poor child learn to take responsibility early

In the small courtyard of Jin Feng, women crowded in, eagerly vying to sign up.

After all, the carpenter would be delivering more spinning wheels soon, and it seemed that even if every woman in the village came, there wouldn't be enough to go around.

Tang Dongdong didn't bother being picky. She simply followed the principle of first-come, first-served, selecting the twenty women who had arrived earliest to sign up.

The women who came later, though disappointed, didn't complain. After all, it was their own fault for arriving late.

Tang Dongdong gathered the chosen twenty in the courtyard and began assigning shifts. Ten would work during the day, and ten at night, with shifts rotating every ten days. This was a method Jin Feng had taught her.

Once the shifts were set, the ten women assigned to the day shift immediately got to work in the thatched shed. Those who hadn't been selected or were assigned to the night shift lingered nearby, watching curiously.

In a corner, a young girl named Xiao Bei, only ten years old, sat at a spinning wheel. She seemed inexperienced, her movements clumsy and prone to mistakes. Already nervous, the teasing and laughter from the onlookers only made her more flustered, and she broke into a sweat.

"Brother Feng, Xiao Bei doesn't know how to spin yet. Why not let me take her place? I promise I'll be faster," a village woman in her twenties joked as Jin Feng entered.

Hearing this, Xiao Bei burst into tears. "Brother Feng, please don't send me away. I need to earn money to buy medicine for my mother. I promise I'll learn quickly... I... I can even skip meals if I have to..."

"Enough, Xiao Bei. Sister-in-law Three was just teasing you," Jin Feng reassured her. "Eat when it's time to eat. As long as you work hard, I won't send you away."

Jin Feng knew about Xiao Bei's situation. Her father had died in battle a few years ago, and her mother, though not old, was often ill. In a poor family, children grow up fast. At just ten years old, while most children her age were still in elementary school, Xiao Bei had already been collecting firewood and working in the fields since she was seven or eight. Jin Feng had often seen her struggling down the mountain with a bundle of firewood larger than herself.

Spinning was a skill that required practice, not innate talent, and Jin Feng was willing to give Xiao Bei a chance to support herself and her mother.

"Thank you, Brother Feng! I promise I won't slack off," Xiao Bei said, wiping her tears and immediately getting back to work.

"Sister-in-law Three, stop crowding around here. Go home. When the new spinning wheels are ready in a few days, everyone will get a chance," Jin Feng said, shooing away the onlookers. Knowing they might need work from him in the future, the women reluctantly left, though they still held onto hope.

Guan Xiaorou was in charge of the day shift, Tang Dongdong the night shift, and Run Niang and Xiao E were responsible for cooking. This had been agreed upon earlier.

Run Niang was pleased with the arrangement and had been busy since early morning, stewing a pheasant until it was tender and fragrant. The rich aroma of the pheasant mixed with the scent of millet rice wafted through the air.

The women in the shed, already grateful for the opportunity to work, became even more motivated by the delicious smells. They had expected a simple meal of wild vegetable porridge at best, but to their surprise, there was meat.

Of course, one pheasant wasn't enough to feed over a dozen people. The drumsticks were reserved for the youngest, Xiao E and Xiao Bei, while the others were served a spoonful of broth and a small piece of meat. The women were deeply moved.

Jin Feng noticed Xiao Bei secretly wrapping her drumstick in leaves and tucking it into her clothes, but he didn't say anything. Instead, when she went for a second bowl, he gave her an extra piece of wing.

Zhang Liang had only brought a few pheasants, so they couldn't eat meat every day. For dinner, they had wheat porridge and wild vegetables. Even this simple meal made the women who hadn't been selected envious, and they urged Jin Feng to hurry up with the new spinning wheels.

As night fell, Jin Feng climbed a ladder to light the oil lamps on the pillars. The shed was made of thatch and filled with flammable materials like hemp thread, so a fire would be disastrous. To minimize the risk, he had placed the lamps high on the pillars, ensuring they wouldn't be easily knocked over. Though it was a hassle to refill and light the lamps each time, Jin Feng preferred the extra effort over risking a fire.

Before leaving, he reminded Tang Dongdong, "If a fire breaks out, make sure everyone gets out first. Don't worry about the materials inside, understand?"

"Don't worry, I know," Tang Dongdong said, pushing Jin Feng out of the shed. "Go get some rest. Sister Xiaorou is waiting for you."

The women working inside chuckled at the comment, but Jin Feng didn't mind. He was going home to his wife, after all. What could they say? Their laughter was harmless.

According to Tang Dongdong's original plan, they would start with these ten spinning wheels and gradually add more as they earned money. But Jin Feng still had over ten taels of silver, and since wood and labor were cheap in the mountains, he decided not to waste time. He instructed the carpenter to continue working, and over the next few days, more spinning wheel parts were delivered. The women who hadn't been selected initially began to join the workforce.

Jin Feng's small courtyard became the busiest place in the village, with the creaking of spinning wheels echoing day and night.

In the first few days after receiving the crossbow, Zhang Liang had been highly successful, bringing back as many as nine rabbits and seven pheasants in a single day, much to the envy of the villagers. But in the last two or three days, his catches had dwindled. Today, he returned with only one pheasant.

The hunter, Chen liu, fared even worse, returning empty-handed for three consecutive days.

Jin Feng knew that Zhang Liang had been hunting too frequently, and the rabbits and pheasants in the nearby woods had likely sensed the danger and fled. To continue hunting, they would have to venture deeper into the forest.

Zhang Liang had the same idea, but Jin Feng advised against it.

"Brother Liang, it's one thing to hunt in the woods near the village, but going deeper means entering the primeval forest. It's not just the wild beasts you have to worry about—there's also the miasma. That stuff is a hundred times more dangerous than any tiger. If you get trapped in it, there's no escape," Jin Feng warned. "Don't go. What would happen to your family if something happened to you?"

Jin Feng wasn't a saint. His help to the Zhang family was partly due to his relationship with Guan Xiaorou, but he also had his own reasons. In his plans for the future, Zhang Liang played a key role. He had given Zhang Liang the crossbow to help improve his family's livelihood, so they wouldn't be held back by poverty. But Jin Feng didn't want Zhang Liang to remain a hunter, especially not one risking his life in the deep forest.

In those dense, ancient woods, the layers of fallen leaves were thicker than a person, and over time, the rotting vegetation created miasma. These areas were often vast, and once someone was caught in them, there was no way out.

"I understand the risks. It takes ten days to half a month to go in and come out. If I didn't have to, I wouldn't go," Zhang Liang sighed. "But what else can I do besides hunt?"