Shuangling: Braving the Rapids

On the mountain road east of Shuangling Mountain, Qin Geda, dressed in work clothes and rubber-soled shoes, is pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with walnuts with all his might.

This wheelbarrow is very distinctive locally. The wheels are small, but the tire rubber is exceptionally thick. To adapt to mountainous terrain, the builder even welded steel spokes onto the wheel rims. With such a design, it can carry not only a few sacks of green walnuts, but also thousands of kilograms of grain.

The bike was a good bike, but the person pushing it was even more impressive. Geda weaved and twisted along the rugged path, his movements so fluid and seamless that he seemed to become one with the bike. From the walnut grove to Dingzhai Reservoir, from the back mountain pass to the top of Dongling Temple, he didn't even catch his breath on the entire uphill section!

The trip went so smoothly, and all the credit goes to Geda alone. Yue Chuan had absolutely no objection to this.

The two not only picked all the remaining walnuts from the few remaining trees, but also skipped the intermediate steps of peeling and transporting them. What does it mean to do it all in one step? Transporting the green-skinned walnuts directly from the picking point to Qinjiazhuang is what it means to do it all in one step!

However, such a "full load" was no easy feat. Geda had to push the heavy wheelbarrow, avoiding puddles and rocky obstacles. On such a narrow road, Yuechuan had no way to help him, and Geda had to push the cart all by himself. The difficulty of the process can be imagined.

During this time, Yue Chuan tried to help push the cart several times, but Geda shook his head and refused. Thinking about it, it made sense. With his small body, he might not be able to push it even on flat ground, let alone on a mountain road.

Looking at the truck full of sacks and then at the towering figure, Yue Chuan had a strange feeling: the man in front of him was not a fool, but a divine warrior who had come to the human world for training!

While lost in thought and gazing aimlessly at the lush greenery covering the mountains, Yue Chuan suddenly heard a loud thud. He turned around and saw Geda and his bike crashed flat on their backs.

"Hey! Did you hurt yourself?"

Yue Chuan hurriedly went to help him up, but Geda didn't cry out in pain, only making muffled noises that were hard to understand.

Although communication was not smooth, it did not mean that Yue Chuan could not do anything. He carefully examined Geda's body, fearing that the other party had external injuries.

You wouldn't know unless you checked, and what you found was shocking. It turned out that there was a hole about the size of a thumb in the sole of the shoe. Through the hole, Yue Chuan could clearly see the heel covered with thick calluses—this hole must have been there for a long time, otherwise, it would have been impossible for such thick calluses to have formed in such a short period of time.

What kind of god descended to earth, or was born with superhuman strength? He's just a miserable person struggling to make ends meet, and nobody cares about him.

Yue Chuan felt a lump in his throat. He sighed deeply and muttered softly, "Sure enough, just like the song says, a child with a mother is a treasure, a child without a mother is like a blade of grass!"

Just as Yue Chuan was sighing, Geda had already composed himself and stood up again. He first tied several sacks firmly to the vehicle, then with a low growl, he lifted the handlebars and used all his strength to push the vehicle back onto the mountain road.

The path down the mountain was easier, and Yue Chuan was finally able to lend a hand. The two of them pushed the cart with their heads down, hurrying as fast as they could, and finally made it back to the village before dark.

When the village children saw that Geda was pushing a wheelbarrow made of green walnuts, they immediately became excited. They threw aside their toys such as tops and wheels and surrounded the wheelbarrow, asking Geda for mountain produce.

"Hey! Hey! You're pulling walnuts, aren't you? Hurry up! Give us some! Otherwise, we won't let you pass!" The brat who led the way was called Pipi, the grandson of the old hunter Qin Biao. Relying on his grandfather's "prestige," Pipi had done his fair share of petty theft.

"You little brat, get out of the way! If you dare block my way again, I'll go find your grandpa and see if he doesn't teach you a lesson!" Yue Chuan suddenly looked up, glared, and shouted loudly to scare the brat.

Pipi, having been hit where it hurt, didn't dare vent her anger on Yuechuan. Instead, she took it out on the honest and dull-witted Geda. The rascal flapped his arms and crowed like a chicken: "Geda, geda, cluck cluck cluck!"

This trick is called "homophonic attack," which Pipi uses to make fun of Geda. There are many clever and quick-witted children in the village, and even if they are naughty, most of them know their limits. The one who is so unscrupulous and comes up with such a despicable trick is this notorious king of the kids.

As expected, the influence of the scoundrel was not to be underestimated. When the other children heard this, they also began to imitate Pipi and make fun of Geda. Yue Chuan was furious. Of course, he knew the principle of capturing the leader first, so he lifted his leg and ran towards Pipi.

Pipi was quick-witted and strong. Seeing that the situation was not good, he immediately turned around and ran away.

Yue Chuan had only walked a dozen miles of mountain road and was too exhausted to keep up. Just as he was about to give up, Pipi turned around and made a face: "Sheep dung lump has no father! Sheep dung lump has no mother! It eats noodles every day, and never brushes its teeth!"

This is outrageous! This is intolerable! Yue Chuan, his eyes red, grabbed a few green walnuts and threw them at Pi Pi. But the brat was like an eel, dodging the attack several times.

To disgust Yue Chuan, Pipi turned his back, pulled his pants down to his knees, and as he bent over with his legs spread, a smug and mischievous little face stared at Yue Chuan from between his legs. The brat slapped his bottom while sneering, "Come on! Come and hit me! Haha! You can't hit me, can you? Hehe, you just can't!"

Yue Chuan was so angry he was blinded. He spat and then ran towards Pipi with all his might. But Pipi wasn't stupid enough to wait for him to catch up. Was he going to get beaten up? Pipi pulled up his pants and ran away in a flash.

After a chase, Yue Chuan was exhausted, but Pi Pi became more and more courageous, constantly using various actions to provoke him.

Yue Chuan was furious. He really wanted to kick the brat in the butt, but when he turned around, he saw that there were a lot of brats around Geda. At that moment, Yue Chuan suddenly realized that he had fallen for a "luring the tiger away from the mountain" trick. So, he stopped chasing Pipi and quickly turned back to protect the walnuts on the wheelbarrow.

When the older children ran over, the group of children scattered like birds. Luckily, Yue Chuan noticed in time; otherwise, the sack containing the green walnuts would have been damaged in more ways than just a few holes.

When his first plan failed, Pipi became resentful and tried to harass Yue Chuan several more times, but Yue Chuan ignored him each time. After a while, the brat got bored, spat a few curses, and disappeared.

Yue Chuan didn't bother Pi Pi anymore, but stayed by Geda's side until he saw the sheepfold in the south of the village. Only then did a bright smile appear on the boy's face.

With the house so close by, not a single walnut was lost; all the hard work had finally paid off...