Terrified, Yun Shu spun around and leaped onto He Zichen, clinging to him like a kangaroo.

"There’s a mouse..."

The distinct sensation of her pressed against him made He Zichen go rigid.

They had both just gotten out of bed, so their clothes were thin. Moreover, Yun Shu wasn’t wearing a bra, and she was still squirming against him.

His voice was grave. "Get down!"

Yun Shu was still trembling, constantly looking over her shoulder. "There’s a mouse, there’s a mouse! I’m scared."

After a moment’s hesitation, He Zichen whispered, "You’ve already scared the mouse away. If you don’t get down now, the others will come out to see what’s going on."

At his words, Yun Shu quickly jumped down. She swept the flashlight beam all around her feet. Forget going to the outhouse now; she wouldn’t dare go even if she had to wet her pants.

She sprinted back to her room and slammed the door with a BANG.

He Zichen was left standing alone in the courtyard, dazed, as a frustrated heat surged through him.

After a long moment, he heaved a deep sigh and glanced toward Yun Shu’s room.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Who is it?"

"Open the door."

Yun Shu, having thrown on some clothes, opened the door. She looked at He Zichen awkwardly as he simply handed her a basin.

"If you’re too scared to go to the outhouse, use this. You can empty it yourself tomorrow morning."

Yun Shu took it.

"Thank you."

She looked at He Zichen, a little nervous.

She tried to explain, "Um... I didn’t mean to do that just now."

He Zichen didn’t say anything. He just gave her a look and walked away.

Yun Shu slowly closed the door. Staring at the basin in her hands, she was filled with a mix of emotions.

When He Zichen returned to his room, Xiao Yang and Xiao Ming were both still awake. The light was on, and they were watching him with teasing expressions.

He Zichen’s eye twitched. "What?"

Xiao Yang grinned. "Big Brother, what were you up to just now? Our sister-in-law was screaming like that."

Xiao Ming also watched him with curiosity.

He Zichen shot him a look, then climbed onto the kang and lay down.

"She needed to use the outhouse."

"Screaming just to use the outhouse?" No one would believe that.

"There’s a mouse in the courtyard. Are you going to sleep or not? If not, go back to your own rooms."

He Zichen was feeling agitated now, and he couldn’t quite figure out why.

Xiao Ming and Xiao Yang exchanged a glance, grinned, and quickly turned off the light to lie down.

「The next day」

Yun Shu woke up bright and early. While the rest of the He family was still asleep, she quickly took the basin to the outhouse, emptied it, and rinsed it out with water.

During breakfast, Gao Cuiyun muttered, "That’s strange. Who moved my foot-washing basin from my doorway to the outhouse?"

The hand Yun Shu was using to hold her chopsticks froze. She shot He Zichen a look of disbelief.

He Zichen said without batting an eye, "Mom, I put it there. The basin got dirty. I’ll buy you a new one."

Gao Cuiyun was puzzled. "It’s perfectly fine, it’s not broken. Why would you buy a new one?"

"It’s dirty," He Zichen said. "Don’t use it anymore."

Gao Cuiyun gave him a look but didn’t press the issue.

After breakfast, the talk turned to going up the mountain.

He Zichen asked Yun Shu, "Are you going?"

Yun Shu nodded. "I’ll go."

She had never been before, so naturally, she was curious.

When the two children heard the adults were going up the mountain, they started clamoring to go too, but Gao Cuiyun stopped them.

"Your Eldest Uncle brought back lots of treats. Grandma will get them for you. We’re not going up the mountain. There are wolves up there, and they just love to eat little kids."

Little Yuan and Xiao Man immediately clung to Gao Cuiyun’s legs.

"Grandma, we’re scared!"

Gao Cuiyun patted their heads. "Good boys. Come inside with Grandma and have some treats."

Then she turned to Wang Chunlan and said, "You go with them. I’ll watch the children at home."

Wang Chunlan nodded.

As they headed out the door with their tools, Yun Shu asked, "Are there really wolves on the mountain?"

Xiao Yang explained, "There are, deep in the mountains. Wild boars, too. They used to come down and destroy the crops, but we haven’t seen any in the last few years. I’m not sure if there are any left. We’re not going that deep, so we won’t run into them."

Only then did Yun Shu feel relieved enough to follow them up the mountain.

The trees were sparse at the foot of the mountain, but the forest grew denser the higher they climbed. Wang Chunlan had a basket looped over her arm, and whenever she spotted mushrooms or wood ear fungus, she would pick them and drop them in.

"Chunlan, can you teach me how to identify them? I want to help pick some too," Yun Shu said.

Wang Chunlan picked up a mushroom to show her. "Just pick the ones that look like this. If you’re not sure, don’t touch it. Some mushrooms are highly poisonous."

"Okay."

Halfway up the mountain stood a very tall chestnut tree.

Xiao Ming gave the trunk a hard kick, and chestnuts came rustling down from the branches.

Yun Shu quickly squatted down to gather them.

Now she regretted not bringing a basket of her own, because Wang Chunlan’s was already full.

"We didn’t bring enough baskets," Yun Shu said with a pout.

He Zichen saw her expression and said, "It’s alright. If you like them, we can come back tomorrow. The tree isn’t going anywhere." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Wang Chunlan added, "We have plenty at home. If you like them, you can take some with you when you go."

Yun Shu shook her head. "I just think it’s a shame to leave so many on the ground."

Wang Chunlan laughed. "Don’t worry about it. There are tons of these in the mountains. Whatever people don’t eat just falls and turns into fertilizer."

Xiao Yang said, "Meat stewed with chestnuts is delicious. If we manage to catch some game today, we can cook it with these when we get back."

They continued a little further up the mountain.

"Shhh..."

Xiao Yang suddenly held a finger to his lips, shushing them.

Then he made a hand signal to He Zichen.

He Zichen nocked an arrow to his bow and moved forward slowly.

Yun Shu stared straight ahead, but she couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

There was a soft WHOOSH.

Hearing a squeal, Xiao Yang ran over.

"It’s a rabbit!"

Xiao Yang returned, holding a fat wild rabbit by the ears.

"Big Brother, you haven’t lost your touch! Look, the rabbit’s still alive."

Yun Shu looked at He Zichen in astonishment. "You know how to use a bow and arrow?"

He Zichen shot her a sidelong glance, but it was Xiao Yang who explained, "Almost everyone in our village can. Back when there wasn’t enough food, people would come up the mountain to forage whenever they were hungry. This mountain is a treasure trove of game and wild vegetables. Our family was better off, though. Back then, my dad was—"

Xiao Yang’s words came to an abrupt halt.

Seeing that he’d stopped, Yun Shu glanced at He Zichen and noticed his expression had darkened. ’I’ve been at the He Family home for a while but I’ve never seen his father,’ she thought. ’He must have passed away.’ She didn’t dwell on it, simply assuming Xiao Yang had stumbled upon a painful memory.

"Let’s head back," He Zichen said.

"Big Brother, we came all this way," Xiao Ming said. "What’s the rush to go back? Let’s go a little deeper."

Xiao Yang chimed in, "Yeah, we might find more game. Come on, Big Brother. It’s been a while since you’ve been here. Let’s go have a look."

He Zichen nodded. "Alright, but not into the deep mountains."

"Deal."

After walking for some time without seeing any other animals, they turned around and headed back.