1983, Northeast China

Chapter 34 I'm only 7, what's there to be afraid of?

"Uncle Zhao, let's remove the fishy stuff first. I don't know if there are any drugs in it, we don't want someone taking it back and harming the dog or something."

Upon hearing the news of the medicine being released, Tian Youshan, who was halfway there, turned back and glanced at him again.

Chen Shi ignored him. "Bury it deeper later, and put stones on top. If it's too shallow, we can dig it out."

Zhao Defa looked at the boy in front of him, who still had the sharp features of a teenager, and whose eyes were unusually bright, as if he had suddenly figured something out.

"Okay." Zhao Defa immediately made the decision. "Keep all the shovels. Let's do as Chen Shi said today. Everyone should keep an eye out for this in the future."

Several men quickly responded, grabbed their shovels, and went to work.

The women who had been standing far away just moments before now looked at Chen Shi differently.

A woman holding a child whispered, "If Shizi hadn't noticed, we would have moved closer."

"My legs went weak when that wolf suddenly leaped out."

"Although Mancang is... well, he's still his son, and he's quite capable."

When these words reached Chen Shi's ears, a fire suddenly rose in his chest.

In his previous life, he lived to a ripe old age, but apart from having some medical skills, he didn't achieve much. In this life, he's only seventeen, quick-witted and resourceful, and has saved all the family members who needed saving. Why should he still be like an old man, just like in his previous life?

Let go, fuck him.

Li Cheng leaned over and nudged him with his shoulder, "Are you awake?"

"What? You're awake?"

"The way you were the other day, worrying, frowning, sighing, I even suspected you were possessed by my great-uncle. We're just trying to make a living for our family, how can we let someone ride roughshod over us?"

Chen Shi was taken aback. So he had always been like this?

"You've finally said something sensible today," Chen Shi said with a smile.

Chen Shi immediately became displeased, "What do you mean you said something human today? I've always spoken human language."

Chen Shi did not argue with him.

The scoundrel has already run far away. Tian Youshan was humiliated in public today, but the kind of person he is, he never stops after suffering a loss, and he will definitely make some more trouble.

His idea was quickly proven true.

"The river ditch is now covered in green stags, who can guarantee safety along the border?" Tian Youshan stood at the entrance of the brigade's house, speaking in a grand and righteous tone, "From now on, if anyone wants to go to collect firewood, they can, but they still need to register. This is to ensure everyone's safety. If something really happens, it will be too late to cry for help."

When the news reached the Chen family, Aunt Wang was preparing lunch.

"He's taking his anger out on firewood because his face hurt from being slapped."

Li Cheng was so angry that he cursed, "The shrew doesn't bite, but he bit first."

"He went back and thought about it for a long time, and this is the only way he came up with?" Chen Shi glanced at the firewood in the corner of his yard. "He wants to get a ticket, so I'll go and get one."

"tomorrow?"

"Well, if we can't get through tomorrow, we'll go ask about the rules. Is it for protecting the forest or protecting their fields and mountains?"

Once the words were out, Chen Shi felt that he had finally come back to life.

"Let's go." Chen Shi picked up the shovel by the door.

"Didn't you say you were going to get the paperwork done tomorrow? What are you doing here now?"

"Get to work today."

"What?"

"Houhegou." Chen Shi pulled his cotton hat over his head. "You can't just drive the wolf away and be done with it. If it gets its fill here today, and the pit is shallow, it'll come back. Who will dare to sleep tonight?"

Li Cheng blinked, then suddenly grinned, "That sounds cool. Like a tough guy from Northeast China."

Aunt Wang poked her head out, "You two just got back and went out again?"

"Auntie, we're not going into the mountains. We'll be back soon, so it won't be too late for dinner."

Chen Xiulan looked at him, her eyes still filled with worry.

"Is Uncle going to chase away weasels?"

"It's not about driving it away." Chen Shi squatted down and pinched her little nose, which was a bit red from the cold. "It's about burying the scent it's looking for. If the road is cut off, it won't come into the village."

Ya Ya seemed to understand, but not quite.

Li Cheng also picked up a shovel. "Let's go!"

He spoke loudly, as if he were going to war.

Chen Shi was amused by his words, "Keep your voice down, or you'll call the wolf back again."

"Calling you back is fine too." Li Cheng patted the shovel. "This time I'll stand behind you."

"Promising."

Chen Shi walked very fast, his feet crunching through the snow.

Li Cheng followed for a few steps and couldn't help but say, "I know you have a lot on your plate—your sister, Ya Ya, Xiao Man—all of them weigh on you. But the more you act like this, the more you shouldn't just sigh like an old man. You have your brothers; what are you afraid of?"

His past life was so bitter that his first reaction upon being reborn was to scheme, endure, and avoid trouble.

But Li Cheng is right.

If he continues to cautiously hide in this life, how can he change his fate?

Chen Shi quickened his pace again. "Hurry up. If you don't finish burying the cesspool before dark, you'll be in charge of banging pots for the whole village tonight."

"Why should I be responsible?"

"You have a loud voice."

"That's true."

Zhao Defa is still there by the Houhe Ditch.

The team's iron bucket was dragged onto the snow, and Old Scarface and several other men, shovels in hand, were looking at the patch of reeds with concern.

That little bit of fishy stuff didn't look like much on the surface, but once you turned it over, you'd find there was quite a bit underneath.

Chicken intestines, fish gills, broken bones, and frozen blood clots were mixed with a tattered burlap sack corner, creating a very pungent smell.

Zhao Defa saw Chen Shi and asked, "What brings you here again?"

"Let's finish this up." Chen Shi stuck the shovel into the snow. "If we don't finish this job, the wolves will still be thinking about us tonight."

Zhao Defa looked him up and down. "Then you tell me what to do."

Chen Shi walked to the edge of the ditch. "Clear up this whole reed patch. There's still something under the drag marks over there. Don't dump it in the ditch. It'll rot in the spring, and the smell will follow the waterline. Dogs and wild things will follow that."

Old Scarface slapped his forehead, "I was thinking it would be easier to just shovel it into the ditch."

"If we try to save ourselves this trouble, we'll have to spend half the night banging on the basin."

The two of them said they were coming to work, and they didn't mince words; they got right to work.

Each person had a shovel, and they were soon covered in sweat.

Old Scarface clicked his tongue in amazement, "These two lads really don't hide anything when they're working."

Zhao Defa, with an unlit pipe dangling from his lips, watched Chen Shi's retreating figure.

He suddenly remembered that many years ago, Chen Mancang had done the same thing.

This kid is not only sharp-eyed and stubborn, and only knows how to say a few nice words, but he is also really willing to put in the effort.

After the iron barrel was filled, several people dragged it to Beigang Old Pit.

The pit needs to be dug deep, because the frozen soil is as hard as iron.

Chen Shi used the tip of a shovel to dig bit by bit, Li Cheng used a wooden stick to pry, and Old Scarface was panting heavily beside him, cursing himself for not taking the easy way out by digging to the side of the ditch.

Half an hour later, the stench was poured into the pit, first covered with snow and soil, then with stones, and finally with a layer of dry branches.

Chen Shi squatted down and picked up the chicken feathers on the side.

Li Cheng's teeth ached at the sight. "You even have to pick up that little bit?"

"A wolf's nose is smarter than your brain."

"You might as well just call me stupid."

"Um."

Li Cheng casually pinched a snowball and threw it over.

Chen Shi dodged to the side, and the snowball flew past his shoulder, landing right on Old Scarface's cotton hat.

The old scarred man's hat was covered in white.

Realizing what had happened, Li Cheng turned and ran, shouting as he ran, "Uncle, it wasn't me, it was the wind! It was the wind!"

The men behind him burst into laughter.