But after winter came, everyone followed Qiao Yu's instructions and started a fire at the entrance of the kang. It was so warm sleeping on the kang at night. Shan then thought of his daughter.
He'd gone to sleep in Qiao Yu's bed for the night, only to be woken by the cold in the middle of the night. He couldn't help but run downstairs to sleep on the kang, feeling sorry for his daughter. He thought Qiao Yu was putting others before herself, like when they built a house: everyone enjoyed it and lived in a nice house, but hers was still empty. She thought too much about others and too little about herself.
From that night on, Shan was determined to build a kang for his daughter.
But Qiao Yu was so opinionated. He'd built her a kang while she was away from the tribe. If she didn't like it, that would be bad. Besides, the wooden second floor where she lived couldn't accommodate a kang. It could only be built on the first floor. And he remembered Qiao Yu had said the first floor was for a conference room.
So he always wanted to wait for Qiao Yu to come back.
As for now, their house, with its main house facing south, had kangs built in both the east and west rooms, except for the central room serving as the main hall. He and Shanquan now lived together in the east room, leaving the west room empty. If all else failed, Shanquan had a house downstairs where Qiao Yu could live.
"No need." Qiao Yu smiled. "Father, I'm not afraid of the cold, really. When I'm running around outside, I just sleep in the trees. I'm not afraid of the cold even in the wild on a snowy day, let alone at home."
As she said that, she waved her hand and said, "Let's go." Before leaving, she winked at Shanquan.
Shanquan was a clever boy. He washed the dishes and pots, cleaned up the kitchen, and told Shan that he was going to talk to Shulin. He left the house and headed straight for the top of the mountain: "Sister."
"Come in."
When Shanquan came in, she asked, "What's going on between father and Bai Xue? Tell me about it."
Shanquan shook his head. "I don't know either. It's just that Bai Xue has been trying to please Father lately. I guess she wants to marry him. But Father is always cold to her and doesn't want to spend much time with her. As soon as she comes close, he'll leave."
"Then you haven't asked your father?" Qiao Yu asked.
Shanquan scratched his head. "Why should I ask? She didn't say she wanted to marry my father, and my father didn't say he wanted to marry her. Maybe Bai Xue just wanted to express her gratitude to my father for bringing her some dried meat."
Qiao Yu: “…”
"Don't worry about what they are doing. Let me ask you first, what do you think about this matter?" Qiao Yu asked.
"What do you think?" Shanquan looked puzzled.
"If Bai Xue wants to marry my father, do you agree or object?"
"That's up to Father." Shanquan looked puzzled. "If Father wants to marry, then marry him. I don't have any opinions."
Qiao Yu was speechless again.
This is a silly child.
"If Father marries Bai Xue, she will definitely bring her two children with her. Then you will have to live under the same roof with Bai Xue's two children and eat together."
"Although the dried meat that Father gets now is enough to support them and their two children, it's hard to say what will happen in the future. You might even need to subsidize them. If anything happens to Father and Bai Xue, you'll have to raise Bai Xue's two children."
"Let me raise it?" Shanquan widened his eyes, looking shocked.
"Yes." Qiao Yu nodded.
Shanquan fell silent.
Now that he could support himself, the tribe had even allocated him a house. Shanquan figured that even if his father married Bai Xue, if he didn't get along with Bai Xue's family, the worst that could happen was that he wouldn't go to his father's house for meals. He and his sister would cook separately, and he would still be the one to cook for his sister.
So he had no objection to whether his father married Bai Xue or not.
But if he was asked to support Bai Xue and her mother and her two children, and if his father was gone in the future, he would have to continue to support them. The boy, who was only eleven and a half years old, suddenly felt the hardships and pressures of life.
You know, ever since my father was injured and suffered heavy bleeding, his health has been much worse than before.
Although Shanquan lost his mother at a young age, his sister took care of him meticulously after her death. His father was also a chieftain, and he received a generous share of dried meat. Shanquan had never suffered much hardship since childhood. He was a little overwhelmed by the thought of suddenly shouldering such a heavy responsibility.
Furthermore, children in primitive tribes mature early, typically marrying at fourteen or fifteen, with some even as young as thirteen or fourteen. This meant Shanquan himself would be married in two or three years. By then, he'd have to support his wife and children. Adding Baixue, her mother, and her son, plus an aging father, Shanquan felt he wouldn't be able to bear the burden.
As for asking his sister to share the burden, Shanquan never thought about it that way.
She always says she won't marry, but how can she be sure? Hasn't my father ever mentioned remarriage before?
And even if my sister doesn't get married, there is no reason for her to support the whole family.
"Father is in good health. Bai Xue and her children don't eat much, and they can barely feed themselves by gathering. Besides, the tribe now grows so many sweet potatoes. They shouldn't need me to feed them, right?" Shanquan said.
"I'm planning for the worst," Qiao Yu said. "None of us knows what will happen in the future, so we have to consider the worst-case scenario. If you can handle the worst-case scenario, then go for it. Otherwise, think twice before you act."
Shanquan sighed: "If father really wants to marry Bai Xue, I can accept this worst-case scenario." At worst, he can wait until Bai Xue's children grow up and can support themselves before getting married.
Isn’t Yan still sixteen or seventeen years old and still not married?
"In that case, then go and tell your father your thoughts," said Qiao Yu.
Hearing her words, Shanquan suddenly understood why Shan had such an attitude: "Sister, do you think that the reason why father didn't agree to Bai Xue is because he felt that if he married Bai Xue, it would add a burden to us?"
Qiao Yu nodded: "I think so."
Shanquan looked at Qiao Yu: "What about you? What do you think, sister?"
"Of course I'll follow Father's lead." Qiao Yu patted Shanquan's shoulder. "Don't worry. If Father really marries Bai Xue and he can't support the three of them, I'll shoulder the burden with you."
She'd said that before because she wanted Shanquan to be more thoughtful and not act so blindly. It was also to cultivate his sense of responsibility as a man. Providing for the family was his responsibility, and he couldn't always expect her, as his older sister, to shoulder the brunt of it.
"No, no," Shanquan said quickly, "I can support them, don't worry, sister. I plan to marry when I'm sixteen or seventeen, just like Yan did."
Speaking of Yan, Shanquan began to worry about his sister's marriage: "Sister, you really don't want to get married? Yan hasn't married for so long, has he been waiting for you? Do you want to reconsider marrying him?"
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