Chapter 56 Help Me Find Something

Seeing this, Song Tiancheng asked, "Is Mother heading out?"

Mother Song nodded. "Huanya said she hid some firewood up on the mountain. I was thinking of heading up there too, to gather a bit more so we won't need to go back later."

Hearing this, Song Tiancheng frowned slightly. "She just got back and is going out again? Isn't she going to rest?"

Mother Song replied, "The farmwork for these past two days is practically finished, and more and more people will be heading up the mountain. How much firewood will be left for us to pick then? If we go now, things will be easier for us later, won't they?"

Song Tiancheng had no way to refute this; he only resented the fact that he couldn't go up the mountain alongside his mother and Huanya.

Within a fleeting moment, however, Song Tiancheng had already found a solution.

He said to Mother Song, "Mother, before you leave, could you do me a favor and ask Shunzi to come over for a moment?"

"Shunzi? What do you want with him?"

Chen Shunzi was one of the few people in the village with whom Song Tiancheng could actually converse.

He had known Song Tiancheng since they were children, and because Song Tiancheng had once taught him how to read for a few days, he held him in deep admiration.

"There's something I'd like to ask him for help with."

Song Tiancheng didn't spell it out, and Mother Song didn't press further; her son had always been a man of his own mind.

Mother Song said, "All right. But he went over to his father-in-law's place a couple of days ago, so I'll need to go check if he's back yet."

Chen Shunzi had once been a bachelor, but after a stroke of good fortune, he married a wife and had since been constantly running off to his father-in-law's home. With the busy farming season these past two days, he hadn't been seen around at all.

Song Tiancheng nodded, and Mother Song turned to leave.

Through the window, he could see Huanya busy in the kitchen. He watched as his mother spoke a few words to her before stepping outside once more.

The courtyard fell quiet for a moment, punctuated only by the occasional chirping of birds from outside.

Leaning against the head of the wall, Song Tiancheng opened the book on the heated brick bed and began to read slowly.

Such a tranquil day felt no different from the past, yet somehow, it also felt as though something new had been added.

Before long, Mother Song returned alone.

Standing in the courtyard, she called out to Song Tiancheng, "Chengzi, Shunzi just got home. It'll be a little while before he comes over, so I'm leaving the door unlocked for him. Mind yourself later on."

"Understood," Song Tiancheng replied, then heard his mother calling out to Huanya.

"Let's go, lass! We'll go early and come back early!"

"All right!"

Huanya hurriedly hoisted her back basket, tucked a water gourd into her waistband, and held a freshly griddle-baked flatbread wrapped in cloth. Breathing into the chilly air, she said, "Coming, coming!"

Mother Song also shouldered her back basket, picked up two shoulder poles, and instructed Song Tiancheng, "Chengzi, watch the house!"

"Okay."

Song Tiancheng acknowledged her, watched the two of them leave through the door, and turned to the next page of his book.

Yet for some reason, even though his gaze was fixed upon the words, his mind was entirely blank.

It was not until the sound of Chen Shunzi calling from outside the door reached him that he finally snapped back to reality and said, "Come in."

"Hehe! Brother Cheng, you even left the door unlocked for me?" Chen Shunzi walked in with a good-natured grin.

He had a sturdy, rugged build, and his face was tanned a deep brown from the sun—the unmistakable mark of hard labor.

Song Tiancheng smiled. "Otherwise, do you think I could get up to open the door for you?"

"Heh, of course not." Chen Shunzi scratched his head, peered through the window at Song Tiancheng's leg wrapped up like a zongzi, and asked, "Brother Cheng, when is this leg of yours going to heal? I was planning to have you start my son's schooling."

Song Tiancheng fought down the impulse to whack him over the head with his book. "His diapers haven't even come off yet, and you're already thinking about him starting school?"

Whose child was he trying to curse?

"Heh-heh, just joking, just joking. So, what did you call me over for?"

Song Tiancheng put down his book and said softly, "I remember your father-in-law used to be a hunter. Could you help me ask him—"

"Just this?" Chen Shunzi clapped his hands upon hearing the request. "That's wonderful! My father-in-law's place has just the thing. Should I go get it for you?"