Proofread by Peter Gong

Suddenly, Jin Weiwei recalls that when she stored the money today, she found a leaf of pomegranate clinging to her sleeve. She just pat it down without thinking much about that. Could it be true that this pomegranate tree has grown up from that leaf? That’s amazing!

Touching the trunk, Jin Weiwei looks at that pomegranate tree over and over again, thinking that this magic space is so fantastic that a leaf can grow into a tree with such a fast speed! That pomegranate tree has grown almost as tall as a man within a couple of hours after she stored her money there.

Jin Weiwei roughly estimates that at this speed, 24 hours later, this pomegranate tree will blossom and yield fruits. Taking the money, Jin Weiwei secretly plans to return to see what will happen there tomorrow. “Bang! Bang! Bang!” The noise of knocking comes to the ears of Jin Weiwei the moment she goes out of the magic space.

“Who is asking?” Glancing back to confirm whether the magic space has completely disappeared or not, Jin Weiwei rushes to open the door. When the door opens, Little Rich pushes Jin Weiwei slightly aside and steps into the room directly, looking around, as if searching for something. “What’s up with you today? Why did you immediately break into my room?” asks Jin Weiwei, grabbing his arms. “I heard some noise in your room. What are you doing at this hour of the night?” asks Little Rich, staring at her suspiciously.

Jin Weiwei thinks that Little Rich won’t leave without a convincing excuses. Reaching into her clothes, she takes out that brunch of coins and says, “Look. This is my private money. I am looking for a place to hide it. But the room is so crowded that there’s no place available.” Unfortunately, her excuse fails to ease the worry of Little Rich whose eyes are still searching every corner of the room.

“Well...where did you hide the money this afternoon?” asks Little Rich. “Of course in my own pocket. If not, how could it avoid being found out when every corner of room was searched carefully.” Responds Jin Weiwei. “You hid it in your own pocket?” Littler Rich stares at Jin Weiwei with disbelief. He thinks, “How could this large sum of money escape from my searching eyes?” “Yes. I couldn’t find a more suitable place than my pocket to hide the money in our backyard. Sometimes the most dangerous place turns out to be the safest. Jin Dabao will never think about searching me.” Says Jin Weiwei.

The explanation of Jin Weiwei fails to eliminate his suspension completely. However, it seems that Little Rich has no intention of leaving her room. Instead of giving him much explanation that might betray her, Jin Weiwei distracts his attention by saying, “since this sum of money will be something like skeletons in the closet, it is dangerous for me to hold it in my hand all the time. I give this money to you and you save it as your private money.” Jin Weiwei thrusts the money into his arms, hoping that he gives up exploring the truth of that noise.

Holding the money, Little Rich shakes it a little bit, looking at Jin Weiwei. Finally, without asking anything, he puts the money into his own pocket and turns and leaves the room. The next day, in the early morning, seeing that Jin Dabao does not appear in the kitchen for breakfast, Jin Weiwei asks Tao Xiaoqing to wake him up. Surprisingly, Tao Xiaoqing returns back with the news that Jin Dabao is seriously ill. Hearing that, Jin Weiwei frowns with worry.

She thinks, “How is it that Jin Dabao, the old bastard, can’t stand such a little bit of scare? Is it possible that he plays tricks on us by feigning an ailment?” Jin Weiwei stops having breakfast and orders, “Let’s go to find out whether he is really ill or just plays tricks on us.” Jin Weiwei precedes Tao Xiaoqing, heading for the woodshed, where she finds Tao Dabao curls up with a painful look at the corner, and his face pales and eyes close tightly.

“What’s up?” Jin Weiwei asks. Shaking his head painfully is the only response from Jin Dabao. It seems that he is too sick to say a word. Judging from his appearance, Jin Weiwei is sure that Jin Dabao is ill, because the painful look cannot be feigned. Thus, she has to approach to him and asks, “what ails you?” “Cold.” He squeezes out a faint word like a buzzing mosquito. “Cold? Have a fever?” guesses Jin Weiwei. Thinking of this, Jin Weiwei touches his forehead. Oh my god! He is really consuming! Withdrawing her hand, Jin Weiwei is sure that Jin Dabao is running a high fever now.

Seeing Jin Dabao curling up and groaning painfully at the corner of the woodshed, Tao Xiaoqing, walking behind Jin Weiwei, can’t help asking, “Boss, is he really ill?” “Yap...He is really ill.” Says Jin Weiwei, standing up and walking out of the woodshed. “It seems that he is really sick. Shall we get him to a doctor?” Following Jin Weiwei, Tao Xiaoqing walks outside the room. Glancing at Jin Dabao when she leaves the room, she postpones making a decision about whether to send him to a doctor. After a moment of hesitation, she says, “Nothing serious but was scared yesterday. Maybe a little bit sweat will help. I don’t have enough money to send him to see a doctor. Leave him alone.”

Hearing that, Tao Xiaoqing closes the door slightly without asking more. Although Jin Weiwei says she won’t take care of Jin Dabao, she still worries about him. At the noon, she returns home with Little Rich to see Jin Dabao. “He has been in coma.” Says Little Rich with his hand stretching near the nostril of Jin Dabao, checking for his respiration. “He is still alive.” “What?!!! Coma?!! He is so weak that a fever can make him fall into coma.” Jin Weiwei prods Jin Dabao with her toe and asks, “You are pretending right?” Pulling the upper eyelid of Jin Dabao, Little Rich examines him carefully and says, “It is true.” “All right. I don’t want to take care of him, although he is truly ill. Let him experience the loneliness and helplessness of lying on the sickbed without any family companions.” Some words are squeezed out of her mouth. Seeing her clenched fists and her painful and hopleless eyes, Little Rich knows that she must think about her tortures in the woodshed in her girlhood. Little Rich stretches his hand, covering the little fist of Jin Weiwei, which brings some warmth to her heart. She smiles and says, “I am OK. Will he die?” “Yes, he will.” Responds Little Rich, looking at Jin Wewei and waiting for her decision.