Watson, who was walking behind, weighed the bamboo basket behind him with his small hands. Today's harvest was probably only about twenty kilograms, and with the bamboo tower, it was a bit heavy.
"Sister, I'm probably the happiest I've ever been tonight. Would you like to come to my house for dinner later?"
Ergou, who was walking in front, smiled even more when he thought of his sister's happy face.
"Next time. Let's go home early next time. I'll tell my mother before I go to your house. My sister Hong is very tight." Watson, who was following behind, said seriously.
As long as there are no guests at home, the rice cooked by Sister Hong is just enough to eat. If Watson doesn't come home, there will be leftovers. As long as there is leftover food, Sister Hong will scold people.
When Sister Hong curses, even her own mother won't speak for Watson.
"Then forget it for today! Let's go back to our respective homes, oh..."
The two dogs walking in front sat down on the snow and slid forward a foot before stopping.
Watson picked up a branch from the ground and used it as a crutch. He looked at Ergou and said with a smile: "Ergou, be careful. You also pick up a branch and lean on it and walk down slowly!"
Ergou turned back to look at him and said in disbelief: "Is this okay? You are still better."
After saying that, they went to the roadside to pick up a dead branch and held it in their hands, and the two of them walked down the mountain step by step.
"Watson, I'm afraid the people in the town won't believe that you caught this hare. Even if my father goes up the mountain, he may not encounter it." Ergou laughed.
"We are lucky today. Maybe it's because we are small that we didn't scare away those pheasants?!"
In Watson's opinion, the movement of the two of them was very small, and they should not have scared the wild beasts in the mountains, otherwise some of them would have flapped their wings and flown away.
"Hahaha, we are the most powerful partners, we are born hunters, don't you think so?"
Ergou continued, reaching out to Watson and saying, "Would you like me to carry it for a while? Are you tired?"
"It's okay, no need to change. Let's go home quickly!" Watson looked at him and said.
"Okay, be careful and don't fall down like me." Ergou said cheerfully from the front.
…
The cold wind in winter howled, and it was already dark in the evening before it passed the twilight hour.
Standing on the side of the small street, Watson took out the bamboo basket, took out the hare and handed it to Ergou, and then put his bow and arrow in it.
"Please come back earlier and ask Xiaolian not to eat too much at one time. If you can't finish it, you can continue eating it tomorrow."
Fullness hurts people, this is what Liu taught Watson since he was a child, and he now uses it to teach Ergou.
Ergou looked at him and smiled and said, "Don't worry, my mother won't let her eat too much at one time. How big is her belly?" Ergou hugged the hare and walked in his own direction.
"Goodbye Watson, get up early and go to school tomorrow!"
Ergou, who had already walked away, turned back and shouted to Watson, who was turning around to go home.
"Don't worry, Sister Hong won't let me sleep in!"
Watson waved his hand and walked in his direction with the bamboo basket on his back. He wanted to go to Blacksmith Hu's shop first to deliver game to his master. It was important for him to fulfill his promise.
"Boom boom boom!"
Blacksmith Hu didn't open the door on a snowy day, so Watson reached out and knocked on his shop.
"Who is it? It's such a snowy day, and it doesn't stop until it's dark."
Hearing the noise, Tiejiang Hu opened the door and walked out.
Looking at Watson, who was covered in snow and wind, Hu Tiejiang was shocked and asked loudly: "Where are you from? You didn't really go to the back mountain, did you?"
Watson looked at his master, laughed, and placed the bamboo basket behind him on the ground.
"Master, I have shot a pheasant, and I will give it to you! I told you when I was learning archery that if I shot a game on a snowy day, I would give it to the master to taste first."
Watson moved the Bamboo Basket Gang in front of Blacksmith Hu.
Blacksmith Hu looked down and saw a pheasant and four turtledoves in the bamboo basket...
With a gentle sigh, Tiejiang Hu picked up two turtle doves and carried them in his hand. He touched Watson's head with his other hand and asked, "Who went to the back mountain with you?"
In his opinion, parents of children in small towns would not allow their children to go to the back mountains alone.
Watson looked at him and smiled: "I went with Ergou. I also shot a hare and gave it to Ergou's sister Xiaolian. She said she wanted to eat hare meat."
Hearing this, Tiejiang Hu breathed a sigh of relief, looked at him and said with a smile: "That's good, there is only one master, two turtle doves are enough, I will leave two turtle doves and pheasants for you, you have a large family."
When Watson saw that the master had already made a decision, he did not want to say anything further: "Whatever the master says, Watson will do it, as long as you like it, master!"
Tiejiang Hu laughed when he heard this, pointed to the opposite side and said with a smile: "Master can't be good for just one person, if we can all be fed, then it's really good if everyone is good!"
When Watson heard this, he also laughed, hugging the bamboo basket and replied: "Just listen to the master, it is really good if everyone is good."
"Go back quickly, you didn't see Uncle Liu standing up."
Looking at the shop across the street, Tiejiang Hu and Watson said with a smile.
"Goodbye, master, Watson is back home!"
Holding a bamboo basket and a bow and arrow, the little Watson stepped on the wind and snow on the street, like an elf in the snow, and ran towards the door of his store.
"Uncle Liu, Sister Hong, I'm back!" The voice came in before anyone entered the door.
Even Sister Hong, who was preparing to light a fire for cooking in the kitchen, heard Watson's voice and ran out quickly.
Uncle Liu, who was standing at the door of the store, took the bamboo basket in Watson's hand, looked down and was startled. He looked at Watson and asked, "Watson, did you just send game to the master?"
Sister Hong, who rushed over, took the bamboo basket with one hand and shouted loudly: "Oh my God, Watson, you are rich today! You will have to ask your father to buy two packs of ginger candies tomorrow."
Watson looked at Uncle Liu and replied: "I wanted to give the pheasant to the master, but he didn't want it, so he only took two turtle doves. He said that we have a large family, so he kept the pheasant with more meat for me."
Uncle Liu looked at the closed blacksmith shop opposite, looked at Watson and said with a smile: "Your master is also a well-educated and sensible person. It's not easy."
Sister Hong patted the snowflakes off Watson's head and clothes while pulling him inside: "My parents will reward you well tonight. The whole family will have game to eat."
Mrs. Liu heard the noise outside and walked out with Huang Fusheng in her arms. She looked at Sister Hong and Watson and said, "What's wrong? My son brought game home."
Sister Hong looked at Ms. Liu and laughed: "Isn't that right? This guy also gave game to Blacksmith Hu across the street, let's see what he can do."
Watson pulled the corner of Mr. Liu's clothes, raised his head and glanced at his brother with big eyes, and said proudly: "Master said that game must be shared among everyone, and it is really good if everyone is kind to each other!"
Mrs. Liu was stunned, stretched out a hand to touch Watson's head, and replied with a smile: "Hello everyone, is it really good?!"
...
Winter goes and spring comes back, time is like flowing water.
In the spring of this year, Watson was seven years old, and the third child, Huang Fusheng, was three years old, and they were not yet old enough to enter the school in the small town.
In the autumn of last year, Mrs. Liu finally gave birth to the fourth child of the Huang family, named Guisheng.
Because of Guisheng's birth, Watson said this sentence in front of Mrs. Liu every day: "Huang Si's mother's house is full of flowers."
Not only Mrs. Liu and her eldest sister Huang Yuanfang couldn't laugh or cry, but even Huang Yushu often laughed and said: "Watson still has the foresight. He had known that there would be another Huang Laosi in our family."
The nickname Huang Laosi was naturally attributed to Watson, but this time, Sister Hong did not argue with him, because Sister Hong and Wang San also had children of their own.
Born almost at the same time as the fourth child, Sister Hong gave birth to a daughter named Wang Ruyi, a name Liu came up with for her. He said that the world is so difficult, and he hoped that everything would go well for his children when they grow up.
This year Watson got bad news.
Watson, who got up early, finally saw the blacksmith shop across the street open. He ran over and took a look, only to find that half of his master's left arm was missing.
Watson held Blacksmith Hu's sleeve and was speechless for a long time. He asked with tears in his eyes: "Master, why is this happening? Master, does it hurt?"
Hu Tiejiang stroked Watson's head and smiled: "My hand was broken during the Battle of Beihai. I had a fight with the water bandits a few days ago and lost the prosthetic limb..."
The shocked Watson ran back home and told his father and Uncle Liu about the master's injury. Upon hearing this, Huang Yushu took Uncle Liu to the blacksmith shop opposite and asked Watson to stay and look at the shop.
Sister Hong came out with Wang Ruyi in her arms, looked at Watson who was sitting at the counter crying, and asked, "What's wrong with Watson? Were you beaten or scolded for doing something wrong?"
Watson looked at her and shook his head, and murmured back: "No, it was my master's left hand that was killed by the water bandits. Didn't I just come back, my father and Uncle Liu went there."
He did not elaborate, but the master's left hand was lost in the Battle of Beihai.
Sister Hong looked across the street, looked at Watson and said softly: "No one can do anything about this. What a world, it's better for us to hide here, suffer from poverty for several years, and finally nothing will happen to us."
Shaking her head, Sister Hong walked into the house. Seeing that Hu Tiejiang's hand was broken, she felt uncomfortable and wanted to go in and chat with Mrs. Liu.
When he was about to enter the house, he turned to look at Watson and asked, "Where is your brother? Why is he nowhere to be seen?"
Watson shook his head and replied: "Ergou took him and Xiaolian to play in the grain drying field and will be back soon."
Sister Hong looked at him and nagged: "When your father comes back, you go to the grain drying field to bring him back. The little kid is not big, so he ran around happily. He doesn't even think about home anymore."
"Okay, I will catch my dad when he comes back!" Thinking that his brother was playing more wildly than himself, Watson was also a little angry.
If my younger brother falls or breaks his skin outside, he will be the one who gets scolded in the end. The eldest sister and brother were lucky. They went to the county town and only came back twice a year. The elder sister became the nanny of the younger brother.
"I don't know if the master's hands are inconvenient, so he still swings the hammer like before."
Blacksmithing is the master's occupation, and a feeling of compassion is Watson's innate nature.
For this reason, Huang Yushu often joked with Mr. Liu about how his son was born with a woman's weak heart and sentimentality. It seemed that he could only be a teacher in the future.
Mrs. Liu was unwilling to give in. She looked at Huang Yushu and replied: "What's wrong with being a teacher? No matter what dynasty it is, these children must have a teacher to teach them, right?"
Huang Yushu will not quarrel with Mrs. Liu when he returns home. It is too late for his wife to pamper him. He smiled and said, "No matter what he does in the future, as long as the child is happy!"
After sitting for a long time, watching his father and Uncle Liu come back from the opposite side, Watson looked at him and asked: "Dad, my master's left hand is inconvenient, will it affect his future livelihood?"
Having said this, Watson raised his head and looked at the blacksmith shop across the street.
"It's nothing serious. It won't affect his livelihood. I asked him just now." Huang Yushu also raised his head and looked across.
"As long as it doesn't affect the master's blacksmithing work, that's fine. I'll go get Lao San back. He went to play with Er Gou for a long time." Watson stood up and looked at Huang Yushu and said.
Upon hearing this, Huang Yushu said with a smile: "Bring a bamboo stick over there and teach him a lesson. He dares to run to the grain drying field at just a few years old. He wants to be a savage!"
"Don't worry, Dad, I will catch him right away and let you deal with him well." Watson thought to himself that he would not do this beating, so as not to make the third child hate himself.
"Bring him back to study. Don't let him roam outside all day long." Huang Yushu patted the table.
Today is the school holiday, and Watson happens to be at home taking his younger brother to study. Last year, Xiaolian also entered the school. Now after school, he always goes home with Ergou and Xiaolian.
All the way up, it didn't take much effort for Watson to arrive at the grain drying field.
"Fusheng, your skin is itchy! It's been so long and you still haven't come home."
Watson held a bamboo stick. Although he would not hit his younger brother, because the third child was too wild, he, the older brother, had to scare him.
"What's wrong, second brother? You still want to hit me?" Huang Fusheng looked at him and said disdainfully.
"Believe it or not, I'm going to beat you today!" Watson pretended to be angry and swung the bamboo stick violently.
The bamboo stick did not hit his brother, but was caught steadily by Ergou. Ergou looked at Watson and smiled: "Watson, can you play with us for a while longer?"
Watson gave Ergou a narrow look and said to him: "You are used to being wild. My brother is not the same. My father asked me to come and catch him and take him home to study."
"Brother Watson, I will go back with you and study with Fu Sheng at your house." Xiao Lian laughed at the side.
"Brother, don't dare hit me. I'll complain to my mother!" Fusheng grabbed the bamboo stick, took Xiaolian's hand and ran down the mountain.
"Come on, you have some sense. Go home and let dad take care of you." Watson followed and shouted.
"Oh! As soon as you come, we have to go home!" Ergou looked at Watson and shouted.
"Ergou, don't go home, keep playing here." Watson walked down the mountain with his little hands behind his back.
...
