Hearing Sun Shi's words, a trace of gratitude flashed through Luo Fengtang's eyes. But instead of turning and leaving, he glanced at Yang Ruoqing, who still stood in his path, looking fierce and aggressive.
Fatty Girl from Aunt Yang's family really is scary when she gets mad!
Luo Fengtang thought silently to himself.
Over on Yang Ruoqing's end, even though she was still unwilling to let the matter go, her mother had already spoken, so she couldn't keep pressing it without being disrespectful. She sighed inwardly—what a pushover! Then she glared fiercely at Luo Fengtang.
"Next time, don't go setting your rabbit snares near the edge of the forest in broad daylight! If you catch me or my mother again, I'll go straight to the village head and report you! They'll confiscate your bow, arrows, and prey—you hear me?"
Luo Fengtang's eyes widened slightly, and he instinctively tightened his grip on his bow. That bow and those arrows were his lifeline—he couldn't afford to lose them!
This Fatty Girl isn't just fierce—she's hard to deal with, too!
Especially the way she puffed up her cheeks, glared at him with those round eyes, and stood with hands on hips—she didn't look like a young lady at all. More like... more like a tigress!
"Hey, I'm talking to you! Did you hear me? My mom might let it slide next time, but I won't!" Yang Ruoqing, annoyed by the boy's distracted attitude, jabbed a chubby finger into his shoulder.
Snapping out of it, Luo Fengtang furrowed his brows and muttered, "Got it."
A troublesome girl like this—best to avoid her altogether.
He gripped his bow tightly and disappeared into the forest like the wind.
Back on their side, Yang Ruoqing couldn't help but curl her lip at his retreating figure. Then she turned back and crouched beside her mother, gently lifting Sun Shi's sleeve to examine the injury again, where the snare had broken the skin on her ankle.
"You silly girl. It was just a small scrape—why give Tang'er such a hard time?" Sun Shi said with a mix of amusement and helplessness, looking down at her daughter.
"If I didn't make myself crystal clear today, there'd be a next time for sure," Yang Ruoqing replied without looking up. "Our fields are right by this forest. We'll be coming here all the time. Rabbit traps all over the ground? That's asking for trouble. I'm just nipping the problem in the bud."
After checking the wound, Yang Ruoqing began scanning the nearby grass and underbrush with sharp eyes.
Suddenly, something caught her attention. Her eyes lit up. She quickly darted over and dug around in a bush, pulling out a small three-leaf plant and—without hesitation—popped it into her mouth to chew.
Startled, Sun Shi hurried over to stop her. "Qing'er! What are you doing? You can't just go eating random weeds! If you're hungry, let's go home—I'll cook you something!"
Mouth full of mashed-up plant, Yang Ruoqing waved her hand and mumbled, "Not eating…"
Under her mother's puzzled gaze, Yang Ruoqing gently took the chewed-up grass pulp and carefully applied it to Sun Shi's injured ankle.
A cool sensation spread over the wound, and the burning, stinging pain disappeared almost instantly, as if by magic.
Astonished, Sun Shi exclaimed, "Qing'er, how did you know that plant could treat wounds?"
Yang Ruoqing clapped her hands and stood up with a bright grin. "The other day, I saw Uncle Fu treating Dad's injury. I noticed he had this herb in his medicine box. I just happened to see some growing over there and thought I'd try it out—lucky guess, I suppose!"
Sun Shi beamed proudly. Her daughter was sharper than most—one glance and she remembered something so useful.
"Mom, it's getting late. Let's head home. Dad's probably waiting by now!"
Yang Ruoqing slung the heavy basket over her back and grabbed the bundle of pine needles her mother had tied together with straw. "Let's go!"
Sun Shi nodded, picked up both their hoes, and slung them over her shoulder. After walking a few steps, she turned to look back at the forest, toward the direction where Luo Fengtang had disappeared, and let out a long sigh.
"Tang'er's had a tough life…"
"Mom, how so?" Yang Ruoqing asked casually on their way home, having overheard her mother sighing again.
Sun Shi replied, "Tang'er's a poor child, born an orphan. He was raised entirely by his uncle, Luo the blacksmith…"
As Yang Ruoqing sorted through the details from her mother's explanation, she finally pieced together a rough picture.
Luo Fengtang wasn't Luo the blacksmith's biological son, but the child brought back years ago by his younger brother.
That younger brother used to be infamous in not just Changping Village but the surrounding areas, too.
But not in a good way—he was known for smuggling illegal salt. When the authorities came to crack down, he fled overnight and vanished.
Some said he was killed by fellow smugglers. Others said he was arrested and jailed. A few claimed he changed his name and joined the army. The wildest rumor? That he became a mountain bandit!
Luo, the blacksmith, had lost his parents early in life and had always relied on his younger brother. When the younger one disappeared, Luo shut down his smithy and spent all his money searching for him, without any success. Eventually, broke and disappointed, he returned to the village to farm and forge again.
Five years passed.
Then one day, Luo's younger brother returned with a baby boy in his arms. He left the baby with his older brother and, within half a month, fell ill and died.
That baby was Luo Fengtang.
The villagers often gossiped that Fengtang probably wasn't even a blood relative. The two Luo brothers were both short and lean, but Fengtang grew up tall and broad-shouldered, and his features didn't resemble anyone from the Luo family.
Still, those rumors were whispered only in private. No one dared say them in front of Luo the blacksmith.
As for the man himself, after his brother's death, he raised the child like his own, changing diapers and spoon-feeding him without a complaint.
He spent his entire life caring for his brother and now his brother's child. Now middle-aged, Luo the blacksmith had little to his name, no wealth, and no marriage prospects of his own.
"Luo, the blacksmith, is a good man. That day your dad's ox-cart overturned near the riverbank outside town, it was Luo who helped fix the iron axle—and he didn't even charge a single copper coin!" Sun Shi sighed again. "A household with only a man and a half-grown boy, and no woman to run the place—it's no surprise their life is a mess."
Yang Ruoqing nodded. "Yeah, I noticed earlier—Tang'er's clothes were so faded you couldn't tell what color they used to be. The patches on his shoulders were stitched up like centipedes!"
"Blacksmithing doesn't earn much, and I heard his health's been poor these past years. That family gets by solely on whatever Tang'er can hunt in the mountains. Qing'er, next time you run into him, don't be so mean. He's a good kid—quiet and honest." Sun Shi's voice was warm and earnest as she advised her daughter.
Yang Ruoqing curled her lips into a grin and playfully pouted, "Mom, I'm your real daughter, remember? Shouldn't you be worried about me? Instead, you're feeling sorry for someone else's kid? Not fair!"
(End of Chapter)