RMCF: Chapter 4

 

Chapter 4

Large old trees, damaged or broken by thunderstorms during summer rains, had mostly dried out by autumn and winter.

Zhang Fangyuan, strong as an ox, chopped off branches of logs thicker than his own waist, gathered and carried them to the mountain pass entrance, piling them up ready for splitting into firewood.

He was picky. Straight, smooth logs were generally spared from being chopped for firewood. Such wood could be saved for future house construction or building livestock sheds. Also, if carried to the lumberyard, someone would buy them. Depending on the wood's quality and sturdiness, they could fetch between ten to thirty wen.

Although selling collected wood could earn money, it was a task that relied on luck and required immense physical exertion. Villagers without Zhang Fangyuan's physique generally didn't earn money this way, as every year there were people who injured their backs, twisted their ankles, or damaged their tendons and bones from carrying wood.

Occasionally, if one wanted to improve their meals and buy some meat, there were indeed young, strong men willing to carry two logs through the village to sell at the timber yard. But unless absolutely desperate, no one would take this up as a regular means of making a living.

In less than two hours, Zhang Fangyuan had gathered over ten logs. Only two of them were decent quality; the rest were crooked and twisted, unsuitable for selling. He pulled his chopper knife and axe from his backpack and set to work on processing the unsuitable wood on the spot, either chopping it into small sections or splitting it directly.

Splitting wood was exhausting work. Even though he had deliberately worn fewer layers for winter, within a quarter of an hour, he was drenched in sweat. With no one around, Zhang Fangyuan simply stripped off his upper garment and tossed it onto a nearby tree branch. He made a mental note: after butchering a few more animals and earning some money, he would trade for a saw. Relying solely on an axe and chopper was just too tiring.

As he pondered over better tools, he was unaware that his own axes and knives were already the envy of others. One such person was Xu He, who had come up the mountain path to gather firewood armed only with a dull sickle whose blade had gone blunt.

Xu He's hands curled around the carrying rope slung over his shoulders. When the backpack basket was empty, the thumb-thick rope was manageable. But once it was filled with firewood, the rope would cut into his shoulders all the way from the mountain back home, often breaking the skin.

Because of this, when he came up the mountain, he would specifically collect the soft, layered outer bark from palm trees. Once he had enough, he could take it home and stitch it into a carrying rope about half a palm wide. This would significantly reduce the pressure from the heavy load.

However, he had just replaced the rope on his frequently used basket when his mother took it for her own use. He was left with the basket fitted with the thin rope, forcing him to make another trip up the mountain specifically for this purpose, and conveniently gather some firewood while he was at it.

He was lost in thought, wondering if he could collect more palm bark today, when his ears picked up a steady thump, thump, thump of someone chopping wood. The relentless sound suggested someone with boundless energy, which unconsciously made him quicken his pace.

Most people preferred to chop or load firewood on the mountain flat. Firstly, it was closer to the path down the mountain, making it easier to transport the wood down. Secondly, the area was more open, allowing one to keep an eye on the time and weather.

Xu He, carrying a backpack basket much larger than his own slender frame, struggled up to the mountain flat like a stubborn snail. Before he could even catch his breath, a tall, shirtless man wielding an axe suddenly filled his vision.

The man stood by the woodpile like an unyielding rock against a fierce wind. His exposed back and arms were a wheatish color leaning towards bronze. As he exerted force, the veins on his arms bulged, clearly marking him as a formidable character brimming with strength.

Who knows how long he'd been at it? The pile of chopped firewood at his feet was already as high as a small hill.

Xu He drew a sharp breath, belatedly averted his gaze, and in his fluster, nearly tripped over a stone.

Hearing a noise behind him, Zhang Fangyuan turned his head, using the motion to wipe his sweat, and saw that it was the youngest of the Xu family.

The little ger walked softly on the side, trying not to make a sound and disturb anyone, looking just like a little black, skinny monkey. Although he was actually considered tall among his peers in the village, his extreme thinness and frail build made him seem smaller than even the shorter ones.

Most men from rural households weren't well-off, leading to stunted growth and generally shorter stature. Consequently, a ger who grew too tall wasn't particularly popular with the men in the village. Standing almost as tall as them, he lacked the delicate, bird-like quality some men favored. Few men had a taste for that, though families generally preferred gers with larger builds, as they were better at manual labor.

Zhang Fangyuan greeted him amiably, “He Ger.”

The little dark, skinny monkey looked up at the sound. He had been walking, but upon seeing the man's face clearly, his breath hitched. Without even responding, he broke into a jog and disappeared into the mountains.

Watching the ger's retreating figure, Zhang Fangyuan recalled what people said about the youngest Xu: not only did he look completely different from his older sister, his temperament was also incomparable—odd and aloof. When he saw elders, he might offer a greeting, but never more than a word, as if everyone owed his family money.

With a cold, unpleasant temper, and lacking both looks and a sweet-talking mouth, how would a ger like him ever get married? Most likely, he'd end up staying at home, an old ger paying the late marriage tax.

He shook his head and turned his attention back, his gaze suddenly catching on the cloth garment hanging from the tree branch. A chill ran down his arms as he abruptly realized he wasn't wearing anything. He rubbed the bridge of his nose sheepishly. What was intended as a friendly gesture to a fellow villager probably came across more like harassment.

After finishing splitting the wood, Zhang Fangyuan carried the two decent logs back home. By the time he made the round trip twice, it was already past noon. He gnawed on flatbread and drank some water, then headed back up the mountain.

This time, there were more branches and firewood on the mountain flat, along with the smaller branches he had trimmed from the larger logs and deemed too small to keep. They were piled up on the other side of his own woodpile. Without a doubt, it was firewood gathered by Xu He. The boy wasn't in sight now, probably off looking for more wood.

Seeing the sky cloud over with signs of rain, Zhang Fangyuan decided to check his traps before calling it a day. Whether he had caught anything or not, he needed to retrieve his hunting tools. They couldn't be left on the mountain overnight. With many people coming up the mountain lately, failing to catch anything was a minor issue; losing the tools would be a real loss.

He first stuffed the split wood into his large backpack basket until it was full, but there was still plenty left. The basket simply couldn't hold it all. He figured he needed to cut some banana leaves to cover the remaining pile. Otherwise, if it rained and soaked the wood, it would be difficult to manage on the way down.

He picked up his sickle, ready to go find banana leaves, when he saw Xu He standing not far away. Xu He was carrying some palm bark in his backpack and held an armful of firewood, looking at him as if hesitating whether to approach and speak.

Thinking that the Xu’s youngest , seeing the impending rain, wanted the leftover dry wood he couldn't carry, and feeling a bit sorry for the ger, Zhang Fangyuan said, “It's starting to drizzle. It'll take you time to chop and load your basket. Once the mountain path gets wet, it'll be hard to go down. The leftovers I can't carry should be more than enough for you to fill your basket.”

Xu He, noting the butcher seemed slightly more approachable now that he was fully dressed, was surprised that Zhang Fangyuan was offering him the leftover firewood. But he didn't step forward to take it. Instead, he focused on laboriously cutting the wood he had gathered with his own dull sickle, seemingly indifferent as he asked, “Was it you who dug the traps over by the wild chestnut trees?”

Zhang Fangyuan heard that hoarse voice again, the same one he'd heard at the Xu house yesterday. He raised an eyebrow, “Yeah. Did I catch something?”

Xu He continued chopping his wood, saying, “I saw someone over there who seemed to be tampering with the traps.”

Zhang Fangyuan paused upon hearing this, sensing trouble. He immediately grabbed his sickle and rushed deeper into the mountains.

Watching the man run like the wind, Xu He furrowed his brows. It took him a good while to decide and follow to see what happened.

Earlier, while collecting palm bark, he had ventured deeper into the woods. From a distance, he had seen a man digging up the wild grass and leaves covering a trap.

Seeing hunting traps in the mountains wasn't strange, and he hadn't planned on interfering. But the man's behavior was furtive; he would dig for a bit, then look around vigilantly, like a thief. Xu He felt something was wrong, but he couldn't just go up and confront the man.

Deep in the mountains, being falsely accused would be a relatively good outcome. If he encountered someone truly without a conscience, who knew what wicked intentions they might have? He carefully retreated to the mountain flat. Seeing Zhang Fangyuan had returned, he was hesitating whether to actively ask if the traps were his. Normally, he wouldn't want to talk to any man unnecessarily, let alone a man with Zhang Fangyuan's reputation.

But just as he hesitated, Zhang Fangyuan spoke first, even offering him firewood. So, he decided to be warm-hearted and meddle this once.

Zhang Fangyuan, with his long legs, ran fast. As he entered the deep woods near his traps, he lightened his steps. Sure enough, there was a thief, crouched down, trying to use a forked branch to lift the nailed board from inside the trap. Arriving early wasn't as good as arriving at the right moment.

With a thud, Zhang Fangyuan kicked the thief squarely. The man was immediately sent kneeling to the ground by the sudden blow. His eyes widened when he saw the tall, sturdy, fierce-looking butcher standing over him. He instantly clutched his kicked stomach, not even daring to cry out, “Spare me! Butcher Zhang, spare me!”

Zhang Fangyuan despised people with sticky fingers the most. He bent down, grabbed the slightly short and stocky man by the back of his collar, and hauled him up. “You knew it was my stuff and still dared to steal from me?! Scum like you are the most shameless! Those trap markers aren't there to make it easier for you to identify and steal them! If hunters get fed up with being stolen from and stop marking their traps, and some villager falls in because of it, the blame will lie with filth like you who can't keep their hands to themselves!”

“Having sound limbs and yet not doing honest work? I think you don't need to keep them.”

With that, Zhang Fangyuan threw the man heavily to the ground, stepped on his wrist, and raised the chopper in his hand, aiming it at the man's hand as if to chop it off.

A sharp, piercing scream tore through the mountain forest, startling a flock of birds into flight.

“Ahhhhh! My hand! My hand!”

Zhang Fangyuan looked at the man on the ground, whose pants were now wet with urine, his eyes filled with utter terror as he stared at the chopper that had stopped just a few centimeters from his hand. The man was crying and wailing in fright.

Xu He, hiding far behind, felt his heart leap into his throat. Zhang Fangyuan's ruthless methods hadn't just scared the thief; they had shocked Xu He into a cold sweat down his own back. Everyone said the butcher was fierce. He had previously thought it just meant he was decisive when slaughtering animals. But then it occurred to him – after slaughtering so many animals, who was to say he wouldn't slaughter a person who crossed him?

He didn't wait to see the outcome. His legs feeling a bit weak as he returned to the mountain flat.

“Next time you dare to engage in this kind of thieving, your hand won't be so lucky,” Zhang Fangyuan said disdainfully, giving the thief another kick. “Now get lost before I change my mind.”

The man, not daring to breathe heavily, scrambled up from the ground, his body drenched in cold sweat. He repeatedly kowtowed to Zhang Fangyuan, begging for mercy. “I... I d-dare not anymore! I won't come up the mountain again!”

With that, fearing Zhang Fangyuan might change his mind and give him a couple of punches, he hurriedly scrambled away, stumbling and rolling in his haste.

Zhang Fangyuan spat in disgust. For some time, hunters had been complaining about losing prey and even hunting tools. They had started to think a blind bear was roaming the deep mountains, causing unease and making people hesitant to hunt. Who would have thought it was this scoundrel causing the trouble?

He checked his hunting tools. Fortunately, he had arrived in time, and nothing was missing. However, he hadn't even caught a single scrawny pheasant. In winter, there were many hunters – both professionals and amateurs just trying to improve their meals. With less prey and more competition, it was naturally harder to catch anything.

Zhang Fangyuan wasn't particularly disappointed. He gathered his things and headed back. He saw Xu He was still on the mountain flat, chopping wood. Sheltered by the dense trees deeper in the mountain, one didn't notice it as much, but out on the more open flat, the fine drizzle was clearly noticeable.

The winter rain wasn't heavy, but it was cold. The raindrops trickling down his neck were chilly, and the accompanying wind was even colder.

The stray hairs on Xu He's forehead were already wet and stuck to his skin. A layer of white frost was gathering atop his head.

Hearing movement behind him, he paused his chopping. He saw Zhang Fangyuan glance at him with knitted brows, seemingly somewhat angry. Suddenly, the man strode over in his direction.

His large frame seemed to bring the cold wind and rain with him. In the moment Xu He was stunned, the man reached out an arm and simply took the backpack basket from beside his feet.

 

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