Only after watching the villagers lift Grandpa Wang out of the ditch did I return to Xiao Pang.
Xiao Pang lay face down on the ground, trembling all over and in too much pain to get up. The spot the rooster had pecked was red and swollen, almost too awful to look at.
I had to admit, it was quite a distinctive look.
"Little Jie... help me up. I want to go home..." Xiao Pang's face was streaming with tears. Only then did I remember to help him, and with considerable effort, I got him to his feet.
The pecked spot hurt so badly that he couldn't even pull up his trousers. I supported him from the side while he bent over in a half squat, grimacing as he shuffled toward the village one step at a time.
At the village entrance, we happened to run into a group of aunties returning from the fields with hoes over their shoulders. Seeing Xiao Pang's unusual posture, they all gathered around and asked me what had happened to him.
I told them a rooster had pecked him.
The aunties could hardly believe their ears. They looked as shocked as if lightning had struck them. Even after decades of life, they had never heard of anything like this.
They crowded around Xiao Pang to inspect him while he stuck his backside out and endured their scrutiny.
In the end, they concluded that I should take him to the village clinic to get it treated.
I had no choice but to keep helping Xiao Pang toward the clinic. We met plenty of villagers along the way, and everyone who saw his posture came over for a look. Once they learned what had happened, not one of them could stop laughing.
In today's terms, Xiao Pang was experiencing public humiliation on an epic scale.
One person even said that, although he felt sorry for him, he still couldn't help laughing.
I could understand that feeling, but Xiao Pang couldn't.
I'm in this much pain, and you can still laugh? Have you got any sympathy at all?
Supporting Xiao Pang the whole way, I finally got him to the clinic.
What our village called a clinic was actually inside a farmhouse courtyard.
The owner's surname was Liu, and he was the second son in his family, so we all called him Second Brother Liu.
Second Brother Liu had graduated from medical college two years earlier, then taken over running the village clinic.
As soon as we reached the gate, Second Brother Liu's big yellow dog ran out of the courtyard. It circled us twice, then went behind Xiao Pang to sniff his backside. I hurriedly kicked the dog away.
Second Brother Liu was busy in the courtyard. When he saw me supporting Xiao Pang at the gate, he hurried over and asked what had happened.
I told him a rooster had pecked Xiao Pang's backside.
Second Brother Liu laughed so hard a bubble of snot came out of his nose. Still laughing, he told Xiao Pang, "So that scream just now was yours! After that yell, I nearly sold out of my fast-acting heart pills. Come on in. Let me take a look."
I helped Xiao Pang over to a long wooden bench in the courtyard and had him lie face down on it.
Second Brother Liu went inside and soon returned with a bottle of gentian violet.
But when he took another look at Xiao Pang's wound, he covered his nose and said, "Good grief, did you not wipe your backside? What's all this yellow stuff? No, I've got to clean the wound first."
He told me to fetch a basin of water from the courtyard, then used tweezers to hold a wad of cotton, dipped it in the water, and began cleaning Xiao Pang's wound.
Xiao Pang lay motionless on the bench like a dead dog, exhausted in body and mind and miserable enough to want to die.
Still, he seemed fairly comfortable while the wound was being cleaned. He didn't even cry out.
Before long, Second Brother Liu finished cleaning it and told him, "Xiao Pang, bear with me. I'm going to disinfect it now."
Then he began applying the gentian violet to Xiao Pang's wound.
I took a look. The wound was red and swollen. That rooster had really gone at him viciously.
Unexpectedly, the moment Second Brother Liu dabbed the gentian violet onto the wound, Xiao Pang nearly jumped off the bench from the pain.
"Second Brother Liu, it hurts too much!" Xiao Pang howled, clamping both hands over the wound to stop him from applying any more.
"You little rascal, move your hands! We've got to treat this. What if it gets infected?" Second Brother Liu tried coaxing him for ages, but Xiao Pang refused to let go.
Finally, Second Brother Liu lost patience. He sent me inside to find some rope, then tied Xiao Pang's hands and feet to the legs of the bench.
Finding his pig-at-slaughter squeals unbearable, he also slapped tape over his mouth.
Still not satisfied that he was secure, he wrapped several more turns of rope around his waist.
Now Xiao Pang couldn't move at all or make a sound, and Second Brother Liu finally managed to apply the gentian violet to his wound.
After the wound had been disinfected, Second Brother Liu's big yellow dog came running over again. It must have been hungry, because it kept circling him and wagging its tail.
Second Brother Liu glanced at the dog and told me, "There are some steamed buns left over from last night on the table inside. Go get them and feed the dog. I'll find some anti-inflammatory medicine."
I agreed and went inside to look for the buns while Second Brother Liu went to get the medicine.
Little did we know that the moment we left, Xiao Pang's nightmare began.
He couldn't move his body or speak, but he could still hear what was happening around him.
Suddenly, he heard a rooster crow. Turning his head, he saw a big rooster standing on the courtyard wall.
It was the very same rooster that had hurt him so badly not long before.
If Xiao Pang had been able to move, the sight of that rooster would surely have filled him with rage at his sworn enemy. He would have charged over to avenge that peck.
Unfortunately, he was like a pig awaiting slaughter, unable to move a muscle.
To his despair, the big rooster suddenly hopped down from the wall and strutted toward him.
Just then, I had found the steamed buns and was coming out of the house. I witnessed that horrific scene with my own eyes.
Perhaps the gentian violet on Xiao Pang's wound attracted the rooster. It raced behind him and, before anyone could react, pecked his wound three times in quick succession.
Although I saw it happen, there was no time to stop it, even if I had tried.
I had never experienced pain like that myself, but at that moment, I could feel it with him.
It must have felt like a string of firecrackers exploding against his backside.
I watched his face turn deep purple with pain in an instant. Every muscle in his body went taut, tears poured out like floodwaters through an opened dam, and a desperate scream rose in his throat.
I was stunned too. Poor Xiao Pang had been badly hurt twice by the same rooster-and in exactly the same spot.
Just then, Second Brother Liu came out with the anti-inflammatory medicine. Taking another look at Xiao Pang's wound, he froze for a moment. "Why is it even more swollen than before?"
I said I should never have left home that day. Granny Liu had said I would face a calamity every three years. Had Xiao Pang suffered mine in my place today?
Before you continue