Tai Yongning, however, dragged his lame leg and hung his head low.
Yang Lihua couldn't bear to see her son like this, so she quickly stuffed the well-fed little girl into his arms.
Holding the soft, fragrant baby sister, Tai Yongning immediately forgot his dejection.
After the meal, Tai Jizu was ready to set off with the three boys.
Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue crowded around their sister, thumping their chests in promise.
"Sister, wait for us—Third Brother will catch you a mountain chicken!"
"And a rabbit too—Fourth Brother will snare you a whole den of them!"
Yang Lihua was clearing the table when she heard this. She reached out and patted the two boys on the back, admonishing them, "Even if you don't catch any mountain chickens or rabbits, you're still Zhuzhu's brothers!
"What happened yesterday was indeed your fault, but Zhuzhu has woken up, and you've caught fish—consider that your penance."
Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue felt guilty, shrinking their necks and reddening around the eyes.
They'd thought the family didn't know.
They'd spent the whole day and night tormented by guilt, worried their sister might suddenly turn simple again—it was worse than death…
It turned out that yesterday, the two brothers had been tasked with watching over their sister, and when they got bored, they'd taken her out to play.
Then, over some trivial matter, they'd gotten into a quarrel with the village boys.
After the fight, they turned around and found their sister had been pushed down by Gousheng…
If it hadn't been for their carelessness, their sister wouldn't have hurt her head!
Old Master Tai picked up his pipe and tapped his grandsons on the head, setting the tone for the earlier incident. "You know you've wronged Zhuzhu, so treat her better from now on. If there's a next time, I'll break your legs."
"No, Grandfather, we'd never dare again."
"That's right, we definitely wouldn't dare!"
Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue quickly nodded their big heads, bobbing like chicks pecking at rice.
This made Zhuzhu clap her chubby little hands and giggle, and the whole family laughed along…
Though the New Year had passed, spring was still a long way off in the northern lands.
The snowdrifts in and around the village were too thick, showing no signs of melting.
Tai Jizu led the way, stepping into the snow hollows, each step leaving a deep print as loose snow quickly poured into his shoes, but he pressed on steadfastly.
Tai Yongan and the other two boys followed closely behind, stepping in his footprints, which saved them a great deal of effort.
The north wind blew straight into their faces, and no one dared speak.
Otherwise, swallowing a bellyful of cold wind was no joke—unless you wanted to lie on the kang for half a day, you'd end up with a stomachache or a chill.
Puffs of white breath shot from the four's mouths, quickly settling on their eyelashes and brows, condensing into a layer of frost that would slightly melt and then freeze into ice crystals.
The hardship of the north was something the people of the south could never imagine.
No wonder northerners were fierce—if they were even the slightest bit weak, they couldn't survive fighting heaven, earth, and blizzards!
Just as they reached the foot of the back mountain, Tai Jizu spotted an old man chopping firewood.
Perhaps hearing the noise, the old man turned around, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth in a grin.
Tai Jizu quickly greeted him, "Uncle Dumb, have you run out of firewood at home?"
The old man nodded, raising his hand to gesture animatedly for quite a while, seeming quite enthusiastic.
Tai Jizu guessed at the meaning and smiled, "Thank you for your concern, Uncle Dumb. Our Zhuzhu is much better now.
"I've brought the boys here to see if we can catch some rabbits or wild chickens to nourish Zhuzhu."
Dumb nodded, pointed to the north side of the mountain, and gestured some more.
Then he shouldered his firewood and left, his tattered straw raincoat flapping open in the wind, revealing arms red from the cold.
Tai Jizu called the boys to follow him northward. "Uncle Dumb says there are the most bird nests on the north side—let's go see if we can find some bird eggs."
Tai Yongan and the others cheered, scrambling to run ahead.
Tai Yonglu hadn't forgotten to shout, "Sanpang said he smelled meat on Uncle Dumb before—Uncle Dumb must sneak out to hunt a lot, so he knows best where the good stuff is!
"Hurry up, I want to dig up some bird eggs to boil for sister!"
Tai Jizu followed behind, smiling, not taking it to heart.
Uncle Dumb wasn't a Tai by surname—he was just an outsider who'd fled famine from the south years ago.
But since he couldn't speak, was always willing to lend a hand when anyone had work, and had a good temper, the villagers allowed him to stay and settle, and he'd lived in the village ever since.
Only, Uncle Dumb was getting on in years and occasionally went into town to beg.
The round trip of dozens of li took two or three days—how could he have the strength or skill to hunt?!
Every household in the village was struggling to get by. The kids were just starving crazy, seeing everyone as meat, wanting to take a bite out of anyone…
The four of them finally struggled through the snow hollows, crawling and climbing their way to the north side of the mountain. Sure enough, the woods were dense here, and there were plenty of bird nests in the treetops.
Only, the birds came in spring to build nests, lay eggs, and hatch chicks, then flew south in autumn—they wouldn't leave many eggs behind for the north wind to freeze for fun.
But Tai Jizu looked around—the snow beneath the trees was smooth and pristine, not even a single small animal track. Setting snares for hunting was definitely out of the question.
They'd have to try for bird eggs no matter what, or else the trip would be wasted.
Tai Yonglu and Tai Yongyue, however, hadn't thought that far ahead—they'd each already grabbed a tree and started climbing.
Unfortunately, they all came up empty-handed.
Tai Yongan also picked a tree and climbed up, only to end up just like his younger brothers.
Tai Jizu searched for a while and settled on the thickest tree near the cliff edge, which had three bird nests in it.
He simply took off his heavy padded coat, had his son hold it, and then climbed up with a cloth sack clenched between his teeth.
Heaven must have finally opened its eyes—all three nests had eggs in them, adding up to over twenty in total!
Below the tree, Tai Yongan, Tai Yonglu, and Tai Yongyue watched their father (uncle) collecting the eggs, already howling with excitement.
Tai Jizu laughed with joy too, shouting, "You little rascals, keep it down! Careful you don't stir up trouble. Wait until I get down…"
Mid-sentence, a snow pellet slipped into his collar, the chill making him instinctively hunch his neck forward.
Tai Jizu felt a cold gust behind his head, and before he could react, the branch he was using for support suddenly snapped…
With no support, Tai Jizu plunged straight off the tree and tumbled down the cliff!
"Dad!"
"Uncle!"
The three boys went frantic, rushing to the cliff edge and screaming at the top of their lungs.
Fortunately, Tai Jizu was caught twice by small trees growing out of the cliff face, finally landing on a clump of bushes.
Tai Yongan and the others wept and laughed with relief, tumbling and scrambling down the snowy slope on one side.
Tai Jizu, having narrowly escaped death, took a long moment to collect himself.
He rolled off the bushes and landed in a snowdrift, one hand clutching the cloth sack of eggs, the other bracing his body, turning his head to stare up at the cliff in shock and uncertainty.
By then, the three boys had arrived.
"Dad, are you okay? Did you hurt anywhere?" Tai Yongan helped his father up and draped the heavy coat over him.
Tai Yonglu also took the cloth sack and handed it to Tai Yongyue.
"I'm fine. The cliff isn't that high—I didn't hurt anything." Tai Jizu, not wanting the boys to worry, stood up and brushed the remaining snow off himself.
But something weighed on his mind. No matter how he looked at the silent snowfield around them, something felt off, so he hurried everyone home.