Chapter 2: The Old Lady

  When Yang Heng woke up again, he slowly opened his eyes and looked around, only to find that there was nothing around him except for two earthen walls and a thatched roof.

  "I'm up." Hmm, okay, I can actually sit up now. It was really just a dream after all. Otherwise, how could it be so good? Another turn and I stood up, this feeling isn't very exciting, it's quite empty.

  "Heng'er, you're awake, you're better, and it's really true, hahaha! Heaven bless my child." It wasn't a dream after all. The person who scared herself into a faint in the dream was standing right in front of her, but now her face didn't look pale, instead it looked somewhat dark with a lot of acne. And what was she wearing? A greyish-white outfit that seemed like something ancient people would wear on TV. What's going on here?

  Maybe when I looked at my mother's face just now, because I had just opened my eyes, everything was white. But I should also thank my mother for this fright, otherwise Yang Heng wouldn't know how long he had been lying down.

  Mother was patting Yang Heng's body from east to west, looking for any other uncomfortable places on him. Meanwhile, Yang Heng was gazing around at the low thatched hut, a wooden bed with something spread out on it, which looked like some kind of grass stuffed inside a cloth. Moreover, he seemed to be in an inner room, judging from the angle of sunlight coming in, this should be the east wing.

  "Mom, don't touch me anymore, I'm fine. It's just that I have no energy now. I want to go out for a walk. Oh, where's Ayah?" Ah, how come I called her so smoothly? What is Ayah? Ah, right, it means "dad". "That old thing, these days I haven't given him a good face to look at. He goes out every day except for eating. Don't mind him, son, are you hungry? Mom will get you some food." The old lady quickly walked out and soon came back with a black bowl. This is still an earthenware bowl... what era is this? And the food... let me try it... hmm, there's millet and sorghum, just these two things.

  Go ahead and ask, but it's not good to open your mouth. Listen to what the old lady said, it was the old man who punished himself and got his eyes burned, and fainted by the stove. Who knows what attitude the old man has towards himself? It's better not to ask, otherwise he'll let the old man treat himself like a monster and throw him into the stove again. Although now I don't even understand what kind of stove it is.

  Yang Heng walked out and only then discovered that there was a front and back yard here, it seemed that this was what they called a two-entry courtyard. In the back, there were two more houses, obviously much smaller than this one. The doors were broken, and through the gaps in the door, you could see piles of miscellaneous things inside, seemingly all stones and some iron blocks. Another house, on the other hand, was relatively better, at least the doors were intact, and they were even locked.

  As he walked out of the main gate, he suddenly realized that there was another house in the east wing. However, this was a framed house with some door panels on the outside. It wasn't until then that Yang Heng understood what a furnace was - wasn't it an iron-making stove? At that moment, his mind started to ache vaguely, as if he remembered something. It seemed like when that sour scholar came to report, his father was melting those ores. That's why Yang Heng stood by the furnace, while his mother didn't even think the furnace could harm people, let alone change their souls.

  But Yang Heng was fortunate, fortunately he fell backwards, not forwards, otherwise his life would have been gone. Thinking about it, Yang Heng couldn't help but touch his face with both hands, "Ah" Yang Heng exclaimed in surprise.

  "Heng'er, what's wrong? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?" "No, no, Mother, you go ahead and busy yourself." "Alright then, if there's anything, just call for Mother. Don't be like last time when you got burned. You're already a 10-year-old kid, if you couldn't take it, why didn't you call for Mother? Mother was also... didn't notice that you were so close to the stove. If your father, that old thing, stayed that close for long, he wouldn't be able to take it either."

  Yang Heng exclaimed, "What's this?" and found that his own face was also covered in blisters. After hearing his mother's words, he rolled up his sleeves and discovered that he was indeed a child, with small arms and legs. But why were there also blisters on his arm? Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be scalded by sparks. "Oh my goodness, no wonder I fainted from the heat! This arm must have suffered so much," he thought, and then looked at his mother's face, which was also covered in similar blisters.

  It seems that this is the consequence of forging iron, and from the memory of the past, I will be holding an iron hammer, and my mind is full of scenes of forging iron. It seems that this body is still very strong, much stronger than my previous life's body, but no matter how strong it is, it can't compare to my own body. But can I return? Is it possible for me to once again knock myself unconscious and go back? That doesn't seem likely.

  Thinking of his worries, Yang Heng walked out of the gate. "Yang Xiaolangjun, have you recovered from your injuries and are still sneaking around to learn characters?" "Brother, it's been a long time since you've come out to play." "Auntie is good, haha, little nail is good." Yang Heng laughed and greeted the people around him, just like he remembered.

  As Yang Heng walked away, the atmosphere changed. "This child is so pitiful, soon he won't even have a home. This world is like that, it's better to be rich." The women in the back whispered among themselves, and at this time, Yang Heng's mood also became heavy, but he still had to keep moving around.

  Looking at the outside scene, it's just like a big village, and most of the houses are similar to our own thatched cottages, with occasional glimpses of tiled roofs, and all have dark-colored doors. Basically, there aren't many differences between them.

  However, it was found that the population on this street seemed to be more mobile, and there were many houses with a facade like Yang Heng's, or rather every household had one. Walking into one casually, "Yang Xiaolang is fine, take a look." Inside the door was an accountant's desk, behind which stood an old man. What was his surname again? It seemed that Yang Heng had never been in this store before. Looking carefully again, it turned out to be a small restaurant.

  Yang Heng soon withdrew, what's good to look at in the restaurant, jewelry store, people directly don't have a good face to show you, grocery store, coffin shop, unlucky, not looking, but on this street, the shops that didn't open were more than those that did, I don't know why, this memory isn't so clear and can explain everything.

  Yang Heng turned back again, what era is this, it's really suffocating, and there aren't any good shops to go in and take a look. Restaurants, carriage stores, cosmetics stores, sewing needle and thread stores, soy sauce vinegar stores... basically everything on this street is included. However, the goods inside the shops are not many, and many people recognize Yang Heng's appearance. "Young Master Yang, okay, you're out for a stroll," "Ah, Third Uncle, Ah Po..." Yang Heng responded casually, looks like he still has good relationships with people. But similarly, there were also whispers behind his back.

  But where was that private school anyway? Yang Heng scratched his head, it seemed that this memory didn't want to come out.

  "You little stinker, aren't you dead yet? If you're not dead, hurry back to old man."