After the group arrived in town, the ox cart driver informed everyone of the meeting time in the afternoon.

Zhang Yunxi noted the time and asked Zhao Rencheng if they could go to the scrap yard.

Zhao Rencheng replied, “Sure, but can we stop by the post office first? I have something to take care of.”

“Of course, it’s on the way,” Zhang Yunxi agreed.

The four of them arrived at the post office.

Zhao Rencheng went to make a phone call, his heart pounding.

He had been mentally preparing for this for days.

But he still couldn’t accept the worst-case scenario.

After being transferred through several lines, Zhao Rencheng finally heard the voice of the military doctor. “Xiao Cheng?”

“It’s me,” Zhao Rencheng responded.

His throat felt dry, and his palms were sweaty.

“Haha, a good person will surely be blessed,” the military doctor laughed.

The stone in Zhao Rencheng’s heart finally dropped, and his face lit up with relief. “That’s good to hear.”

“You must have lost weight recently. Remember to eat more nutritious food. Do you have paper nearby? I’ll write down some things for you to remember and buy later.”

“Okay!”

Zhao Rencheng took notes.

He planned to take on more jobs later and buy the items to send to the old commander.

After they finished talking, Zhao Rencheng hung up the phone.

He folded the paper and tucked it into his pocket, then called out to Zhao Mo, “Tell your aunt to stop playing.”

Zhao Mo saw that her aunt and Er Gouzi were engrossed in a game of slapping each other’s hands. She called out to Er Gouzi, “Let’s go.”

Er Gouzi declared, “I won.”

He blew on his two fingers.

Er Gouzi slapped down hard.

The little guy hit quite hard, and Zhang Yunxi rubbed her wrist. “Let’s play again when we get back to the village.”

“Okay.”

Er Gouzi responded half-heartedly, not very enthusiastic.

His aunt didn’t hit as hard as Zhao Mo, who always found the right angle to make it hurt so much it made him grimace.

Zhang Yunxi stared at her two fingers, puzzled. She felt like she had hit Wu Donglin pretty hard when she slapped him.

Why couldn’t she even beat a kid at this game?

Zhao Mo couldn’t stand it anymore and started teaching her aunt how to hit in a way that would hurt the most.

Er Gouzi covered her mouth. “Don’t tell her!”

Zhao Mo and Er Gouzi started wrestling.

As the aunt, Zhang Yunxi was responsible for fanning the flames.

Zhao Rencheng rubbed his forehead. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen, a blossoming young girl,” Zhang Yunxi said, covering her face and pretending to be shy.

Zhao Rencheng found it a bit hard to look at and turned his head away.

“Why are you making that face? That’s so mean, you’ve hurt my fragile little heart,” Zhang Yunxi sighed dramatically.

Zhao Rencheng, watching her antics, reminded her, “You’re going the wrong way. The scrap yard is over there.”

“Oh, oh, oh,” Zhang Yunxi quickly changed direction.

Zhao Rencheng said, “Just kidding.”

Zhang Yunxi: “!!!”

Her hands itched to hit someone.

Zhao Rencheng strode ahead.

Zhang Yunxi, holding Zhao Mo and Er Gouzi’s hands, followed closely behind.

When they arrived at the scrap yard, Zhang Yunxi was no longer in the mood to play around with Zhao Rencheng. She needed to find a suitable textbook for Zhao Mo to learn pinyin.

Zhao Rencheng, on the other hand, waited idly by.

Zhao Mo and Er Gouzi bent down to search through the piles. The scrap yard was a mess, but it felt like there were so many strange and interesting things.

As Zhao Mo searched, she found something fascinating.

A wooden carving.

It looked very similar to one made by Sister Xiaoxiao.

She remembered getting close to look at it, and Sister Xiaoxiao had explained, “You probably think this is just a decorative piece, right?”

She had nodded.

Sister Xiaoxiao then explained, “This is used to hide things, especially for wealthy families to pass down to their descendants. From the outside, it looks like solid wood, especially since I carved a tiger’s head into it, with a recessed area. But look, if you press here and slide it up, it reveals a hidden compartment where you can store quite a few things.”

Zhao Mo had thought it was amazing.

She nodded repeatedly.

Sister Xiaoxiao had offered to give it to her, but since her room wasn’t really her own, she declined, thinking she could just look at it when she visited her aunt.

She never expected to find an identical one here.

Following Sister Xiaoxiao’s instructions, Zhao Mo slowly opened the hidden compartment at the back of the wooden carving.

But after opening it just a little, she closed it again.

She looked up and saw everyone still searching for their own things, so she felt relieved.

She walked over to her aunt and held up the tiger head. “Auntie, I want this.”

Zhang Yunxi was about to turn around when she suddenly screamed, “Ahhh! Rats! Zhao Rencheng…”

Zhao Rencheng immediately came over, pulled her behind him, and used a piece of wood to block her view. Seeing her panting heavily from fear, he sighed, “Haven’t you seen rats before?”

“Not like this, there’s a whole group of them!”

Zhang Yunxi was on the verge of tears. She hugged the calm Zhao Mo, seeking comfort. “Zhao Mo, I’m so scared.”

Zhao Mo patted her aunt’s back and comforted her, “It’s okay, it’s okay. I can step on them and kill them.”

“Wuwu, you’re so amazing. What would I do without you?” Zhang Yunxi said, still shaken.

Zhao Rencheng sat down with a blank expression.

He was the one who had saved her.

How ungrateful.

Zhang Yunxi hugged Zhao Mo, drawing strength from her.

Zhao Mo didn’t understand why her aunt was so scared, but since her aunt was afraid, she had to protect her, so she kept comforting her.

The others in the scrap yard were starting to find it a bit much.

But Zhang Yunxi was thick-skinned.

She didn’t care.

After calming down for a while, Zhang Yunxi looked toward the area where the rats had been but still couldn’t muster the courage to go back and search for books.

Earlier, when she had lifted a book, a swarm of rats had appeared right in front of her. It was absolutely terrifying!

“I still haven’t found the textbook you need.”

“It’s okay, I’ll do it,” Zhao Mo said, handing the tiger head to Zhang Yunxi and bending down to continue searching. She found a dog head carving, and then, after more searching, she even found a rat head carving, but she couldn’t find the old first-grade textbook.

Zhang Yunxi was disheartened.

She also refused to take the rat head carving.

Zhao Rencheng took the rat carving. “I have an old first-grade textbook.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier!” Zhang Yunxi said, pouting.

Zhao Rencheng replied, “You didn’t ask.”

Zhang Yunxi felt a surge of anger rising to her head. She punched his arm, only to clutch her hand in pain and glare at him with teary eyes. “Why did you tense your muscles?”

Zhao Rencheng sighed. “You hit me, I defended myself. And you’re the one complaining?”

Zhang Yunxi thought about it.

She was being a bit unreasonable.

“My hand hurts, I’m so pitiful.”

Zhao Rencheng couldn’t help but laugh. “Hit me again, and this time I won’t defend myself.”

“Promise?” Zhang Yunxi asked eagerly.

“Promise,” Zhao Rencheng said, shaking his head helplessly.

Zhang Yunxi punched him again and laughed. “Sorry, I got a little carried away.”

Er Gouzi and Zhao Mo exchanged glances.

For some reason.

They felt like something was off.

Zhao Rencheng glanced at them and said, “Go wash your hands. We’re heading to the state-run restaurant soon.”

“Yay!”

Er Gouzi cheered.

Zhao Mo was also excited.

Zhang Yunxi bought three toy heads for Zhao Mo.

She had seen identical ones at Hu Xiaoxiao’s place and had even thought, “Why not ask her to make them? I’ll pay.”

But this was the first time Zhao Mo had asked for something.

She didn’t want to refuse.

Besides, things at the scrap yard weren’t expensive, so she just bought them.

Each toy head cost five cents.

She spent fifteen cents in total.

Before leaving, she washed them.

Er Gouzi had searched the scrap yard for a long time and found many things he liked, but when he thought about spending his own money, he hesitated.

Some things.

Just weren’t necessary.

He couldn’t bear to spend his money!

Sigh, he’d just drag his dad here later and throw a tantrum to make him buy it.