10 Chapter Three: The Old Lame Man and the Little Pockmarked Boy_2

Of course, there might still be some differences, but Shu Guan is not a history expert, so he cannot discern those subtle distinctions.

However, he roughly determined the era he had traveled to through some other things - the common chili peppers and tobacco in the village.

Tobacco was introduced to Huaxia in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, while chili peppers arrived even later, towards the end of the Ming Dynasty.

These are not exactly obscure pieces of knowledge, but not many people would pay attention to them. In contrast, Shu Guan, who loved reading humanities and historical books in college, happened to know this and even knew the details.

He remembers reading an article that said although chili peppers had entered Huaxia by the end of the Ming Dynasty, they were first admired by the Huaxia people as exotic plants rather than used as ingredients. They only started to become popular as ingredients several decades later.

It initially gained popularity in the Yunnan and Guizhou area, then spread to the Hunan and Hubei regions, as well as the Chuan and Shu regions. The rebel leader of the Western Expedition, Wu Sangui, played a significant role in its spread.

The elderly in the village also mentioned that they came to this secluded valley to escape the chaos of wars.

Combining these two pieces of information, Shu Guan believed that the war more than two hundred years ago might have been the rebellion of the Three Feudatories at the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing.

If that were the case, more than two hundred years have passed, and the outside world should be approaching the end of the Qing Dynasty. However, it is unclear whether the Qing Dynasty has collapsed or not.

Above are Shu Guan's judgments about the time and place he had traveled to so far.

Although he has been living in this valley for four years and has not seen the world outside the mountains, Shu Guan is more than 90% sure of his deduction.

Since he is still on Earth and has only traveled back a few centuries, Shu Guan naturally does not believe the village elder's stories about immortals.

But discarding those superstitious legends, how did the earliest inhabitants of Taoyuan Village come to this valley?

This has been a question that has been puzzling Shu Guan for several years.

He feels that if he can understand this question, perhaps he will have a chance to leave this valley surrounded by cliffs on all sides.

He heard that the ancestors of the earliest Taoyuan villagers left some written records, and perhaps some clearer clues can be found in them.

Unfortunately, those books are kept in Taoyuan Village's ancestral temple. Shu Guan is not considered a genuine village person and is only four years old, so he naturally has no chance to read those records.

He can only wait to grow up a bit more and find a chance to take a look.

In addition, beside not knowing how they came to this valley, there is another rather peculiar matter about Taoyuan Village.

That is, although the more than 300 refugees who first came to Taoyuan Village were not all from the same hometown or shared the same surname, it was difficult to avoid marriages between people of the same surname in such an isolated environment over the two hundred years.

As far as Shu Guan knows, it is common for cousins in Taoyuan Village to marry, and even marriages between first cousins are not unusual.

Yet, there are almost no mentally abnormal or people born with defects in the entire village.

This is an incredible phenomenon in the fields of biology, genetics, and probability.

So, this seemingly ordinary small mountain village may indeed hide some secrets!

Shu Guan swayed his legs, gurgling and smoking a pipe, unconsciously finishing a bowl of tobacco.

Naturally, Shu Guan opened the tobacco pouch hanging on the pipe, preparing to fill another bowl.

His addiction to nicotine was quite significant in the past – the kind that smoked two packs a day.

Just at that moment, a wrinkled hand reached out, taking the pipe from Shu Guan's hand.

It turned out that Shu Guan was deep in thought earlier, and he didn't notice that the old cripple had returned to his side.

There was a strange glint in the white pupils of the old cripple's eyes, but the other eye was full of kindness and warmth.

He raised his hand to pat Shu Guan's head, his mouth stretched in a grin, his face full of love for the ugly little freckled child sitting on the bench.

"Little child, don't smoke this, too much smoking will stunt your little pecker's growth."

"When you grow up a bit more, I'll make you a pipe."

The old cripple put the pipe he took from Shu Guan into his waistband.

"Okay, grandpa, I won't smoke anymore."

Shu Guan obediently nodded.

He would never upset the old lame man.

"Little Freckles, let's go home."

Nowadays, Shu Guan's name is just Little Freckles, just as the old lame man is called the old lame man.

People in Taoyuan Village all have simple names.

Because there are more than 700 people in the village, and everyone can't leave the valley, there really isn't a need for a true formal name, a simple nickname to distinguish each other is enough.

For example, the big boy who led the group of children just now is called Wang Dahu; he has three younger brothers, called Erhu, Sanhu, and Sihu respectively. As for the delicate and lovely-featured little girl who was frightened by Shu Guan's appearance, her name is Zhang Yadan.

As for Shu Guan, he is called Little Freckles now, and when he grows up, he will be called Freckles, and when he is old, he will be called Old Freckles.

Shu Guan, who is likely to be called Freckles for his entire life, looks up at the old lame man with a brilliant smile on his face.

Of course, that's brilliant in his own opinion.

In reality, when Shu Guan smiles, all the black freckles on his face squeeze together, making him too ugly to bear.

"Okay, Grandpa."

He stretched out his chubby little arm towards the old lame man.

The old lame man's face showed no disdain. He still chuckled and picked up Shu Guan, placing him in the bamboo basket on his back.

Even though the old lame man gave him a name that might be ridiculed for a lifetime, Shu Guan had never been angry with him.

How could Shu Guan be angry with the old lame man!

Four years ago, when he had just been picked up by the old lame man from the creek, his whole body was covered in pus-filled sores, crying in pain every day.

It was the old lame man who tirelessly wiped his body with medicinal juice day and night for three whole months, holding him in his arms every night until dawn.

It was also the old lame man who, in order to get some milk for him to drink, went to plead with every woman in the village who had just given birth; sometimes, when he saw a young woman breastfeeding (the word I think blocked this chapter three times), he shamelessly approached them with Shu Guan on his back, hoping Little Freckles could have a few sips.

Also, it was the old lame man who never left Shu Guan behind in these four years, whether he was farming in the fields, gathering herbs on the mountain, fishing in the water, or helping others patch up their houses in the village, he always brought Shu Guan along.

Because even now, there are many people in the village who do not like Shu Guan, thinking that the pus-covered child who drifted from the mountain stream was the reincarnation of some mountain demon and an ill-omened person.

Many people in the village opposed adopting this child at the time.

That's why the old lame man never let Shu Guan out of his sight.

Raising a child is not easy.

Especially for a lonely old man with a lame leg, a cataract in one eye, and in the twilight of his years, raising a child is even more difficult.

If it were just an ordinary four-year-old, perhaps he wouldn't really understand the old lame man's efforts.

But Shu Guan is not a real child; he has seen the old lame man's nurturing grace and the hardships of the past four years.

Without the old lame man, Shu Guan wouldn't have survived until now.

The old lame man carried the bamboo basket on his back, with Little Freckles standing inside, his little hand on the old lame man's shoulder, using his entire strength to support his own body.

This way, the old lame man would feel a bit lighter.

An old lame man with no children, a Little Freckles with no parents.

This unrelated pair of grandfather and grandson, gradually disappearing beyond the cliff in the setting sun, headed towards their home.

At some moment, Shu Guan gently pressed his forehead against the old lame man's thin shoulder, his face peaceful.

Because of this old lame man, he had survived.

And because of this old lame man, he didn't go mad in this despair-inducing village.

In his last life, he had no relatives.

In this life, he has them.

If this is the meaning of his journey here, then Shu Guan is no longer so regretful.