If it weren't for being in class, I really wanted to slap Chubby's face. If I hadn't pulled him away that day, he would have been in trouble by now. And now he shamelessly claims that he was clever on his own. His thick skin is thicker than a brick in my backyard.

Over the weekend, I took Chubby back to Hongqi Village. One reason was that I was running out of living expenses and needed to get some from home. Secondly, I had an important task to accomplish - finding "Cow's Tears."

Cows are animals that can communicate with spirits. Despite their simple and honest appearance, cows have eyes that can see the supernatural.

So there's a folk belief that if you apply cow's tears to your eyes, you'll be able to see unclean things, commonly known as "opening the yin-yang eyes."

I don't possess the ability to open the yin-yang eyes using talismans or spells, so I have to rely on certain materials as intermediaries. The most common material in the countryside is cows, so the first thing that came to mind was cow's tears.

Chubby and I climbed up the hill, where a cow was leisurely grazing.

Chubby said to me, "This little calf looks in a good mood. Its tail is wagging. How do we make it cry?"

I said, "Think of a way to make it sad. Just like humans, cows cry when they're upset. You're responsible for making the cow cry, and I'll collect its tears!"

Chubby circled around the calf and stood in front of it, howling and thumping his chest, making ape-like sounds as if he were playing the role of a gorilla.

The calf opened its mouth, seemingly mocking Chubby.

I scratched my head and asked Chubby in surprise, "I told you to make the cow cry, but you made it laugh instead?"

Chubby said earnestly, "There are many ways to cry. It can be a sad cry, or it can be tears of laughter. I used the approach of first being polite and then using force. Look at how happily it's laughing! Keep going, as long as it laughs heartily, it will definitely cry. Laugh, laugh..."

Many times, I wonder if meeting Chubby in my life is some kind of life lesson from the heavens.

I casually broke off a branch from a locust tree and stood behind Chubby with a menacing look. "If you won't make the cow cry, then I'll make you cry!"

Chubby took the branch and ran behind the calf, hitting its buttocks gently. He then quickly jumped far away.

I asked him what he was doing, and Chubby patted his chest, saying, "I'm afraid it will kick me!"

Chubby's ignorance annoyed me. I told him that the thing that kicks people with its hind legs is called a horse, not a cow!

Chubby continued to strike the cow's buttocks as if he was afraid of hurting the cow. He completely turned into a fly swatter for the cow, and the calf actually closed its eyes in great comfort.

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Chubby threw away the branch and clenched his fists tightly, cracking his knuckles. "It was so difficult. It seems like I have to use my ultimate move!"

I thought Chubby was getting angry and was going to beat the calf until it cried. Who knew that Chubby would run up to the calf's ear and start howling, "A thousand reasons to be sad... A thousand reasons to be sad..."

Really sad!

Chubby's singing almost made me cry. It sounded like a wolf howling. Luckily, I knew he was singing, otherwise, others might have thought he was mourning.

Not only was he tone-deaf, but he also deliberately imitated Jacky Cheung's singing style.

When the song finally ended, tears actually slowly rolled down from the calf's eyes.

Chubby danced with excitement. "Look, it cried. It was moved to tears. I touched its heart with sincerity!"

I quickly took out a prepared mineral water bottle and caught the tears rolling down from the calf's eyes.

After collecting a little bit, which was enough, I capped the bottle.

I told Chubby, "It wasn't moved by you. It might... want to die!"

Chubby followed me happily and said, "Anyway, I made it cry. You should thank me. Treat me to a meat bun when we get back to school!"

After spending the weekend at home, Chubby and I returned to school.

My backpack was heavy, filled with pickles that my mother personally made for me. My mom was worried that the school food wouldn't suit my taste, so she specifically made delicious side dishes for me and put them in glass jars. Pickles may not be worth much money, but a mother's love is priceless.

As Chubby secretly ate my pickles, he asked me what I needed cow's tears for.

I dropped two drops of cow's tears into my eyes and gave Chubby two drops as well. Then I asked him what he saw.

Chubby was startled and quickly reached out to pat my head and shoulders. I asked him why he was hitting me, and Chubby anxiously said, "Yang Cheng, your head and shoulders are on fire. I'm helping you put it out!"

I gave Chubby a strong knock on his head. I said, "You fool, don't you know that living beings have three fires? They're also called three lamps - the Heavenly Lamp, the Earthly Lamp, and the Human Lamp. If you extinguish my three lamps, won't I die?"

Chubby awkwardly smiled and said, "Hehe, I couldn't extinguish them? Look, hehe, they're burning brightly!"

Although hitting someone's shoulder or head won't extinguish their three fires, many people avoid it due to superstitions, especially in rural areas, where many people don't like others patting their shoulders. That's the reason behind it.

I asked Chubby to look at Xu Wenbo's three fires. I saw that the flames on Xu Wenbo's shoulders were low and even emitted a faint green color.

I was slightly surprised and pulled Chubby to the next dormitory to see the three fires of the other boys. I found that their flames were all low. Without exception, these were the people who had their heads shaved at the barbershop across the street.

Curious, Chubby asked me, "Yang Cheng, what's going on? Why are their flames different from ours? And why are they green? Is it a genetic issue?"

I was quite speechless. A genetic issue? Didn't they have blood flowing in their bodies like we do? Did they have oil flowing instead, which resulted in different flames?

I told Chubby that low flames indicate weak vitality.

In normal circumstances, teenagers in their teens are in their prime, full of energy, and in good health, so their flames should be the strongest during that time.

Only those affected by evil spirits or those near death will have such low flames.

Chubby asked me what was going on with these people, whether the barber had done something to them.

I took a deep breath and lowered my voice, whispering to Chubby, "It's likely that their vitality has been borrowed!"

Chubby didn't understand for a moment. "What? Borrowing vitality? What do they use borrowed vitality for?"

I glanced at the sleepy Xu Wenbo and pulled Chubby to the side. "Have you heard of borrowing life to prolong one's own life? Borrowing someone else's vitality to extend your own!"