Old Reed wiped the oil from his mouth, grabbed Henry Clark's hand, and said, "At last, our village has produced a child who uses a pen instead of a backbone. Good, Grandpa didn't misjudge you. Tomorrow, you'll come with me to the construction site at Dousha Pass. Clark the Second will stay here—our family will watch over him, nothing will go wrong. The labor service lasts forty days, you'll be out early and back late, so you won't be able to take care of him."

Henry Clark thanked Old Reed once again, worried that something might happen to Clark the Second alone at home, and hurriedly took his leave to return home.

When he got home, he found Clark the Second and Clark the Third talking under the covers, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. The dog was barking loudly. Henry Clark first threw some dry firewood into the hearth and started cooking.

"Elder brother, are you really going to do the labor service? I heard from Baogu and the others that it's really tough. I thought we wouldn't have to do it this year, but here it is anyway. Can you handle it? If not, let's just leave. In a big city, there are so many more opportunities. With your abilities, it wouldn't be hard to make a living."

Clark the Second, hugging the yellow dog, said to Henry Clark worriedly.

Henry Clark kept cooking, took out that chicken drumstick from his pocket, skewered it on a branch, roasted it over the fire until it was hot, and then stuffed it into Clark the Second's hands, saying, "This isn't something you should be worrying about. Your job now is to grow up quickly, and stop saying such thoughtless things. A man must take responsibility. If we just up and leave, what about Old Reed? Do you think those officials were just joking when they said if one person is missing, the old clan leader will be taken in his place? We finally have household registration—if we leave now, we'll be fugitives, and if we're caught, we'll be conscripted as military households. That would be even worse."

Clark the Second knew what kind of person Henry Clark was, muttered something under his breath, and started gnawing on the chicken drumstick. One drumstick was never enough for Clark the First, Clark the Second, and Clark the Third to share. Clark the First only ate a small strip, and the rest went into Clark the Second and Clark the Third's stomachs.

"Elder brother, honestly, I'm pretty content now—really, it's so much better than how I used to live. No one was ever willing to suffer for me, except you. I know, if it weren't for me dragging you down, you wouldn't have to go through all this, wouldn't have to haul stones, and wouldn't have to risk everything for that useless household registration."

Henry Clark looked at Clark the Second strangely and said, "Who said I'm going to suffer? If your big brother can't even get out of a labor service, then all these years in society have been for nothing. Stop saying such disgusting things."

Clark the Second suddenly jumped out from under the covers and leapt onto Henry Clark's back, trying with all his might to strangle Clark the First with his little arms. He had really thought Henry Clark was going to haul stones and felt terrible about it, but who knew this guy was just waiting to see his reaction—so infuriating.

How much strength could Clark the Second's little arms have? Henry Clark paid him no mind, continued sitting by the hearth, stirring the vegetable soup in the clay pot, letting Clark the Second mess around on his back.

Clark the Third joined in with a couple of barks to help Clark the Second, but when no one paid attention, he just rested his chin on his front paws, yawned, and closed his eyes to rest.

Outside the window, the freezing rain was still falling steadily, but the chill in the bamboo house seemed to have been completely driven away by the aroma of rice.

Chapter 10 Dousha Pass

The cold winter rain wept and wailed, lingering so long it made people furious. Clothes that had just been dried could be wrung out again in no time, and the dampness clinging to the body made every movement uncomfortable.

Henry Clark jumped down from the ox cart, led the ox under the shed, and used burlap to dry the ox off first, not bothering to wipe the rain from his own head yet. It was only here that he understood one thing: the ox was more important than people. Several women helping in the kitchen assisted Henry Clark in unloading the brown rice from the cart. One of the women, seeing Henry Clark covered in mud and water, complained, "How could you cover the brown rice with a rain cape? This rice will be eaten up in a couple of days anyway—a little rain won't hurt."

Henry Clark unloaded a small basket of eggs from the cart, smiled at the woman, and said, "It's fine, this is for people to eat—how can it get wet? If it gets wet, won't it turn into double-steamed rice? Everyone's working hard here—if they don't get enough to eat, someone could die. There was a bit of leftover food from the other day, so I bought some eggs to make everyone some egg-drop soup to warm up."

The woman laughed and said, "You always have a way. In past years, there wasn't even enough brown rice for everyone, but you managed to make sure there's both rice and vegetables. Now you even want to make soup—at this rate, life on the construction site will be like that of the county magistrate!"

Henry Clark gave a wry smile. He had no idea how those officials arranged the supplies—there was very little brown rice, but they gave out pickled vegetables in abundance. Who knew what year those pickles were made—a huge, pitch-black jar. The storekeeper even said if it ran out, just come get more. Henry Clark glanced at the seal, which bore the mark of the Wusheng Army—no doubt these were castoffs from the military.

There was nothing for it, so Henry Clark traded pickled vegetables with the mountain folk for brown rice and some animal fat. For the mountain folk, having salt to eat was a great thing—they wouldn't be picky. This ended up being a great deal for Henry Clark. The more than one hundred laborers under his charge were very satisfied with their meals. No wonder—when there's both rice and vegetables, no one can complain.