An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

"Why is there a row of low houses down there? Look, those guys running over there must be A-Kuan and his friends." Jing Chunxi pointed at a row of buildings at the foot of the mountain in the distance, her tone tinged with curiosity and excitement. Her eyes narrowed slightly, the outlines of the low houses blurred by the sunlight, but it piqued her curiosity.

Xu Zize followed her gaze and saw that the row of low houses in the sunlight seemed to be hiding some secret.

"Let's go take a look too." He nodded slightly, his tone filled with a hint of relief and anticipation. The two of them stood up and walked slowly along the hillside path towards the row of low houses.

After a quick stroll, Jing Chunxi and Xu Zize rested for a while on the grassy slopes, chatting about some intimate matters. It was then that they noticed something unusual down the hill opposite the pond. The children, perhaps bored from playing by the pond for too long, had moved on and were now in front of the row of houses.

A gentle breeze blew by, bringing with it a hint of fresh earthy scent on the grass. The two were immersed in this peaceful atmosphere until the laughter of children in the distance broke the silence.

"Why is the house built here? There must be someone living here!" Jing Chunxi felt puzzled as he walked.

"Maybe it was built by the original villagers for some purpose." Xu Zize felt that the house was different from the ones in the village.

He took the first step towards the row of low houses, followed closely by Jing Chunxi. They talked as they walked, their pace neither hurried nor slow, as if they were enjoying this rare leisure time.

Once my curiosity was piqued, my steps became brisk. The house looked not far away, but it felt like half a mile away.

When the low houses got closer, they found that this row of houses was not the same as the one they lived in. It looked a bit like a house, and a bit like the kiln used to burn porcelain in Jian'an County, but it was not built as exquisitely and not as tall.

There are five cave dwellings in total. Upon closer inspection, I found that they are not connected. There is a six-foot-wide passage in the middle. It is not big but a bit long. The entrance of the cave dwelling is very low and you need to bend down to enter.

"Prince, Miss, there are several charcoal kilns here." Xiao Man was the first to notice them approaching. As soon as he greeted them, the other children stood up and waved at them. The children's faces were filled with excited smiles, as if they had discovered something interesting.

Xiaoman's hair was a little messy due to the wind, but he didn't care. He just waved his hands excitedly and shouted loudly.

"Come here, sister, there's mud to play with." It was obvious that someone had just been sitting there playing with the yellow mud, as there were fresh marks on the mud and many mud lumps of unknown shape.

Almost everyone's faces and hands were covered in mud or charcoal ash, like mud monkeys.

"There is still burnt charcoal in the charcoal kiln, miss, do you want to take it back?" Chuyi was the last one to run out of the charcoal kiln, but his smile was the best.

He was very excited, thinking that there must be a lot of charcoal left in the charcoal kiln. His face flushed with excitement and his eyes sparkled, as if he had picked up a treasure.

……

Listening to their chattering, Jing Chunxi and the others did not answer immediately.

It was not until she was closest to them and saw Xiaoman staring helplessly at Erniu, Sanniu and Cuifang whose hands were covered in mud that Jing Chunxi smiled, "You guys really know how to have fun!" Her laughter was crisp and hearty, with a hint of pampering and no trace of blame.

The few people who expected to be scolded were completely filthy. Chuyi, Akuan, and Daniu had already taken off their shoes, leaving their bare feet black.

Seeing the young lady's happy smile, the prince didn't hide his expression, but smiled at them, and they laughed awkwardly along. He lowered his raised hand, and wanted to rub the charcoal ash and yellow mud on his trouser legs, but in the end he didn't do it.

"I want to tell my uncle about this discovery. Burning some charcoal will make the winter less cold." Jing Chunxi squatted down and looked into one of the charcoal kilns. It was pitch black inside and nothing could be seen.

"In the spring, warming the house with charcoal will prevent old injuries from flaring up." Those who have fought in the battlefield often have some old injuries, which hurt even in the wind and rain. If you don't light charcoal, you'll suffer during the return of the south wind.

Thinking of so many soldiers living in the mountains, which are already humid, and picking mushrooms in the wooden houses during the transition from spring to summer, Xu Zize frowned and said, "These charcoal kilns are not enough. When I go back, I will ask the general to build some charcoal kilns in various places on the mountain. After we finish this part, we can almost burn charcoal." His voice was low and powerful, the kind that makes people pregnant.

"Stop playing with the black ones. Look at the three of them, they are all covered in mud and they won't have any clothes to change into later." Jing Chunxi looked at the dirtiest Sanniu and couldn't help but feel disgusted; Erniu was not much better.

She shook her head slightly, with a hint of helplessness in her tone.

Cuifang still had some awareness of being a girl. The only things that were dirty on her were her hands and bare feet. After saying hello to Jing Chunxi and Xu Zize, she ran towards the pond.

When she came back, she was clean and wearing shoes. Her little face was rosy and there was a hint of shyness in her eyes, but she looked particularly cute.

"I can't help it, he won't listen." Chuyi could hear the young lady's blaming tone, and felt a little guilty. He lowered his head, his eyes flashing with anxiety, and he felt guilty for his dereliction of duty.

"If they don't listen, just let them play! I'll strip them naked and throw them in the pond to wash them. It's hot, so it doesn't matter if they go back naked." Xiao Man was carefree, not feeling any remorse for not watching over the children. His hands were also covered in mud, probably because he had just played with them.

"Where are you three? What happened?" Xu Zize looked at Chuyi, A Kuan and Daniu who were standing in front of the cave.

It looked strange no matter how you looked at them. Their faces, hands, even their chests, hems and buttocks were all black, as if they had rolled around in a charcoal kiln. Their tone was much harsher than Jing Chunxi's.

"Let's go in and take a look. How come it's so dirty?" Jing Chunxi felt strange when she turned to look at them. "Did he roll around in there?" There was a hint of ridicule in her voice, but her eyes were full of confusion.

"No, don't blame them." Seeing that the young lady and the prince were staring at Chuyi, as if they were blaming Chuyi, Da Niu quickly explained, "I just wanted to scrape some burnt powder back - Daddy will need it for the ink line he makes for carpentry." He spoke anxiously, as if he was afraid of being misunderstood and worried that his companions would be punished.

Following the direction of Daniu's finger, he saw a dark, slightly coarse, powdery substance gleaming with oil on several large banana leaves. The sunlight, shining on it, seemed to give the powder a faint sheen, making it appear particularly distinctive.

"Why not just use the charcoal from the stove? Why is it so troublesome?"

To draw ink lines, just use a dark color. If you can't afford the ink made from an ink stick, it's more convenient to use charcoal directly. Every household has it. At least that's what Jing Chunxi and Xu Zize thought.

Jing Chunxi shook his head slightly, his tone full of confusion.

"Use charcoal to avoid sticking!" Da Niu's words piqued Xu Zize's interest, and he squatted down towards the banana leaf.

I picked up a little powder with two fingers and rubbed it gently a few times. It felt granular like fine sand. Although it could be crushed, it did not have the soft and delicate feeling of charcoal.

"This one is much darker! And..." Jing Chunxi was speechless, not knowing how to describe it. She frowned slightly, trying to find the right words to describe the feeling of the eyes.

Xu Zize said, "It's shiny."

He looked up at Da Niu and Chu Yi, "Is this made by burning charcoal?" His whole body was filled with suspicion, and he himself found it unbelievable.