Chapter 35 (1/2)
Yu Xiaocao gleefully rushed forward. Her father stooped over and lifted her up in his arms. She sheepishly pushed a hazelnut into his mouth and grinned, ”Father, I learned how to set traps! I even caught a giant wild hare in one of my traps! And it was still alive!”
Yu Hai didn't stint on his praise. ”Our Cao'er is really capable. In the future, Father will just wait to eat the hares that you catch.”
”Father, Father! We also caught a small roe deer! Look, it even follows us around without being lead. It's really obedient!” s.h.i.+tou said sweetly. The little boy pulled on his father's trousers with one hand as he pointed at the dumb little roe deer that was running around him.
Yu Hai dropped his head to take a closer look at the small animal on the ground. Earlier, it was too dark for him to see clearly, so he had thought the creature was some other family's dog that came along. He had never thought that this was actually a baby roe deer.
Yu Hai set his daughter down and bent down to look at the roe deer. The little fellow's large dark eyes were wide open and confused. It glanced at his daughter and even started to rub its head on his daughter's legs...hey!
He had never seen a roe deer that wasn't afraid of humans before. Was it really because it had lost its mother and thought that his children were the same species as it? Dumb roe deer, dumb roe deer. Since it had 'dumb' in its name, it really couldn't be very smart.
”Cao'er, did you catch it or did Zhao Han catch it? We should never try to take advantage of others!” Yu Hai was very grateful to Zhao Bufan, who was also known as Older Brother Zhao, for taking him under his wing. Most of his hunting skills were learned from his good friend, so he was apprehensive that his youngest daughter was being unreasonable and was just asking other people for things.
Yu Xiaocao laughed as she shook her head. ”I had just learned how to set traps today, so it was only beginner's luck that I managed to catch a wild hare today. This little roe deer is actually Brother Han's. We're helping him raise it for a couple of days! After a while, we'll send it back to him.”
Yu Hai nodded his head in approval. ”That's right, after playing with it for a few days, you should send it back. I'm not sure if this creature is easy to take care of or not, but you guys need to be careful. Don't let it die on your watch! If you two siblings really end up liking it, Father will trade some game tomorrow with the Zhao family to get it for you. You should never ask for someone else's stuff without offering something in return. Do you two get that?”
”Don't worry, Father!” Yu Xiaocao took a couple of hazelnuts from her bag and handed it to her father. ”Try some! We found some earlier in the forest and Auntie Zhao sauteed them for us. They're really tasty!”
Seeing that his youngest son had a couple of hazelnuts falling out of his pockets, Yu Hai hastily bent down to pick them up and asked, ”Did you two spend the entire day at Uncle Zhao's house? You didn't make any trouble for them, did you?”
”We went into town. Look! Second Sister bought me some pastries!!” Little s.h.i.+tou had long forgotten his promise to his second sister and sold her out to their father.
Yu Hai's slowly frowned as he first looked at the pastries wrapped in oil paper and then his daughter. Where did they get the money to buy these pastries? Was it really the money left over from selling the abalone?
”Father, Brother Han trapped a lot of game today so he went into town to sell them. Since we had nothing better to do, we followed him. I also caught a hare today so I sold it. I got about a hundred copper coins for it, so I also bought some candy and snacks. This is what's leftover!” Yu Xiaocao naturally didn't reveal her larger stash of coins. Instead, she fished a small string of copper coins, about fifty to sixty coins worth, to show her father.
As Yu Hai lead his two children back towards the family residence, he continued to lecture, ”You three kids are all daredevils! The oldest one among you is only twelve to thirteen years old and you all dared to go into town. What if some kidnapper got to you guys? In the future, if you want to go into town, wait until Father goes to sell game too. If either of you get tired, I can carry you for a bit.” ”We aren't tired! Grandpa Zhang from Xishan Village came by with an ox cart and we sat on it. Second Sister even gifted him a bag of snacks!” Little s.h.i.+tou couldn't help but be a little obsessed over that bag of pastries.
”Your second sister did the right thing. When someone else helps us, we need to give something in return. If we only want to take advantage of others, who will help us in the future when we're really in a bind?” Yu Hai began to instruct his children.
Before long, the three of them entered their family courtyard. At this point, the sky had turned completely dark. Autumn nights in the north tended to be on the chillier side. The rest of the Yu Family, other than the second branch, had long retired to their own rooms to rest. The east-sided room was the only one that had a faint glimmer of light still s.h.i.+ning.
”Cao'er and s.h.i.+tou, you two must be hungry. Your father kept a steamed roll behind. Mother can heat it up for you on the small mud stove and then the two of you can share it!” The advantages of having a mild-mannered mother in this life were suddenly apparent. Her previous mother, in her old life, would also heat up leftover food for her if she got home late from playing outside. However, the food also came with a serving of scoldings as well.
Little s.h.i.+tou carefully peeked his head out of the room before quickly closing the door. He opened up the bag of pastries and started to divide the snacks out to everyone. Although the little boy loved eating sweet and soft pastries, he didn't have the habit of enjoying them alone.
The packet made of oiled paper had six pieces, so he gave everyone at home a piece each. He stared at the remaining piece for some time, hesitating, before he finally said, ”This piece will be saved for Older Brother.”
Yu Hai and his wife's expressions noticeably dimmed after hearing s.h.i.+tou. The room sank into an awkward silence. After quite a while, Yu Hai finally sighed and said, ”Don't save it. We don't know when your older brother will be able to come back, and these snacks can't sit out for too long. The three of you should split the piece and eat it instead. Next time when Father goes into town, I'll buy some more for your brother to eat.”
Yu Xiaocao thought of how exhausted and weak her older brother looked when she saw him earlier. Her heart ached and she quietly said, ”Father, let's bring Older Brother back, okay? He's not as comfortable there as he is at home, right?”
”I also want to bring your older brother home, but…” After they brought him home, what then? There would be fight waiting for them if they did that.