A Leisurely and Extravagant Life - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Sparrow

After Luo Xingquan’s family left, Luo Baolin’s expression actually became sterner.

“You child, how could you hit someone?”

“Who told him to mess with me? That day when I was asleep, he poured water all over me, and I didn’t even punish him. Now he spreads nasty rumors about me, and he even bullied Jingzhi. If I don’t teach him a lesson, he’ll only get worse.” Luo Tianwang didn’t feel at all that he was in the wrong.

“You still can’t go around hitting people. Don’t you know you could tell the teacher instead?” By this point, Baolin’s anger had eased. After all, which kids don’t quarrel and scuffle sometimes? And besides, Tianwang wasn’t really in the wrong.

“Come eat. Why should our Tianwang just take bullying? He’s not at fault. Zejun was being naughty, and he deserved a beating.” Xiao Chunxiu immediately stood by Tianwang’s side. She had wanted to speak up earlier but, for the sake of face, had stayed quiet.

“You’ll spoil the child this way,” Baolin said disapprovingly.

“I only have this one grandson. If I don’t spoil him, who should I spoil?” Chunxiu laughed.

Baolin had no way to argue with her. “Fine, fine, let’s eat. But don’t go hitting people anymore. Otherwise, I’ll tan your hide.”

“Tianwang did the right thing—he protected a girl. If Zejun dares to bully again, you can beat him, and I’ll take the blame,” Chunxiu said.

“Is this any way to raise a child?” Baolin asked.

“And what if it is? What’s wrong with that?” Chunxiu stubbornly sided with her grandson.

“Grandpa, Grandma, let’s eat. I’m not crazy—I won’t just hit people for no reason. But if Zejun bullies me, I’ll fight back until he doesn’t dare anymore.” Tianwang said firmly.

The next day on the way to school, Tianwang happened to run into Luo Zejun. The moment Zejun saw him, he quickly lowered his head, not daring to meet his eyes. Tianwang couldn’t be bothered with him.

Just then, Luo Shengui came running up, dragging along a sparrow tied to a thin thread. He let it fly, and when the thread reached its end, he yanked it back. Over and over, until the sparrow’s legs were skinned raw, bloody, and it chirped in terror. The sparrows in the trees on both sides of the road scattered away in fright.

“T-Tianwang, look! Last night I dug out a sparrow’s nest under our eaves and caught this one. Too bad one escaped, otherwise I could’ve given you one too.” Shengui grabbed the sparrow in his hand and showed it off.

From the bird’s eyes, Tianwang seemed to see overwhelming fear and despair. He pitied it deeply and said: “If you keep doing this, it’ll be a sin. The sparrow’s leg is nearly broken. It’ll be dead soon. You’d better let it go.”

“I won’t. It was hard enough to catch. Didn’t you used to tie sparrows up like this too?” Shengui shook his head, unwilling to listen.

Indeed, Tianwang had done the same when he was younger. What kid in Hemawan hadn’t? In the countryside, amusements were few. Unlike city kids with piles of toys, the village children felt lucky if their parents brought them even one or two small toys from town.

When Shengui got to school, he stuffed the sparrow into a paper box and hid it in his schoolbag. After two classes, he took it out—the bird was already near death.

He tossed it into the air, but it fell like a corpse. Only its eyes still moved slightly, and when he touched it, he could faintly feel its weak heartbeat. Otherwise, he would have thought it was dead.

Disgusted, Shengui threw it behind the school into the hills, without even bothering to untie its legs.

Later, when Tianwang woke from a nap and was playing in the hills, he found the dying sparrow. Making sure no one was around, he untied the string from its legs, then summoned a green character and fused it into the bird’s body.

Before his eyes, the wounds on its legs closed rapidly, and the near-dead sparrow suddenly revived. Dazed, it stared at Tianwang. He tossed it upward, and the sparrow flapped frantically, flying away into the distance.

Back in class, drowsiness hit Tianwang again. When he woke, he heard a sparrow chirping inside the classroom.

“That sparrow looks just like mine. Could it be one of my sparrow’s chicks?” Shengui shouted.

“Shengui, then you’re in trouble. If it’s someone’s parent you killed, its chicks must be here for revenge!” one kid teased.

Shengui turned pale. “I’m not afraid. If they dare come for revenge, I’ll kill them all.”

But in truth, he was terrified. What he feared most wasn’t the chicks’ revenge, but the sparrow’s ghost coming after him.

A sparrow ghost was still a ghost!

He grabbed a book and hurled it at the sparrow. The bird darted nimbly aside. The book fell instead on Tianwang’s head, just as he was waking.

“Shengui! You dare throw a book at me?” Tianwang shouted angrily.

“N-no, Tianwang, I didn’t mean it,” Shengui stammered, remembering well how Tianwang had beaten Zejun the day before.

At Tianwang’s voice, the sparrow chirped and fluttered over to him.

“Huh?”

All the kids gasped.

The sparrow circled Tianwang without fear, then actually perched on his shoulder.

Even Tianwang was surprised. The bird looked familiar, much like the one he had healed. But sparrows all looked alike—he couldn’t be sure. Still, its boldness made him certain: it was the same one.

He hadn’t expected it to come back to him.

“Tianwang, quick, catch it!” Shengui called eagerly.

When Tianwang reached out, the sparrow didn’t resist. Instead, it let him hold it, even nuzzling his hand with its beak affectionately.

“Wow!”

The whole class of kids was green with envy.

Tianwang gently tossed it into the air, and the sparrow flew away joyfully.

“Why’d you let it go!” Shengui cried regretfully. He hated that it wasn’t him the sparrow had chosen. If it had shown him such affection, he would’ve kept it and raised it himself.