Chapter 41: So Many Fish

When Huanya entered the house, Mother Song had already shucked more than half of the corn piled before her.

Catching sight of Huanya, Mother Song quickly stood up. "I was just saying, if you didn't show up soon, I was going to go look for you."

Huanya answered with a shy smile, "Sorry to have kept you worried, Auntie. I only remembered the fish halfway there, so I had to run back for them."

"You're just being overly polite," Mother Song said, lightly flicking Huanya's forehead. Her face lit up when she saw the fish hanging from Huanya's hand.

"My, look at all these fish!"

Huanya nodded. "Mm-hm! We can use these to make soup for Big Brother Tiancheng. The fish bones can even be ground up to feed the chickens and pigs; they'll grow so plump and healthy."

Hearing this, Mother Song chuckled. "Yes, yes, you're always thinking of your Big Brother Tiancheng."

With that, Mother Song turned her head toward Song Tiancheng and called out, "Tiancheng, did you hear that? Once you're better, you must properly thank our Huanya!"

"I know."

The man's deep voice carried a hint of a smile.

Huanya started, poking her head out, and only then did she notice Song Tiancheng sitting under the eaves of the main room.

The man was resting on a reclining chair, his legs—padded with a thick quilt—propped up on a stool. His phoenix-like eyes held a trace of a smile, and his posture was upright, entirely devoid of any dejected air.

Huanya blinked. She hadn't really noticed it when he was confined to the kang bed, but now she realized that Big Brother Tiancheng's legs were truly very long!

With legs that long, what a terrible pity that they were broken!

Catching the unmistakable pity in the young girl's eyes, one that she made no attempt to hide, Song Tiancheng paused slightly.

Ever since he had broken his legs, apart from his mother, he had rarely seen such transparent pity in the eyes of others.

Most people were simply waiting for his downfall.

"Alright, I'll go get dinner started," Mother Song said, breaking the eye contact between Huanya and Song Tiancheng.

Huanya hurriedly shook her head. "Auntie, you rest. Let me do it."

"You sit right down!" Mother Song pressed her hand down. "You've been busy all morning. If I don't let you rest now, your father will scold me."

Huanya froze for a moment, then hastily shook her head. "He wouldn't."

"That's enough, that's enough. If you can't bear to sit idle, go shuck some corn. I'll make the meal today, and I'll let you cook this evening, alright?"

Unable to win the argument, Huanya had no choice but to agree.

Once Mother Song went inside, Huanya emptied the corn kernels from her back-basket out into the sun to dry, then took the seat Mother Song had just vacated, using a husking tool to strip the corn.

As soon as she sat down, she realized she was sitting rather too close.

Earlier, to make it easy to hand corn to her son, Mother Song had positioned herself right under the eaves, close enough to touch Song Tiancheng with an outstretched hand.

Huanya's frame was somewhat smaller than Mother Song's, yet even so, she could catch a faint scent of soap pods lingering around Song Tiancheng.

It smelled clean and pleasant, entirely free of the musty odor one might expect from someone long confined to a sickbed.

Coupled with Big Brother Tiancheng's long legs—if he were to stand up, wouldn't he be even taller than her father?

Lost in these thoughts, Huanya's mind wandered, and she applied a bit too much force with her hand—

Swish!

"Hiss!"

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, I'm fine." Huanya glanced at the hand grazed by the tool. It stung so badly her eyes turned red, but she stubbornly held back her tears.

There was no bleeding, just a tiny scrape on the skin.

"Let me see."

Huanya shook her head repeatedly. "I'm fine, Big Brother Tiancheng, don't—"

"Hand." The man's deep voice came from behind her, carrying a trace of sternness.

Of all things, Huanya feared this tone the most; every time her father got angry, he sounded just like this.

She bit her lip, but ultimately turned around and held her hand out.

Song Tiancheng frowned. Without directly touching her, he leaned closer to inspect the injury for a moment before saying, "Just a bit of skin broken, and slightly bruised. Put some ointment on it later."