1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

Chen Gaoshan came out of Li Banjie's house, mingled in the crowd, and followed the flow of people out of the town.

Once they left the town, they scattered and ran towards their own villages.

Soon, Chen Gaoshan was the only person left on the road in his direction.

He looked around to make sure there wasn't a soul in sight, then disappeared into the woods by the roadside, found a small embankment, and entered his own space.

Chen Gaoshan was exhausted; today was just too exciting.

I took a nap as soon as I entered the space.

I slept soundly until dawn, then changed my clothes and put my jacket back on.

He was inside the space, looking at the screen to make sure no one was outside. He then left the space and took out his bicycle, as well as Big Yellow and Little Yellow.

The two dogs had just come out of the space and were still in a daze. With their ears drooping and looking completely bewildered, they circled Chen Gaoshan twice, then tilted their heads to look at the unfamiliar woods around them, forgetting to wag their tails, looking utterly confused.

Fearing he would go hungry on the journey, Chen Gaoshan took out four more sesame seed cakes from his spatial storage.

He picked up two himself and started munching on them to stave off his hunger. He then handed the remaining two to Da Huang and Er Huang, one for each dog.

The two dogs perked up immediately upon smelling the aroma, grabbed the sesame cakes, and buried their heads in them to eat.

Chen Gaoshan hopped on his bicycle, his back basket overflowing with wild rabbits, roe deer, a clock, a pocket watch, and a jewelry box. It was only thanks to his mother's large wicker basket that it could fit everything.

Two quilts, which he had taken from Li Banjie's house, were still securely tied to the back of the bicycle.

Da Huang and Er Huang followed beside the bicycle, jogging along as Chen Gaoshan rode towards his village.

In less than an hour, we could see the old elm tree at the entrance of the village in the distance.

As soon as I entered the village, I immediately attracted the attention of the local children who were strolling around. A group of little ones cheered and surrounded me, chattering and running after the bicycle.

"Uncle Shanzi! Uncle Shanzi!"

"Those two wheeled things, aren't they the ones those bastards rode when they came to sweep the village before? Why are you riding one too?"

Chen Gaoshan gripped the bicycle brakes, and with a squeak, the bicycle stopped. He braced himself on one foot.

"This thing is called a bicycle. You don't need to feed it hay; you just pedal. I traded a roe deer and a musk deer for it in town. It's very stable to ride, much easier to control than the horses in our village!"

Upon hearing this, the children became even more curious, chasing after the bicycle back and forth, reaching out to touch it but not daring to. Having finally seen such a novel object, they couldn't stay still at all.

Chen Gaoshan pedaled his bicycle forward and arrived at the door of Sha Qiangzi's house. He saw Uncle Wang Er carrying a swill bucket and limping towards the door, preparing to empty the swill.

"Oh my god! Uncle Wang, what happened to your eye?! Did someone give you a stun gun?"

Uncle Wang had a black eye and a bruise on his lip. He was hanging his head and had no interest in what Chen Gaoshan was riding, especially with a bunch of kids surrounding him.

"Shanzi, did you just come back from the mountains? Or are you going back again? I got up to use the outhouse in the middle of the night yesterday, and in the dark I couldn't see clearly and bumped into the door frame."

"It's not the same as 'going into the mountains to chase after animals,' Uncle Wang's mouth is slurred. Where's Qiangzi? That kid married Sister-in-law Qiuyan and started a family. Does that mean he's no longer running around the village like a madman? It seems Sister-in-law Qiuyan is really capable; she managed to tame that rascal Qiangzi in one go!"

Even a slip of the tongue could make Qiu Yanzi, that hot-tempered woman, angry.

Uncle Wang paused while emptying the swill bucket, then poured all the leftover food and soup from the bucket onto the open ground opposite his house.

"Whether she can be cured or not, it's all the same. We've already married her; she's just a burden now. What are we going to do with her now?"

He picked up the empty slop bucket, turned around, and quickly walked into his yard, slamming the gate shut behind him.

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In this village, whenever something unusual happens, the news spreads faster than the wind. Every villager is a master at watching the excitement, and they'd love to just squat down and watch from the wall. If that's not possible, they'll put a stone under their feet and climb over the wall to watch the spectacle.

Chen Gaoshan riding a two-wheeled bicycle was definitely a big deal that rocked the village, more unusual than anyone getting married or slaughtering a pig.

The group of teenagers went even crazier, running wildly after the bicycles, howling and screaming, all the way from the village entrance to the Chen family's courtyard gate.

At this moment, in the Chen family courtyard, Lianhua and Xinghua were sitting on small stools, heads down, busy with their work.

I poured the wild vegetables I had just dug up from the mountain into a basket, cleaned the soil off the roots, strung them together with thin hemp rope, and planned to hang them under the eaves to dry so I could eat them in the winter.

Hearing the noise outside the courtyard, Lianhua immediately spotted Gaoshan, who was pushing a gleaming two-wheeled iron vehicle into his yard.

Lotus's eyes lit up instantly, and she stood up, forgetting all about the wild vegetables in her hand.

"Shanzi! What have you been doing? Didn't you say you went hunting in the mountains?"

"Mother, Shanzi is back!"

The group of kids who had been chasing the car earlier also swarmed into the Chen family's courtyard, surrounding Chen Gaoshan and the bicycle. They all craned their necks, their little hands itching to grab it.

"Uncle Shanzi, Uncle Shanzi! Just let us touch you, just once!"

"Yeah, Uncle Shanzi, isn't it tiring to ride this thing? Is it hard to pedal?"

Chen Gaoshan held onto the handlebars.

"It's not tiring at all, it's easy to pedal, and it's more comfortable than riding a horse. It doesn't feel uncomfortable at all."

Inside the house, Chen Liu was sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), wearing a thimble, sewing shorts for the two girls, Lianhua and Xinghua.

As I was sewing, my scalp started to itch, so I picked up the sewing needle and scratched it a couple of times on my scalp. Just as I was about to continue, I heard a commotion and a lot of noise coming from the yard.

She quickly fastened the needle in her hand to the thread board and walked outside. As soon as she stepped out, she saw a yard full of children surrounding her son. Afraid that these clumsy children would break the things by touching them, Chen Liushi didn't bother with formalities and waved her hand to chase them away.

"Stop crowding around! What if you hurt yourselves by touching them so roughly? Everyone, disperse, go home and do what you were doing. Don't join in the fun!"

After being chased like that, one of the bolder boys pouted.

"Grandma Chen, why are you so stingy? You won't even let us take a peek!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Liu's eyes immediately widened.

"You little brat, how dare you call me stingy! Your grandma's even stingier than me, so get lost and stop causing trouble!"

The boy stuck out his tongue at Chen Liushi and made a face.

"Hehe, fine, I'll go then, who cares!"

"These little brats, so disrespectful! Go back and tell your mothers she'll give them a good spanking!"

While muttering to herself, Chen Liu pushed and shoved, finally managing to chase all the naughty boys out of the yard. After closing the gate, she turned around, panting, about to ask her son what he had brought back.

Suddenly, a loud voice came from outside the courtyard wall.

"Hey Shanzi! Where did you get this thing?"

The two looked up and saw that Aunt Li from next door had simply moved a wooden ladder, placed it directly on the Chen family's courtyard wall, climbed up, and was half-lying on the top of the wall, her eyes fixed on the bicycle.