A few sneaky little children didn’t even dare to look back and dashed out of the crowd of adults in a flash.
After they had run far enough, hearing no footsteps of adults behind them, they finally dared to stop.
“We’re so awesome.”
Lele’s face was flushed, and he smiled with his eyes curved. “The adults didn’t even notice us.”
Thanks to the training from their uncle, even the frail Lele had significantly improved his physical fitness, and now running 800 meters was no problem at all.
One of the children plopped down on a tree root and glanced in the direction where the adults were.
After thinking for a moment, he asked Savi, “Will Uncle still train us today?”
Savi: “...”
Savi calculated the time when the ceremony would end. “By the time this is over, it’ll be time for dinner. Uncle probably won’t come and make us train.”
But that was just his guess; he couldn’t guarantee that his uncle would give them the day off.
The little child, who was always scheming, made a decisive call: “Let’s have dinner here and go back later!”
As long as they returned late enough, the first uncle wouldn’t have time to make them train.
Savi’s thoughts aligned with the little child. “I was thinking the same thing. Let’s head back a bit later.”
The adults didn’t like the children playing on this mountain, but throughout the year, Savi would still come here a few times.
He knew where to find good food.
“Ning, Wagner, let’s have a tree-climbing competition. Let’s see who can pick the most persimmons.”
Savi issued a challenge to the two children, while Lele was assigned the role of referee.
Lele looked up at the persimmon tree, a bit worried. “You guys be careful. Don’t fall.”
The little child patted his chest bravely and said, “Bring it on! If I lose, I’ll call you ‘big bro.’”
Savi: “?”
Savi replied, “You’d better be ready to call me ‘big bro’ instead.”
Wagner looked at the two of them, thinking their tough talk wasn’t intimidating at all.
The little referee Lele, facing the three children, softly said, “Start.” He was an inexperienced referee and didn’t even do a proper countdown from 3...2...1.
Wagner, having stayed out of their verbal sparring, reacted the fastest.
Once Lele finished giving the signal to start, Wagner was the first to dash up the tree.
The persimmon tree wasn't very tall, so soon all three little children had climbed up.
Since there weren’t many people picking persimmons, the fruits had accumulated in large clusters, hanging heavily from the branches.
One of the little children couldn’t resist and pulled a persimmon off, taking a big bite.
“So sweet!”
The little child’s eyes lit up after the first bite. He quickly finished the persimmon in a few mouthfuls and stretched out his chubby hand to start picking more. “I want to bring some back for Daddy! Daddy hasn’t had persimmons before!”
The little child was very clever when it came to food. After realizing that the softer persimmons would easily squish and burst, he started picking the firmer ones.
Daddy had said before that unripe fruits could ripen after being left for a while.
He picked the firmer persimmons, figuring that by the time he brought them to Daddy, they’d be perfectly ripe.
The little child filled a whole bag full of persimmons. By the time they were done, none of the children remembered they were supposed to be racing.
“Ning, Wagner, stop eating persimmons! Let’s go eat some other fruits.”
“Okay!”
None of the children ended up becoming the leader of the group, but they didn’t really care anymore.
Savi then helped them pick some small, purple fruits. These purple fruits were tiny, about the size of a fingernail, but just as sweet as the persimmons.
Besides the purple fruits, there were also red and green children.
After finishing the fruits, the little children went off to catch rabbits.
But when they caught one, Savi taught them how to tell which ones they could eat. “Look, if there’s a tag around its neck, you can’t eat it. If it doesn’t have a tag, then you can.”
The little child was confused. He asked, “Does that mean the ones without tags taste better?”
After asking, the little child got a bit rebellious. “Can I eat just one rabbit with a tag?”
“No!”
Savi’s face darkened. “Any animal with a tag is off-limits, even the fish swimming in the water. You have to check if they have a tag too!”
The little child: "..."
The little child looked at Savi, who had a stern expression, and thought about what he said but still wanted to argue.
He had his own ID card because he needed it to attend school.
But here with Savi, why do even fish and rabbits need an ID card?
Savi glanced at the chubby child, then at Wagner, and emphasized, "No matter how fat the fish you see are or how plump the rabbits are, as long as they are wearing a tag, you cannot eat them!"
The little child and Wagner exchanged glances, clearly still thinking it over.
Seeing this, Savi reminded them again, "I don't know if you eat them, it’s for your own good!"
Those fattened rabbits and fish had been around for years.
If these two dared to catch and eat them, they'd be the ones to suffer for it!
After several repeated warnings from Savi, the little child and Wagner reluctantly promised not to catch any fish or rabbits with tags.
The children had been trained well by their uncle. After searching the mountain for over an hour, they finally caught a wild rabbit without a tag and a mountain chicken without a tag.
Savi carefully inspected them, checking their necks and smelling their scent. Once he confirmed they were just ordinary rabbits and chickens, he finally spoke, "Take care of them!"
The little child, holding the rabbit, nodded solemnly.
The chicken and rabbit were dealt with, but Savi didn't start a fire. He turned to the little child, who knew how to make one: "Ning, it's your turn now!"
Though the little child knew how to make a fire, he had to be very cautious when doing so in the mountains. Otherwise, a wildfire could cause very serious consequences.
The cautious little child didn’t randomly pick a spot to start a fire. They walked through the forest together, searching for a suitable place to cook.
"Ning, don’t go any further."
Although the area ahead was more open, with sparse vegetation and less risk of causing a fire, Savi still wanted the little child to stop: "We can't go any further."
The little child was puzzled. "Why not?"
The trees ahead were sparse, and there was a clearing that looked as if it had been cleaned up. Digging a pit and making a fire there would be ideal.
Savi looked at the clearing, then at the direction it faced.
He hesitated for a few seconds but still said, "We might disturb someone here."
"No, we won’t. There’s no one around."
The little child carried the rabbit he had just cleaned in the water to a clearing. He handed the rabbit to Lele and began skillfully digging a hole.
After finishing the hole, the little child started a fire.
Once the fire was going, he sharpened two sticks and skewered the rabbit on them.
As for the pheasant, the little child wrapped it in a large green leaf and stuffed it with the fruit they had just picked. The chicken, now wrapped in leaves, was covered with a layer of mud and placed in the pit.
Savi watched the little child expertly bury the chicken, light the fire, and roast the rabbit, leaving him dumbfounded. His thoughts were successfully diverted.
"Ning, how do you know so much?"
The little child, holding a stick, looked proud as his face, blackened by the smoke, lit up. "I know a lot! I often watch Uncle Ling Qi cook when he’s in the kitchen!"
Savi admired him and said, "You're really filial. You watch Uncle Ling Qi cook because you want to learn to cook for him, right? So you can cook for him later?"
The little child: "..."
Not really.
He stayed in the kitchen because he wanted to eat as soon as possible.
But seeing Savi looking at him with such admiration, the little child, of course, didn’t deny it. He hummed and said, "Anyway, I can make all sorts of food."
Although he could cook, it was mostly survival skills for the wild.
At home, his dad and Uncle Ling Qi never let him cook.
If he ever got hungry, his dad and Uncle Ling Qi would cook for him, and even his brother would make him food. He was the happiest little child ever!
