Tears on the Beehive reading answers

I went hiking with a few friends. Near noon, I found a small mountain village shop with an elegant environment to taste a "farm banquet". The owner of the small shop is a middle-aged man with a simple and honest face. He recommended to us a dish with the most unique mountain characteristics - "fried bee pupa".

When the waiter brought the plate of "fried bee pupae", the bee pupae that had been fried into golden brown and expanded exuded wisps of attractive aroma. I picked one and put it in my mouth. It tasted really good. We all praised it. However, the number of bee pupae on the plate was too small. Each person only tasted a few before the bottom of the plate was exposed. A friend joked: "Boss, your store is too dark. A plate of bee pupae that costs more than 90 yuan is just a little bit?"

The boss seemed to react to such a joke. He was used to it, and he said with a smile: "What you are eating are hornet pupae, which are the most poisonous and vicious mountain bees in the mountains. They were collected by bee collectors who risked their lives."

Seeing that we were dubious, the boss added: "How could I lie to you? When you go down the mountain, you can't go further than 3 miles. You will pass by a small village. There is a fruit farmer named Zhao in the village. He gave me the fruit when he was collecting bee pupae half a month ago. It stung to death."

It didn't seem like he was making up lies, so I asked in surprise: "If it's so dangerous, why would he pick it up?"

The boss gave it to us. Tell me the whole story in detail. It turned out that the fruit farmer who was stung by a hornet had collected bee pupae before, but the price of bee pupae was low in the past and it was easy to be stung by mountain wasps, so he stopped doing it. In the past two years, farm banquets have become popular, and bee pupae have become a hot commodity. The income from his orchard has been poor, so he had to go back to his old business. He has two daughters, the eldest is attending college outside, and the younger is admitted to high school this year. In order to provide for his two daughters to go to school, he wakes up early and goes to the mountains and forests every day to look for beehives.

That evening, he found a large hornet nest at the entrance of a stone cave. It was estimated that two or three kilograms of bee pupae could be obtained, so he lit the sulfur he brought with him. After a burst of pungent smoke, the hornets perched on the hive fell to the ground. When he excitedly picked the heavy beehive, he actually neglected to notice that there was a slightly smaller beehive on a branch next to the cave. More than 200 hornet bees perched on it took off with a huff. , surrounded him, and he hurriedly waved his hands to beat them, but they were clearly no match for the hornet. When people found him on the mountain, his body was swollen like an inflated rubber man, and he died.

After hearing this tragic story, our appetite disappeared. The few bee pupae left on the plate were never touched again.

When we were going down the mountain, we passed by a small village with only twenty or thirty households. A friend who works at a newspaper suggested that he visit the fruit farmer’s house.

A little girl took us to the fruit farmer’s house. Only the fruit farmer's wife was there. Apparently, she had not yet gotten over the grief of losing her husband.

When we mentioned this matter, she wiped away tears and said: "It's all my fault... In fact, at that time, his daughter's tuition fees had been collected... He wanted to give his daughter another good education His suitcase...it's all my fault for not stopping him..."

She finally couldn't help but let out a sad cry, and our eyes became moist.

Before leaving, a friend found a dozen shriveled beehives piled up in a corner of the yard, like sunflower plates with seeds removed. He discussed with us in a low voice and suggested that we buy those beehives as a gift to her. The reason for donating money, so we each took out 100 yuan.

She looked at us in surprise, at a loss.

We lied and said the hives were acquired on behalf of another friend. Finally, she took the money hesitantly.

Leaving this unfortunate woman, we all became silent. I vaguely felt that the honeycombs in my hands were getting heavier and heavier, and they seemed to be soaked with tears...