Chapter Seven: The Wanted Little Snake

The next day, Sha Le and Gang Mengzi began working at the construction site. In Guangdong, their job was called "ironwork," but it wasn't blacksmithing—it meant working with rebar. The building contractor divided the project into several trades—ironwork, carpentry, masonry... Ironworkers were responsible only for laying and tying rebar, and Zhang Qiang was a small subcontractor leading an ironworker crew.

Both of them were inexperienced, earning the lowest wage—just thirty-five yuan a day—and they had the hardest job: carrying rebar. Within the ironwork trade, there were various roles—cutters, tiers, welders. Cutters used powerful arms to shape rebar as needed; tiers, following blueprints, assembled the steel skeletons of buildings on site.

Experienced workers not only earned much more, but their labor was lighter. The core workers on the site made more than eighty yuan per day.

The Guangdong sun was merciless. Even early in the morning, it baked the workers until sweat poured from their bodies. Under that blazing sky, Le and Gang Mengzi struggled to carry bars of steel weighing over two hundred pounds—a truly grueling task. But Sha Le was used to hard work and could endure it, while Gang Mengzi was already finding it unbearable.

"Le, is this even work fit for a person?" he complained.

Back home, Gang Mengzi had parents and two sisters, and as the only son, he had never suffered like this. He threw down the rebar from his shoulder, slumped onto the shady ground, took off his straw hat, and fanned himself, swearing he'd rather die than get back up.

"I'm not a person, they're not people, only you are?" Le sat down beside him. "Keep at it for a few more days, and your bones will turn into steel."

"I'm afraid they'll turn into dust instead," Gang Mengzi replied, dejected, his head hung low. "Thirty-five a day, and Brother Qiang is squeezing the marrow from our bones."

"What else can we do? He's the boss, we're not. If you have the guts, become a subcontractor yourself." Le glanced up at the punishing sun. "At this rate, we'd be better off just squatting in Xiasha Village. Thirty-five a day, after food, there's hardly anything left."

"One day, I'll be the boss too," Gang Mengzi grumbled.

"Sure, one day we'll both sit under a fan, never set foot on site, just count our money," Le laughed. "Come on, the bald foreman is coming."

Seeing the bald foreman approaching from a distance, Gang Mengzi reluctantly got up and went back to work.

While they toiled from dawn at the construction site, the little golden snake, Jin'er, was enjoying itself. When Le left, Jin'er was still curled up in the bamboo tube, digesting yesterday's meal. Not long after Le departed, Jin'er slipped out, climbed the wall to the roof, and vanished into the rental house.

At the small plaza, several old men walked their caged songbirds. The birds sang merrily while the old men sat chatting and boasting, delighted under the trees.

"Liu, this bird in my cage is a new thrush my eldest son bought for me, had someone bring it from Guizhou. Said it cost over five thousand. Take a look—was it worth it? Does it sing well?" A thin old man, beaming with pride, asked the stout old man beside him, treating him with deference. The stout man, swinging his arms in exercise, examined the bird.

"Fine bird. The thrushes from Guizhou are excellent," the stout old man said knowledgeably—he'd kept birds for years and was a member of the bird-lovers' club. He studied the bird, nodding. "See the red plumage? Very rare. The broad, upturned brows, the rich, clear, melodious song, so varied and beautiful—five thousand is a bargain."

"Haha, you're the expert. That's a relief! I thought my friend exaggerated the price to please me." The thin old man was thrilled by the praise. The others came over to look, and all agreed it was a fine bird.

"Actually, Zhou Yu's thrush was just as good as yours, but yesterday a snake ate it," the stout old man said regretfully. "What a shame—such a fine bird, and a fighting one at that. No one knows where that little snake came from, bold as brass. Scared Zhou Yu so much he fell ill."

"No wonder he didn't come today," the others sighed.

"They say the snake was odd—golden, and after eating the thrush, its body swelled up so much it broke the birdcage as it squeezed out. That cage was expensive too—a real treasure."

Everyone began cursing the wretched snake.

As they cursed, one old man suddenly pointed at a nearby tree, mouth agape, body trembling, stumbling backward.

"Snake—snake!" he cried.

The others turned to look. There, coiled on a small tree, was the golden snake. It raised its head, fearless, staring at the group of old men, then turned its gaze to the caged birds, as if choosing its next meal.

The old men all retreated. The thin old man's eyes filled with despair. Sure enough, with a hiss, the golden snake slithered onto the cage of the new thrush, slipped inside, and the bird's melodious song was abruptly cut off by a scream of pain. The golden snake swallowed the thrush in one gulp.

"My thrush!" the thin old man cried, voice trembling, stamping his feet and clapping his hands, ready to lunge forward.

"Old Xi, do you want to die?" the stout old man grabbed him, and the others held him back. No one dared move closer; instead, they retreated even farther. Once they felt safe, the stout old man dialed the police.

Soon, a police car arrived. Two officers got out and learned what had happened. By then, the thrush was already in the snake's belly. The snake, bold as ever, didn't flee but continued swallowing its prey. One officer approached the cage with his baton; the snake suddenly raised its head, eyes flashing, hissing threateningly. The officer jumped back in fright.

"Dammit, what kind of snake is this, so audacious?" His pride bruised, the officer put down his baton and reached for his gun.

"Xiao Song, don't fire," his partner cautioned. The crowd was growing—discharging a gun here would be reckless. At the same time, they feared the snake would hurt someone and hurried to disperse the crowd.

The snake finished swallowing the thrush, then, just as before, bit through a bamboo bar of the cage and slipped out unhurriedly. Even as it reached the ground, it raised its head, flicked its red tongue, and hissed defiantly at the police.

Then, with a blur, the snake shot up a tree, coiling around a top branch, playing idly while digesting its meal, utterly indifferent to the people below.

"Good grief... has this snake become a spirit?" The old men didn't dare linger, hurriedly took their birdcages, and left as fast as their old legs could carry them. The poor police, though, had to stay, afraid the snake might come down and hurt someone.

It was nearly dark when Le and Gang Mengzi returned from the construction site. On their way back, they saw "wanted posters" plastered all over the walls—across the town, a golden snake was being hunted. The poster described the snake's appearance and "crimes," warning people to be cautious, not to approach, and to kill it if possible.

Even more astonishing, there was a reward of five thousand yuan—dead or alive.

Le's face changed. Gang Mengzi burst out laughing.

"Shut up!" Le roared at him. Noticing the many people around, Gang Mengzi quickly fell silent. At home, the first thing Le did was check on Jin'er.

Jin'er hadn't returned. Gang Mengzi couldn't hold back his laughter.

"Ha—who would have thought your little Jin'er would be worth so much! We could... just take it to the neighborhood watch and get the five thousand."

But when he saw Le's dark expression, he stopped.

"Be careful, if you don't want to die, don't mess with Jin'er," Le warned.

"Relax, Le, I was joking. Who'd dare mess with it? One bite and you're done for. Still, it's a real troublemaker."

Gang Mengzi stretched out on the bed under the fan, while Sha Le paced restlessly, dizzy from worry, gulping cold water, sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Le, stop pacing, will you? You're making me dizzy. Come on, let's eat—cold water doesn't fill you up."

"Can't you cook?" Le snapped, on edge.

Gang Mengzi quieted down and went to cook. Le went to check the bamboo tube again and again, but Jin'er was still not back. The snake never returned during the day—it couldn't be kept in, and they dared not try, fearing that if it went mad, it might bite someone.

This wild thing—where had it gone, and why hadn't it come home? Of all things, why did it have to eat other people's caged birds? Was it looking for death?