‘Spring is the season when everything grows’. Upon arriving here, stepping into nature and the fields, Qu Qing finally understood the true meaning of this phrase.
The flowers and grass were growing wildly, trees sprouted lush new leaves, and butterflies and bees fluttered around. In this place, there wasn’t a single bad scenery, but Qu Qing had no mind
to slow down and enjoy it. He used a sickle to dig up various edible wild vegetables growing on the ground when he was distracted.
After some time, when he finally came to his senses, he realized he had gathered more wild vegetables than needed—enough to last for two days. So he stopped, gathered the vegetables, and began walking back.
In between, he squinted up at the sun and guessed it was nearly noon, around twelve. It was time for lunch, and his stomach had indeed begun to growl.
Touching his belly, he remembered all kinds of meats he had eaten before and couldn’t help but swallow. By now, it had been three days since he arrived in this world, and Qu Qing realized he was beginning to crave meat. He had eaten vegetables for three days straight, with barely any oil, and hadn’t touched a single piece of meat. He felt like his mouth was drying out from the blandness.
Reaching to the edge of the field, he called out to the two people working there, one big and one small: “Let’s go home for lunch.”
When the two saw him, they both sighed in relief. Hua Zizhou picked up the tools, took Qu Xin by the hand, and followed behind Qu Qing.
Qu Qing temporarily put aside the earlier unpleasantness out of his mind and began to think about whether there was any way to improve their current life and get some meat to eat.
He mentally listed all the possible methods he could think of and explored every way to obtain meat.
Hunting is certainly one of the quickest ways to get meat, but for him right now, it’s definitely not an option. First, he needs to tend the fields and has no time for it. Second, he’s just an ordinary modern person, pampered and without any survival skills. He hadn’t even watched survival shows back in the modern world, so his experience in the wild was basically zero. What’s more, he had no knowledge of the mountains here, so rushing in blindly would be suicidal.
Breaking the law is obviously out of the question, so the next best thing was to raise chickens, ducks, or fish… wait, fish?234
Qu Qing immediately thought of it—there was drinking water here. If he could catch fish, wouldn’t that mean he could have meat? Although he had never caught fish before, he could find a way. It was much easier than hunting, but he wasn’t sure where he could catch fish around here.
As he walked, he glanced back: “Zizhou, I have a question for you.”
Hua Zizhou, holding Mao’er, had been racking his brain trying to figure out how to calm him down. Hearing Qu Qing speak to him first took him by surprise.
“Are there fish in the river at the foot of the mountain?”
“There are. Do you want to catch some?”
“We’ll see… I don’t have time right now.” Qu Qing thought of all the unfinished work in the fields. It wasn’t a good time to waste on catching fish, so he set the idea aside for now. But then he reconsidered—although he couldn’t personally go catch fish, he could make tools like fish traps. Placing them in the river could occasionally improve their meals without much effort.
After some thought, he decided to put the matter on his agenda for the time being. There was plenty of bamboo around, so after finishing farm work in the evening, before it got completely dark, he could try to craft a primitive fish trap. Even if it failed, the cost would be minimal.
In addition, raising chickens, ducks, and other livestock could be part of his plan. In the future, he would also consider livestock like cows, pigs, and dogs.
Only by raising these livestock himself could he have meat whenever he wanted. As for buying it, that was out of the question for now—at least until he figured out how to make money. Buying meat, such a luxury, was impossible to consider at this moment.
Moreover, after harvesting the crops, he would still have to pay the grain tax, which meant that not all the produce from his land would belong to him. He still didn’t know how high the taxes were during this time period.
Thinking about all these miscellaneous things, Qu Qing felt it was necessary to make a five-year plan for his life in ancient times.
By the time he returned home, he was really hungry. Probably because all the work was physically demanding and the food was so low in fat, even though he had eaten plenty in the morning, he was still very hungry now.
Looking at the limited amount of grain, Qu Qing measured out just enough to feed the two adults and the child, then began preparing the wild vegetables.
Hua Zizhou, holding Qu Xin’s hand, hesitated before saying, “There’s not much rice left at home. Actually… Qu Xin and I can eat less to save some food…” In the days he’d been living here, he had been busy with chores inside and out, and he was well aware of the food reserves in the house. Although he enjoyed feeling full, seeing the food dwindle day by day made him anxious and guilty.
Qu Qing didn’t like others questioning decisions he’d already made. Besides, Hua Zizhou was fundamentally from a different world—there was no common ground between their experiences or knowledge. In addition, the earlier unpleasant episode had made Qu Qing realize that these two didn’t fully trust him, so he was a bit upset. Naturally, he didn’t want to say a word in response to a question he didn’t care to answer. After setting the rice to cook, he noticed his hand, which had touched water while washing the rice, and it’s faintly hurting, so he told Hua Zizhou to cook the vegetables instead.
“Make sure to wash them thoroughly. I don’t want any dirt or bugs in the food, understand?” His slight obsession with cleanliness was the reason he’d insisted on cooking himself for the past few days.
Hua Zizhou nodded in acknowledgment. It wasn’t until Qu Qing had gone outside that he realized his well-intentioned words had been completely ignored. Even Qu Xin, who had been following him, wanted to approach Qu Qing but hesitated when he saw his cold expression.
After Qu Qing gave his orders and left, both Hua Zizhou and Qu Xin felt a little down. Hua Zizhou nervously washed the wild vegetables, and Qu Xin helped, but both of them wore troubled expressions.
The dining table was very quiet. It was usually silent, but Qu Qing would at least serve them food. Today is different—there was no interaction at all aside from them quietly eating with their heads down.
After Qu Qing finished eating, he sat down to rest for a while. Suddenly, he heard a child crying nearby. Since no one lived around here and the mountain was right behind the house, he was curious who it was. He went to the door to take a look and saw a boy around ten years old walking past his house, crying pitifully.
Qu Qing glanced behind the boy but didn’t see any adults following him. Hua Zizhou also came out to look. In an attempt to strike up a conversation with Qu Qing, he tentatively said, “Oh, it’s the hunter family’s kid.”
“Hunter?” Qu Qing, who had thought about hunting earlier that morning, started calculating in his mind. If he could build a good relationship with this boy, how likely would it be for him to ask the boy’s father to teach him how to hunt?
“Yeah, but I heard from people in the village that the hunter went into the mountains over a month ago and hasn’t returned yet, so it’s likely that he… died in the mountains.”
Qu Qing felt a bit regretful. He had just thought about becoming a disciple under the hunter, but now it seemed that the man was likely dead before he even had the chance. He asked, “Doesn’t this kid have any family?”
Seeing that Qu Qing was willing to chat, Hua Zizhou felt a surge of joy, but he suppressed the smile creeping onto his face and calmly explained, “His mother died a few years ago. It’s just him and his dad. If his dad really is dead, then he’ll become an orphan…” As he spoke the last part, his tone turned sad and sympathetic, thinking this boy was even more pitiful than himself.
The boy, who had been crying as he passed by, probably overheard their conversation. He suddenly glared fiercely at Qu Qing and shouted through his sobs, “Your dad is dead! My dad is not dead! He’s fine! He will be back soon!”
Hua Zizhou’s father had indeed died, so he felt choked by the boy’s words.
However, Qu Qing suddenly chuckled and loudly responded to the boy, “You’re right, my dad is dead. Hey, little brat, why were you crying earlier?”
“None of your business!” the boy shouted back angrily, stubbornly wiping his tear- and snot-covered face with his sleeve. Holding back his sobs, he continued walking forward, ignoring them.
In Qu Qing’s eyes, the boy was just like a frightened little kitten puffing up in defense.
Looking in the direction the boy was headed, Qu Qing recalled what Hua Zizhou had said earlier. The kid was probably going into the mountains to look for his father. But considering his dad had been missing for over a month, if something had happened to him in the mountains, even his bones would have been devoured by wild animals by now. And for such a young child, barely grown, to recklessly venture into the deep mountains alone—it was a death sentence.
Seeing the boy already walking along the mountain path, Qu Qing couldn’t help but feel worried. Hua Zizhou and Qu Xin, standing silently nearby, didn’t say a word. Perhaps they knew they weren’t in charge of this household, or perhaps they were preoccupied with the fact that there wasn’t enough food to go around, dreading the upcoming days of hunger. Whatever their thoughts, it was clear they had no intention of getting involved.
Qu Qing couldn’t stand it. If this were someone else’s problem, he might join in the conversation, lamenting alongside others. But now that he had witnessed it firsthand, and he alone had seen it, he knew if he didn’t do something, his conscience would haunt him endlessly.
But his current situation was like a clay Bodhisattva crossing a river [1]“clay Bodhisattva crossing a river” (泥菩萨过河) is a Chinese idiom that means someone is in such a difficult or precarious situation that they are unable to help others, much like a … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3338705_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3338705_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });—he could barely take care of himself. There wasn’t enough food at home, nowhere to accommodate anyone, and he had no idea where the next month’s grain would come from.
His mind told him he couldn’t take on this burden, but emotionally, Qu Qing couldn’t just sit by and watch.
As frustration churned inside him and the boy was about to disappear from sight, Qu Qing gritted his teeth, walked a little farther, and shouted at the boy’s retreating figure, “Hey—! Little brat!”
The boy’s figure paused in the grass and turned to look at Qu Qing but didn’t respond. “If—you haven’t found your dad by tonight, come to my house!”
The faint echo of his voice lingered in the mountains.
After Qu Qing shouted, he cursed himself for being too much of a soft-hearted fool, but he didn’t regret it.
Unexpectedly, the kid, upon hearing Qu Qing’s words, shouted back with full force, “Get lost! I don’t need your pity. I have my dad! I’ll definitely find him!” After that, he then turned around and ran up the mountain as if some terrible beast was chasing him.
Watching the boy’s retreating figure, Qu Qing thought he had done his part. It’s impossible for him to drag the boy back to his home by force. Whether the child returned later was his own choice. As an onlooker, Qu Qing felt he had done all he could to ease his conscience.
He stopped watching the boy charge up the mountain, turned back to the house, and decided to wrap some cloth around his hands for the afternoon’s farm work.
Meanwhile, inside, Hua Zizhou, who had been washing dishes, paused when he heard Qu Qing shout. He immediately recalled the moment three days ago when Qu Qing had said to him, “Come in.” Now, he heard the same tone in Qu Qing’s words to the child.
Qu Qing really was a truly good person, a very good person.
Hua Zizhou’s eyes couldn’t help but become misty. He felt like he’s the most despicable person in the world. He discreetly wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, then continued washing the dishes. Afterward, when he went outside to dump the water, he quietly pulled Qu Xin under a tree and asked him seriously, “Mao’er, isn’t your dad the best person in the world?”
Little Qu Xin didn’t understand why his dad suddenly used his old name, even though he had promised never to call him that again. Sensing his dad’s sadness, Qu Xin didn’t ask any questions. He simply nodded and answered without hesitation, “Yes!”
“Then…” Hua Zizhou’s voice faltered and became much quieter. He lowered his head, blinking hard to keep his tears at bay. “Let’s stop lying to him, okay? He’s truly a good person. No one in
this village is better than him. I’m not afraid of him discovering our secret and kicking us out. But I’m so afraid of disappointing him, of seeing the look of betrayal in his eyes when he finds out we’ve been hiding something so important from him. I’m sorry, Mao’er. I promise you, you’re definitely not a monster, nor are you cursed. But… others might think that. If he finds out… I just don’t want to deceive him anymore, and I don’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes.”
Little Qu Xin slowly opened his other eye, a brilliant sapphire blue, filled with sadness that only made his gaze more enchantingly beautiful. He quietly looked at Hua Zizhou for a while before softly uttering a heavy and sorrowful word.
“Okay.”
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