CHAPTER 597: CHAPTER 110_2

The village idiot, who had been all smiles, suddenly froze upon hearing these words, then his face filled with terror as he backed away, waving his hands and shouting:

"Big Fish, can’t eat, Big Fish, can’t eat!"

"What can’t be eaten? Don’t you like drinking fish soup?"

"Fish soup, dirty! The soup, dirty! Fish, dirty!"

The neighbor boy got angry and retorted, "You’re talking nonsense, that’s the fresh fish I caught this morning!"

Slipping as he backed away, the idiot fell to the ground, yet he kept on shouting:

"The Zheng family ate dirty, the Zeng family ate dirty, the Xue family’s going to be dirty too!"

"What Zheng family, Zeng family?" The neighbor boy was confused. "What on earth are you babbling about?"

Li Zhiyuan asked a woman who had come to eat, "Auntie, are there any families with the surname Zheng or Zeng in this town?"

The woman shook her head: "No, there aren’t."

A few elderly people nearby also shook their heads:

"Never heard of it."

"Our town has many surnames, but I’ve never heard of any surnamed Zheng or Zeng."

"Yeah, I haven’t heard of them either."

Li Zhiyuan walked up to the idiot. Initially, when the idiot saw a big kid approaching him, he thought it was someone to play with, and the fear on his face gradually faded, replaced by joy and anticipation.

But as Li Zhiyuan came closer, the idiot’s expression turned even more terrifying than before. He held his head with his left hand in a dodging gesture and pointed at Li Zhiyuan with his right, screaming:

"Ah, you’re not human! Ah, you’re not human!"

Li Zhiyuan stepped in front of him, his face showing a kind, innocent, and puzzled look, and asked:

"If I’m not human, then who am I?"

The idiot withdrew his pointing hand, shielding his face, and said with his head lowered:

"You are a monster in human skin, you are a monster in human skin."

"Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!"

Everyone present laughed.

Li Zhiyuan also laughed, but the idiot huddled in the corner, with Li Zhiyuan standing in front of him, back to the crowd, so no one else could see the boy’s eyes revealing a gravity and depth unbecoming of his age despite his laughter.

"What, the fish is lost!" From inside the house, came Mrs. Xue’s shout.

Hearing this, everyone in the yard rushed inside to check. How could such a big fish go missing? Ordinary cats and dogs couldn’t possibly steal it.

Hearing this, the idiot actually began to laugh happily:

"Good, the fish is lost, don’t eat fish, don’t eat Big Fish!"

But because Li Zhiyuan was still standing in front of him, the idiot’s voice gradually quieted down, and fear appeared again.

Li Zhiyuan: "The fish, I’ve dealt with it because it’s dirty."

The idiot nodded cautiously, the side of his face towards the youth, daring only to look sideways: "Right, don’t eat fish, it’s dirty."

"Idiot, what’s your name?"

"Hehe, idiot, idio...t."

He wasn’t originally called an idiot, but after being called one by so many, he became the idiot.

"Idiot, do you have any candy left?"

The idiot shivered and reached into his pocket, felt around, then shook his head: "No, no more candy, all gone..."

"How about I take you to buy some candy to eat, does that sound good?"

"Buy candy to eat?"

The idiot’s eyes showed hesitation, clearly weighing the choice between candy and the monster in human skin.

"In addition to candy, whatever else you want to eat or drink in the store, I’ll buy it for you, how about that?"

The idiot’s lips curled up, hands placed in front of him, nervously counting on his fingers and timidly said:

"Really...really?"

Li Zhiyuan answered as if it were only natural: "Of course, it’s true. Monsters only eat people, they don’t deceive."

"Hehehe..." The idiot nodded, "Right, monsters only eat people, not deceive."

"Then come with me, I’ll take you to the store."

Li Zhiyuan walked ahead, and when he reached the doorway, he noticed the hesitant idiot behind him, wanting to follow but also looking frightened.

The boy said in a deep voice: "Come on, or else I’ll eat you."

"Coming! Coming!"

The idiot shivered and quickly followed.

Li Zhiyuan led him out of the yard door. As for Run Sheng... he had to stay inside to explain how such a big fish had gone missing.

Reaching the convenience store, Li Zhiyuan let the idiot choose something. The idiot tentatively grabbed a small handful of candy, just five or six pieces, and looked at the boy as if afraid he was taking too much.

"Auntie, you figure out the bill."

After that, Li Zhiyuan picked up the plate of candy and poured it into the idiot’s pockets.

"Hehehe, hehehe!"

The idiot looked at his pockets overflowing with candy, jumping with joy. Suddenly, a lot of candy dropped to the ground, and he bent down to pick them up, while more continued to fall out of his pockets.

"Hehehe, so much candy, can’t pick it all up, can’t pick it all up!"

Some children nearby had already come over, but because Li Zhiyuan, a stranger, was there, they were too shy to approach.

The idiot called out to them: "Pick up candy, pick up candy, lots of it, can’t pick it all up!"

The children looked at Li Zhiyuan, who they had seen buying the candy.

"Go on, pick it up, the idiot is inviting you to eat."

Hearing that, the children quickly came up to help pick up the candy, which made the idiot even happier.

"Auntie, is there any more candy?"

"Yes, let me open a bag."

"No need, just give me a whole bag, and a big bag for these, these, and those, to pack them in."

"You..."

Li Zhiyuan took out a stack of banknotes from his pocket.

"Ah! Alright, I’ll pack it for you."

Other than what was in his pockets, all of the idiot’s candy had been picked up by the children.

Li Zhiyuan handed a big bag of snacks to the idiot, then led him to a secluded spot.