As soon as Chen Xiaobei entered his house, Lidong followed him in. "Brother Xiaobei, tomorrow, we'll start working here."
This surprised Chen Xiaobei a little. "Tomorrow, are you sure you can handle it?"
Lidong nodded. "This is also what everyone else thinks."
"Alright, then I'll count on you. By the way, let's have dinner here tonight." Chen Xiaobei politely insisted, but Lidong kept shaking his head and turned to leave.
Watching him leave in a hurry, Chen Xiaobei suddenly realized that Lidong and the others were using this way to try to win his favor.
Sure enough, the next morning, early in the day, Lidong arrived with the craftsmen.
With the work at home not requiring his attention, Chen Xiaobei took Cui Hongyu and Chen Qiao'er outside to water the vegetable garden. Afterward, they took fishing nets to catch some small fish. Since the fish pond had been built, they needed to stock it with fish as soon as possible.
As usual, Chen Xiaobei lowered the umbrella net into the water, tying the string to a nearby reed.
Then, the three of them sat in the shade by the shore, quietly waiting. Chen Xiaobei glanced at Cui Hongyu and, feeling a surge of impulse, wrapped his arm around her waist.
Cui Hongyu's face turned red instantly. Clearly, in this era, such an affectionate gesture in public would be seen as improper, quite inappropriate.
Fortunately, at that moment, Chen Qiao'er's attention was completely focused on the reed, so she didn't notice.
Suddenly, the reed shook violently.
"Brother, there's a fish!" Chen Qiao'er almost shouted in unison.
Without thinking, Chen Xiaobei quickly stood up and rushed over.
This time, he was lucky—a big fish, more than a foot long.
Chen Qiao'er clapped her hands and cheered excitedly.
Cui Hongyu also smiled brightly beside her.
Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei felt a warm feeling in his heart. What a heartwarming scene this was.
However, there was a slight regret. If only Chen Qiao'er wasn't his sister but his daughter... Wouldn't that be perfect?
Since he didn't have a daughter, well... then maybe he should have one...
Noticing that Chen Xiaobei seemed lost in thought, Chen Qiao'er curiously asked, "Brother, what's wrong?"
She called out twice before Chen Xiaobei snapped back to reality.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking... should we put this fish in the pond, or should we eat it?"
Chen Qiao'er didn't respond, but turned to look at Cui Hongyu.
Cui Hongyu's face turned slightly red. "Whatever my husband decides."
Chen Xiaobei thought for a moment and decided to eat the fish. After all, big fish eat small fish. A fish this big would be too much for the fish pond; the little fish he worked so hard to get would never be enough to feed it.
"Alright, I say we eat it. Let's stew it for lunch."
"By the way, add some vegetables and let the craftsmen and the small workers have some too."
Hearing this, Cui Hongyu hesitated a bit. "Husband, we agreed we wouldn't be responsible for the meals."
Chen Xiaobei smiled. "It's fine, we're not missing this one meal. If we feed them, they'll work better for us."
Cui Hongyu nodded. "Alright, I'll go prepare."
"No rush, let's catch a few more fish."
As he spoke, Chen Xiaobei tossed the fish into a nearby shallow pit and cast the net into the river again.
Just then, a burst of laughter came from a distance. "Brother Xiaobei, enjoying some leisure time here?"
Hearing that, Chen Xiaobei inwardly groaned. That was Sun Jian's voice.
He suddenly realized that he had agreed to meet with him in three days, and the time had come.
Cui Hongyu immediately became alert, holding Chen Qiao'er in her arms and quickly stepping behind Chen Xiaobei.
Sun Jian forced a harmless smile, but his expression still looked quite eerie.
"Brother Xiaobei, the three days are up!"
Chen Xiaobei returned a smile. "Yes, the three days are up."
"Brother, didn't we agree to meet at the Mountain God Temple? We waited for you for so long, but we had no choice but to come find you. I didn't expect Brother Xiaobei to be here, living it up." Sun Jian's words were still quite subtle.
Chen Xiaobei knew he couldn't avoid this anymore.
"Brother Sun, can I make some arrangements? I'll come find you at the Mountain God Temple later."
Sun Jian laughed heartily. "No need to trouble yourself. I'll wait for you right here."
Chen Xiaobei understood—Sun Jian was afraid he might stand him up again.
He waded into the river, pulled out the fishing net, and turned to walk with Cui Hongyu and Chen Qiao'er.
They walked quite a distance before Chen Xiaobei lowered his voice. "I'm going into the mountains soon. I'm afraid we won't have lunch together."
"You two can eat the fish for lunch."
"If anyone comes looking for me, just tell them I went to the city."
"And if it gets dark and I'm not back, you two go sleep in the western side room at Dachun's house, and make sure to close the door properly."
Since their own house was under renovation, they had already moved their bedding to the western side room at Chen Dachun's house. There was a bed there, and whenever Cui Hongyu and the others stayed over, they would sleep in that room.
Cui Hongyu hesitantly asked, "Husband, can't you not go?"
Chen Xiaobei smiled. "It's nothing, I promised them I'd go with them to the mountains."
After seeing Cui Hongyu home, Chen Xiaobei immediately rushed off to find the village elder.
The elder, who had been a hunter in his younger days, was somewhat familiar with the mountain terrain.
When Chen Xiaobei mentioned wanting to continue up from the Mountain God Temple, the elder was startled and coughed a few times.
"Cough, cough, Xiaobei, the road up there isn't easy. There are many forks, and most of them are dead ends. It's easy to turn into one, but getting back out is tough."
"Elder, what do you think I should do to make it to the mountaintop?"
"I've never been to the mountaintop myself, but when I was young, my grandfather told me that to reach the top, you must first see the top."
"What does that mean, Elder?"
"It means that when you encounter many forks in the road, you should take the path that allows you to see the mountaintop. That's the one you follow."
That works? It seemed a little rash to Chen Xiaobei.
As they were talking, the elder stood up and went into the house. He rummaged around for a while before finally coming out with a piece of cowhide. On the hide were many curved lines drawn.
"This is a map my grandfather drew. Take a look at it."
The elder's sudden generosity surprised Chen Xiaobei.
However, since the map was old, many of the lines were unclear, and Chen Xiaobei could only get a rough idea of it. From the general proportions, the distance from the foot of the mountain to the Mountain God Temple was about ten miles. The distance from the Mountain God Temple to the mountaintop was four to five times that, meaning it was at least 40 to 50 miles to the top.
Could he make that distance in a day, back and forth? Obviously, it was impossible.
As he climbed the mountain with Sun Jian, Chen Xiaobei was already considering how to make Sun Jian give up.
The idea came to him: deliberately take the wrong path. If they wandered around for a while and ended up back at the starting point, they would surely stop asking him to guide them.
With the plan set, Chen Xiaobei spoke, "Brother Sun, just to let you know, I haven't been up this way before. If we take a wrong turn, don't blame me."
Sun Jian laughed heartily. "Don't worry, I won't blame you."