Chapter 10 of 10

Chapter 10

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"Ah... what a good sleep." Yang Heng sat up and looked around, "Oh, I remember, I've traveled through time, and this is my new home, a new home made of a shack."

"Heng'er, you're awake, come, it's time to eat." Mother called out from outside. "Mother, what time is it?" Yang Heng yawned and asked as he came out. "It's almost the hour of Snake. Your father and I have been up for a while. Seeing you sleep so soundly, we didn't wake you." Mother said with a smile.

"Where's Grandpa?" "Your father, he went up the mountain to see if there are any wild animals. He plans to catch one to cook. We don't have much food left. I don't know if your idea is right, but eating is still a problem for the future." Mother, who was used to living in the city, was not accustomed to the countryside.

"Mother, don't worry. It's still early for the New Year. There are plenty of wild animals here. How can we starve to death?" Yang Heng thought, with such a large forest and a river nearby, there are wild animals in the mountains and fish in the water. How can we starve? He had noticed the fish in the river when he and his father were sharpening their knives yesterday, and there was a pheasant not far away now.

"Mother, be quiet, there's a pheasant over there. Watch me hit it." Yang Heng picked up a small stone and threw it. "Bang." "Cluck," the stone actually knocked the pheasant's head off. He didn't realize how strong he was. He just threw the stone casually, and it hit the target from nearly ten meters away. Maybe it was because of his body. After a long time of blacksmithing, his hand-eye coordination must be very good.

"Heng'er, the pheasant is so easy to hit," Mother was surprised. "I didn't know either. I just threw it casually." Yang Heng was also puzzled. "Why don't you try, Mother? Look, there's another one over there." Yang Heng encouraged Mother. "I'll try." "How do you know if you don't try?" "Alright, I'll try."

Mother picked up a stone and threw it, but only a few feathers fell, and the pheasant fled with a loud cry. "Try again." Yang Heng continued to encourage Mother.

"Alright, I'll try again." Mother threw another stone at the same pheasant. Although it was startled, it didn't run far and started pecking at the ground again. This time, it wasn't so lucky and was killed by Mother's stone.

"What are you two laughing about? Look what I brought back." Father walked over from a distance, holding two wild rabbits. "You can't guess how I caught these two rabbits." Father said mysteriously. "Did you stand there and let the rabbits run into your legs?" Yang Heng's mood improved.

"Not that exaggerated. I just used two stones to hit the two rabbits." Father said proudly, "Am I good or not?" His tone seemed to say, "Come on, praise me, praise me."

"Whatever, look at what my son and I did. We each killed a pheasant." Mother pointed to the two pheasants stewing in the pot. Her expression was exaggerated, not regretful. "If I had known the pheasants were so easy to catch, I would have just used a stone to kill it last time instead of chasing it for a long time, which made me sweat a lot." This was a case of rigid thinking. For ordinary people, hitting a pheasant with a stone is impossible, but for this family of three, their eyes were sharp, and their aim was good. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so quick at blacksmithing. When you first start blacksmithing, you have to be very careful to avoid hitting your other hand. Even after becoming skilled, you often hit your hand. Even experienced workers often have bruised and battered nails. But for the Yang Heng family, they were experts. Especially, Yang Heng noticed that no one had ever been hit by a hammer. In his memory, he didn't have much time to play, always blacksmithing or practicing. Only occasionally, when he had some free time, did he go out to play, and that's when he got into trouble.

"Kid, do you think we can cultivate this land for farming?" After the meal, Father talked to Yang Heng seriously. "Look at this area. The village has tried to cultivate and farm here many times, but they couldn't persist for a few years. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Yang Heng asked in return.

"Why? There are too many grass seeds and tree roots. After each reclamation, the grass in the fields grows better than the crops. Sometimes, we can't even recover the seeds. Plus, wild boars often come down to cause trouble." Perhaps because they were back home, Father remembered some past events.

"Don't worry, Grandpa. The tools we make are good, and we plan to cultivate over a hundred acres. I even plan to build a wall of broken stones around the fields to prevent the tree roots from growing in. As for the weeds, we just need to work hard for a few years. As for the wild boars, we won't let them cause trouble. They'll just add to our food." Yang Heng said casually. If the three of them were weak, he wouldn't have this idea, but they were all strong. Each of them could truly cultivate one acre of land per day. They would definitely be able to plant all the fields before the next spring planting.

"Alright, since you're so confident, let's work hard!" Although Father's expression was serious, he was smiling inside. Why? Because the land deed was in the name of Yang Da, and Mother didn't object, which seemed to free them from the stigma of being a赘婿 (a man who marries into his wife's family).

"I know what you're thinking, I can see it on your face," Mother, who was watching Father's expression, felt uncomfortable. "I know you're smirking, but I want to tell you that the household can be in your name, but Heng'er must be passed down in my line. I won't let him be on your family's genealogy, but how to smooth things over is not my concern." Mother said firmly. Hearing this, Yang Heng also noticed Father's expression, a mix of a smile and seriousness, which must have been quite uncomfortable. It seemed that Mother knew all of Father's expressions after so many years.

"Dear, don't worry. Without you, I wouldn't know where I'd be buried. I won't fight you for the son. Maybe the heavens will see your kindness and bless us with another son." Father said with a smile. Although lineage was important in this era, morality was even more important.

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