hire someone to remove the wasp nest from under his eaves, to prevent any future trouble.

The “Four Pests” campaign was in full swing, and literacy efforts were gaining momentum. Within days of Wang’s return, the village literacy class resumed as usual.

Wang Hongbing served as a part-time teacher for the literacy class. He not only taught literacy but also regularly shared policy updates and current events.

One evening, while Wang was teaching, his father rushed in, shouting:

“Hongbing, go home and deal with your wife—she’s yelling at your mother again.”

“That’s all for today’s lesson,” Wang said, ending the class abruptly and hurrying off.

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