The roe deer on Su Ming’s shoulders pressed down until his bones ached, but he didn’t retreat a single step.

He could smell the heavy scent of blood and earth coming from the roe deer, mixed with the mountain forest aroma his eldest and second brothers had brought back. This odor rushed into his nostrils, carrying more weight than any words could.

“Hurry, hurry inside!” Mrs. Chen’s voice carried a sob as she stepped forward to help, but Su Feng stopped her.

“Mother, we’ve got this.”

Su Feng and Su Yang worked together to drag the two prey animals into the courtyard, the heavy thud of their landing startling half the yard.

“Oh my heavens!” A head popped up from behind the neighboring wall—it was Widow Li from the village.

“Su family’s eldest, you… you’ve hunted wild boars?” Her voice was particularly loud in the quiet night.

Su Shan kept his head down, tapping his tobacco pipe against the doorstep as a form of greeting.

Wang Chuntao had already recovered from her initial worry, now wearing a somewhat proud expression as she declared loudly, “Sister Li, your eyesight is quite sharp. Not just wild boars, but a fat roe deer too!”

Widow Li’s eyes instantly lit up like two lanterns. She quickly circled out of her own courtyard gate and approached the Su family’s entrance, craning her neck to peer inside.

“Goodness, so big! Su Feng, Su Yang, you two are truly skilled! This means a small fortune for you!” She clicked her tongue in admiration. “Taking these to town tomorrow should fetch quite a bit of money, right?”

“It’s for Xiao Ming’s travel expenses to register as a Child Scholar in town.” Wang Chuntao’s words carried a barely noticeable hint of boasting.

At these words, Widow Li’s expression became even more animated.

“Child Scholar? Xiao Ming is going to become a Child Scholar? Oh my, this is wonderful news! Our village is going to have a scholar!” She slapped her thigh, getting as excited as if her own son had passed the exam.

Su Ming stood to the side, listening to these words, feeling his face grow warm.

Looking at his eldest and second brothers’ exhausted faces, his heart was filled with mixed emotions.

“Alright, alright, it’s late at night, stop making so much noise.” Mrs. Chen said while anxiously pulling Su Yang aside to check him over, urging, “Chuntao, go quickly and heat some water for them to wash up. There’s still warm food in the pot, heat it up for them.”

“Understood, Mother.” Wang Chuntao responded promptly, turning to enter the kitchen. Soon the whooshing sound of the bellows could be heard.

Su Shan stood up, walked over to the small wild boar, crouched down to carefully examine its wounds, then touched its tusks. After a long moment, he finally uttered, “Well done.”

Receiving their father’s approval, both Su Feng and Su Yang showed smiles—smiles that carried the relief of having a heavy burden lifted.

The night grew deep.

After washing up, Eldest Brother Su Feng was pulled back to his room by Wang Chuntao. Faint sounds of murmuring conversation and worried complaints could be heard through the door panel.

Su Yang finished bathing, changed into clean old clothes, and was holding a bowl of steaming meat broth, slurping it down noisily.

Mrs. Chen sat right beside him, using the dim oil lamp to apply ointment to the cut on his arm from a tree branch scrape, continuously muttering, “I told you not to go deep into the mountains, but you wouldn’t listen. What if you had encountered a black bear…”

Su Yang chuckled, “Mother, Eldest Brother and I knew our limits. That wild boar was cunning—we spent half the afternoon circling around it before finding an opportunity.”

Su Ming sat silently on a small stool, watching everything unfold.

During this meal, he had eaten almost nothing.

When everything was finally tidied up, Su Yang yawned but didn’t return to his own bed, instead walking straight into Su Ming’s room.

“Xiao Ming, I’m sleeping with you tonight.” He plopped down onto the earthen bed, patting the space beside him.

Su Ming nodded, took off his outer clothes, and lay down too.

The two brothers lay side by side in the darkness, only able to hear each other’s breathing.

“So, what do you think?” Su Yang suddenly spoke up, his voice carrying a hint of pride. “Your second brother is pretty capable, right? Said I’d get you the travel money, and I definitely got it!”

“Mhm.” Su Ming squeezed a syllable from his throat.

“You didn’t see that wild boar charging at us—it was like a small mountain!” Su Yang grew animated and began gesturing enthusiastically as he described the scene. “Your eldest brother shot an arrow into its hind leg, which really pissed it off. It went crazy and charged straight at us. I was standing there with my firewood knife, thinking, ‘This is it, I’m done for today.'”

Su Ming’s heart tightened.

“Luckily I reacted quickly and threw myself against that big tree next to me. The beast slammed headfirst into the tree, knocking itself senseless. Your eldest brother took the chance to shoot another arrow…”

Su Yang recounted the story with great excitement, as if telling someone else’s adventure.

But Su Ming could hear the life-and-death danger hidden beneath his brother’s deliberately casual tone.

“Second Brother,” Su Ming turned over to face him, “did it hurt?”

Su Yang’s movements stopped.

In the darkness, he remained silent for a moment before saying in a low voice, “Just some scraped skin, what kind of pain is that?”

He continued, “Xiao Ming, you don’t know this, but Father actually went to town secretly to ask around. Just to register at the county school, you need to pay fifty copper coins as ‘tuition gifts.’ Round-trip travel expenses, lodging costs, plus gifts for the teacher—all together, you can’t get by without at least one tael of silver.”

One tael of silver.

For this family, it was an astronomical amount.

“Eldest Brother and I discussed it—the harvest from the fields is just enough to get by, so selling grain isn’t an option. We had no choice but to take our chances in the mountains.” Su Yang’s voice grew very soft. “Father and Mother are getting older, so this task could only fall to Eldest Brother and me.”

Su Ming’s nose stung with emotion. He bit his lip hard to keep any sound from escaping.

“Don’t overthink it.” Su Yang seemed to sense his emotions and reached out to pat his shoulder. His palm was warm and rough. “You’re the only one in our family with the talent for studying. Eldest Brother and I were born to work with our strength. If you can pass the Xiucai exam and become an official, then our lives will have been worth it.”

“When that time comes, your second brother can also benefit from your success, strutting around town proudly. Let’s see who would dare look down on us mountain folk then!”

Su Yang said this and laughed first, his laughter filled with longing.

“Second Brother, next time I want to go too.” Su Ming said softly.

“Go to sleep.” Su Yang didn’t want his younger brother taking risks. He yawned and turned over. “Tomorrow you need to get up early for schoolhouse. Make sure you remember everything Teacher Zhou taught you, don’t bring shame to our Su family.”

Soon, even snoring sounds filled the room.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep