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Qu Qing spent quite a bit of effort cutting Gou’er’s hair. Although the buzz cut he managed with a kitchen knife didn’t look bad, it still felt a bit off and took some getting used to. He couldn’t help but laugh a little, and Mao’er next to him looked on in astonishment at the now drastically changed Gou’er.

Gou’er, feeling uncomfortable, touched his prickly scalp. The cool sensation on his head was quite uncomfortable.

Qu Qing cleaned the hair off the kitchen knife and said, “All done. It might look a bit strange, but it’s to get rid of the lice. Just bear with it, new hair will grow back in a few months. Now it’s Mao’er’s turn.” He glanced at the little Mao’er.

Gou’er nodded, helping Mao’er onto the stool. He had expected Mao’er to be scared, but Mao’er bravely looked up at Qu Qing.

Qu Qing, squinting in the sunlight, looked at Mao’er. His face was dirty, and a lot of hair covered his forehead and eyes. Qu Qing bent down to lift the hair off Mao’er’s forehead. Mao’er instinctively shrank back, clearly frightened, but he didn’t run away, although the main reason is because Gou’er was firmly holding his shoulders.

Qu Qing had seen children crying during haircuts before and didn’t want to face that situation, so he asked Gou’er to hold Mao’er.

This gave Qu Qing a chance to see Mao’er’s face clearly. He noticed something odd—Mao’er only opened his right eye while his left eye was tightly shut. Qu Qing wondered if this child was naturally one-eyed.

Although puzzled, Qu Qing continued his work. He carefully trimmed Mao’er’s messy hair and tried his best to ignore the lice. He quickly gave Mao’er a buzz cut.

Satisfied with his work, Qu Qing nodded and then started fixing his own hair. Without a mirror, he had to rely on feeling.

The two men, one big and one small, have neatly trimmed hair now. The two watched Qu Qing with wide eyes, looking very surprised that they didn’t even blink for a moment.

After finishing his own hair, Qu Qing noticed the sun was setting and guessed it was around three or four o’clock. He began tidying up and saw the pile of hair on the ground. It seemed a waste to throw it away, so he wondered if it could be recycled. He turned to Gou’er and asked, “Can the hair be sold?”

Gou’er nodded, “My family often collects fallen hair. Every so often, a peddler will come, and we can sell it by the pound to them or trade it for some small items.”

“That’s good.” This was indeed good news. Qu Qing squatted down to gather up the long hair, and there was quite a lot of it. He took it to the kitchen and placed it in a wooden basin. Just then, the water boiled, so he used a spoon to pour the hot water into the basin to scald the hair, which would help eliminate the lice.

He then took a cloth, dampened it with water, and thoroughly wiped down the wooden bed. Turning around, he saw Gou’er looking at him with eager eyes at the door and remembered that he wasn’t alone. He instructed Gou’er to find a broom and clean the yard first.

Since the weather was nice, the wooden bed dried quickly after being wiped down. Qu Qing took the cloth outside, where Gou’er was diligently sweeping the ground, and Mao’er was following closely beside him. When Mao’er saw Qu Qing come out, he didn’t stop his movements but kept his eyes on Qu Qing.

Qu Qing went to checked the straw drying in the yard and found it ready. He carried a large bundle and walked straight into the room. Seeing this, Gou’er put down his broom and helped. While Qu Qing arranged the straw on the bed, Gou’er carried in another bundle. Qu Qing took it and spread it evenly on the bed, carefully arranging the straw to avoid any poking. During this time, Gou’er didn’t say anything and just continued bring in the remaining straw.

With help, Qu Qing focused on arranging the bed. While spreading the straw, he’s wondering whether he could weave a mattress from it if he couldn’t afford one. It was just that he didn’t have the skill to do this and also lacked the tools. However, he knew he couldn’t keep sleeping on a pile of straw—he must find a way to improve it as lying on such a bed would certainly be uncomfortable.

While he was busy arranging things, he casually reached for the straw he had brought in. Feeling something was off when he grabbed it, he turned to look and realized that little Mao’er was also helping out. He gently patted Mao’er’s head and continued with his own work.

When Mao’er felt Qu Qing’s hand reach out, he instinctively closed his eyes tightly. Remembering Gou’er’s warning to avoid making Qu Qing unhappy, he stood still, fearing he might be punished. To his surprise, Qu Qing’s Qu Qing merely used his warm hand to gently pat his head.

Mao’er stared at Qu Qing’s broad back in daze, he felt something bloom inside him. The world seemed brighter, and he couldn’t help but open his other eye, revealing blue pupils. It seemed like there was a lake from the Tianshan Mountains [1]Tianshan Mountains, or Tian Shan, are a major mountain range in Central Asia, spanning about 2,500 kilometers (1,600

miles) across China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Known as the … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3527581_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3527581_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, reflecting the colors of the sky. In that beautiful lake, a figure was mirrored.

“Mao’er—!” When Gou’er came in and saw Mao’er’s opened his other eye. His eyes widened in shock, and fearing the consequences of being caught, he screamed out.

Mao’er realized he had made a mistake, quickly turned around, and ran outside. When Qu Qing looked back, he just saw Mao’er’s back as he turned around and ran away. He ran so fast that he stumbled at the footstep. He waited until the kid got up before asking Gou’er, “What happened?”

Gou’er smiled awkwardly, replied, “Nothing, I just… I just…” He couldn’t come up with a lie and was too afraid to tell the truth.

Seeing Gou’er’s reaction, Qu Qing didn’t ask any further and let him continue sweeping the yard.

After arranging the straw on the bed, he bent down to organize the messy things scattered on the ground. After tidying up a bit, he went outside and saw that the sun was almost setting. He figured the bedding he had washed should be dry by now, so he went out to get it.

When he returned, he happily placed the freshly washed clothes and bedding on the bed. As he started putting on the quilt cover, he suddenly remembered that the water in the kitchen was still hot. Glancing outside at the two dirty figures, one big and one small, who were tidying things up, he went to the kitchen and saw a large pot of boiling water, now only simmering on low heat.

Next to it, the hair in the wooden basin had somehow already been neatly organized and was soaking in the water.

He picked up the hair, wrung out the water, tied it with a few pieces of straw, and hung it on the pear tree outside. Then, carrying the wooden bucket, he stopped Gou’er from following him, fetched another bucket of cold water, and firmly insisted that the two of them go to the kitchen to take a bath.

“From head to toe, every corner must be thoroughly cleaned, understand? This is soapberry, use it to wash. The water is already inside. Also…” As he spoke, he went to the bed and brought out two pieces of his own clothing. Since Mao’er was too small, he picked a short shirt. “These two are clean clothes to change into after washing. Wear these once you’re done, got it?”

This was the moment when Qu Qing spoke most firmly today. Gou’er thought to himself that this person must be very particular about cleanliness. Seeing his own dusty body, he refrained from mentioning that he had already washed yesterday, obediently took the clothes, and went to bathe with Mao’er.

Qu Qing, feeling satisfied, softened his expression and turned to survey the courtyard. After cleaning, it looked much more comfortable, and the inside was almost tidied up as well. Even the dust and stains on the cabinet had been wiped away, giving the entire shabby thatched house a refreshed feeling. He went over to put the quilt cover on the bedding, neatly folded the clothes one by one, and placed them in the wooden box. After organizing everything, he went to the courtyard, looked at the pear blossoms in full bloom on the tree, and contemplated the things he had learned today.

He almost searched every corner of this home and could confirm that the original owner was indeed very poor. He found nothing resembling coins. He organized his current possessions: the deed to three acres of land, this shabby thatched house, and the worn-out bench, table, and chairs he carried. For food, there were a few bags of seeds in the adjacent room, a third of a

rice jar filled with rice infested with weevils in the kitchen, and in addition to that, a large pot, a wooden basin, a wooden bucket, a small iron pot, and several sets of bowls and chopsticks. As for farming tools, there was only a sickle, two rusty hoes, and a bamboo woven backpack.

Most of the things were scattered and disorganized. Only when he saw these farming tools did he deeply realize that starting today, he would be living here for ten years. Unless something unexpected happened, he would have to rely on his own hands to become a true farmer, working hard to plow the fields and face the earth.

Even someone who has never farmed knows that surviving by growing crops is definitely not an easy task. Moreover, as someone who has lived in a society focused on achievements, he can almost say he has had no exposure to agriculture. Yet now, he must begin to rely on farming to support himself. All of this feels truly surreal.

At first, Qu Qing found all of this very hard to accept. However, thinking about the large sum of money he had received and calculating that it averaged to a monthly salary of 25,000, he felt—He can do it!

At worst, he could just treat farming as a job.

Since that’s the case, he decided to start working from tomorrow.

Feeling somewhat reassured, he began to plan tonight’s dinner. However, since the kitchen was still in use, he got up and took a stroll up the back mountain to familiarize himself with the surroundings. When he returned after a while, he saw that the two of them had just finished washing and were hanging the wet, clean clothes on the branches of the pear tree.

After checking, Qu Qing saw that the two were indeed clean and nodded in satisfaction. He then went to fetch water to wash the rice and cook it. Since there were no vegetables, he had to grab a few potatoes and hand them to Gou’er, asking him to peel and chop them.

He began to prepare and tidy up the stove.

Once the rice was cooked, he started to stir-fry the shredded potatoes. Fortunately, although there weren’t many items in the house, they did have basic necessities like firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar, though the quantities were in a rather unoptimistic state. He would have to find a way to replenish these supplies.

While he was cooking, Gou’er beside him was gulping eagerly, and Mao’er outside was also staring with wide eyes, his stomach rumbling.

The dishes, once prepared, emitted a strong aroma. Qu Qing handed one to Mao’er and asked him to bring it to the table inside the house, while he turned to scoop rice into bowls—two large bowls and one small bowl. The rice was a bit scorched, after all, this wasn’t a rice cooker.

When Gou’er came in and saw the three bowls of white rice, he was a bit dazed. When Qu Qing handed one to him, he found it hard to believe, thinking, could it be for himself and Mao’er? But then he quickly denied it, wondering if perhaps Qu Qing had some strange habit of serving three bowls for his meal? After all, even when he was at home, rice was always very precious and he would never have the chance to have some.

One dish, three bowls of rice. Qu Qing took three pairs of chopsticks and sat down at the table. He saw the two standing in front, staring hungrily at the food on the table, their mouths almost watering. He picked up his bowl and said to them, “Come over and sit down.”

Gou’er was momentarily stunned, while Mao’er poked Gou’er, swallowing hard. “Are you still waiting for me to feed you?” Qu Qing asked.

The two hurriedly sat down but continued to stare longingly at the fragrant dishes in front of them, still too hesitant to move.

Qu Qing felt a bit helpless, so he used his chopsticks to pick up a few bites for them.

References[+]

miles) across China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Known as the “Heavenly Mountains,” they feature rugged peaks, deep valleys, and the highest peak, Victory Peak, at 7,439 meters (24,406 feet).

Chapter 5