Mountain Closure
Wang Mazi was dead, his body nowhere to be found.
That day, as Yang Lan descended from the mountain, he overheard people discussing the matter and quickly picked up his pace, running home.
Not seeing Lin Qiao at the gate, Yang Lan’s heart tightened. After bidding farewell to Li Jiang, he rushed back home.
“Father, Lin Qiao, are you home?” He set down his basket and called out eagerly.
A head peeked out from the kitchen door, and Lin Qiao looked at him with delight. “Husband, you’re back early today?”
Seeing him, Yang Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Indeed, the weather was bad today, and it looked like it would rain soon. He and Li Jiang had come down the mountain over an hour earlier than usual, so it was no wonder Lin Qiao hadn’t been waiting at the gate.
Yang Lan shook his head with a smile, realizing his concern had been unnecessary.
Seeing him silent, Lin Qiao removed his apron and walked over. “Husband, what’s wrong? Are you looking for Father? He’s in the backyard feeding the pigs.”
“It’s nothing. I just have something to tell you.”
With that, he took Lin Qiao’s hand and led him into the room.
Lin Qiao asked blankly, “What happened?”
Yang Lan looked at him. Over the past half month, with better meals at home, Lin Qiao’s complexion had improved, though he was still quite frail.
Holding Lin Qiao’s hand, Yang Lan spoke softly, “Wang Mazi is dead.”
“What?” Hearing the name, Lin Qiao instinctively shuddered, then quickly recovered, asking in a daze, “He’s dead?”
Seeing Lin Qiao like this, Yang Lan felt a pang of heartache and pulled him into an embrace.
“The villagers say a hunter found pieces of his clothing. He was likely eaten by a wild animal. Lin Qiao, you don’t have to worry about him showing up and saying strange things anymore. Let’s pretend that incident never happened.”
Leaning against Yang Lan’s chest, Lin Qiao listened and tears began to fall.
It turned out his husband had always known about his inner turmoil and anxiety.
That day, he had resisted and struggled, not letting Wang Mazi take advantage of him, but if word got out, his reputation would be ruined.
At that point, even his husband would be mocked.
“Husband, thank you.” He held Yang Lan tightly, closing his eyes.
Lin Qiao cried uncontrollably, letting out all his grievances and fears.
Seeing this, Yang Lan actually felt relieved. He comforted him softly for a while, then helped him to bed. “Tonight, Father and I will cook. You should rest well.”
Coming out of the room, Yang Lan saw Zhang Shi carrying a bucket of pig feed from the backyard.
He hurried over, asking, “What’s going on? I thought I heard Lin Qiao crying. Did you bully him?”
Yang Lan’s mouth twitched. “It’s not me. He just got scared hearing about what happened in the village.”
Zhang Shi paused. “What happened in the village?”
He and Lin Qiao had gone out in the morning to gather pig grass and returned before noon, not going out again.
“Wang Mazi is dead. Someone found pieces of his clothing on Willow Mountain. He probably went up there looking for food and got eaten by a wild animal.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Shi’s bucket fell to the ground, and he nearly fainted.
Startled, Yang Lan quickly supported him.
After calming Zhang Shi down, when Yang Lan came out of Zhang Shi’s room, it was nearly dark.
He touched his empty stomach and chuckled bitterly, not expecting one incident to frighten two people so much.
Yang Lan cooked dinner that night. Lin Qiao had already made soup, so he simply stir-fried some green beans. None of them had much of an appetite, so they ate a little and went to bed.
The next day, Zhang Shi refused to let Yang Lan go out.
They had only heard of poisonous snakes on Willow Mountain before, but now there were large wild animals eating people! How could he let Yang Lan go up the mountain again?
With two pairs of eyes fixed on him, Yang Lan had no choice but to compromise. “I won’t go, but I need to tell Uncle Li. It wouldn’t be right to waste his time.”
Zhang Shi hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Go ahead, but don’t take anything with you.”
Yang Lan: “…”
Arriving at Uncle Li’s house, Yang Lan knocked on the door and entered the courtyard, finding a similar scene to his own home.
Aunt Li and her son, Little Tree, were surrounding Li Jiang, not letting him take a single step.
Yang Lan couldn’t help but laugh, and Li Jiang shot him a glare before sheepishly covering his mouth.
“Lan Xiaozi, why are you here? You can’t go up the mountain today. With such a big incident in the village, none of you should go.” Aunt Li said irritably.
Yang Lan rubbed his nose. “I was thinking the same. I don’t plan to go up the mountain for the next few days. I just came to tell Uncle Li.”
Hearing this, Aunt Li breathed a sigh of relief. “At least Lan Xiaozi knows what’s important, unlike your Uncle Li, who only ages without growing wiser. He can’t even grasp the seriousness of such a big matter!”
With that, she turned and glared fiercely at Li Jiang.
Yang Lan wanted to laugh again, but feeling Uncle Li’s sharp gaze, he held it in. “Alright, my father is waiting at home, so I’ll head back.”
Yang Lan had been mentally prepared for the presence of wild animals on the mountain. Getting rid of Wang Mazi was a relief, solving a major problem. He wasn’t afraid, and was even a bit pleased.
He planned to stay home for a few days, waiting for the situation to calm down before finding a way to convince Zhang Shi to let him continue gathering herbs on the mountain.
But the next day, the Village Head came to visit.
Yang Lan was taken aback. “They’re closing the mountain?”
The Village Head sighed. “A few years ago, there were poisonous snakes on Willow Mountain that killed several people. The county magistrate sent people to investigate and almost closed the mountain then. Now with another fatal incident, it seems inevitable.”
Knowing Yang Lan had been gathering herbs on the mountain, he reassured him. “But don’t worry too much. The county magistrate will send experts to survey the mountain. The danger should be cleared in at most half a year, and then you can go back up.”
After saying this, the Village Head didn’t stay long, as he had to inform the next household.
The news of the mountain closure didn’t cause much of a stir in the village. Most people supported it.
Willow Mountain was dangerous, and apart from a few experienced hunters, no one really went there. As for wild vegetables and mushrooms, they could be gathered elsewhere.
Because of this news, the atmosphere at dinner was particularly tense.
Zhang Shi and Lin Qiao exchanged glances, both a bit anxious.
Finally, Zhang Shi broke the silence.
He cleared his throat and said, “In less than a month, Lan’er will be going back to school. Focus on your studies during this time. As for money, don’t worry about it.”
After a pause, he added, “Lan’er, for our sake, you didn’t let us take on work, and we agreed. The chickens at home have started laying eggs. We can collect a dozen or so each day and sell them for a few coins. And we have two pigs. By the New Year, we can sell them for several taels of silver.”
Saying this, he even convinced himself that their livelihood wouldn’t be a problem.
“Father is right. Husband, just focus on your studies. Father and I will take care of the rest,” Lin Qiao quickly added.
Yang Lan was taken aback, then shook his head with a smile.
He had been contemplating what to do next, not expecting Zhang Shi and Lin Qiao to have already planned his future.
After selling herbs for half a month, they had saved about ten taels, so money wasn’t a concern for the time being.
“Alright, then I’ll rely on Father and Lin Qiao to support me,” Yang Lan said with a smile.
Lin Qiao patted his chest. “No problem!”
The other two laughed, and the atmosphere at the table lightened up.
In the following days, Yang Lan devoted himself entirely to his studies.
The civil service exam texts were difficult to understand, and the layout and punctuation were unfamiliar to Yang Lan, requiring him to spend time getting used to them.
Fortunately, with the help of the memory system, his memory and learning efficiency greatly improved, making it much easier to memorize and understand the content.
One morning, as Zhang Shi and Lin Qiao went to gather pig grass as usual, Yang Lan was studying alone in the study when he suddenly heard a loud bang at the front door.
Curious, he stood up. They didn’t have many relatives or friends, and usually, no one visited.
Walking into the courtyard, he saw an eight or nine-year-old boy, which puzzled him even more.
“Little one, who are you looking for?”
The boy raised his head arrogantly, looking at him with disdain. “Are you that useless, poor scholar Yang Lan?”
Hearing this, Yang Lan’s expression turned cold.
He said nothing, directly grabbing the boy’s arm. “Whose child are you?”
Yang Qingnian felt pain from Yang Lan’s grip and immediately pouted. “You insolent brat! How dare you pinch me! When my parents come, they won’t let you off!”
Hearing the child’s arrogant words, Yang Lan sneered.
In his world, there was no such thing as ‘kids will be kids’ or letting things slide because a child was young. He believed that if a child could say such things at a young age, it was surely learned from adults.
“Come inside. If your parents don’t come to apologize today, you’re not leaving.” Yang Lan firmly pulled the boy into the main hall.
As Yang Qingnian was dragged inside, he finally felt scared and began to wail, kicking and hitting Yang Lan. “You bastard! Illegitimate child! Let me go! Dad! Father!”
The child wasn’t strong enough to hurt him, but Yang Lan wasn’t going to indulge him. He took a bamboo stick and gave the boy a few light whacks on the behind.
“Remember, this is a lesson in fairness and justice, tit for tat.”
The boy cried until he was out of breath. Just then, Zhang Shi and Lin Qiao returned, hearing the commotion and asking, “Lan’er, what’s going on? Do we have visitors?”
Yang Lan put down the bamboo stick and nodded. “A brat with no manners.”
He recounted what had happened.
After hearing it, Lin Qiao was furious. “His family must have taught him this. How else would a child know such foul language? It’s outrageous!”
Seeing Lin Qiao indignant on his behalf, Yang Lan was no longer angry. After all, he had already retaliated.
Zhang Shi’s expression was also grim. “I’ll go take a look.”
“Yang Qingnian? Why is it you?” Seeing the child throwing a tantrum on the ground, Zhang Shi exclaimed.
Yang Lan was puzzled. “Father, do you know him?”
He had searched the original owner’s memories earlier and didn’t know who this child was.
Yang Qingnian cried fiercely, ignoring Zhang Shi’s words.
Zhang Shi frowned, his expression heavy. “He’s the eldest grandson of your third uncle’s family, the precious one. He’s been spoiled rotten since he was little. How did he end up here?”
“Third uncle?” Yang Lan searched his memories again and indeed found a mention of such a person. Along with it, he recognized another familiar figure.
“So it’s him.” A mocking smile appeared on Yang Lan’s lips.