Chapter 149: The Two Brothers

Chapter 149: Chapter 149: The Two Brothers

On the side, Zhang Minzhen carefully described to Wen Xiu, Zhang Wei Qiang, and Lin Qin the events leading to the discovery of the Fish Spring and the state of the cave there. Then, she shared the worries the three of them had. During her telling, Zhang Dazhuang and Gu Nuan Nuan chimed in a few times, adding details that Zhang Minzhen had forgotten to mention.

"Exploring a new path is certainly important. How about this? The work with my father-in-law will be mostly finished in about half a month. When the time comes, I’ll take a few days off and go with you all. Dad, for the time being, don’t go into the mountains by yourself. I’m worried it won’t be safe if you run into wild boars alone again," Zhang Wei Qiang said authoritatively after a moment of thought.

"Honestly, in all these years, I’ve only run into them this once. How could it possibly happen again..." Zhang Dazhuang said dismissively, but Wen Xiu cut him off. She looked at him with a wounded expression, on the verge of tears. "You always said it couldn’t happen, but this time you met two! If it weren’t for Nuannuan, how could I go on living? No! This time, you have to listen to our eldest son."

"She’s right, Dad. Just listen to Big Brother," Zhang Minzhen added, still shaken by the incident.

"All right, all right! I’ll listen, okay?" Seeing his wife and daughter so worried, Zhang Dazhuang relented.

"From now on, you should only go into the mountains with someone else," Wen Xiu said, still fearful. "Don’t you go alone again. No treasure on that mountain is more important than a person. If anything happened to you, how would any of us be able to bear it?"

"Honestly, how could something like that happen so easily? Today was a total coincidence. If that pheasant hadn’t appeared right in front of us, and if I hadn’t happened to kick it, making those two wild boars think I was attacking them, they probably wouldn’t have even charged us." Hearing his freedom to roam the mountains being taken away, Zhang Dazhuang grew genuinely anxious.

"I don’t care if it was a coincidence or not! Are you going to listen or not?" Wen Xiu flared up, poking her finger right onto Zhang Dazhuang’s forehead. "Look at how old you are! Why can’t you just admit it? Are you the same as you were in your youth? Let’s talk about your ears! Nuannuan and Minzhen both heard the commotion and told you there were wild boars, but you heard nothing, wasting precious time we could have used to escape. Would that have happened when you were young? Your hearing was so sharp back then—you could hear things no one else could. But now..."

"Stop, stop, I’ll listen to you," Zhang Dazhuang said, backing down. Although he still felt his hearing was perfectly fine, it was a fact that he hadn’t heard the sounds his own daughter and granddaughter had. He was momentarily unable to argue back.

Gu Nuan Nuan and Zhang Minzhen exchanged a glance and snickered. This was a complete misunderstanding, but for the time being, neither of them planned on clearing it up for Zhang Dazhuang.

Zhang Wei Qiang saw them and couldn’t help the corners of his mouth from turning up. He shot a sympathetic glance at his father, whose confidence had clearly taken a blow, but he too said nothing.

It was late by the time they left his parents’ room. Zhang Wei Qiang said quietly to Lin Qin, "Let’s go see if those two are asleep." The pair then headed toward the room shared by the brothers, Zhang Su and Zhang Kai. If not for the fact that Zhang Wei Qiang had work and Gu Nuan Nuan had school the next day, they might have discussed things all night. Even so, tonight was destined to be a sleepless one for many of them.

Pushing open the door to the boys’ room, Zhang Wei Qiang and Lin Qin saw that, as expected, they were still whispering to each other and hadn’t fallen asleep. They walked over. "Why are you two still talking? Go to sleep."

"We’re not talking, we’re going to sleep right now." The two brothers immediately pulled up their light blankets and lay down. Zhang Kai even started making snoring sounds, which made Lin Qin let out a chuckle. A smile touched Zhang Wei Qiang’s face as well. "All right, stop pretending. I have something to tell you two."

"Oh? Dad, Mom, just say it! Whatever it is, we guarantee we’ll do it!" The two brothers sprung from the bed in an instant, their eyes bright and fixed on Zhang Wei Qiang.

"Listen carefully. Your mother and I brought home three fish when we got back today. We bought them on the road. If anyone asks tomorrow, that’s the story. Your grandpa and aunt also caught a rabbit and a pheasant on the mountain today, so tomorrow your grandma is sure to cook up a big feast for all you kids." Zhang Wei Qiang finished, then fixed his eyes on Zhang Kai. "And you, especially. When there’s good food, you just eat it. You say what you’re told to say, and you keep any other comments to yourself. No spouting nonsense, understand?"

"Dad, you’re wronging me! When have I ever spouted nonsense?" Zhang Kai cried out immediately.

"Good. Then hurry up and get to sleep." Zhang Wei Qiang took Lin Qin’s hand and turned to leave.

After their parents left, Zhang Kai complained to Zhang Su, "It’s obviously Dad who’s lying! I saw Grandpa and the others bring those fish back and tell Grandma to hide them. How can he just lie so brazenly and say he and Mom brought them back?"

"Just do what Dad says. He told you not to spout nonsense, and here you are, still talking. Did you already forget what you just promised? And have you forgotten what Dad told us before? ’There are reasons for the things you aren’t told. Don’t speak carelessly, and don’t ask careless questions. When the time is right, you will naturally learn what you need to know.’" Zhang Su glared at his younger brother and yawned. "It’s late. Let’s get to sleep."

"Of course I know that! I was just talking to you in private, that’s all," Zhang Kai said, a little defensively.

"Not even in private. Dad says the best way to keep a secret is to not tell anyone at all. Otherwise, it’s bound to get out sooner or later," Zhang Su said, opening his eyes and looking at his brother seriously.

"Fine. Next time I have a secret, I just won’t tell you," Zhang Kai muttered, pouting.

"Hey, can’t you be more flexible?" Zhang Su immediately changed his tune. "Dad was talking about really, *really* big secrets, the kind you’re forbidden to talk about. Regular, ordinary secrets can, of course, be shared with people you’re especially close to... like me, your dear older brother."

"So you’re saying it wasn’t wrong for me to tell you my secret just now?"

"That’s right, that’s right. From now on, if I have any secrets, I’ll definitely share them with you too."

"That’s more like it."

...

Gu Nuan Nuan withdrew her attention, holding back a laugh. ’Looks like Uncle’s lessons were very effective.’ She decided she would have to recount this conversation to her uncle tomorrow.

She yawned and closed her eyes, only to find her mind was buzzing with excitement, making it impossible to sleep. Finally, she gave up trying. Instead, she began to recall the Internal Cultivation Methods she had once practiced. Slowly, following the mental method, she started to search for the sensation of qi within her body. Soon, her focus sharpened, and a feeling, finer than a strand of hair, finally emerged...