After a moment of silence, Savi’s father spoke up and gave instructions: "First, move the children away, and then the others... in batches."
They made their plans methodically. By the end of their discussion, the First Uncle brought up Ningning.
"Ningning is still there. The benefactor said to wait, but he didn’t specify how long."
The tribe leader fell silent.
After thinking for a moment, he guessed, "Could it be that he wants to wait until Ningning finishes his winter homework?"
The First Uncle was taken aback.
He muttered, "No way. Ningning’s winter homework is really difficult to finish."
None of them could figure out what the benefactor intended.
Since they couldn’t guess, they had no choice but to wait.
Time passed day by day.
Miraculously, the benefactor's spiritual power never went out of control. Meanwhile, the little child left behind by the benefactor had yet to be sent away.
The child, who was confined to do homework, adapted remarkably well.
Every morning, he would recite a few poems or memorize good phrases and sentences, determined to fill his chubby belly with a bit of knowledge.
After getting out of bed, he would prepare breakfast for both himself and the uncle.
Once they finished eating, the uncle would lift him onto a chair to continue doing his homework.
The homework took a long, long time. When he got tired, he could play with the treasures hidden in the boxes. There were many boxes, each filled with countless treasures.
The uncle didn’t care much about these treasures, so the child could play with them as he pleased.
After playing games, it was back to homework. Mistakes on his homework were reviewed by the uncle, and once explained, he was not allowed to make the same mistakes again.
After finishing a day’s worth of homework, he would help prepare the next meal.
The uncle had some unknown way of heating the place, so it wasn’t cold at all. The little child only needed to tie a piece of cloth around his chubby waist to serve as clothes.
For two days, he wore the cloth, then tilted his chubby face upward and asked his uncle to make him a pair of shorts.
The uncle refused.
The little child pouted in displeasure, a mood that lingered even as he fell asleep.
Even in his sleep, the grumpy little child climbed onto the man’s head and grabbed tightly at his hair.
No, not just grabbing—yanking.
After having his hair yanked several times, the man eventually, during the day while the child was doing his homework, fetched a piece of red cloth and the child’s one clean pair of little shorts. He studied them for a long time.
It was unclear if the man’s commanding presence played a role, but in the few days the little child had been under his care, he had somehow developed the habit of writing his homework carefully.
Even when the man wasn’t watching, the child would bury his head in his work and write diligently.
Day after day,
Sometimes the little child would cry after being scolded, but he still insisted on sleeping next to the man at night.
Occasionally, when he woke up in the middle of the night, he would climb over to the man’s side, look at his face, and then scramble into his arms with both his hands and feet.
Although the uncle sometimes made the little child cry, he also gave him so, so many boxes!
It was unclear what day it was.
The little child sat on a chair, his chubby hands touching his workbook, his little face looking a bit dazed.
“I finished my homework!”
For the little child, who always tried to avoid doing his homework, this was practically a miracle. Even he couldn’t believe it. He touched his workbook several times to make sure. After confirming over and over again, he let out a cheer, grabbed the workbook, and ran off to find the uncle.
“I finished my homework!”
“Ningning is amazing!”
The little child’s face was flushed with excitement. Finishing his homework meant he could finally go out and play.
“Uncle, let’s go climb trees!” The little child enthusiastically suggested, “I want to catch a rabbit to eat—a rabbit without a tag!”
Tagged rabbits, according to Savi, weren’t allowed to be eaten.
The little child ran around excitedly, brimming with joy. When he reached the man, he grabbed his hand and pulled him, trying to drag him along to eat something together.
The man didn’t move.
For the past two days, he had been letting the little child do his homework on his own, refraining from checking up on him too often. He couldn’t afford to lose his temper again—otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to hold himself back.
But today, without even losing his temper, he had already noticed something unusual about his mental state.
“Let me see your homework.”
“Here!”
The little child puffed out his chest proudly and handed the workbook to the uncle. “I finished all of it! I’m amazing!”
The little child, feeling very proud of himself, handed over the workbook, eager to be praised.
The man glanced down at the workbook. After looking through it, he paused and asked, “Do you want to go home?”
The little child was quite a chatterbox. Since there weren’t any other kids around to talk to, he ended up chatting with the uncle instead.
He talked about his family—about his dad, who loved him but also spanked him; about Uncle Ling Qi, who cooked for him; about his brother, who bought him toys; and about Aunt Ai Wei and Uncle Lulu.
The little child kept talking nonstop. The man didn’t respond but also didn’t interrupt him.
The man had no ties to family affection of his own. His true love was gone, his young son lost. After three days and nights of bloodshed against his enemies, he arrived here when his body could no longer endure.
The mountains and rivers in this place were beautiful, making it suitable for him to rest here forever.
Waking up this time was unexpected for him, but the little chubby boy gave him a feeling that wasn’t bad.
Now, his remaining time awake was counting down.
Before the countdown ended, this little chubby boy had to leave his sight.
That very day.
At the foot of the mountain, the First Uncle found several large boxes. Inside the boxes were silk cloth, toys, and gemstones. In one of them sat a little chubby boy.
“Ningning!”
Seeing the young child who had been missing for several days, the First Uncle exclaimed in shock, “What are you doing here!”
The little child’s chubby face was confused. “Ningning is playing hide-and-seek in the boxes!”
He had hidden in the box for the uncle to find.
He loved playing this game.
But this time, after he hid in the box, it turned into the First Uncle finding him instead.
The First Uncle, who finally saw him, didn’t hesitate to lift him out and started heading back. “It’s good you’re back. I’ll take you to find Savi.”
“Oh, and call your dad. He’s been worried about you too.”
The First Uncle, usually stern, now had an unusual expression of relief on his face.
The little child was still processing everything. He glanced back and asked, “Where’s Uncle?”
The First Uncle knew who he was referring to and replied, “It was your uncle who sent you back. Ningning, your uncle is going to sleep now. Don’t disturb him.”
The little child: “…”
The little child frowned, clearly unhappy.
Why did Uncle just drop him off and leave!
Had he even checked Ningning’s homework yet?
Truth be told, being locked up to do homework had clearly left the little child a bit mentally unsettled.
The First Uncle carried the little child in his arms and quickly brought him to the place where Savi was waiting. Along with the little child, he also packed up the boxes that appeared at the mountain’s base. These boxes were intended for the little child, and he planned to give them to him when he left.
These boxes were given to the little child by a benefactor; he was aware of that.
Within the safe zone designated by the beastman tribe, the little child finally reunited with the other three children.
When Lele saw him, tears streamed down his face, and Wagner's eyes were red as well.
The two of them looked him over and, upon realizing that the little child hadn’t lost weight or been injured, felt a bit relieved.
"Ningning," Wagner was the first to ask, "Where did you go? First Uncle said you were locked away doing homework."
Wagner didn’t believe that explanation at all. As Ningning's good friend, he knew him best!
"What First Uncle said is true," Ningning replied.
He took out the workbook he carried with him and showed it to them. "I finished all my winter vacation homework, and I even corrected all my mistakes!"
The workbook was so thick that Ningning had already gone through several pens while writing.
Wagner: "?"
