Turning around and looking up, he saw his playmate Little Tiger sitting on a rock on the slope. He, too, looked listless, his eyes unfocused.
Qin Fengming now remembered that there had been five playmates in all. After lunch, they had agreed to come play on this slope not far from the mountain village.
The spring sunlight was warm, and they had just finished lunch. The five playmates, all only six or seven years old, had barely played for long before drowsiness clouded their eyes. After playing rock-paper-scissors, they had assigned the loser, Little Tiger, to stand guard while the other four sprawled across the lush green grass for a nap.
Although summer had not yet arrived, there was already some heat in the air. Having one of the children stand guard was meant to keep everyone from falling into a deep sleep and having snakes or insects crawl onto them.
Little Tiger's name was Qin Hu, and he was Qin Fengming's closest playmate. The other three children sleeping soundly were all about Qin Fengming's age, and they had played together ever since they were little enough to wear split-crotch trousers.
"Qin Fengming, you don't need to worry about your Second Elder Brother. I heard Grandpa Patriarch say that Tenglong Town is a very large town, and Tong's Blacksmith Shop is the biggest shop in Tenglong Town. Even Uncle Qin's hunting fork was forged by Tong's Blacksmith Shop. Your Second Elder Brother is going there to become an apprentice—I don't know how many people are green with envy!"
Although Little Tiger was still young, he was clever beyond his years. Seeing the lack of spirit on Qin Fengming's face, he immediately guessed that his playmate was worried about his Second Elder Brother, who had gone to the blacksmith shop as