When Qu the Hunter first forgot that two years ago he had made a new book bag for Qu Jing with flower-patterned cloth, and he kept thinking aloud about making a pretty book bag for her, Qu Jing quietly put away her book bag and hid it in the cabinet.
When Qu the Hunter forgot that Qu Jing was already in the fourth grade and thought she had just started school, telling her to get along with her classmates, Qu Jing quietly put away her fourth-grade textbooks.
Later on, Qu the Hunter didn’t even rember that there was a primary school in the village, thinking it was when he had just found Qu Jing, he was searching the house for the glutinous rice the young man from the cake shop had given him, saying he wanted to learn how to make rice cakes.
Qu Jing took a long leave from school to stay at ho and look after Qu the Hunter.
Everyone in the village knew that Qu the Hunter had beco senile and couldn’t rember things clearly, needing his granddaughter at ho to care for him. Many people sighed in their hos, thinking that though Qu Jing had a mysterious illness that stunted her growth, raising her was not in vain as she would surely take care of Qu the Hunter in his old age until his final monts.
Qu the Hunter’s forgetfulness was not permanent.
It was intermittent.
Sotis, in the midst of forgetting, Qu the Hunter would suddenly rember, feeling remorseful, annoyed, and guilty afterward, but unable to stop his forgetfulness.
Qin Huai watched all this quietly, from sumr to winter. He knew that one day Qu the Hunter would forget Qu Jing, as the four years he found Qu Jing were just a very short part of Qu the Hunter’s over fifty years of life.
On a winter morning, Qu Jing got up early to cook cornal in the kitchen. Qu the Hunter, a bit confused and wary, approached the kitchen, and as he watched Qu Jing skillfully making a fire, he hesitantly asked:
"Girl, why are you in my house?"
Qu Jing paused her hand that was adding firewood, looked up at Qu the Hunter, and forced a smile: "I’m your granddaughter."
"Granddaughter?" Qu the Hunter was bewildered; he didn’t rember having a granddaughter, but he noticed that the arrangent in the house had indeed changed since he woke up, with an extra room and a small bed.
"Grandpa, you’re sick and your mory isn’t clear. The al will be ready soon; I’ve cooked broth to nourish you. Maybe after you eat, you’ll rember." Qu Jing said, "It’s cold outside, Grandpa, rest on the heated bed."
Though still puzzled, Qu the Hunter accepted Qu Jing’s explanation, muttering about when he got so wealthy to eat at in the early morning and obediently walked back to his room.
Qin Huai was also puzzled; yesterday Qu the Hunter had indeed caught a wild chicken in the trap, but Qu Jing hadn’t made chicken soup in the morning. If she started now, it would likely be half the morning before they could eat.
After Qu the Hunter returned to his room, Qu Jing closed the kitchen door, took the wild chicken hanging on the wall, plucked it, chopped off a leg, deboned it, and minced the at.
Qin Huai watched from the side, guessing Qu Jing’s approach to cooking.
Perhaps because Qu the Hunter was elderly and had poor teeth, he couldn’t chew at, so mincing it to cook would be easier on his teeth.
Mincing the at for soup also took less ti to cook and would be ready quickly.
Just as Qin Huai admired the strength that allowed for beautifully minced at, Qu Jing took off her padded jacket, rolled up her sleeves, and without hesitation, slashed her own arm hard.
Qin Huai:!
Qin Huai watched as Qu Jing expressionlessly cut a piece of flesh from her arm, blood flowed down the wound, dripping onto the minced chicken.
To stop the bleeding, Qu Jing imdiately grabbed a piece of firewood from the stove and pressed it against the wound, the sizzling sound made Qin Huai too afraid to look.
Even after doing all this, Qu Jing only frowned, gritting her teeth silently. Seeing the bleeding stopped, she put on her clothes and as if nothing had happened, continued to mince the at.
As if she had been preparing for this day a long ti.
A lavish breakfast was placed on the table by Qu Jing.
Even though Qu the Hunter no longer recognized Qu Jing, seeing the only at soup placed in front of himself, he still pushed it towards Qu Jing.
"Girl, you should have so at too."
Qu Jing shook her head with a smile: "Grandpa, this is specially made to nourish you, you eat."
Only then did Qu the Hunter pick up the bowl, carefully scooping the soup and eating the at bit by bit.
Qu Jing just sat across from Qu the Hunter, watching quietly as he ate one spoonful after another. As the at soup in the bowl was almost finished, Qu the Hunter’s hand holding the bowl paused as if he rembered sothing, and he regretfully put down the bowl.
"Jingjing." Qu the Hunter spoke like a child who had done wrong, "I’m sorry, Grandpa beca so forgetful that I forgot you."
"No, Grandpa." Qu Jing said with a smile, "You’re just sick."
"I heard a redy the other day; for your mory problem, eating Yujiao at can help."
"Yujiao at?"
"Yujiao, a bird recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Its head is white, its feathers are blue, its claws are yellow, and when it calls, it sounds like ’yujiao’, so it’s nad Yujiao."
"It’s said eating its at keeps you from feeling hungry and can even cure amnesia."
Qu the Hunter felt like he was hearing a story: "The Classic of Mountains and Seas, I know, they talked about it during storytelling sessions in the literacy class, all fabrications, with gods and monsters, none of it real."
"That’s why it’s a redy." Qu Jing said with a smile, "Now it’s winter, there’s less to eat, setting bird traps will surely catch many small birds. Then I’ll make the bird at into minced at like today, cook it into soup for you, maybe your illness will be cured."
Qu the Hunter sighed: "Child... it’s Grandpa’s illness that delays you."
After breakfast, Qu Jing went back to her room to find a rarely worn piece of clothing and cut it into strips to bandage her wound.
With lots of clothes worn in winter, the wrapped bandage on her arm wouldn’t be noticeable.
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