Little Shitou sighed to himself. He looked at Gou Dan and whispered, "Think again. That’s the kind of stuff a three or four-year-old would pull. It won’t really hurt her, just make her wash her pots and blankets, and it’s too obvious—anyone can tell which kid did it. We need to make her suffer a loss but have no idea why or who’s behind it."
Gou Dan could only lower his head and go back to racking his brain.
Little Shitou thought of several ideas, but they were all too complicated to set up in ti. There was only one simple plan, and he wasn’t sure if it would work.
’If it doesn’t work, then forget it,’ he thought. ’It’s not like we have to get her today anyway. We can just keep an eye on her and get her back whenever we have a chance.’
’I also have to tell Big Sister Juhua about this. I need to tell her to be careful so that hag doesn’t harm her.’
So, he said to Gou Dan, "Quick, go gather so small, round stones. Get a lot of them. I’ll go ho and get so manure. We’ll et on the road next to that hag’s house."
Gou Dan nodded repeatedly.
Little Shitou, anwhile, ran ho as fast as he could. After searching high and low, he found a broken earthenware pot, scooped so manure from the cesspool into it, then grabbed a handful of grass to cover the top. He furtively made his way to the village path near Granny Hua’s house.
He saw Gou Dan, who had gathered a shirtful of pebbles. Upon seeing Little Shitou, he hurried over and asked, "I’ve got the stones. What now?"
Little Shitou saw that the small path leading to Granny Hua’s house was smooth and bare. He frowned, walked a little further away from her house, and found a stretch of road that wasn’t as bare and had so dry grass on it.
He and Gou Dan then began to set things up.
They scattered the small stones randomly on the path and pulled so dry grass from the side to lightly cover them. Then, they placed so larger rocks and broken bricks in predetermined spots. Little Shitou told Gou Dan to watch for when the hag left the Sun Family’s house and to give a bird call as a signal, while he waited nearby.
Around noon, Little Shitou heard the caw of a crow. He quickly poured the manure from the earthenware pot into the middle of the road—not too much, not too little, just enough that one could step over it. Then he darted behind the corner of the Li Family’s house and kept his eyes on the village path.
Granny Hua ca walking over with a spring in her step. She had a smile on her face and looked very relaxed, as if she had just co up with a great idea.
She was smiling gleefully to herself, not watching where she was going, and walked forward with her head held high. Suddenly, she slled a foul odor. Covering her nose with her hand, she glanced around and saw a pile of manure on the path ahead. She couldn’t help but grumble in disgust, "Who on earth spread manure all over the place?"
Little Shitou watched her nervously, afraid she might walk around it. If she did, the plan wouldn’t work, and all his effort would have been for nothing.
But, just as he had wished, Granny Hua continued along the path and, just as he had predicted, lifted her foot to step over the stinking pile of manure—
"Aagh—!"
As Granny Hua stepped over, she felt the round stones slip under her foot. She lost her balance and cried out in alarm, her arms flailing back and forth like she was rowing a boat.
Hiding behind the corner of the house, Little Shitou stared intently at her. Seeing her wobble and struggle to stay upright, he clenched his fists tightly and chanted in his mind, ’Forward, forward... fall!’
It was unclear whether Granny Hua was afraid of falling backward into the pile of manure or if she was trying to surge forward to avoid the fall altogether. In any case, with a great windmill of her arms, she lunged forward, bringing her other foot up to try and steady herself.
Who would have known that the dry grass was hiding more round little stones? The mont her other foot landed, it slipped too. And since all her montum was carrying her forward, she inevitably went sprawling face-first onto the ground!
Little Shitou had estimated her height and placed so large rocks and broken bricks in that area. Since he didn’t know which way she would fall, he had scattered them all around. ’She’s bound to hit one of them, right?’ he had thought.
Granny Hua did not disappoint. She indeed smashed right onto a piece of brick.
Little Shitou’s ability to judge by eye wasn’t quite accurate. The hag was taller than he’d figured, so when she fell, she didn’t hit her forehead. Instead, she smashed her mouth, imdiately knocking out two of her front teeth. Her nose was also throbbing with pain.
She was dazed by the sudden turn of events. Though she was lying there in agony, she couldn’t manage to push herself up for the longest ti, only able to groan pitifully.
Little Shitou didn’t know that Granny Hua’s front teeth had been knocked out. Seeing that his plan had worked and had really made the hag take a fall, he was overjoyed. He didn’t care why she was still lying on the ground. He turned and made a gesture to Gou Dan, who was peeking out from behind a large, distant tree. Then, he quietly backed away for so distance before breaking into a run.
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