Only after he recognized the round piece of garbage as a scrapped Automobile tire did Liu Qingsong breathe a long sigh of relief.
But he did not climb down the garbage heap at once. Instead, he waited cautiously for a while.
He waited until the surroundings fell quiet and no more garbage rolled down before carefully climbing off the garbage heap.
To avoid accidents, Liu Qingsong hoisted the Fertilizer Sack onto his shoulder and headed for the exit.
Before he reached it, his right foot began to feel cold, making him look down instinctively.
He saw that something sharp protruding from the ground had sliced through the straw sandal on his right foot, stopping only a few millimeters from his big toe, and sucked in a cold breath.
Only then did he realize how dangerous this Myriad Realms Garbage Dump was.
One moment of carelessness and he'd get hurt.
"What could be this sharp?" Liu Qingsong muttered. He set down the Fertilizer Sack and crouched to dig the sharp object out of the ground.
Soon enough.
He had dug the sharp object out.
It was a strange-looking "Broken Blade"—no, more precisely, an odd single-edged weapon about fifty centimeters long. Ignoring the intricate Runes on its surface, it looked about thirty percent like the woodcutter's knife at home.
And like the woodcutter's knife, it was heavy — holding it in his hand, it weighed at least twenty-some catties.
Yet a few swings produced a tearing sound that split the air.
To test his suspicion, Liu Qingsong gripped the strange Broken Blade with both hands and swung it at a used tire nearby.
He expected it to leave, at most, a single gash. To his astonishment, the Broken Blade sliced the used tire in half, then cut through a rusted iron rod on the ground before stopping, with its momentum undiminished.
Liu Qingsong was utterly stunned by what he'd just seen.
He knew the broken blade was sharp.
But sharp enough to slice an entire used tire in half — that was beyond anything he could have imagined.
In other words, although the blade looked plain and broken, it was a rare treasure.
If he took it out to chop firewood, or went hunting with it, he'd surely get twice the result with half the effort.
Liu Qingsong came to his senses, wrapped the Broken Blade in a scrap of cloth, placed it in the Fertilizer Sack, and hurried toward the exit.
But he soon turned back.
There was no helping it—the Broken Blade had sliced his straw sandal apart.
If he didn't find a pair of shoes to replace it, he'd have to come to the Myriad Realms Garbage Dump barefoot from now on.
But in such a vast garbage dump, finding shoes that fit was difficult. Even if he found a suitable pair, he could not take them outside if they looked too flashy.
After all, it was now 1978.
He had to be careful about how reasonable the things he brought out looked.
Otherwise, if the relevant authorities took notice, he'd be in real trouble.
In other words, don't underestimate these shoes.
In truth, finding a few suitable pairs.
Finding a few suitable pairs was difficult.
But Liu Qingsong wasn't about to give up.
Seeing that searching through the vast garbage dump was too inefficient.
He turned his gaze to the tire the Broken Blade had sliced in two.
Then, his eyes lit up, and he took the broken blade out of the fertilizer sack and walked over.
Before his rebirth, plenty of ordinary people in Africa had made shoes out of used tires — it had even been on the news.
He had found it funny at the time, but now he felt it had taught him a great deal.
At least the tires in the Myriad Realms Garbage Dump meant that shoes would no longer be a problem for him and his family.
Liu Qingsong picked up the Broken Blade and began cutting the used tire. Because the blade was sharp, the work went smoothly.
Within a minute or two, he had cut the used tire into a dozen or so pieces.
After discarding the parts he didn't need, Liu Qingsong rolled up the rest, bundled them together, and put them into the fertilizer sack.
The Fertilizer Sack bulged with everything inside it and could hold no more. Satisfied, Liu Qingsong hoisted it onto his shoulder and headed for the exit.
Whoosh~~!
He stepped through the exit.
Liu Qingsong appeared at the Main Gate of the rear courtyard.
He looked back and saw that the Myriad Realms Garbage Dump in the rear courtyard had vanished. The familiar rear courtyard stood before him.
After a moment of surprise, Liu Qingsong smiled and walked inside.
He put the Fertilizer Sack in the woodshed and was about to go to the kitchen to wash his hands when little sister returned, carrying a small bundle of dry firewood on her back and chatting happily with Little Mochi.
Seeing the dry firewood bend little sister's back, Liu Qingsong hurried over and took it from her. "Don't carry such heavy firewood next time. Know your limits, got it?"
"Mm, got it." Little sister nodded repeatedly.
"Maternal Uncle, Mochi hungwy." Little Mochi chimed in too, then bit her index finger and looked toward the kitchen.
Clearly,
She wanted to eat Pan-Fried Diaozi Fish again.
Liu Qingsong guessed what Little Mochi was thinking.
Shaking his head with a smile, he said, "It's still early for dinner! But if you're really hungry, I can heat up the leftover Stewed Wild Rabbit Soup from this morning for you to eat."
"Yay! Yay!" Little Mochi clapped her small hands, then took little sister's hand and ran toward the kitchen.
"Slow down, you two." Afraid they'd trip, Liu Qingsong hurried after them.
A few minutes later, Liu Qingsong had heated up the Stewed Wild Rabbit Soup.
Just as he was about to take the pot off the stove, the kitchen's wooden door creaked open. The gaunt Fourth Sibling, Liu Qingshi, ran in with his schoolbag on his back, followed by the sallow, skinny Fifth Sibling, Liu Qinglong.
Fourth Sibling, Liu Qingshi, was ten years old this year and already in third grade.
But he was a little shorter than eight-year-old Fifth Sibling, Liu Qinglong.
Malnutrition was clearly the reason.
For some reason, the two brothers had come home more than an hour earlier than usual today, and both were barefoot. On top of that, Fifth Sibling had a swollen wound on his face.
Liu Qingsong furrowed his brow. "Fourth Sibling, did you and Fifth Sibling skip class and get into another fight today?"
If they hadn't skipped class.
There was no way they'd be home this early.
Huajiao Primary School was more than twenty li of mountain road from Wild Boar Ridge. Since classes ended a little after four o'clock, they should not have reached home before five.
But it was only just past four now, which was clearly off.
"Third Brother, we didn't skip class—the teacher chased us out." Liu Qingshi froze at the question, then answered timidly.
Seeing that Liu Qingsong hadn't scolded him or his younger brother Liu Qinglong.
He hurried toward the cupboard with his brother.
He took out a bowl and chopsticks, ladled in a large bowl of Stewed Wild Rabbit Soup, then crouched by the doorway and gulped it down.
"Drink slowly, you two." Liu Qingsong could tell they were starving. He rolled up his sleeves and ladled the remaining Stewed Wild Rabbit Soup and meat into bowls for Little Mochi and little sister.
Then he washed the pot and lit the fire.
He began pan-frying the marinated Diaozi Fish in fish oil.
Seeing this, Liu Qingshi's eyes lit up: "Third Brother, where'd you get this Diaozi Fish?"
Liu Qinglong looked at Liu Qingsong with curiosity as well.
At the same time, he was a bit puzzled.
Puzzled about what was going on at home today.
Why there was wild rabbit meat and now wild Diaozi Fish too.
It made him wonder if he was dreaming.
"I caught the Diaozi Fish by the river," Liu Qingsong replied softly, changing the subject. "By the way, why did the teacher chase you out? Was it because you hadn't paid your school fees?"
"Mm," Liu Qingshi nodded.
Liu Qinglong stayed silent, saying nothing.
But his reddened eyes told Liu Qingsong all he needed to know.
The two brothers had probably heard plenty of gossip at school.
Liu Qingsong understood the feeling well. After a long sigh, he said, "Then I'll go to school with you tomorrow and pay the school fees. Don't worry about the fees anymore."
"But... but..." Liu Qinglong started to say something, then stopped.
"Third Brother, don't bother comforting me, I know our family has no money at all." Saying this, Liu Qingshi lowered his head and licked the large bowl that had held the Stewed Wild Rabbit Soup clean, then continued, "So I don't want to go to school anymore. I want to come home and help second elder sister."
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Liu Qingsong's brow furrowed.
Only ten years old and already not wanting to study — what could he even do staying at home?
"Fourth Brother, you're wrong, our family has money now!" Little sister chimed in as well.
"Really... we have money?" Liu Qingshi and Liu Qinglong stared at Liu Qingsong in astonishment.
……