Erwazi was lying in a pile of hay, his tattered straw hat covering half of his head, chewing a grass root in his mouth, and a bitter and sweet taste came from his mouth. In the distance, five cows were leisurely eating the half-dried grass on the ground. An old cow was full and pooped a large pile of shit, and the fragrance of cow dung spread. The early winter sun shone on his body, and he felt warm and drowsy. Erwazi thought comfortably, how nice it would be if there was sun to warm his body at night, and he didn't think about whether it would still be called night if there was sun at night? This was because he could only sleep in Wang Laocai's hay house at night, and there was only hay and cold inside, so he had such an unrealistic idea. It was so cold last night that he couldn't fall asleep all night, and he was still sleepy now. But he couldn't fall asleep, he had to cheer up and watch these cows. These cows belong to Wang Laocai. He helps Wang Laocai herd cattle every day and gets a meal as a reward. When Wang Laocai's wife is in a good mood, she gives him some leftovers, and when she is in a bad mood, she gives him a coarse corn bread. Even so, Erwazi still cherishes this job very much, because Qingniu Village is too poor, and other villagers can't even eat enough for their own families, so how can they have surplus food for an orphan like him? Because there is only one meal a day, he is so hungry that he is skinny. If he continues like this, he doesn't know when he will be taken away by God.
In addition to helping Wang Laocai herd cattle, he will go to Mr. Lanqing to help him wash clothes and clean the house, not for anything else, just to listen to Mr. Lanqing's lectures and learn to read and write. Because Mr. Lanqing is the only literate teacher in the village, he usually teaches the children in the village to read and write, and the villagers' reward is food. Because other children have given food, he has no food to give to Mr. Lanqing, so the teacher can only let him listen to the class outside the yard, otherwise no one will give it, and Mr. Lanqing will also have a hard time. However, he had a very good understanding and memory. He would remember what Mr. Lan Qing taught him once, unlike some children who were dull and could not understand anything. Once in class, Mr. Lan Qing asked a question, and the children in the yard could not answer it, but Erwazi outside the yard answered it immediately. Mr. Lan Qing asked Erwazi what reward he wanted. Since Erwazi could remember, other villagers called him Erwazi. He did not know why others called him Erwazi. It was said that when his parents were alive, they called him that. Erwazi asked Mr. Lan Qing to give him a name. He found out that his family name was Ye. Mr. Lan Qing thought about it and named him Ye Han. He asked Mr. Lan Qing what it meant. Mr. Lan Qing said that he was born in poverty and lived in poverty. He named him Ye Han because he hoped that he could survive the cold and not forget his past poverty when he became rich in the future. Erwazi liked this name very much. At the beginning, when others called him Erwazi, he would correct them and call himself Ye Han. However, others still called him Erwazi. But compared to other children who were called Goudan, Ergouzi, Erlangzi, Niuzhibei, Xiaohei, Xiaobai... At least Erwazi sounded a little better, so he could only accept it with self-consolation. After being frozen all night last night, Erwazi thought to himself that after getting through this winter, he would leave Qingniu Village and go out to explore the world. If he stayed in this poor place, no one would call him Ye Han for the rest of his life. Because he heard from Mr. Lan Qing how prosperous and rich the world outside was, he didn't want to herd cattle for Wang Laocai in Qingniu Village for his whole life, with a meal or two. If he went out to explore for a few years, he might become a rich and respectable person as Mr. Lan Qing said. Maybe he didn't sleep well last night, or maybe the sun was too comfortable, and he fell asleep unconsciously. He didn't know how long he slept, a gust of wind blew over, and the fallen leaves flew, blowing away the broken straw hat that Ye Han covered his face with. Erwazi woke up dimly and scratched the back of his head. The sun was high in the sky and it was almost noon. He felt a little hot from the sun.
Gurgle! His abdomen protested. Erwazi felt that he was getting hungry faster and faster recently. He was half an adult and growing up, so he was particularly hungry. He took out half a coarse grain steamed bread from his arms. This was what he saved last night and saved for lunch. He ate it in a few bites. At least he felt that there was something in his stomach and he was not so hungry. However, he had been exposed to the sun for too long. He ate half a steamed bread again. This thing was very dry. He was about to find some water to drink. Suddenly. Erwazi's face changed drastically. He felt something was wrong. He jumped up suddenly and looked around. Where is the cow? It was quiet everywhere. The cow that was eating grass not far away was gone. He stood on tiptoe and looked around. He didn't know where the cow had run to. If Wang Laocai knew that he had fallen asleep and not watched the cows, this job would definitely fail... Usually, he would watch the cows eat, tie them up, and then go to Mr. Lan Qing to attend the class. As a result, he was frozen all night last night and did not sleep well. When he fell asleep, the cows disappeared. In the entire Qingniu Village, except for Wang Laocai who had five cows, other people only had one or two cows. There were still occasional cases of cows being lost. They were either taken away by others or eaten by ferocious beasts running out of the mountains. "Where did they run away?" Erwazi was so anxious that he sweated. He didn't care about his dry mouth. He jumped onto the big rock on the hillside and looked around. Looking around, he couldn't see any trace of the cows. If the five cows were lost, it would be normal for Wang Laocai to beat him to death. Otherwise, he would be treated like a cow by Wang Laocai for the rest of his life. Erwazi is the smartest kid in the village. He immediately came up with an idea. That’s right! Cow dung! Cows have the habit of eating and defecating at the same time. Following the newly excreted cow dung, we should be able to find the cow... After walking for a while, Erwazi found a pile of fresh-looking cow dung. He followed it with an idea in his mind. The further he walked, the uglier his face became. Because following the cow dung leads to the mountains. There are some ferocious beasts in the mountains. If the cows run into the mountains, it will be troublesome. Last year, several hunters in the village went into the mountains to hunt together and never came out. The whole village went up the mountains to search, but only found a pile of bones. No one dared to go hunting in the mountains for a long time. Thinking of the consequences of losing the cow, Erwazi gritted his teeth and went to the mountains to look for it. In the early winter weather, the grass outside was half withered, but the grass and trees in the mountains were still green. No wonder those damn cows ran into the mountains to eat grass. I hope the cows don't run too far. Erwazi prayed in his heart and walked forward along the traces of the cows. The further he went into the mountains, the more lush the forests became. He looked back and couldn't see the way he came. At this time, the sun was setting and it was almost dark. "I can't go forward. I won't be able to go back soon." Erwazi looked at the sky and said to himself that it was not worth it to sacrifice his life for a few cows. If it really didn't work, he would leave the village overnight.
He just turned around. Suddenly. "Moo!" A cow moo came from the canyon not far away. "Where are the cows!" Erwazi shouted in surprise and ran towards the canyon. As soon as he ran to the canyon, he smelled a strong smell of blood. Just after moving forward a dozen feet, he saw the skeleton of a yellow cow at the entrance of the canyon. The skeleton still had some fresh meat, and the internal organs and blood were all over the ground. It was obvious at a glance that it was eaten by some beast. What happened? Not daring to enter the canyon, Erwazi's face changed drastically, and he turned around and ran. Ah... A wild beast roared, followed by a strong fishy wind. Erwazi felt that he was knocked away by a figure bigger than a cow, and his head hit the stone wall, and he fainted.
