The autumn wind howled, and the setting sun cast its last rays as the temperature on the desolate mountain gradually dropped.
Wang Shitou, dressed in tattered rags and carrying a large bundle of dry firewood, was walking down the mountain.
The mountain path was rugged, and he walked slowly, his steps uneven.
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, he passed a stream. Wang Shitou put down the firewood on his back and walked to the stream's edge.
He took off his worn straw sandals and tested the water, flinching from the icy coldness.
But the next moment, Wang Shitou gritted his teeth and stepped into the water.
Hiss ~ It was cold!
Despite the cold, Wang Shitou endured. Taking advantage of the last bit of light before the sun set, he began to rummage in the river.
Rummaging for what? Stones.
He was looking for stones, beautiful small stones.
If the stones were pretty enough to please the village chief's granddaughter, she would teach him one or two characters. If he was lucky, he might even get some leftover snacks from her.
Always living off others, what future was there in picking firewood in these mountains? Wang Shitou also wanted to study and learn characters, so he could leave Qingxi Village and live in Chaoyang City in the future.
He plunged his hands into the icy water, rummaging around, looking at this one, then that one, but shaking his head at each.
None were pretty enough; the village chief's granddaughter definitely wouldn't like them.
The light grew dimmer and dimmer, and Wang Shitou couldn't help but rummage more frantically. He accidentally cut his finger on a sharp small stone.
Wang Shitou pulled his hand back, saw the blood on his finger, and quickly put it in his mouth to suck on it.
After a few sucks, he looked at the darkening sky and then at the river.
"Alright, I'll rummage ten more times. If I don't find a good one, I'll go back," Wang Shitou decided in his heart.
He plunged his hand back into the icy water and began to rummage.
"Huh? This small stone?"
Wang Shitou picked up a small, yellowish stone.
It wasn't particularly pretty; the village chief's granddaughter definitely wouldn't like it. But Wang Shitou had been picking stones for many years and had never seen one with such a color and fine texture.
"Could it be the legendary jade?" Wang Shitou's heart quickened. He had heard that jade was very valuable.
But upon closer inspection, it didn't really look like jade.
His fingers rubbed the finely textured stone, not noticing that the blood from his finger wound had already smeared onto it.
The blood was silently absorbed, and a moment later, the finely textured small yellow stone glowed with a faint yellow light.
"It's glowing!" Wang Shitou gasped, his mouth wide open.
He had never encountered such a situation before.
The next moment, the small stone seemed to completely turn into light, becoming a yellow mass that suddenly shot into Wang Shitou's glabella.
"Ah!"
Wang Shitou cried out, feeling his vision go black, and his body limply falling towards the stream.
But just as his back was about to touch the icy river water, his body twisted, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished.
Thud!
Wang Shitou felt himself fall onto a hard surface. His back ached from the impact.
He quickly scrambled up, grimaced as he rubbed the back of his head, and then looked up, only to freeze.
Where was this?
A cave?
Wasn't he picking beautiful small stones in the river?
Oh, right, he found a glowing yellow small stone, and then that stone hit him on the head.
"Where did this take me?"
Wang Shitou looked around in confusion. Above him was the cave ceiling, all around him were uneven stone walls, and below him was also a rugged stone floor.
It was just a stone cave.
And a cave with no exit.
"Where am I? Can I go back?" Wang Shitou couldn't help but panic.
As this thought flashed through his mind, the next moment, he felt a dizzy spell, and the scene shifted. He felt his feet grow cold again, and he was standing in the stream once more.
"Huh?"
"Huh, huh?"
Wang Shitou was still a bit bewildered.
He looked around, saw the familiar scenery, and then saw the bundle of firewood he had left on the bank. Wang Shitou knew he was back.
"I really came back?" He could hardly believe it.
"Then... then... can I go back to that cave again?" he thought nervously.
Swish, the scene changed again, and he was back in that cave.
"This is so fun!" Wang Shitou's heart suddenly filled with excitement.
He was no longer in a hurry to leave and began to walk around the cave.
The cave was not small, estimated to be a hundred meters high, and the ground was roughly circular, with a diameter of about seventy or eighty meters.
It looked like an inverted half eggshell.
Wang Shitou searched around for a long time and found nothing but the stone walls.
Those stone walls were also made of the same material as the small stone he found—yellow and very fine-grained.
"Oh, right, where's that small stone?" Wang Shitou began to pat himself all over, but besides the bag of mountain fruits at his waist and a piece of bran cake hidden close to his body, there was nothing else.
The small stone wasn't there. He searched the entire cave, but it wasn't there either.
"That's strange," Wang Shitou scratched his head.
There was nothing in the cave, and it was quite boring. Wang Shitou then wanted to leave.
"From now on, this place will be my personal storage," he thought, muttering to himself, "I want to go back."
Swish! He was back in the stream, his feet in the icy water.
It was already almost completely dark, with only a faint, last trace of greyish-white in the west.
"Never mind, I didn't find any pretty small stones today." Wang Shitou shook his head, got out of the water, picked up his firewood, and headed down the mountain.
The firewood was for his uncle and Wang Shitou's Aunt; he was currently staying at his uncle's house.
He carried the firewood back to Qingxi Village.
He didn't go back to his uncle's house first. Instead, he crossed the wooden bridge to the other side of the river and arrived in front of a spacious large tiled house.
This was the old village chief's house, the best house in the village.
"Village Chief, is Village Chief Wang Youcai home?" Wang Shitou called out from outside the gate.
"Is that Wang Shitou?" The door of the tiled house opened, and an old man with a cane walked out. It was indeed the old village chief, Wang Youcai. He recognized Wang Shitou's voice.
"It's me, Village Chief Wang Youcai. I've brought you firewood."
Wang Youcai walked over with his cane, opened the door, and saw Wang Shitou carrying a large bundle of firewood. A smile appeared on his old face: "Wang Shitou, why are you back so late today?"
Before Wang Shitou could answer, a tender girl's voice sounded from inside the tiled house.
"Wang Shitou! You're back!"
A pretty little girl in a red dress ran out, ran up to Wang Shitou, and seeing him carrying a large bundle of firewood, she didn't mind and asked, "Did you go pick stones today?"
"I'm sorry, Ling-jie." Wang Shitou scratched his head awkwardly and said, "I searched for a long time today, but I didn't find any pretty ones."
"Ah ~" The little girl pouted unhappily.
"Enough, Ling Ling, why do you always bother with those broken stones?" Wang Youcai said, "Go back inside and eat. It's cold out here."
"Oh." The little girl made a face at Wang Shitou and turned and ran back inside.
Wang Youcai looked at Wang Shitou again and said with a smile, "Are these for me?"
"Yes, Village Chief Wang Youcai." Wang Shitou put down the large bundle of firewood from his back and untied a smaller bundle from it.
He tried hard to collect firewood every day. When he collected a lot, he wouldn't carry it all home.
He would give a small portion to Village Chief Wang Youcai, who would always welcome him with a smile. At these times, if he asked for a few coarse cakes or bran cakes, Village Chief Wang Youcai would usually agree.
This was much more generous than his uncle and Wang Shitou's Aunt.
He picked up the smaller bundle and said, "Village Chief Wang Youcai, I'll carry this to the woodshed for you."
"Good, good." The village chief nodded with a smile and said, "My old back isn't convenient anymore, Wang Shitou, you can carry it over."
"Okay." Wang Shitou nodded and carried the small bundle of firewood into the village chief's tiled courtyard.
Wang Shitou naturally knew where the woodshed was. After putting away the firewood, he ran back to Village Chief Wang Youcai, wiped away non-existent sweat, and said, "Village Chief Wang Youcai, it's put away."
"Hmm, Wang Shitou is really good." Wang Youcai praised him and asked, "Haven't you eaten yet?"