Reborn in 1985, starting from the mountains of Northwest China

This bow is much older than Chen Feng remembers it.

The anti-slip pattern he carved by hand on the bow arm is still there, but the hemp rope wrapped around the handle has changed color, and the edges are worn with fine rough edges.

It's clear that this bow has been well maintained.

Chen Feng took the bow, turned it over, and glanced at the back of the bow.

There were three faint nail marks, side by side.

That was carved by Chen Feng for the child. He originally planned to make one for Xiaoshan every year, but he didn't expect that he would not have the opportunity to make one after going south.

He snapped out of his thoughts, and there he was, the brat still staring at him with his big, blinking eyes, as if waiting for praise.

That kid!

"This rope is tied quite well; you can tell Xiaoshan practices a lot!"

Chen Feng took the opportunity to praise Xiao Shan.

"Dad, while you were away, I learned a few moves from Uncle Six. I'll show you some skills when you have time!"

Xiaoshan got the answer he wanted and was overjoyed.

They accompanied Chen Feng as he swept the house inside and out.

Xiaoyue was a "tagalong," following Xiaoshan wherever he went, carrying a broom taller than herself, sweeping here and there.

Around 5 p.m., the house was finally cleaned up with the help of the two mischievous kids.

Chen Feng poured himself and his two children a glass of water, intending to find a chair to lie down and rest.

"Dad, where is that book?"

Before he could even sit down, Xiaoshan came over with a book in his arms, looking up at Chen Feng.

Chen Feng took the book; it was the "Thousand Character Classic".

He flipped through it; the edges of the pages were curled up in several places, and there was an ink stain on the title page, which had blurred into a crooked little plum blossom.

If Chen Feng remembered correctly, this was the "big tiger" that the brat drew when he first got the book.

He flipped through it; the edges of the pages were curled up in several places, and there was a blue ink stain on the title page, which had smudged into a crooked little plum blossom.

He put the book on the table, dragged over a chair, sat down, crossed his legs, and struck a proper supervisory pose.

Xiao Shan immediately moved the small stool to the doorstep, but as soon as his bottom touched it, he bounced up and moved the stool forward three inches to make sure his father could clearly see him writing.

Then unscrew the pen.

His brows were furrowed and his lips were pursed, as if he were trying to draw a bow that couldn't be pulled back.

"Heaven and earth, black and yellow—" One stroke, horizontal.

It flew horizontally.

Chen Feng remained silent.

Xiao Shan secretly glanced up and saw that his father's expression remained unchanged, so he quickly straightened his pen and added a new horizontal line.

After finishing the repair, I realized something was wrong; the ink had seeped in and smeared together.

He used his fingernails to scrape it.

Chen Feng coughed.

Xiaoshan immediately stopped, sat up straight, unscrewed the pen cap, and continued writing the next stroke.

When writing the character "宙" in "宇宙洪荒" (the vast universe), the roof radical was written too thickly, and the "由" radical underneath couldn't fit in.

He stopped writing, stared at the word, and his expression became serious.

Children in rural areas start school late, and little attention is paid to their handwriting before they start primary school.

For Xiaoshan to have achieved this much is already quite impressive.

At least it's better than Chen Feng himself back then.

He thought this to himself but didn't show it. He calmly picked up the enamel mug and blew on the floating leaves.

"Write the character '由' smaller," he said.

Xiaoshan felt like he had been granted a pardon. He squeezed the character "由" into a long, thin strip and crookedly stuffed it under the roof of his head. After squeezing it out, he let out a long sigh of relief.

Xiaoyue came out of the inner room at some point, carrying the grass cage without a cricket in her arms. She climbed to the center of the bamboo mat, sat down, and put the cage on her head.

"Grasshopper," she announced.

Nobody paid any attention to her.

She turned the cage around and peered out through the hole. Seeing the hill, she immediately found her target.

"Brother, put on your hat!" She crawled over and tried to put the cage on the hilltop.

Chen Feng stretched out his leg to block the way.

Xiaoyue was startled when her father's foot blocked her view, and then she looked down to examine the liberation shoe.

After studying it for a while, he decided to give up climbing over, sat down on the spot, placed the cage on Chen Feng's feet, and began to dismantle the cage door.

After Lin Xiu finished administering the needle, she reached out and scooped Xiaoyue up, placing her beside her.

Xiaoyue refused and twisted her body to try and get closer to Chen Feng.

"Your father is supervising the construction," Lin Xiu said, pressing her down.

"What is a foreman?"

"They just sit there and don't move, all they do is talk."

Chen Feng coughed awkwardly.

Lin Xiu lowered her head to sew shoe soles, a slight smile playing on her lips, but she didn't look at him.

Xiaoyue understood and immediately imitated her father, putting her little hands on her stomach, raising her chin, squinting her eyes, and shouting at Xiaoshan: "Write straight—don't shave—"

Her voice was bright and clear.

Xiaoshan's pen trembled, and the character for "water" in "Jin Sheng Li Shui" was thrown far away.

Chen Feng picked up the enamel mug and covered half of his face.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, Xiaoyue got up from the mat, staggered to the table, and tiptoed to reach the ink bottle.

Lin Xiu quickly pulled her back. Xiao Yue had somehow found a piece of scrap paper in her hand, which she clutched like a treasure, while her other hand waved wildly.

"Write! Write every month!"

Chen Feng pulled her onto his lap and handed her the pen.

Xiaoyue gripped the pen and poked a blue dot onto the paper.

I'm very satisfied after clicking.

"Hua Hua!" She pointed to the blue dot and looked up at Chen Feng.

"……Um."

Xiaoshan raised his head and looked at his father suspiciously.

The sun was setting outside the window, casting the shadow of the jujube tree obliquely onto the threshold.

Xiaoyue got tired of playing and her head started to droop, still clutching a pen in her hand.

Lin Xiu gently pulled the pen away. Xiao Yue whimpered, snuggled into Chen Feng's arms, found a comfortable position, and stayed still.

Chen Feng looked down; his daughter was already asleep, her face pressed against his arm, forming a small mound.

Xiaoshan is still writing.

When he wrote "The first writing system was created, and then clothing was made," he gently put down his pen, looked up, and his eyes were bright.

Chen Feng didn't say anything. He freed one hand, took the paper covered with crooked writing, folded it twice, and put it in his chest pocket.

Xiaoshan was stunned for a moment.

Then he lowered his head, his ears turning bright red, unscrewed the pen cap, and continued writing.

Chen Feng leaned back in his chair, the paper tucked into his pocket.

The tea had gone cold, but he picked it up and took a sip.

Xiaoyue rolled over on his lap, grabbed his work uniform collar with her fist, and stuffed it into her mouth.

Chen Feng gently pushed the little fist away, and Xiao Yue snorted unhappily in her dream, then shoved the fist back in.

Chen Feng pushed it aside again.

Xiaoyue stuffed it again.

Chen Feng stopped dialing.

Lin Xiu lowered her head and sewed the soles of shoes. The needle pierced through the thick cloth, the thread stretched long, making a soft whistling sound.

She didn't lift her eyelids, but the slight curve at the corner of her mouth couldn't be suppressed.

After writing "乃服衣裳", Xiaoshan stopped writing.

He secretly glanced at his father.

Father was looking down at the fist on his leg that he just couldn't get it into his mouth.

Mother is sewing shoe soles, Father's shoe soles. Last year's pair wore out, this new pair has a navy blue upper.

Nobody was looking at him.

Xiaoshan picked up his pen again, dipped it in the ink bottle, and drew a line on the scrap paper.

Another one.

The third way.

He drew very lightly, three fingernail marks side by side.

After finishing the drawing, he quickly crumpled the scrap of paper into a ball and stuffed it into the bottom of the stack of papers on the corner of the table.

Chen Feng picked up the enamel mug.

Xiaoshan quickly put down his pen and placed his hands on his knees.

"Finished writing?"

"Finished writing."

Chen Feng didn't get up, but gestured with his chin on the table: "Give it to me."

Xiaoshan handed the paper over.