Chapter 41: The Little Daughter Gets Mad and Hits Her Dad

Liu Lan turned to look at him: “Are you going hunting in the deep mountains?”

Lin Heng nodded: “Yes, it’s hard to hunt big game near populated areas.”

“Isn’t it a bit unsafe to go alone? You should take Big Brother or Dad with you,” Xiu Lan said, sounding a little concerned.

Lin Heng smiled and gave her a glance: “I haven’t decided yet. No rush, we’ll talk about it when the time comes.”

Afterward, Lin Heng took on the responsibility of taking care of his daughter.

“Howl~”

As soon as Lin Heng took Xiao Xia away, Xiong Ba let out a joyful bark, flopping down and panting with its tongue out. Taking care of the little one was too tiring for it; it was scared of this little troublemaker.

“Wa wa wa… dog… dog…”

As soon as Lin Heng picked up Xiao Xia, she started struggling, crying and calling for the dog.

Only when Lin Heng stuffed a candy into her little mouth did she quiet down.

“Wa… ah… huh…”

For a moment, the little one froze, then smiled happily as she sucked on the candy. Her mood changed so quickly it was almost shocking.

“Here, one for each of you two,” Lin Heng said, noticing his two little nephews looking at him longingly from a distance. He handed them each a candy.

“Thank you, Second Dad!”

One was three years old, the other two, and both eagerly shoved the candies into their mouths.

Big Brother Lin Yue’s three children were all sons. The villagers envied him for having such a good wife who could bear children so well.

This also gave Lin Yue’s wife, Liu Juan, a bit of a higher status at home, as children gave their mothers a certain amount of respect.

Having lived through life, Lin Heng no longer held such views. As long as everyone was healthy, there was no difference between boys and girls.

While playfully feeding his beloved daughter candy, Lin Heng also taught her a few words.

After lunch, the rain finally stopped, but the sky remained overcast. It seemed like a brief respite, and heavy rain would come again soon.

“Has the sweet potato planting in the fields finished?” Lin Heng asked curiously.

Lin’s mother heard this and replied: “You care about the crops now? It was finished a long time ago. Otherwise, I’d still be waiting for you.”

Lin Heng kept quiet, continuing to adjust the slingshot fork he was making, using a piece of yellow willow wood. Yellow willow, known as the yellow maple tree, is sturdy and durable, and when polished with sandpaper, it turned a beautiful golden color, which Lin Heng was pleased with.

“Xiu Lan, come help for a moment,” Lin Heng said, taking out the two pressure bands he had bought and asking his wife to help tie them.

Xiu Lan picked up some cotton thread from the ground and looked at him: “Should I just tie them directly?”

“Wrap them with cloth first before tying,” Lin Heng suggested, thinking this would make them last longer.

“Okay!” Xiu Lan squatted down carefully to tie them.

“Are you going up the mountain tonight?”

“No, I’m just going to stay nearby and test out the slingshot I made.”

“Take some plastic sheeting; if it rains, you can use it to cover yourself. Don’t catch a cold.”

“Got it.”

A few minutes later, the new slingshot was finished. Lin Heng tried it out with two shots, confirming the aim was fine before hanging it up.

“Maybe I’ll burn some ceramic pellets another day,” Lin Heng thought as he looked at the few smooth stones he had left. These were ones he had found in the field and polished. However, ceramic pellets were more convenient. Slingshot ball bearings were ideal but hard to come by, so making ceramic pellets would be a good alternative.

“Lin Heng, come help move the wood into the yard,” Lin Heng’s father called when he saw that Lin Heng wasn’t doing anything.

“Okay,” Lin Heng nodded and went outside to help with the wood.

The carpenter had been busy cutting boards. In those days, in rural areas, people had to cut their own wood boards by hand with a saw. It wasn’t like in the future, where an electric saw could finish the job in a few hours.

Lin Heng moved the boards one by one into the yard, but then his daughter clung to his leg, crying, “Daddy… candy…”

His little girl had gotten addicted to the candy after having just one.

“There’s none left,” Lin Heng shook his head.

As soon as she heard this, Xiao Xia’s lips pouted, and tears welled up in her eyes. It seemed like she was about to cry, and no amount of comforting would stop her.

“You can cry if you want, but I’m not giving you any,” Lin Heng shrugged, sticking to his ground.

“Wa wa wa~~”

Immediately, tears started to flow, and her wailing grew louder and louder. Lin Heng just watched quietly, not trying to console her.

The carpenter, seeing this, couldn’t bear it and said, “Quick, give her a candy, don’t let her cry, it’s so pitiful.”

“No,” Lin Heng shook his head.

“Second Brother, don’t you know how to take care of a child? Just give her a candy!” His sister-in-law also found it hard to understand his approach. If it were Lin Yue, she would have scolded him by now.

Xiu Lan, who was making shoes, glanced up at the scene and smiled, shaking her head. “It’s fine, this is his daughter. If he’s happy with how he’s handling it, that’s all that matters.”

Liu Juan was speechless. How could both the father and mother be so unreliable?

Lin Heng ignored everyone around him and let his daughter cry for three minutes. When she realized no one was paying attention to her, she stopped crying by herself.

“All done? Not crying anymore?” Lin Heng smiled and asked.

“Wa…”

Just as the little girl opened her mouth, it seemed like she remembered that no one had paid attention to her when she cried, and angrily raised her fists, hitting Lin Heng’s leg.

“Ouch, that hurts. Do it again!” Lin Heng laughed. His little daughter’s tantrum was so funny, and the force of her punches was just right. His legs had been sore for the past few days.

“Wa wa… bad…”

The little girl angrily alternated hitting him with both hands, venting her frustration.

Lin’s mother, watching from the side, laughed: “When your daughter grows up and remembers this scene, she’s going to make you live in the wilderness.”

“This is education, what do you know?” Lin Heng said proudly.

Lin’s mother nodded in agreement: “If I had known how to educate, you wouldn’t have turned out like this. Maybe I didn’t hit you enough when you were a child.”

Lin Heng: “…”

After the little girl had worn herself out hitting him, Lin Heng finally picked her up, shoved a candy into her mouth, and smiled as her little face lit up.

“Come on, give me a kiss,” Lin Heng said, planting a kiss on his daughter’s cheek, leaving her dazed for a moment.

Xiu Lan was sitting nearby making shoe soles. In those days, the soles of cloth shoes were made by stacking layers of cloth and coir, sewing them together with cotton thread. It would take half a month to finish one pair. Each pair represented love, and they were incredibly comfortable to wear.

In the afternoon, the delivery of the ceramic tiles resumed. They brought another 1,000 tiles.

At around 5 p.m., Lin Heng checked the time, handed his daughter to his wife, and grabbed his bow and slingshot before setting out with Xiong Ba.

“Be careful,” Xiu Lan reminded him.

Lin Heng grinned, showing his white teeth: “Don’t worry, I’m just going nearby, there’s no danger.”

The End of Chapter