Smoke rose slowly from the village chimneys. Parents were calling their children back for meals, but the "bamboo hut" of Qin Yi and friends was only half-built.
"Looks like we can't finish today. We'll have to continue tomorrow. But… can this 'bamboo hut' survive one night? Gensheng, when you built it alone before, you couldn't have finished it, so how did you manage?"
Wang Gensheng scratched his head:
"I just left it here."
"Left it here? Wouldn't it get damaged?"
"It might, but if it gets damaged, we just rebuild it."
Hearing this, Qin Yi rolled his eyes:
"So, it will keep getting damaged and rebuilt over and over, and a complete 'bamboo hut' will never actually exist?"
"If it doesn't get completed, it doesn't matter. As long as there's something to build…" Wang Gensheng didn't quite understand why Qin Yi was fixated on this.
At that moment, Qin Yi finally understood.
To Wang Gensheng, building a bamboo hut with sticks was just a game.
A game that valued the process, not the result.
As long as he had a 'bamboo hut' to build, he was satisfied.
He didn't care about anything else.
But Qin Yi was different. To him, this was the result of hours of effort. He didn't want it to be wasted so easily.
He wanted to see the day the bamboo hut was actually completed.
After thinking, Qin Yi said,
"I'll tell my brothers to spread the word so no one destroys our 'bamboo hut.' If nobody interferes, it should survive."
With that, he acted immediately, telling Shuanzi and Zhuzi his request.
It was just a sentence, and the two took it as a game, spreading the word.
After hesitating for a moment, Qin Yi remembered his father's instructions and asked Da Shan for help as well.
Da Shan patted his chest confidently:
"Don't worry, little brother Da Tou. Leave it to me. Tomorrow you'll see a 'bamboo hut' that hasn't been destroyed."
Qin Yi thanked Da Shan politely, then said goodbye to Wang Gensheng and went home with Shuanzi and Zhuzi for breakfast.
The next day, anxious about the bamboo hut, Qin Yi quickly finished his breakfast and ignored his two older brothers, running straight to the east village lot.
When he arrived, he saw that only Da Shan was there. Standing beside the bamboo hut, he held a stone and shouted into the northern lot, chasing something away.
Seeing Qin Yi, Da Shan smiled and greeted him:
"Da Tou, look! The 'bamboo hut' is fine."
Qin Yi glanced at it; the hut was indeed intact. Seeing Da Shan drenched in dew and looking exhausted, he hesitated:
"Da Shan… you didn't stay here the whole night, did you?"
Da Shan was startled, then smiled:
"Impossible. Even if I wanted to stay overnight, my parents wouldn't allow it. I was the last to leave yesterday. After dinner, I snuck out a few times before the yard was locked, checking here each time. This morning I came right away. Some early-foraging mice almost damaged the hut. But now that you're here, it's yours. I need to hurry home for breakfast."
With that, Da Shan waved and ran off.
Qin Yi watched his back, genuinely moved.
A simple request had been met with such effort—how could one not feel touched?
"Da Shan… I accept you as a brother."
Only now did Qin Yi truly accept Da Shan as a sworn brother.
Soon after, Wang Gensheng arrived. Seeing Qin Yi and the undamaged hut, he was ecstatic:
"Da Tou, you're amazing! You really protected the 'bamboo hut.'"
It was clear that Wang Gensheng hadn't been unwilling; he simply had never succeeded before. Eventually, he gave up.
Qin Yi shook his head and told him about Da Shan's effort.
Wang Gensheng was equally moved, truly letting go of past conflicts, and sincerely acknowledging Da Shan.
"Da Tou, let's not waste Da Shan's effort. Let's finish it today."
"Alright."
As the hut neared completion, nearby children were drawn over to watch. By dinner, they finally finished.
A 'bamboo hut' model, built from sticks and grass rope, stood before everyone.
"Wow, a wooden hut!"
"Da Tou and Gensheng are incredible! They built it themselves!"
"I want one too!"
Da Shan boasted to the crowd, claiming part credit for its success.
Qin Yi was very satisfied.
Besides the satisfaction of finishing the hut, the construction skill leveled up as expected: Building skill reached LV1.
The next day, when Qin Yi and his two older brothers arrived at the lot, Wang Gensheng was crouched on the ground, crying. Da Shan stood nearby, looking regretful.
Qin Yi's heart tightened; he hurried over. Sure enough, the bamboo hut model they built yesterday had been completely destroyed.
Da Shan scowled:
"Someone must have deliberately damaged it."
He then hit his head, lamenting:
"It's my fault. If I had guarded it last night, this wouldn't have happened."
"Da Shan, it's not your fault. Could you realistically guard it for one night… or two… forever?" Qin Yi said.
He patted Wang Gensheng's shoulder:
"From the start, we knew this might happen, right?"
"Da Tou, I'm never building a bamboo hut again," Wang Gensheng said.
Qin Yi panicked.
That wouldn't do! Without him as a 'teacher,' where would he find someone like that?
Moreover, this was just LV1; Qin Yi hadn't finished leveling up his Building skill yet.
He estimated optimistically that building the bamboo hut model could level Building skill to LV2.
Qin Yi encouraged him:
"Gensheng, don't speak in anger. When we face problems, we solve them. Giving up at the first setback is cowardice."
Wang Gensheng paused, then choked out:
"Coward… what's that?"
"It means a weakling, a scaredy-cat," Qin Yi explained.
Wang Gensheng wiped his tears, resolute:
"Da Tou, I won't be a coward. Let's keep building! But…"
Qin Yi's eyes lit up; he thought of the model. He proposed:
"Let's make a movable base. Build the bamboo hut on it and bring it home each night. Problem solved!"
"A… movable base? How do we do that? I don't know."
"Let me think… We can use materials at hand—let's make one from sticks."
"Really? That can work?"
"Of course! Didn't we use sticks instead of bamboo for the hut? If sticks can replace bamboo, why not for the base?"
"Ah… but sticks and bamboo are wood… the base is soil. Can sticks really work?"
"Trust me, they will!"
Seeing Qin Yi's determined look, Wang Gensheng chose to trust him. His energy returned, and he clenched his fists:
"Alright! Let's build a movable model we can take home."
(End of Chapter)