Chapter 4: What Did You Just Say?

Qin Xiaoyu: ...

An Xian: ...

Qin Xiaoyu tapped on the table. "This big."

The large round table they used for meals was 120 cm in diameter—quite big—and the sunflower seeds seemed endless, able to be cracked continuously, though their impact diminished over time.

"Wow, does that mean I get to eat a lot of sunflower seeds?" Big Shrimp’s eyes sparkled.

An Xian stood up and tapped Big Shrimp on the forehead with two chopsticks.

"Eat, eat, eat—always just eating!"

No matter how much he ate, he never grew taller. Born heavier than his twin sister by two pounds, as they grew, he ended up twenty pounds lighter and ten centimeters shorter.

After tapping, she set the chopsticks down, grabbed her phone and keys, and headed out.

"Mom, where are you going?" Qin Xiaoyu asked anxiously.

"To buy paraquat!" An Xian said without looking back.

"!!!"

Qin Xiaoyu gasped inwardly. Her mother was really fierce. Since her rebirth, she had only thought about buying weapons, reinforcing the house, and stocking up on essentials. Her mother, however, was going straight for extinction... like a warrior nun.

She couldn’t help but wonder what she could do.

Should she chop down the papaya tree outside the courtyard wall? Or dig up the small chili pepper plant by the neighbor's door? Or... suddenly recalling something, she glanced at Big Shrimp.

Big Shrimp winked. "Xiao Yu, Mom’s study door isn’t locked. Want to play CF?"

Qin Xiaoyu replied, "What’s fun about CF? I’ll take you to play something more exciting."

An hour and a half later, light rain began to fall. The siblings, clad in raincoats and masks, appeared at Songshan Zoo. At this time, many were lining up to see the pandas, loudly claiming their parents were just ahead, and some, taking advantage of their young age, pushed their way to the front.

Qin Xiaoyu chose a spot to stand, her eyes fixed intently on the panda.

The panda was nestled in the grass, doing something unknown. Suddenly, just as everyone was curious, it grabbed something and threw it toward the crowd.

Qin Xiaoyu leapt up and caught it without even looking, quickly stuffing it into the small basket Big Shrimp had prepared.

She gave him a signal, then quickly pushed her way out of the crowd.

Big Shrimp clutched the basket tightly, struggling to squeeze through the throng. His heart pounded fiercely—he felt the task his sister had given him was huge, and he must not be discovered. Otherwise, it wouldn’t just be a simple dish of stir-fried bamboo shoots.

Just as they exited Songshan Zoo, a muffled thunder rumbled through the sky, followed by a sudden thunderstorm.

Qin Xiaoyu pulled out a phone from her pocket, scanned a shared electric scooter, hopped on, and nodded toward Big Shrimp.

Big Shrimp: !!!

---

"Where did you get a phone... wait, how did you scan that? Can you ride it?" Big Shrimp looked at her in shock.

"Hurry up. Or give me the little electric scooter and take the bus home yourself."

Big Shrimp dared not refuse!

He was more afraid of squeezing into the bus alone than riding with his sister.

But the scooter clearly couldn’t carry a passenger in the back. After hesitating, he squeezed into the front, curling up carefully, afraid of blocking her view.

"Be careful, slow down... ah!"

Before he could finish speaking, the scooter sped off, frightening Big Shrimp into clutching his sister’s legs. Seeing she was driving steadily, he finally relaxed.

Qin Xiaoyu rode the scooter for an hour, then returned it and switched to her own electric bike that she had prepared earlier. She changed her raincoat to a double one and leisurely headed to the Qin Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic.

There were few visitors at the clinic on a rainy day. Old Qin was hunched over his desk, compiling medical books. Both his sons refused to study medicine with him, working instead in companies outside town—one sent to Sindou Country, the other to Dama Country—visiting home only twice a year.

He had three grandsons and one granddaughter. The grandsons showed no interest in traditional medicine, running away faster than rabbits when asked to memorize prescriptions.

The granddaughter was quite obedient, but who knew how she’d turn out? After all, his sons had been well-behaved as children but had grown wild later.

At his age, uncertain how many years he had left, Old Qin didn’t want his medical knowledge to be lost, so he was painstakingly recording it bit by bit.

After writing for a while, he felt thirsty and raised a cup to drink, when suddenly his chubby granddaughter charged in on her electric bike, heading straight toward the medicine shelf.

Startled, he lost his grip, and the cup fell.

*Splash!*

Qin Xiaoyu slammed on the brakes, stopping safely fifty centimeters from the shelf.

"Good granddaughter, are you trying to scare your grandpa to death so you can inherit his clinic?" Old Qin’s heart trembled in fright. He didn’t even care that his notebook got wet.

He looked behind his granddaughter and furrowed his brows sharply. "Qin Big Shrimp, you naughty boy! Inciting your sister to ride the electric bike—let me see if I don’t beat you up!"

With three grandsons and only one granddaughter, it was obvious who he doted on most.

Old Qin picked up the cup, painfully shaking off water from his notebook, then grabbed a ruler and charged toward them.

"It wasn’t me!" Big Shrimp cried out in despair.

Qin Xiaoyu was quick and grabbed the basket, fearing her grandfather might catch up. Before dodging, she deliberately tripped Big Shrimp.

After glancing at them, she slipped into the adjacent medicine room.

In her previous life, she had heard people say that on Children's Day, the pandas at Songshan Zoo had given birth early to twins. The smaller cub was thrown into the crowd by the mother and tragically trampled to death.

This time, she was here. Whether the cub could survive was uncertain.

Staring at the tiny cub barely weighing one or two pounds, she suddenly felt helpless, unsure where to even begin.

It had been two or three hours since birth—it must be hungry.

How to feed it?

Maybe she should buy a nursing doe rabbit back in the village?

---

"What’s that?"

An old female voice came from behind, startling Qin Xiaoyu. She instinctively shielded the panda cub and turned to look.

"What are you hiding? I saw it long ago," Grandma Qin said, glaring at her.

Qin Xiaoyu hesitated, then slowly moved aside.

Grandma Qin stared at the cub for a long time, puzzled. "What is this? Looks so familiar, but I can’t place it."

Qin Xiaoyu answered with two words: "Panda."

Grandma Qin: "What?"

"Panda."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Panda."

Grandma Qin’s eyes widened. After a moment, she turned without hesitation, grabbed a small bundle of aged mugwort from the table, and rushed out.

"Old Qin, catch that Big Shrimp for me! I’ll beat him up!"

Big Shrimp: ...

What now? What does this have to do with me?

Soon, the sounds of a mixed doubles match and Big Shrimp’s vigorous shouting came from outside the door.

Qin Xiaoyu touched her nose, feeling no guilt at all.

She turned to look at the cub. Suddenly, her phone rang. Picking it up, the screen displayed the caller ID: "Second Daughter-in-Law."

Grandma Qin heard the ringtone, entered carrying the mugwort with leaves stripped bare, and casually placed it back on the table.

"Grandma, it’s Mom calling." Qin Xiaoyu handed over the phone.

Grandma Qin took the call. After hearing something from the other side, she stepped out the door and looked up at the sky.