Feeling the cold wind brush his hair, Qin Song slightly shook, but even so, the little boy, who was only about seven years old persevered, walking out of the small house, to a path towards the forest.
As he got closer and closer to the forest, Qin Song began hearing the sound of wood being chopped apart, and after around half a minute of walking, he finally saw the source of that sound.
An old man, sitting on a chair, with a short axe in his hands.
Seeing the old man, Qin Song suddenly ran towards him with a smile on his face.
"Grandpa Chen," shouted Qin Song as he rapidly approached the old man, causing him to suddenly halt the movement of his axe, turning his attention towards the little boy as a smile appeared on the face of the old man.
After slightly embracing the kid for a few moments, Qin Chen pointed towards a small pile of wood, which had already been split apart by him.
"Little Song, go carry some of these logs back to the shed," said Qin Chen before moving his hands, grabbing a nearby stump without getting up from the chair.
Ignoring his grandson, who was staring at him, Qin Chen's axe suddenly rose above his head before falling down onto the piece of wood.
A moment later, the front half of the axe was fully submerged in the wood, allowing Qin Chen to forcefully grab it, flying it over his head, turning it around, and smashing it into the large stump in front of him.
The axe stopped as soon as it hit the stump, but the wood, in which the axe was submerged in, didn't stop, as such, the wood was suddenly split apart into two equal pieces, each of them landing next to the stump.
"What are you waiting for here, go and take these back to the house," said Qin Chen as he picked up two pieces of firewood and handed them to Qin Song, who then broke out of his thoughts.
Feeling the heavy firewood in his arms, Qin Song took in a deep breath before beginning to slowly run back to the house.
"Don't try to run, you have a lot more firewood to carry, don't get tired now," said Qin Chen, causing Qin Song, who was already feeling somewhat tired to suddenly freeze in place.
After a moment, Qin Song began slowly walking towards the house with the firewood, which was way to heavy for a seven-year-old child in his hands.
Seeing this, Qin Chen let out a chuckle before picking up his cane and pushing again some nearby wood, causing it to begin slowly rolling over to him.
...
Staring at his grandpa, who was chopping up wood with sweat on his forehead, Qin Song couldn't help but clench his fist.
"Grandpa, I want to help you," said Qin Song as he picked up two more pieces of firewood, causing Qin Chen's eyebrows to slightly rise.
"That would be good, how about you help me chop this up," said Qin Chen as he placed a relatively small piece of wood on the stump in front of him, as he then got up from his small chair and handed his small axe to Qin Song, leaving him with only his cane in hand.
As Qin Chen needed to sit on a chair to chop up firewood, he used a rather short axe, which was just suitable for Qin Song.
Feeling the texture of the wooden handle in his arms, excitement couldn't help but appear on Qin Song's face.
Even so, Qin Song did not become overly excited, as he took then took in a deep breath, focusing on the wooden log in front of him.
Using his full strength which was much greater than that of a normal seven-year-old child, Qin Song took a powerful swing at the log, causing the entire edge of the axe to sink inside of it.
Seeing this, a small smile couldn't help but appear on Qin Chen's face as he stared at his grandson.
'As expected, he's just like his father,' thought Qin Chen as he watched Qin Song bring the small axe, as well as the small wooden log into the air with it.
A moment later, Qin Song smashed the axe, as well as the log, towards the wooden stump, causing a loud sound to suddenly emerge, followed by the laugh of an old man.
Staring at the axe, which only sunk a tiny bit more into the food, the smile on Qin Song's face faded, being replaced by confusion.
Even so, Qin Song did not give up, as he once again brought the axe up and smashed it down, only to be met by the same result.
Again and again and again.
Over thirty minutes later,
Looking at his grandson, who was lying on the cold grass with an expression that seemed to doubt life, a large smile couldn't help but appear on Qin Chen's face.
"Young rascal, don't think that since you have some strength, you can compare with this old man, go bring some more firewood back to the shed and have something to eat," said Qin Chen, causing Qin Song to rise from the ground before picking up two pieces of firewood.
...
Looking at her grandson, who had just walked into the house, a warm smile couldn't help but appear on Qin Liqiu's old face.
"Song'er, did your grandfather make fun of you again?" asked Qin Liqiu as she placed a plate full of meat on the table.
"No, grandpa was nice to me," said as he picked up the chopsticks in front of him, causing him to feel some pain in his hands.
Although Qin Song quickly hid the painful expression from his face, this still did not escape Qin Liqui's watchful eyes.
Seeing this scene, Qin Liqui couldn't help but remember a scene from three years ago, when Qin Chen was still able to carry firewood, even with both his injury and age, unlike now.
Of course, staring at her young grandson, Qin Liqui did not dare display any sadness, still smiling happily.
...
Suddenly, Qin Song opened his eyes, waking up from that sweet dream from the past.
"The fire's about to go out," mumbled Qin Song before noticing that he didn't have any more firewood.
A moment later, Qin Song rose from the ground before walking to a nearby tree.
Completely beyond what should be normally possible, one single swing from, Qin Song's axe actually cut the tree, causing it to fall over.
A few moments later, after throwing some recently created firewood into the fire, Qin Song sat back down on the ground, staring at the four graves sitting in front of him.
Qin Niu
Qin Yanyu
Qin Chen
Qin Liqiu
As he stared at the graves, a small but bitter smile couldn't help but appear on Qin Song's face.
