As the sky was dawn, the broken wood door opened with a creaking sound, and a 16 or 17-year-old boy walked out of the door in tattered clothes.

Before the neighbors around him had even raised up, Yun Qing had already prepared to go up the mountain to chop wood with a hatchet. He had already shouldered the burden of supporting his family, and the poor children had long been the ones who had already become the family, which was unhappy for him.

At this time, there was already dew in the morning. Yun Qing's shoes and exposed ankles were wet with dew. His hands, feet, and arms were covered with wounds of all sizes. Some were bitten by mosquitoes, some were scratched by grass-thorned branches, and some were beaten by his stepmother.

The mountain road winds like a lazy grass snake. It takes nearly half an hour to walk on the mountain every day. From spring to winter, he has to walk twice a day, and even with his eyes closed, he will not go wrong.

Although chopping wood was hard and tiring, he would rather stay in the mountains than stay at home. Compared with not having enough food and clothing, the home that he wanted to escape but had to stay on a daily basis made him even more painful.

Although the weather was cool early in the morning, Yunqing still sweated all over. He wanted to cut all the firewood before the sun rose, then put it there until it was half dry, and then carry it down the mountain.

Because the sun in autumn is even more poisonous, when the sun rises and chops wood, the skin on your body will be painful to the sun.

Yun Qing started to go up the mountain to chop wood at the age of ten, but now he doesn't even have a decent hatchet. He is not very good at carrying the hatchet. He wraps the knife around with rags, but his hands are still stained with blood.

After chopping up enough firewood, Yunqing took out the coarse grain cakes from his arms and ate them whole with the water from the mountain stream. Then he rinsed his mouth, washed his hands, and walked to the cave not far away.

This cave is Yun Qing’s secret, and he has never told anyone.

The cave is not big. After walking in, there is a sunken covered by a withered vines on the stone wall.

Yun Qing stood on tiptoe and carefully groped out a bag from it.

Then take off the dust and dead leaves on the bag, and open it with precious land. There are several books in the bag, including new and old, as well as brushes, ink cartridges and a stack of rice paper.

Those old books were from Yun Qing's father, and they were incomplete. The new books were given to him by Su Haoyi last time, and the pen, ink, paper and inkstone are the same.

Yun Qing couldn't put down these things, but he couldn't bear to use them. Especially for the stack of rice paper, he only wrote three words on it - Su Balang. When he practiced calligraphy, he used branches to write and draw on the sand.

He took the new book and put it straight. He looked up at the rising sun just now, and a thousand layers of heroism suddenly accumulated in his chest.

After breathing a long sigh, he carefully uncovered the pages of the book, read them seriously, and gradually became fascinated.

Just as Yun Qing was reading forgot about selfishness, a sharp voice sounded: "You really caught the thief! I said, why do you go up the mountain to chop wood so early every day? It turns out that you ran here to hide from your leisure time!"

The one who came was not someone else, but Yun Qing’s stepmother Qiu.

She is in her early forties. Although she is thin, her feet are big and her hands are big. She has a hunchback and a shrimp waist. She has dark spots on her face. Her lips are as thin as two pieces of paper and a pair of yellow eyes. She looks like a mean person.

"I have finished chopping the wood." Yun Qing quickly stood up and protected the book behind him.

"What does it mean to chop it? I said you only cut a little bit of firewood every day, and you will spend most of the day on the mountain! You are getting more and more cunning!" Qiu cursed and walked up viciously, twisting Yun Qing's ears: "You are going to die at home, and you still have to take care of your shit and pee! You ran here to stay lazy, you are a ungrateful wolf with no conscience and morality! Your heart is so dark that you are just a licensed product, you still want to be a scholar! It makes your neighbors laugh! If you were a girl, I would have married you long ago. How many cents of money can you earn to support your old age? Who would have thought you were a money-losing guy again!"

Mrs. Qiu kept cursing, and she couldn't help but start beating again.

Yun Qing struggled a little, and Qiu fell to the ground. He was stunned at first, but unexpectedly, Yun Qing dared to resist, and then he rolled in and cried.

"God, why don't you drop the thunder and kill this unfilial evil seed! Why don't you blew a whirlwind and swept him to heaven! Your cowardly father collapsed on the kang and couldn't get up. If I hadn't sewed and repaired the fire and cooked in the past few years, you two would have lived to this day? Seeing that your wings were hard, I wouldn't recognize my mother. I asked my neighbors to judge you, or I would go to the yamen to sue you for disobedience!" Qiu's face was filled with snot and tears. Her appearance was really disgusting.

Yun Qing stood aside, looking at her with a cold look on her.

After making a fuss for a while, Qiu probably felt it was boring, so he wiped his face and sat up.

He rolled up Yun Qing's book and said, "This thing should be sold for some money! I haven't drunk for several days, which is just enough to satisfy my craving."

Yun Qing hurriedly stopped her and said as angrily as possible: "This thing is not worth much money. I will make more firewood and buy you wine when I turn around."

After hearing this, Qiu immediately straightened his waist and sneered: "Why are you afraid when you move really? Now you know your mother is so powerful?"

"It's my son who is unfilial, which makes you angry." Yun Qing gritted his teeth and said, "Please don't have the same knowledge as me."

"Oh, such a good son," Qiu said sarcastically: "If you really admit your mistake, just kneel down and kowtow one to me."

Yun Qing lowered his head, pinching his fists tightly, and almost all his back teeth were bitten.

But he finally knelt down slowly, and his days were completely dark without these books.

Seeing that he really knelt down, Mrs. Qiu immediately laughed madly: "You really knelt down! Do I know why you kneel down? You are so heartless, you have never kneeled for me for your father! You actually kneeled down happily for these books. I know what you are thinking. Let me tell you that if you want to blind your heart, you will never be able to make a name for yourself in this life! You are just like your cowardly father, you are a waste!"

Yun Qing reached out to snatch the book from Mrs. Qiu, but Mrs. Qiu was very agile and avoided it in an instant.

"Little bastard, don't be interested in me! Tell you, if you hurt me, I will go to the yamen to sue you and let you go to prison!" Qiu was viciously like a female wolf with a blown hair.

Yun Qing knew that she was telling the truth, not scaring herself. This shrew could do anything shameless. She really sued her for disobedience and would never want to study in her life.

Seeing Yun Qing like this, Qiu knew that he was afraid, so he turned around proudly and hummed a little song and went down the mountain.

Yun Qing did not cry or shout, and he seemed to have turned into a piece of pig iron, with only an indifferent expression on his face.
Chapter completed!