The first to spot them was Shen Xiu, a child from a distant branch of the family within the third tier of mourning, belonging to their third uncle.
Shen Xiu was focused on cutting pigweed. With every handful she sliced off, she would routinely raise her hand to place it on the pile of grass beside her.
Just then, she inadvertently raised her head and happened to catch sight of Shen Wanxi and Daya walking slowly down from the mountain.
Her face instantly lit up with surprise, and she called out loudly, "Daya, you're here!"
However, when her gaze shifted to Shen Wanxi standing beside Daya, the smile on her face froze instantly. Her mouth seemed as though it had been sewn shut, and a hint of dread flickered secretly in her eyes.
Shen Wanxi noticed that Shen Xiu seemed a bit afraid of her—in truth, not just Shen Xiu, but the other children were afraid of her as well. She turned her head and said softly to Daya, "Daya, you can cut your pigweed right here. I'm going to walk around ahead."
A trace of worry crossed Daya's eyes as she urged, "Little Aunt, please make sure you don't go too far."
As Shen Wanxi walked further and further away, her voice drifted leisurely back.
"Little Aunt knows what she's doing. I'll just look around the neighborhood and won't run off far. You just focus on cutting your grass in peace."
Without making a sound, Shen Xiu beckoned gently to Daya.
Noticing Shen Xiu's gesture, Daya looked over and then took small steps to walk quietly to her side.
Shen Xiu leaned forward, lowered her head slightly, and brought her mouth close to Daya's ear, as if afraid someone might overhear. Lowering her voice, she whispered:
"Daya, didn't you already cut pigweed this morning? Why are you back doing it again? How did you end up bringing your little aunt along too? What on earth can she possibly do?"
Daya spoke up openly and naturally, "The pigweed I cut this morning wasn't enough; I was still a little short, so I came back to cut some more."
With that, she walked over to where the sickle had been placed and prepared to start cutting grass.
Watching Daya's retreating figure, Shen Xiu hurried after her with a few quick steps and pressed her again, "I asked you just now—why did you bring your little aunt along?"
Without stopping her pace, Daya turned her head to reply, "My little aunt didn't have much to do at home, so she just came along for a walk to see the sights outside."
Shen Xiu's family and Daya's family belonged to the same clan and were neighbors, meeting each other constantly. Consequently, her relationship with Daya was quite good.
Even though they were both ten years old, according to the clan's generational seniority, Shen Xiu's seniority was higher than Daya's. So, despite being the same age, Daya still had to address Shen Xiu as aunt.
Seeing that Daya had already started cutting pigweed, Shen Xiu opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed the words back.
Silently picking up her sickle, she bent down and joined in the work.
The other children, who had appeared to be busy cutting grass, were actually pricking up their ears to eavesdrop on the conversation.
Seeing that the two of them had stopped talking, those children quietly withdrew their thoughts, lowered their heads one by one, and began earnestly cutting the grass in front of them.
For a moment, only the rustling sound of sickles brushing against grass leaves echoed across the mid-level of the mountain.
Meanwhile, Shen Wanxi strolled along at a leisurely pace. Before long, she caught sight of a firewood-gathering squad busy at work.
They were scattered everywhere, some bending down to pick up withered branches from the ground, others stacking firewood. Their busy activity formed a unique scenery of its own.
Shen Wanxi did not pause as she passed the firewood-gathering squad and continued walking forward.
The children gathering firewood trembled with tension when they saw her approaching, but upon realizing she was merely passing by, they let out long sighs of relief.
After leaving the firewood-gathering squad behind and seeing no trace of them, Shen Wanxi wandered around the surrounding area.
She found that wild vegetables and firewood were both scarce here, with only weeds and thin branches to be found.
To Shen Wanxi, this firewood was far too thin, but to the children who gathered it, it was already considered quite thick.
After all, with their small strength, they couldn't necessarily chop thicker branches through, so most of the time they had no choice but to pick up the dry, fallen tree branches on the ground for firewood.
After wandering around a full circle and finding nothing useful, Shen Wanxi figured it wouldn't look right to return empty-handed.
Thinking that Daya was over there cutting pigweed, she decided she might as well gather some firewood herself so that this trip out would yield something.
After gathering a circle of firewood, Shen Wanxi was left panting heavily with exhaustion.
Unable to walk another step from fatigue, Shen Wanxi found a clean spot and decided to rest for a while to catch her breath.
She sat down with a thud and started grumbling to the System: "Tongzi, why am I suddenly so useless? I've only been gathering firewood for half an hour, and I'm already exhausted like a weak jellyfish. I'm completely pathetic!"
As she spoke, she raised her sleeve and rubbed hard at her eyes, looking as though she were weeping bitterly.
In reality, however, she was just putting on an act.
Even the System couldn't bear to watch her performance, muttering inwardly that her acting was far too exaggerated.
With that, it shook its head helplessly.
Complaints aside, once she had vented her frustration, she knew she still had to keep going.
After resting for a short while, she stood up, patted the dust off her clothes, and bent down once more to gather firewood.
After being busy for quite a while, the firewood she finally gathered amounted to just enough for her and Daya to carry; any more than that and she truly wouldn't have been able to manage it.
She swept all the gathered firewood in one go into the Space, clapped her hands, and set off toward the direction where Daya was.
By the time Shen Wanxi had walked for about an hour and a half, Daya had already briskly finished cutting her pigweed.
Seeing that Shen Wanxi had not yet returned, Daya was just about to stand up and go look for her when she raised her head and spotted Shen Wanxi slowly walking toward her.
Her face filled with joy, she hurried forward to greet her, saying, "Little Aunt, you're finally back! I was just about to go looking for you. Look, I've already finished cutting my pigweed over here."
Shen Wanxi smiled and said, "I just went over there to gather some firewood and left it piled up. Come with me now so we can carry the firewood back."
Without giving her room to refuse, Shen Wanxi pulled Daya along. Daya hurriedly turned her head and shouted to Shen Xiu, "Aunt Xiu, please watch this pigweed for me. I'll be right back!"
With that, she hurried off in the footsteps of Shen Wanxi.
Shen Wanxi led Daya past the group of children gathering firewood.
When they were still some distance away from the spot where she had gathered her firewood, she said to Daya, "Daya, wait right here. I'll go check first to make sure nobody walked off with the firewood I gathered."
With those words, she strode rapidly forward.
Once she reached a spot where Daya could no longer see her, Shen Wanxi quietly released the firewood out from the Space.
Then she took a few more steps forward and called out loudly toward Daya's position, "Daya, come quickly! The firewood is still right here, nobody stole my firewood."
Hearing this, Daya immediately scampered over on flying feet. Upon seeing that huge pile of firewood, she said in utter astonishment, "Little Aunt, you actually gathered so much firewood!"
Her round eyes were filled with disbelief.
"That's right, not bad, huh?" Shen Wanxi smiled and said, "The two of us need to move this firewood over to where you cut your pigweed right away."
With that, she bent down and prepared to start moving the firewood.
Daya looked at the pile of firewood before her, knitted her brows, and said to Shen Wanxi in a troubled tone, "Little Aunt, this is way too much! With just the two of us, we simply can't carry it. What are we going to do?"