The little boy stopped, his eyes glued to the rabbit, but he didn’t go over to pick it up. Instead, he looked over at Song Wei.

Song Wei walked over, lifted the rabbit by its hind leg, and could see the disappointment in the boy’s eyes. He glanced longingly at the rabbit, then turned to leave.

“Wait, do you know how to roast a rabbit?”

Half an hour later, in a hidden spot in the woods, Song Wei tapped a thick pine cone with a stick. The pine trees here must have been a different species because the cones were larger than an adult’s hand, and the seeds were big as well. As she tapped the open cone, the seeds easily fell out.

After emptying a cone, she tossed it aside, where a small, skinny, dirt-streaked hand picked it up and threw it into the fire. Above the fire, he carefully roasted the rabbit meat, which had been sizzling for a while and now gave off a delicious aroma.

“What’s your name?” Song Wei asked.

“Heidan,” he answered sullenly.

“How old are you?”

“Five.”

But Heidan looked more like a three-year-old, his small frame undersized.

“Do you live alone?”

“No, I have my grandparents, my uncle’s family, and my other uncle’s family.”

“But they don’t like me.”

There was no mention of his parents. Song Wei had a rough idea of his situation.

The pine cones were almost done. After shaking out a full bag of cones, she’d only collected around five pounds of seeds.

Too bad these are all shell and barely any nut inside, she thought, though she was still pleased with what she had. The pine seeds had a wonderfully nutty aroma.

The smell of roasted rabbit was becoming irresistible, and the two of them squatted by the fire, watching the meat cook with hungry eyes.

“Shame there’s no oil. It would be amazing if we found some honey,” Song Wei said.

Just a layer of sweet honey would make the meat smell and taste even better. They had smeared the rabbit meat with a sour wild berry and stuffed the belly with wild onions, sprinkling a little salt over it. Song Wei had brought the salt, intending to roast something in the mountains if she found it, and was glad her luck had paid off.

“It smells amazing!” Song Wei exclaimed, looking more excited than Heidan, whose stomach growled, though he didn’t show as much eagerness as her.

Finally, the rabbit was ready. Song Wei tore off a large hind leg and handed it to him.

“Here, your payment.”

Heidan sniffed, his eyes watering slightly as he grabbed the meat and immediately took a big bite, not even waiting for it to cool.

“It’s hot! No one’s fighting you for it. You’ll burn your tongue and miss out on the flavor.”

Despite the minimal seasoning, the meat tasted amazing to both of them.

Heidan, with his small stomach, quickly filled up on the rabbit leg. Accustomed to hunger, his stomach was actually quite small, and one rabbit leg was more than enough for him.

Once he finished eating, he eagerly helped Song Wei collect pine cones, mushrooms, and chestnuts. This pine forest was full of matsutake mushrooms, and the two had gone deeper into the woods. Village kids had been warned not to venture this far, and the adults were busy working, which left this spot mostly untouched.

“There’s a patch of matsutake here!” Heidan called out excitedly. Song Wei, carrying a basket on her back, wandered over at a leisurely pace, picking up a couple of nice-looking porcini mushrooms on the way.

Matsutake mushrooms were highly nutritious and easy to preserve when dried, and there were plenty in this forest. Song Wei noticed that Heidan was putting all the mushrooms he found into her basket.

“These are yours—you should take them home.”

He shook his head stubbornly. “I don’t want to. If I take them home, I won’t get to eat them.”

Ignoring her suggestion, he focused on carefully placing the mushrooms in her basket. Song Wei didn’t argue further.

After sharing her rabbit meat, Heidan began putting any good finds he made into her basket.

“What did you come to the mountain for?”

“To find food and gather firewood.”

Heidan, who had brought his own little basket, was so small that it looked taller than him.

They won’t feed him, yet they make him carry heavy things. His family has no heart.

Song Wei thought as she kept collecting. With her basket almost full of mushrooms, she began filling one sack with pine cones to crack open later, since shelling them now would take too long. The other bag was for chestnuts, and they carefully removed the prickly outer shells.

Even though Heidan’s fingers were pricked, he didn’t make a sound. He was also barefoot, his feet scratched.

Song Wei ushered him to the side and pulled out some of the prickles stuck in his feet.

“Why on earth would you go there barefoot? Stay here and be good. If you get bored, start cracking open the pine cones.”

She went off to gather the rest of the chestnuts herself.

By the time they were heading home, Song Wei had a basket full of mushrooms and two large sacks laid across her back. She carried a branch as thick as her arm in her left hand, and with her right, she held Heidan’s basket of firewood, moving briskly.

Heidan, his hands empty, looked on in awe, struggling to keep up with his bare feet as he tried to catch up to her.

“I…I can carry my own,” he said, trying to take his load.

“You’d fall behind. It’ll be dark soon, and you don’t want to stay here and feed the wild animals, do you?”

Her tone wasn’t exactly gentle, but Heidan could still sense the care behind her words.

He sniffled, his eyes reddening as though he might cry.

“What are you crying for? Where do you live?”

Heidan pointed toward a path that led in the opposite direction of the Zhiqing camp.

He wiped his nose, whispering, “You…you remind me of my mom.”

Song Wei: ………

Of all the things to say!

“Alright, take your stuff and go. Are you close?”

He nodded, trying to hold back tears.

“Don’t be so stupid next time. If you can’t protect what you find in the mountains, hide it somewhere only you know. Don’t overwork yourself by hauling too much firewood.”

Heidan nodded, still sniffling, his expression determined.

He turned to go, looking back repeatedly as he left.

Song Wei waited until he was out of sight, then headed back to the Zhiqing quarters. When she arrived with yet another massive branch and two full sacks, the others just stared.

A petite girl, looking as frail as a flower, was somehow hauling all this—there was no getting used to the sight.