Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Early the next morning, Shen Guoqing led a whole troop of kids up the back mountain.

Shen Zhenhua and Shen Wenyi, who were waiting at the foot of the mountain, couldn't help but laugh. Shen Wenyi, the third son of the village production team leader and the same age as Shen Guoqing, was a childhood buddy and spoke casually. He teased, "Have you become the top kid now? Oh, that kid Xiaoshunzi from the accountant's family might just come looking for a fight with you later."

Children were born in the village in batches, and every three to five years, a new leader of the kids would emerge. The current one was said to be Xiaoshunzi, the thirteen-year-old youngest son of accountant Zhao Youliang's family.

Shen Guoqing rolled his eyes. "Let him come. If he cries from being beaten, it's on me."

That kid was a real brat, spoiled by his family and often bullied other children. The worst part was that despite his young age, he was a coward who picked on those from poor backgrounds or families with bad class backgrounds. Every time Shen Guoqing saw him, his hands itched to teach him a lesson.

Shen Zhenhua chuckled. "Alright, don't stoop to his level." He pointed at Xiao Dizi, who was being carried single-handedly by Shen Banyue. "Why did you bring such a little kid along?"

Although they were taking a group of children, they wouldn't venture deep into the mountains. Still, the mountain paths were rugged, and such a young child would be nothing but a burden.

The others were a handful too, but at least they were better off than this one.

Xiao Dizi blinked her big eyes and immediately clung tighter to Shen Banyue. "Xiao Dizi be good." Earlier, when they were about to leave, Shen Guoqing had wanted to leave her at home, and she already understood the adults' intentions.

"Hey, hey, you're good, you're good. We won't leave you behind. We're taking you with us." Seeing the little dumpling's lips quiver, Shen Guoqing quickly soothed her and explained to Shen Zhenhua, "My dad didn't even eat breakfast and took off for the east end of the village. My mom's leg isn't healed yet, and there's no one at home to watch her."

He pointed at Shen Banyue. "Don't worry, this little girl is crazy strong. Carrying a child, she walks faster than I do. No problem at all. It's the rest of these kids—Wendong, you help your brother keep an eye on these ones."

The village school had no classes today, so Shen Zhenhua had brought along his eleven-year-old eldest son, Shen Wendong.

Shen Wendong was fair and clean-cut. Unlike his father, his personality was somewhat introverted. While the adults were talking, he watched Shen Banyue and the others curiously. Hearing that Shen Banyue had great strength, he gave this skinny little sister a second look.

Hearing Shen Guoqing's words, he nodded seriously. "Brother Guoqing, I'll definitely watch them carefully."

Shen Zhenhua ruffled his son's hair. "Alright, let's head up the mountain then."

After the autumn harvest, there was less work in the fields. Villagers loved going up the mountain when they had free time. The area near the foot of the mountain was practically stripped bare—not just wild vegetables and wild mushrooms, but even weeds were nearly all picked. They had to go past a small hillside and walk further in to find anything.

Besides, their main goal today was to find wood, and there was even less of that near the village.

Even though Shen Guoqing said the little girl was fine, Shen Zhenhua was ready to take a turn carrying the little one partway up the mountain.

It wasn't until they had climbed for a while and he saw that the little girl really didn't seem tired at all—walking swiftly and often accidentally darting ahead of them—that he finally felt at ease.

Past the hillside, there was a relatively flat clearing. Despite the early hour, someone was already there foraging for greens.

Shen Guoqing pointed out a spot for the children, indicating they should stay and play in that area. He also found a familiar commune member nearby and asked them to keep a bit of an eye on the kids. Then, he, Shen Zhenhua, and Shen Wenyi continued further into the forest ahead.

The group of children stood there, looking around. Shen Wendong thought they were scared and comforted them, "We come here often. There are no wild beasts."

Little Stone nodded. "I see wild vegetables. Too bad there's no fruit."

Xiao Jie and Xiao Wei followed behind him. "Let's dig for wild vegetables together."

Xiao Zhuzi was a bit disappointed. "There is no bamboo here."

These kids weren't what he'd expected. Shen Wendong comforted Xiao Zhuzi, "There's bamboo on that small hill at the east end of the village. I'll take you there another day."

Xiao Zhuzi immediately brightened up and happily followed Little Stone and the others to look for wild vegetables.

Xiao Dizi, having recently gotten familiar with Xiao Jie and the others, wiggled her little bottom down from Shen Banyue and toddled after them on her short legs.

Shen Wendong looked at the two still standing in place and hesitated before asking, "Don't you want to dig for wild vegetables? How about we go look over in that grassy area? Sometimes we find wild chicken eggs there." Of course, that required sheer luck.

But before coming, his father had said that these children were just here to play. Whether they found anything wasn't important.

Lin Mian paused for a moment and said honestly, "I don't know how to forage for greens, identify fruits, or dig for worms... I'll go with you to look for wild chicken eggs."

Shen Wendong was taken aback by his earnest tone, then nodded after a moment. "Okay."

He looked at Shen Banyue. Shen Banyue, who also couldn't identify wild vegetables or fruits, put on a solemn little face. "Mm, let's go find wild chicken eggs." Although she seriously doubted any wild chicken would be hanging around this area.

Glancing back at the other little kids, seeing them squatting together obediently with few trees around and a relatively open view, Shen Banyue felt reassured and followed Shen Wendong as he walked a bit to the side.

The vegetation here was denser. Shen Wendong soon found a cluster of mushrooms and squatted down to pick them. "These are really good. They're delicious stir-fried or in soup. Let's pick these to take back too. If you don't want to pick, you can wait for me nearby."

Shen Banyue and Lin Mian, completely clueless, exchanged a glance and copied him, picking all the ones nearby that looked similar.

Then the three of them found two more clusters of mushrooms and a small patch of edible black fungus in the vicinity. They didn't find anything else for a good while. After wandering around for quite a while, suddenly, Lin Mian let out an "Ah!" and straightened up, turning to look at Shen Banyue. Shen Banyue immediately darted over and peeked. "Wow!"

Shen Wendong came over too. Seeing the round, speckled eggs in the grass, his mouth fell open in surprise.

Although it happened sometimes for someone to find eggs around here, it was extremely rare. He'd really just been making conversation.

"You've got amazing luck," Shen Wendong exclaimed.

"Good job," Shen Banyue patted Lin Mian's shoulder.

Lin Mian smiled sheepishly.

The three of them quickly gathered the eggs into the basket. There were quite a few, more than ten.

Shen Banyue stared at the eggs for a moment and muttered, "Chickens lay eggs, eggs hatch into chickens. Since the eggs are here, the chicken shouldn't be far, right?"

Shen Wendong shook his head. "Wild chickens run very fast. We can't catch them."

Shen Banyue wagged a finger. "No, it's *you* who can't catch them." That didn't include her.

"Watch Xiao Dizi and the others."

After giving the instruction, Shen Banyue darted off. Her senses were sharp. While picking up the eggs, she had already spotted a few chicken feathers in the grass not far away, and there seemed to be some movement even further off.

Shen Wendong wanted to stop her, but in almost the blink of an eye, that thin, small figure disappeared into the grass. Her speed was so fast it seemed less like running and more like an arrow.

His expression blank for a moment, Shen Wendong said hesitantly, "Should we go after her?"

Lin Mian thought seriously for a while and shook his head. "She's very capable. Let's wait for her here."

Shen Wendong struggled with the decision for a bit but finally nodded. Mainly because they simply couldn't catch up.

With no clumsy children holding her back, Shen Banyue, sprinting through the mountain forest, was like a fish in water, her speed like a wind sweeping through the woods. Before long, she found a red-faced, long-tailed wild chicken in the grass under a large tree. Without any effort, she grabbed it by the throat, sealing its fate.

Shen Banyue didn't linger in the woods either. There were still a bunch of real kids outside. She quickly retraced her path, carrying the chicken.

Just as she reached the edge of the clearing, she heard crying—a small, milky voice full of grievance, unmistakably Xiao Dizi's.

Shen Banyue ran over swiftly. "What happened?"

In the center of the clearing, two groups of children stood facing each other. One side, apart from the slightly taller Shen Wendong, were all little kids. The other side were all teenagers in their teens.

Shen Wendong turned and saw her, letting out a sigh of relief. "You're back!" When he clearly saw the wild chicken in Shen Banyue's hand, he gasped in surprise. "You really caught a chicken!"

Shen Banyue gave an "Mm," picked up Xiao Dizi who was huddled by Lin Mian's feet, patted her, and gestured with her chin toward the opposite side. "What's going on?"

The boy leading the opposite group grinned slyly, his tone defiant. "We found those eggs earlier and were keeping them there on purpose. You taking them is stealing. Give them back now."

He pointed at the wild chicken in Shen Banyue's hand. "And this wild chicken too. We set a trap for it earlier. If you don't give it back, we'll beat you up!"