Although yesterday Zhuang Yan was very tired, he slept very deeply at night. The next morning when he woke up, he was refreshed and felt his entire body full of energy.

He felt as if his energy had returned to the days when he was 17 or 18 years old, and he was as good as it was unbelievable.

Zhuang Yan used to sleep for only six or seven hours, going to bed between 12pm and 1pm and getting up around 7am, but last night he must have gone to bed before 9pm, so it could be said that he had slept more than when he was at home. No wonder he was in good spirits.

This morning, Zhuang Yan thought of a lot of things, apart from the fact that Wan Tianning actually could speak, he also thought of a very serious problem, since he had to live here in the future, he had to settle down in a hurry. To settle down in the village, should he go directly to the magistrate’s office for registration, or should he first approach the village chief?

The matter of the registered permanent residence had to be resolved immediately, but the matter of Wan Tianning’s refusal to speak was something that could not be rushed.

Zhuang Yan thought that a person who is obviously well, must have experienced something, or received some kind of stimulus, since he would rather be called a mute than to open his mouth to talk. He could not force people to heal their wounds at once. He had to take his time. 

Besides, he had only known Wan Tianning for a short time, so it was normal for him to be wary of him. He wanted to let time be the medicine (right remedy) and use his careful guidance as a complement, then slowly let Wan Tianning let go of the suspicion in his heart, and then speak up naturally.

By the way, apart from the voice issue, he wonders if Tianning’s face is also a pretense (cover).

Zhuang Yan had seen Wan Tianning’s arms. He did not believe that someone with such white skin on his body had a black face alone and the blackness on his face was a little too unnatural, as if he had smeared something on it. He would have to ask Tianning about it and if he could, he would have to clean his face, because some people are used to bullying people who are defective in appearance. He couldn’t take the initiative to show his weaknesses and let others bully him.

Putting the matter of Wan Tianning to the back of his mind, Zhuang Yan then thought about his residence permit. He didn’t know the laws and rules of the village, or the country. He was prepared to wait until Wan Tianning woke up and ask him again. He thought that when he had the money in his hand, he would go and buy a book to read. Wherever you are, there is a price to pay for being a person who is ignorant of the law. To survive here, he had to know the laws of the country.

Wan Tianning woke up to find that Zhuang Yan was already awake and was a little embarrassed.When Zhuang Yan asked him about settling down, only then he point his finger to a house in the village, by that, Zhuang Yan then knew that he must go to search for the village chief.

But before he go out, Zhuang Yan first asked Wan Tianning a question, and also very formally told him briefly about his situation, but he always felt that when he said he was twenty-three years old, Wan Tianning looked a little strange on his face, staring at him for a long time, even shook his head and waved his hand at him, as if telling him not to say his age again.

Wan Tianning, this reaction, Zhuang Yan thought he was afraid of being disliked for his age. However it was also true that at his age, he was considered an old man in this place, since there are many people here who have been married only when they were 14 or 15.

Zhuang Yan reluctantly nodded his head and agreed with Wan Tianning, but he also thought what was there to hide about his age. However he had no time to talk and tell people about his age, so it didn’t matter if he told people his age. It was just that compared to his age, he was more surprised about Wan Tianning’s age. He didn’t expect Tianning, who looked like he was 13 or 14, was already 16 years old so he could be counted as a grown up. 

The two of them went to the village headman’s house, and only then did Zhuang Yan learn that the man who had led the way yesterday was the village headman of this village. In view of the village chief’s strange reaction yesterday, Zhuang Yan secretly paid attention to the village chief’s expression when he was talking to him, and he found that the village chief had never looked at him directly, and the village chief’s family were deliberately avoiding him.

After he had entered the house, no one from the village head’s family member had appeared again, as if they were afraid of him.

Zhuang Yan noticed yesterday that since he said his name was Zhuang Yan, those several men had been acting strangely, could it be that he had the same name as someone who was taboo in the village and even looked similar?

“Village chief, do you need money to settle down? How much does it cost?” Zhuang Yan didn’t have any money on hand, and if it was too expensive, he would have to save up for a little longer. 

Zhuang Yan had always been a man who respected people by turning his gaze towards them when he spoke to them but the village chief kept avoiding his gaze, obviously not wanting to spend more time with him, and after he had simply agreed to settle the household, he kept waving his hand at Zhuang Yan, not wanting to talk to him.

Even when Zhuang Yan talked about the silver, he was tempted to say something, but only said that he would take care of it for him, and then it was a clear gesture of sending the quest away. Zhuang Yan still had to go and earn money, so naturally he wouldn’t stay much longer, and now that he could save money, he ran even faster!

It was not until he was out of the village chief’s house that he crossed his arms and looked at the sky, squinting his eyes and letting out a deep breath, as if he had let go of a big problem in his mind.

“Tianning, you go back first. You know where the food is at home, take whatever you want to eat. I’ll just go to town and deal with it. When we have earned money, we will buy rice and noodles and then cook and eat properly. Zhuang Yan hadn’t bought anything in town yet, but based on the price of the steamed buns yesterday, he figured that a wen here should be one block of copper coin and the rice and noodles should not be very expensive either.It’s probably about three or four wens a catty. I can afford to eat but I don’t know how much meat costs.I think I’ll have to go to the market today and find out what the prices are.”

After the two of them parted, Zhuang Yan went off to earn money while Wan Tianning went home at a brisk pace. Even if he met many people who poured cold water on him on the way home, he was definitely not afraid.

“Wan Ge er ah, aren’t you afraid? Living in the same room with such a thing?”

“That’s right ah, I don’t know if he’s a person or a ghost, someone who has obviously been sacrificed to the river god, how come he’s suddenly back?”

Silently pulling apart the hand that was pulling his wrist, Wan Tianning was glad that he couldn’t speak at the moment, so he didn’t have to explain himself to other people in a polite manner. As he touched his own chest and shook his head again, Wan Tianning even smiled at them before leaving, but just after he had taken a few steps out, unpleasant words came from behind him.

“Hey, even if you can’t get married,you can’t find an evil thing ah.”

“What do you know? It’s better to have an evil thing than nothing at all. Look at him, he’s ugly and mute, and he doesn’t look like a normal person. He is a good match with that evil man.”

Wan Tianning didn’t care about the mean words behind him, he had heard many such words over the years. He had heard even worse things than that, so they could say what they liked, he wouldn’t lose a piece of meat.

It was true that the gossip of the villagers would not make Wan Tianning cost a piece of meat, but the occasional visit from the villagers to make mischief is a headache for him.

He had only been out for a moment, but the bundles of firewood they had chopped earlier were all over the floor again, and the door of his house had been moved. He didn’t know if anything had been stolen from inside or not. He had only one small pot left.

As soon as he hurriedly opened the door and entered, he saw the iron pots that had been kicked over, Wan Tianning was relieved that they hadn’t come yesterday, otherwise those things would have been stolen.

After tidying up the messy house, Wan Tianning didn’t rest, but took his scythe and went back up to the mountain. He couldn’t stay at home and did nothing, he had to check for firewood and collect some mushrooms so that he could cook mushroom soup in the evening and wait for Big brother Zhuang to return.

Wan Tianning is too weak to do heavy work but he is very handy. He can do simple and easy tasks very quickly and in just an hour or so; he returned with a load of dry firewood sticks on his back

and a lot of dewy mushrooms.

When he went to wash the mushrooms in the water canal near his home. Wan Tianning stretched out his hands and grabbed his clothes. He hadn’t scrubbed himself for a few days so he boiled some hot water and gave it a good scrub while no one was around. His mom had said that Ger must love cleanliness, if you yourself are comfortable, your husband will like it too.

When he thought of his mother’s words and also the word ‘husband’, Wan Tianning could not help but think of the way Zhuang Yan had said he wanted to be his family, he even did not hesitate at all to give him money.

A reflection of the man suddenly appeared in the water. Wan Tianning couldn’t help but smile faintly but his good mood didn’t last long. He felt a moment of instability as his whole body fell into the ditch in front of him.

Fortunately, the ditch was not wide enough for him to fall into it, but instead he fell over the edge. However before he could get up, the person who had pushed him pinned him to the ground. With one hand he grabbed his hair and held his head back while with other hand, he poured water on his face and rubbed it hard.

 ,  

He was in pain and choking on the water that had accidentally entered his mouth. A heartbreaking coughing broke out. It took the man holding him down behind his back to throw him to the ground, freeing him.

“Damn it! How come you can’t get clean!

How come you’re a ‘little nigger’!” The voice behind him, angry and ashamed, was so familiar. Wan Tianning covered his head and cowered on the ground. Waiting for the voice to fade away before he slowly gets up. After that, despite the pain in his knees and body, he went to pick up the little mushroom that had not yet been washed away by the water.

He can’t lose his mushrooms, this is for Zhuang Da Ge (Big brother Zhuang) to make soup for him at night.

Zhuang Yan also finished work around 10:00 today. When he went to the market, they were already closed earlier, so he had to give up. He thought he’d go tomorrow at noon. At noon, the market should be the busiest time, right?

Zhuang Yan went early today and worked for nearly five hours, earning nearly fifty coins. When he returned home, he should have been more tired than yesterday. But his steps were lighter than yesterday’s, and he was even humming a song under his breath. In a few days he would be able to buy rice and noodles since he hadn’t eaten cooked rice for days and was craving it. 

When Zhuang Yan arrived home, he didn’t have time to take out today’s silver money before he smelled a faint scent of mushrooms. Seeing that he had returned, Wan Tianning hurriedly gave him a bowl of mushrooms. He took the bowl, which was missing a few slits. After taking a beautiful sip of the bowl, he felt his body feel better.

When Zhuang Yan arrived home, he didn’t have time to take out his silver money for the day before he smelt the faint scent of mushrooms.

In October, there were no more big mushrooms on the mountain, and even the small ones were rare. Zhuang Yan drank the creamy mushroom soup and ate the delicious mushrooms. His heart was so contented, Tianning is really obedient ah, he even knew to give him extra meals.

After eating and drinking, Zhuang Yan put down his bowl and immediately took out his earnings for the day. Wan Tianning also cooperated by taking out the small box in which they had saved their money.

The wooden box was extremely well hidden by Wan Tianning but now they have to put the money in it every day. However, it would be too much trouble to dig and bury it every day. Zhuang Yan simply took out the small bag he had with him then he took out the silver jewelry and the copper coins he had earned in the past two days. They also conveniently counted how much money they had in the house.

Wan Tianning’s wooden box had almost a tael or two of silver in it, and he had taken a tael of silver out to exchange for copper coins and shop for nearly 30 wens, so now he had eight coins and 70 wens left.

Zhuang Yan had earned twenty-six wen yesterday and forty-eight wen today, but he had used up three wen for dinner today, leaving him with forty-five wen, in all is seventy-one wen. 

After calculating Wan Tianning’s wealth, Zhuang Yan sighed and then smiled. Although Tianning had more money than he did, he would think of other ways to make money in the future. He will not be able to make a lot of money by carrying big bags of goods all his life, he will not be able to buy land or build a house, moreover he will not be able to eat good food and he won’t be able to marry a wife.