Cheng Xiao Xiao opened her eyes and smiled at her brother, "Okay, I"ll be right there."
"Okay, go quick!"
Good at the good-spirited older sister, Cheng Zheng Yuan has a look of puzzlement on his face. He felt that big sister was different than she was before, but he couldn"t quite put his finger on it.
Truth was, every member of the Cheng"s family except for Mr. Cheng had noticed the change in Cheng Xiao Xiao. But they were family, no matter how different she was, they wouldn"t think too much about it.
Cheng Xiao Xiao, who was already filled from the white radish, finished her porridge and gave her bun to her younger sister. Now her biggest problem was how to bring the goods from the dimension into real life.
She couldn"t possibly tell the truth and produced them in front of Mrs. Cheng. She"d never be able to explain it.
Cheng Xiao Xiao smacked her forehead and has a headache from trying to figure this out. This was such a ha.s.sle.
"Big sister, we"ve got to go into the mountain and collect firewood today. We are running low on firewood," said her younger brother Cheng Zheng Yuan, interrupting her thought process.
Into the mountain?
That could work! Let"s go into the mountain, at least she could find some reason to explain away.
A happy Cheng Xiao Xiao checked in with Mrs. Cheng, grabbed a few ropes and a machete, and headed to the mountain with her two younger brothers. The 7-year old younger sister stayed home to keep the parents company.
Leaving the front door. she saw a somewhat familiar yet somewhat foreign countryside. A few light white clouds littered across the blue sky. Roofs, walls, trees, and fields scattered around the hills and rivers. A sea of green combing with smoke rising from the chimneys, the entire scenery looked like a traditional Chinese painting.
From this point forward, this is her hometown and her home.
Cheng Xiao Xiao took a deep breath and collected her mixed emotions. She told her brothers to follow her closely then turned and headed toward a small path behind the house.
Behind their straw house were stretches of mountains, reaching high into the sky. The mountains were covered by thick, green vegetation. A clear lake at the foot of the mountain surrounded half the mountain like a jade belt. Unfortunately around the mountains were fields of basil, with barely any inhabitants, making the area looked like undeveloped areas. An occasional pheasant or wild bird would fly past giving it some liveliness.
Cheng Xiao Xiao took her two brothers to the closest mountain, a location that her family visited often. It was closer to inhabitants so there were less wild beasts, making it relatively safer.
"Zheng Yuan, Zheng Bin, you guys go collect fire wood around here. I will go into the valley up front and see if I can find some herbs for dad." Cheng Xiao Xiao told her two brothers as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.
Twelve-year-old Zheng Yuan nodded and concerned, added, "Okay, big sister, you be careful!"
"I will. Zheng Yuan. Take good care of Zheng Bin. When I come back I will help you tie up the firewood. And be careful of snakes."
Cheng Xiao Xiao explained all carefully to her brother.
"Okay! We will be careful!"
Zheng Bin standing next to them complain, "Big sister, I"m not a kid any more!"
"Okay, n.o.body is a kid. Just be careful, don"t wander too far away!"
"Okay, big sister!"
Cheng Xiao Xiao parted ways with her brothers. Watching the two of them entering into the woods, she sighed. If she didn"t have to hide the dimension from them, she really didn"t want to let them out of her sight.
It"s dangerous in the woods, anything could happen!
She must find a place fast, then go meet up with her brothers.
She took the slope down to the nearest valley. It was surrounded by sharp cliffs, there were no other ways in. In the valley were layers upon layers of clouds. Cheng Xiao Xiao was very careful about the surroundings, she didn"t want to have any accidents.