1983, Northeast China

Chapter 25 Old Wei lives in Lao Nangou

Tian Youshan stared at Chen Shi for a while. This method usually worked every time, and the other party would give in in no time. But Chen Shi ignored him.

In the short time that followed, Chen Shi had already set up the sled and put the rope on his shoulder.

If we keep talking, we'll end up arguing.

Winning an argument won't do you any good.

Li Cheng was the one who couldn't stand it. His face turned red with anger. He was probably poor and lacked confidence. Apart from getting the upper hand verbally, he didn't dare to take any real action. He was a bit like Aunt Wang in this respect.

Chen Shi reached out and pulled him away, "Let's go."

"Where are you going? He's stepped on your face."

"Take the firewood back first."

Li Cheng wanted to punch Chen Shi. How could someone be so spineless?

After thinking about it for a while, he realized that his sister was in her first month of maternity leave and had two children. He knew what kind of person Chen Shi was. To be honest, he was quite surprised that Chen Shi hadn't abandoned his sister and run away on his own.

He endured humiliation and hardship like a middle-aged man.

Why do we act like middle-aged people? Because the young can't resist.

As Chen Shi pulled the sled, he glanced at the two people beside him, said nothing, and continued walking forward.

The sled creaked and groaned on the snow.

After walking quite a distance, Li Cheng finally let out a long sigh of relief. "Why didn't you let me yell at him earlier? My mouth finally has some use, I don't want you to offend him..."

"What happens after you've finished cursing?"

"After cursing..." Li Cheng thought for a long time, "It feels good to have cursed."

"Even if it's pleasurable, it won't fill you up."

Li Cheng was speechless. "You're really choking me with your words now."

Chen Shi knew these words were hurtful, but they were the truth.

He remembered the sled in front of Tian Guizhi's house, with the words "Forestry Farm" printed on the canvas.

Then I remembered the gray cloth that Huang Er had brought back.

One thing after another, they may not seem like much at first, but when you put them together, they don't make sense.

"Chen Shi?" Li Cheng called out to him.

"Um?"

What are you thinking about?

"Think of the traps on the mountain."

Li Cheng was taken aback. "My mother told me you can catch rabbits. You really have that skill? Is it real or just luck? Tell me about it."

"I guess I was lucky."

"Luck is also a kind of strength, so it's normal for you to care about it," Li Cheng said, nodding as he spoke.

"I'm actually thinking about that weasel."

The trap he set had been set for over a day.

When it comes to covers, empty covers need to be moved, and slipknot covers need to be checked.

Once you've caught something, you can't delay. If you delay too long, it'll most likely be eaten by other animals, like his rabbit.

Especially the weasel, it has a strong odor, and if it's been dead for a long time, it's a bit of a waste of its hide.

"Next time you go up the mountain, take me with you. It's been a long time since anyone from the village has gone up the mountain. This kind of work is almost gone. Take me with you so I can broaden my horizons."

"Bringing you along is less useful than bringing Huang Er (a type of catfish).

"What are you saying? I don't like hearing that at all!"

......

Chen Shi's interruption eased Li Cheng's mood considerably.

The two men pulled the firewood back to the courtyard gate, and Huang Er limped over.

Its front legs were still wrapped with the cloth that Ya Ya had given it. It didn't walk fast, but its nose was busy, sniffing left and right, and its tail was wagging so fast it left afterimages.

"Alright." Chen Shi patted its head. "Its leg isn't healed yet."

Hearing the sound, Ya Ya lifted the curtain and looked outside, "Uncle!"

Aunt Wang called out from behind her, "Don't open it so wide, the cold wind will rush into the house!"

Ya Ya obediently pulled the curtain back down, leaving only one eye to look from the side.

Chen Shi chuckled softly when he saw the small hole left in the curtain. Children always have some strange and adorable actions.

Chen Shi put the flour and brown sugar into the cupboard, then remembered the old man with the ice chisel on the ice, and turned back to ask, "Sister, who exactly is Old Wei?"

"Who?" Chen Xiulan didn't react for a moment.

"If it weren't for him, Li Cheng and I might have stepped onto the thin ice by the pond."

Chen Xiulan stopped shaking Xiaoman. "When? Why are you only telling me now?"

Chen Shi knew things were going badly, so he quickly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "It's alright, isn't it?"

"Are you going to wait until something happens before having someone else notify me? Do you think that if everything's fine now, and you tell me later, I won't worry? Or do you think that just because I'm sitting on the kang (heated brick bed) breastfeeding the baby, I can't take care of you?"

"Sister, I'm not..."

"If you fall, Ya Ya will have no uncle."

Ya Ya didn't know what had happened, but she understood that "there is no uncle anymore."

She grabbed Chen Shi's leg and cried, "Uncle, don't fall!"

"Oh dear, sis, what are you doing? You're scaring the child." Chen Shi ruffled Ya Ya's hair. "You're frightening the child. I was just asking Lao Wei, and he let it slip."

"You still dare to talk back?" Chen Xiulan pretended to hit her.

"I won't say anymore... I was wrong, I'll be more careful next time."

"Wei Changlin used to go into the mountains with our father. You're too young to remember, so you might not recall. Old Wei used to come to our house often. He wasn't very nice, but he wasn't a bad person. After our father passed away, he had less contact with the people in the village."

"Where are you staying?"

"Old Nangou," Chen Xiulan said, "He was a genuine old mountain herder. There was a half-collapsed dugout in the gully where the mountain herder used to live, and he was basically always there."

"Why don't you come and live in the village? It's not like we don't have land."

"I don't know about that. He's quite a loner. He saved you two, so we should thank him. But we don't have anything worth having right now."

Chen Shi frowned.

He knew Lao Nangou; the forest was large and the snow was deep. People from the village usually didn't go there because they heard there were big beasts there.

Chen Xiulan saw through his thoughts. "Are you going to find him?"

"I want to ask about things in the mountains." Chen Shi didn't explain too clearly, "He knows our dad, knows about ice, and knows about traps. Our family will have to move towards the mountains eventually, and there are some things I can't just figure out by guesswork."

Chen Xiulan nodded, then shook her head. "It's right to ask, but don't go empty-handed. Asking for advice is a waste, especially since they saved your life. Sweet talk is less valuable than having something substantial to offer. We don't have much to offer right now. How about two fish?"

Chen Shi hummed in agreement.

Aunt Wang came into the house and overheard, "Looking for Old Wei? That old man has a very strange temper. Even if you bring fish, he might not give you a friendly look."

"Whether or not to give someone a friendly face is one thing, but you must show them proper manners."

Aunt Wang didn't refute this. "That's true. The older generation always falls for that. If you go empty-handed, people won't say it, but they'll look down on you."

Ya Ya climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), sat on her sheepskin coat, and suddenly asked, "Will Grandpa Wei scold Uncle?"

"Yes." Chen Shi smiled. He not only knew how to scold, but he had already done so.

"Is Uncle still going?" Ya Ya asked nervously.

"Scolding you won't make you lose weight; if you get scolded, we'll give you meat to eat."

Ya Ya looked at Chen Shi, and the scolding in her eyes was like the kind of beating and scolding Han Changgui received. "Ya Ya doesn't eat meat."

Chen Xiulan brought the conversation back on track, "Go check the trap first. If you don't take the trap, you won't feel at ease. Don't go too deep inside. If you can't find anyone, come back."

"Know."

Chen Shi took two willow roots from his house that were frozen stiff, pierced their cheeks, and put them into a basket.