Chapter 14: Releasing the Crows

This story is purely a work of fiction.

Situ Kong and Mingyue sat on the bed, both wearing troubled expressions.

"Sigh, I think we should just send our son to kindergarten," Chi Mingyue said.

"I want to, too. But the sponsorship fee is so high—what are we supposed to do? After working hard at the market for four years, we've only managed to save a little. If we pay that sponsorship fee, there'll be almost nothing left. It’s really tough," Situ Kong sighed.

"So what now? We can’t just keep him out of school, can we? Just sitting around every day isn’t a solution either. Why don’t we talk to Zhezhe? He has good connections, he might be able to help," Mingyue suggested.

"Let’s talk about it tomorrow. I have to get up early," Situ Kong replied, pulling the quilt over himself and burying his head to sleep.

At the Hexi Sports Center...

After Zheng Zhe and Chi Zhaoming parted ways with Xiao Jin, they found a spot at a food stall, ordered some snacks to go with their drinks, and asked for a case of beer.

"Why order so much beer? Can we even finish it?" Chi Zhaoming asked.

"It’s not that much, just a case. If we can’t finish, we can return the rest!" Wu Zhengzhe replied.

Before joining the army, the two were inseparable. After leaving the service, work kept them apart—one at the TV station, the other at the police bureau. Their schedules seldom aligned, but whenever they found time, they’d get together for a drink.

Wu Zhengzhe was a frequent guest at Chi Zhaoming’s home. Every few days, he’d drop by to enjoy Zhaoming’s excellent cooking, have a few drinks, and fool around with his nephew, Xiyu.

Xiyu was very fond of his Uncle Zhengzhe. If Zhengzhe didn’t visit for a few days, Xiyu would ask his mother, "Why hasn’t Uncle Zhengzhe come by?"

"Uncle is busy, he doesn’t always have time to come play with you," Du Juan would reply.

Whenever Wu Zhengzhe visited, he never forgot to bring snacks for his nephew and often bought Xiyu toys he liked.

They drank, reminiscing from childhood to their days in the army, from military school to Dacheng’s sacrifice at the Laoshan front. Inevitably, nostalgia and sorrow would wash over them, and they’d sigh at the turns of life.

Halfway through, Zhengzhe suddenly broke into sobs.

Chi Zhaoming, a little tipsy and bewildered, asked, "Why are you crying?"

"I don’t know, I just feel like crying."

"You have it all, though—a wife, a son. Watching you all so happy, I feel joy but also sadness. But look at me, still alone. Every time I go home, it feels like an ice cellar. It’s not a home, just a place to shelter from the rain. When I return to that empty house, an inexplicable sadness comes over me."

"You’re carefree. Living alone has its perks—no need to worry if your wife has eaten, no need to worry about picking your son up from school. You’re free. Isn’t that nice?" Chi Zhaoming tried to comfort him.

"Don’t bother comforting me. What’s so nice about it? You don’t know the bitterness in my heart. Especially not being able to grow old with the one you love—that’s so heartbreaking." Zhengzhe sobbed harder.

Chi Zhaoming actually knew. Back in military school, Zhengzhe had fallen for Du Juan and had even written her a love letter that Zhaoming had seen. At that time, Zhaoming was also dating Du Juan. When she showed him Zhengzhe’s love letter, he’d been angry, but since Zhengzhe was his lifelong friend, he didn’t say anything.

"Do you remember, when we were young, we shared everything—good or bad? Back then, we could hardly eat meat once a year. We didn’t even spare the little birds. Do you remember when we roasted and ate that crow?" Zhengzhe muttered, his head drooping, eyes fixed on Zhaoming.

"Of course I remember. How could I forget? That’s something you never forget," Zhaoming replied, the memory of the four friends catching and roasting birds in their childhood flickering in his mind.

One day after school, he and Qu Wenkai, Dacheng, and Wu Zhengzhe spotted a large bird’s nest in a tree at the edge of the village.

He’d been watching that nest for a long time—from when it was first built to when the eggs hatched. He decided it was time to take the chicks, before they learned to fly.

From below, they could hear the faint chirping of the young crows. "Let’s climb up and get the birds to roast them," Qu Wenkai suggested.

"There’s hardly any meat on those tiny things," Chi Zhaoming hesitated. "We could just catch them for fun. Alright, let’s just catch them first."

Wu Zhengzhe, thinking of roasted birds, swallowed hungrily. "What are you talking about? They’re almost ready to fly, plump enough. Besides, we haven’t tasted meat in half a year. Even a fly is meat!"

The others found his reasoning convincing.

"Zhengzhe, you’re the best climber," Zhaoming said.

Wu Zhengzhe looked up at the nest. "It’s really high, at least ten meters." But the thought of roast meat was too tempting. He kicked off his cloth shoes and started climbing.

Hand over hand, foot over foot, he quickly reached the middle of the tree.

"Be careful!" the others called anxiously from below.

As he neared the nest, the constant chirping of the chicks grew louder, as if they were waiting to be fed.

"There are five or six! Six! Six chicks!" Wu Zhengzhe shouted excitedly.

At that moment, the mother crow, seeing her nest under threat, swooped down, beating her wings and cawing desperately, as if calling for help.

Suddenly, the mother crow dived at Zhengzhe, her wings flapping furiously, the noise mixing with her cries, making Zhengzhe shiver in fright. "Scared me to death! Just you wait—I’ll catch all your chicks and roast them!"

As the mother crow attacked, Zhengzhe snapped off a branch and swung at her as she drew near. Leaves rustled, and in the moment she flew off, he quickly scooped all six chicks into his schoolbag and zipped it shut.

He slid quickly down the trunk, but two or three meters from the ground, there was a sharp crack—the branch beneath his foot broke, and he dropped.

Quick as a flash, he grabbed another branch, swung through the air, steadied himself, and landed safely.

"That was close!" the three friends gasped, sweating.

With their catch, they went to Dacheng’s house. Finding no one home, they boiled water. But seeing how little meat the chicks had, they hesitated. "Maybe we should just let them go," Qu Wenkai suggested.

"It’s so hard to get a taste of meat," they all lamented.

Qu Wenkai had an idea. "Wait, my family has three ducks. Let’s kill one and have a proper meal!"

The others agreed, so they put the baby crows back in the nest, every single one.

After setting the crows free, they headed to Qu’s yard, caught a duck from the pen, and joyfully slaughtered, plucked, and chopped it.

The boys took the prepared duck to the fields, where they roasted it. That day, the four friends had a true feast, eating and drinking their fill.

...

"Our childhood was full of hardship. Looking back, it’s hard to believe we lived like that," Chi Zhaoming said, feeling a wave of sadness.

"If it’s too painful to look back, then don’t!" Zhengzhe raised his glass. "Come, let’s drink!" After draining his cup, he slammed it on the table. "Chi Zhaoming, you have no idea, you just don’t know..." he repeated again and again.

"What don’t I know? Tell me," Zhaoming asked.

"Do you remember that summer holiday? We came home, and you knew I liked Du Juan too, but you weren’t a true friend. You arranged to swim with Du Juan, and when I said I didn’t have swimming trunks, you didn’t offer to let me buy some. Instead, you told me to wait outside the pool. I stood there, separated by the iron fence, watching you and Du Juan playing in the water, so happy. My heart ached; I still remember that scene. From that moment, the wound in my heart wasn’t from the woman I loved, but from you, my lifelong friend. You hurt me, Chi Zhaoming, you hurt me deeply... I’m so sad, Zhaoming, so sad..." As he spoke, his voice faded, and he slumped over the table.

Seeing that Zhengzhe could drink no more, Chi Zhaoming fished some money from his friend’s pocket, paid the bill, and carried him to a nearby hotel, where he got a room and took him upstairs.

(To be continued)