Font Size:
“Sanyuan, what’s wrong with little sister?” Tan Erqian walked over and asked.
Tan Sanyuan quickly snapped out of his thoughts. Looking at the soft and sweet little face of Little Qiyue again, he saw nothing unusual—it must have been his imagination.
He replied slowly, “Nothing much, just thought I saw little sister smiling earlier.”
Tan Erqian chuckled and teased, “Third Brother, how could such a young child smile already? Have you been reading so much that it’s muddled your head?”
Tan Sanyuan put his book away, not dwelling on it, and asked, “Second Brother, I heard you sold some eggs.”
Tan Erqian nodded. “That’s right, we sold a batch a few days ago.”
Tan Sanyuan glanced toward the backyard. “But there are still quite a lot of eggs in the yard.”
Tan Erqian beamed with a smile. “Yes, in a few days, I’ll take some more eggs to sell in town.”
Tan Sanyuan listened, making a mental note of it.
As they were talking, their father, who had gone to Aunt Chen’s house, returned.
“That Aunt Chen actually went to our broken pond to catch fish,” he grumbled.
“What?” Wan Chunmei immediately stood up. “Did she manage to catch any fish?”
Their father sat down, took a sip of water, and said, “She did catch a fish, but her mouth got mangled by something. I don’t know if she’ll even be able to eat or survive now.”
“Completely mangled? What could have done that?” Wan Chunmei exclaimed in shock.
The Tan brothers stood quietly to the side, listening to the conversation.
Old Tan shook his head. “I don’t know what bit her, some people say it was a wolf, others say it was a leopard. Aunt Chen doesn’t even remember how she got bitten, so she can’t explain anything clearly.”
Wan Chunmei nodded lightly. “We usually plant vegetables and rice there, so we need to be extra careful.”
Old Tan nodded and called out to Tan Yiliang, “Yiliang, hurry up and finish your meal. Afterward, we’ll go check the field to see if the vegetables were destroyed by those wolves or leopards.”
Tan Yiliang quickly shoveled a few bites of food into his mouth. “Yes, Father.”
Tan Erqian quickly walked over. “Father, Father, I’ll go with you.”
Old Tan nodded. “Alright, let’s go.”
Tan Erqian grabbed a small hoe and followed Old Tan, ready to head out.
Tan Yiliang quickly dropped his bowl and chased after them. “Father, Second Brother, wait for me!”
Now, only a few younger ones and Wan Chunmei were left at the Tan household.
When Old Tan and the others arrived at the ruined field, they saw that the crops they had just planted that morning were completely destroyed.
Tan Yiliang was stunned. “We just planted the vegetables, and now they’re all gone.”
He said this with a furrowed brow, clearly upset.
Old Tan’s face was also filled with sorrow. “That seed cost money too. Everything’s gone before it even had a chance to grow! Sigh!”
Tan Erqian stayed calm. Holding his small hoe, he began to dig. “Father, don’t worry. Let’s dig up the seeds; maybe we can replant them.”
Old Tan thought it made sense and quickly followed Tan Erqian, digging alongside him.
Tan Yiliang saw this and also crouched down, joining in the digging.
The three of them hadn’t dug very far when they discovered that the seeds had already sprouted, and they were growing remarkably well.
Tan Yiliang gasped in surprise. “Father, Father, the seeds have sprouted! They should all survive!”
Old Tan continued to dig a few more holes. Although the seeds were a bit scattered, they had all sprouted.
“This is truly strange,” Old Tan murmured. “These vegetable seeds usually take anywhere from three to ten days to sprout, but they’ve sprouted in just a few hours. This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a thing.”
Tan Yiliang quickly smiled and said, “Father, maybe it’s because the soil is so fertile, that’s why they sprouted so quickly.”
Old Tan still couldn’t quite understand, but this was the only plausible explanation, so he accepted it. Regardless, the vegetables were saved. He slowly stood up and let out a relieved sigh. “It was a false alarm, just a false alarm.”
“Yes, Father, you don’t need to worry anymore,” Tan Yiliang reassured him.
With a bright smile, Tan Yiliang added, “Father, it’s still early. How about we go up the mountain and see if we can find some useful timber?”
Old Tan quickly shook his head. “No, no, that mountain is too dangerous.”
Tan Yiliang stood up and said, “Father, how will we know if we don’t go? We’ll bring the beast-repelling powder with us, so we should be fine.”
Old Tan looked at his eldest son helplessly. This son was fearless, never afraid of anything, whether it was the sky or the earth.
Tan Erqian, being clever, also persuaded, “Father, we’ll only look around the outskirts of the mountain, not deep inside. I’ve heard there are many valuable medicinal herbs in the mountain, some even rarer and more expensive than the ones we’ve bought.”
For some reason, Old Tan became a little dazed after hearing their words, and after a moment, he nodded. “Alright, we’ll go together, but we must return before dark.”
“Yes, Father!”
Tan Yiliang and Tan Erqian exchanged a delighted smile, both excited.
After leaving the ruined field, the three of them set off with sickles in hand and made their way up the mountain.
Fengping Village was nestled at the foot of a mountain called Wanyang Mountain, a not-so-tall but very deep mountain.
The villagers, wary of the things that dwelled within, rarely ventured into the deeper parts of the mountain.
The Tan family—father and two sons—were among the few who had ever gone this far.
The mountain was dense with trees, and since few people ventured there, there were no clear paths.
The father and sons had to clear their own way, hacking through the thick underbrush to create a path.
After walking for a while,
Tan Yiliang suddenly spotted a few decent sand trees. Without hesitation, he sprinted forward through the weeds, calling out, “Father, Father, these trees are good!”
Old Tan had once spent a few days learning from a carpenter, so he was fairly familiar with wood. Upon seeing the trees, he could tell immediately that they were excellent sand trees—perfect for building houses.
He wiped the sweat from his brow, walked up to the tree, and stroked the bark. “This is good wood, but unfortunately, we didn’t bring an axe. All we can do now is admire them.”
Tan Yiliang smiled and said, “No worries, we’ve found the spot today. We can come back tomorrow with the axe. It’s not urgent.”
Old Tan nodded and smiled. “Exactly, exactly.”
The two of them chatted as they stood by the trees, exchanging thoughts.