Call Me Daddy

“Oh dear mother!”

Seeing that Deng Caihua had already run ahead of her, Ma Aifang felt like her mind was exploding. At this moment, the wild boar was right behind her, making her the closest to it.

With those tusks, if she got gored, her rear would probably be torn to pieces.

“Ma Aifang, run faster!”

Even though Deng Caihua had overtaken her, she didn’t forget to shout at Ma Aifang to run faster.

She felt a bit guilty, thinking she owed Ma Aifang an apology, but then she realized it wasn’t her fault for running fast. If Ma Aifang could run a bit faster, she would naturally catch up.

“Damn it, why don’t you run a little slower!” Ma Aifang gritted her teeth and shouted, knowing she couldn’t talk any longer. Running so fast while talking was letting in the wind, and if she lost her breath, she wouldn’t be able to run at all.

“Why is the wild boar only chasing Cai Hua and Ai Fang?”

The villagers who had scattered were now unknowingly stopping, watching from a distance as the wild boar chased after the two.

On the narrow path of the village, the chase between Deng Caihua, Ma Aifang, and the wild boar had formed a striking scene. The wild boar focused solely on them and didn’t divert its path to chase anyone else who was closer.

“Maybe the wild boar thinks they’re too noisy.”

Someone gave a reasonable assessment. Who else was like them, quarreling even while fleeing for their lives?

Everyone around him nodded in agreement, fully endorsing this explanation.

“Cai Hua, Ai Fang, you both run faster. The men have gone to get their weapons. They will catch the wild boar soon.” A few women had climbed to a safe high point and were shouting from afar at the two running for their lives.

In their frantic escape, Deng Caihua, while running, noticed a group of village children playing not far off. Her precious granddaughter and grandson were among them.

She couldn’t let the wild boar run past them, so Deng Caihua gritted her teeth, turned with the wild boar and Ma Aifang, and ran in another direction. However, she overlooked her granddaughter’s sharp eyes.

***

Little Su Su was too young to play many games, and at this moment, some older girls were playing house. She had to play the role of a silent baby, just sitting there. When Deng Caihua approached, Su Su was boredly looking around.

Seeing her grandmother and a big, black pig playing a game of “Old Pig Catches Grandmother,” the little girl’s eyes immediately lit up.

“Grandma! Grandma!”

Without even telling her brother, the little girl with her short, chubby legs hurriedly chased after them.

Deng Caihua heard the familiar cries and felt her head explode. Her heart also sank.

She would rather be injured herself than see the child suffer. Realizing her granddaughter might have seen her and was chasing after them, she immediately stopped in her tracks.

She feared that Su Su, following behind, might attract the wild boar’s attention. Wild boars were omnivores and could even attack humans. Who knew if it had come down from the mountain starving and was looking for food?

Children’s tender meat was certainly more attractive than her own tough and sour flesh. Moreover, since children couldn’t run fast, the wild boar could catch Su Su in no time if it turned around.

Her sudden stop caused Ma Aifang, who had been following closely behind, to crash into her. Ma Aifang’s protruding nose hit Deng Caihua’s hard skull, and tears instantly sprang from her eyes.

With Deng Caihua’s hard head in front and the wild boar chasing from behind, Ma Aifang felt she must have committed a great sin in a past life.

“Su Su, go back! Don’t chase anymore!”

Deng Caihua could no longer worry about the accidentally injured Ma Aifang. She turned around and indeed saw her little granddaughter chasing after the wild boar.

Su Su was shorter than the wild boar and had been puffing and panting for who knew how long. Her face was flushed, and she seemed unaware of how frightening the wild boar was.

Fortunately, the wild boar seemed not to have noticed the little girl chasing behind. When it saw Deng Caihua stop and turn around, it appeared even more agitated, and its four hooves moved more energetically.

It seemed the wild boar was about to catch up.

“Piggy, don’t run! Grandma is calling you not to run.”

Su Su obediently stopped chasing when her grandmother told her not to. However, she didn’t just stop; she also shouted at the wild boar to stop and listen to Grandma.

Strangely, the wild boar, which had been accelerating, suddenly stopped. Due to its previous momentum, it couldn’t brake in time and ended up slipping on its hooves, crashing heavily onto the ground.

With its massive body hitting the ground, a heavy thud was heard, dust flew up, and the ground seemed to tremble slightly.

“Ungh, ungh, ungh——”

For some unknown reason, after falling, the wild boar didn’t get up. Instead, it twisted its clumsy, fat body on the ground, as if it had seizures. It struggled for a while before finally settling down, lying motionless with its four legs in the air.

“The piggy isn’t moving.”

Su Su tilted her head, her round eyes full of curiosity, and she wanted to get closer.

“Su Su, stay where you are.” Deng Caihua stopped her granddaughter and then looked around. She picked up a thick tree branch from nearby and slowly approached the fallen wild boar.

She saw a stone embedded in its neck. It seemed that when the boar fell, it landed on a sharp stone, and the force of the fall drove the sharp stone through its thick fur and into its neck.

Such a death seemed too unjust.

Deng Caihua clicked her tongue in amazement, but the fact that the wild boar was dead also meant that they were safe. Finally feeling relieved, Deng Caihua noticed the soreness in her legs and the tightness in her chest. That stretch of running had really exhausted her.

“Where is the wild boar?”

“There’s no wild boar!”

At this point, the village men, carrying hoes and rakes, arrived. When they saw the dead boar and Deng Caihua standing beside it with a wooden stick in hand, they all stopped in their tracks.

Did Deng Caihua kill the wild boar?

The men were astonished and gasped in disbelief.

Cai Hua is indeed a formidable woman!

***

Ma Aifang stood aside, watching Deng Caihua, who was glowing with pride at the village committee’s entrance, alongside the wild boar’s carcass, which weighed at least 1 or 200 pounds. She touched her red, sore nose.

Her nose had collided with Deng Caihua’s hard skull earlier, causing tears to stream down her face and blurring her vision. She had been too focused on the pain in her nose to notice what happened afterward.

The people who arrived later all said that Deng Caihua had killed the wild boar and eagerly asked Ma Aifang about what happened. Ma Aifang couldn’t find the words to explain.

“Well, it was because Ma Aifang was running so slowly and almost got caught by the wild boar. Even though we don’t get along, I couldn’t just watch her get hurt. At that moment, I don’t know where I found the courage, but when I saw a thick wooden stick on the ground, I picked it up and ran at the wild boar. I gave it a few hard blows to its head. Luckily, I managed to smash its head into the ground, and the stone on the ground drove into its neck…”

“I’m no hero. I did have a bit of courage and strength, but you’re overestimating me. If another wild boar showed up now, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

“Looking back now, I still break out in a cold sweat. If it hadn’t been for that stone, I might have ended up being mauled by the boar. I don’t know where I found the nerve…”

Deng Caihua, glowing with pride, recounted the events to everyone, though only she knew how much artistic embellishment there was.

Ma Aifang, who hadn’t understood the situation earlier, was somewhat moved. It turned out that Deng Caihua had suddenly stopped to help drive away the wild boar for her.

Had I been too harsh on Deng Caihua before?

Ma Aifang touched her nose, feeling the warmth at the site of her injury. Was this affection?

The wild boar incident had changed many villagers’ opinions of Deng Caihua. They now saw her as not only fierce but also quite formidable.

This was a wild boar—a beast so daunting that many strong men would be intimidated. Yet, it had been killed by Deng Caihua. Whether the boar died because of the stone in its neck or not, Deng Caihua had the skill to fight the boar and drive a stone into its neck. That was her ability.

Many women who had conflicts with Deng Caihua reflected on it and thought that Deng Caihua had shown restraint towards them in the past. If she had really fought them, they wouldn’t be able to withstand her as well as the wild boar had.