Ten Years, One Dream

Time passed by so quickly, like a donkey cart careening down a hill—there was no braking it.

In the blink of an eye, ten years had gone by.

The old locust tree in Wading Village looked a girth thicker, its leaves turning yellow then green, green then falling.

The deadly, piercing voice of Auntie Wang at the east end of the village had finally quieted down; word was she'd gone to town to see her grandson last month, thrown out her back, and was now stuck in bed moaning.

The blacksmith shop was still the same blacksmith shop.

The only difference was the new sign hanging at the entrance, the five characters for "Buck Blacksmith Shop" carved by Su Li's own hand.

The strokes were neat, imbued with an indescribable strength, much like the hammer marks left on forged iron.

In the courtyard, the furnace fire was burning bright.

"Clang—clang—clang—"

The rhythmic striking echoed through the morning breeze.

Yet, the sound was different from ten years ago.

It used to be a dull thud, but now the sound was crisp and resonant, carrying a piercing quality that signaled both force and heat had been mastered to the extreme.

Su Li stood before the anvil.

At thirty, he was in his prime.

The thinness of his youth was long gone, replaced by a frame of solid muscle that stood like a wall.

These weren't the "dead" muscles built in a gym; every fiber had been honed through hard, honest labor, with lines as fluid as a freshly forged steel bar.

He had grown a bit of stubble.

His face was naturally too refined, and it was only thanks to that mustache and the lingering scent of coal smoke that he managed to suppress his "pretty boy" aura, adding a touch of rugged wildness.

Even so, whenever he swung the sledgehammer shirtless in the courtyard, the young women and wives passing by couldn't help but slow their pace, their eyes practically glued to the sweat-slicked grooves of his spine.

"Dad, how much longer do you have to hit it?"

A youthful voice, yet one tinged with an old-fashioned weariness, sounded from the side.

Crouched by the furnace was a boy who looked about ten years old.

He looked seven parts like Su Li, and the cleverness in his eyes was impossible to hide.

He was currently pulling a long face, holding a small fan and fanning the bellows with listless strokes.

This was Su Li's eldest son, Su Xiaochui.

The name was common enough, but in these times, a "cheap" name meant a child was easier to raise.

"Until this piece of iron learns to behave." Su Li didn't turn his head, his hammer falling steadily as sparks flew everywhere. "And it's called forging, not hitting. Don't you see the impurities being squeezed out?"

Su Xiaochui rolled his eyes, tossed the fan aside, and brushed the dust off his backside.

"I'm telling you, Dad, can we be a bit more scientific?"

The little guy pointed at the glowing red iron, spouting the new terms Su Li often muttered to himself. "According to the principle of thermal expansion and contraction, if you keep hitting it like that, you'll shatter the internal structure of the iron. The hoes we make won't be durable, and that'll ruin our reputation."

Su Li's hand paused.

He turned to look at his eldest son.

He didn't know who this kid took after. Only ten, and his brain turned faster than the merchants in town.

Ever since Su Li had idly taught him some physics from that other world, the kid had been acting all mystical, wanting to analyze everything into a one-two-three.

"Less talk." Su Li pointed his tongs at the water bucket nearby. "Go fetch two more buckets of water. If we don't finish this batch of farm tools today, you can forget about eating your mother's braised pork."

At the mention of braised pork, Su Xiaochui's scientific spirit was instantly thrown to the dogs.

"You got it!"

The little guy agreed with refreshing speed, grabbing two wooden buckets that stood taller than his own legs and sprinting toward the well, moving as nimbly as a monkey.

Watching his son's retreating back, Su Li's lips curled into a smile.

"Su Li."

A soft, sweet call came from behind him.

Su Li turned around.

Saina was walking out of the kitchen carrying a large tray. On it sat a big pot of herbal tea, along with sliced salted meat and white bread.

Ten years had passed.

The once freckled, thin, and sickly little girl had blossomed completely.

Perhaps because Su Li had taken such good care of her and she no longer had to do heavy labor in the fields, Saina's skin was now white enough to glow.

Especially her figure.

If one didn't look at her face and only watched the swaying curves as she walked, one could see just how much she had changed.

Her waist was no longer as slender as it had been in her youth, but the fullness characteristic of a mature woman was all the more lethal.

It was like a ripe peach, ready to burst with juice at the slightest touch.

"Take a break."

Saina walked over to Su Li, pulled a handkerchief from her waist, and stood on her tiptoes to wipe the sweat from his brow.

The scent of soap and milk drifted straight into Su Li's nose.

Su Li lowered his head naturally so she could reach him.

"I'm not tired," Su Li said, taking the herbal tea and gulping down a large mouthful. "This little bit of work is nothing."

"That's just you saying you aren't tired." Saina shot him a playful, reproachful glare, though her eyes were filled with concern. "Look at you, your back is soaked through. Go change your clothes quickly before you catch a chill."

As she spoke, her hand wandered restlessly, giving Su Li's firm pectoral muscle a squeeze.

"You're covered in sweat; you don't even know enough to go wash up."

Despite her complaining words, her body leaned honestly against his. Those two soft mounds pressed against Su Li's arm, rising and falling with her breath, offering a startling elasticity.

The fire in Su Li's heart flared up slightly.

This woman.

She was nearly thirty, yet still so clingy.

Outside, she was a shrewd housewife who wouldn't blink an eye while haggling with villagers who came to buy tools.

But the moment she returned home, she immediately turned into a boneless, soft-legged creature, practically begging to hang off him.

"Alright, alright, the child is still here." Su Li set the empty cup back on the tray and gave her plump hip a casual pat. "We'll talk about it tonight."

Saina's face flushed, but she didn't pull away.

Instead, she took advantage of the moment to rub against his arm before turning and swaying her hips as she walked away with the tray.

Her retreating figure was full of grace.

Over these past ten years, although he had only completed one "procreation" objective, the process... was quite fulfilling.

It was right then that Old Buck strolled back in from outside, his hands clasped behind his back.

The old man was aging.

His hair and beard were completely white, and his back had begun to hunch.

The rheumatism he'd developed from years of blacksmithing made him wince and grimace whenever the weather turned damp.

By now, Su Li was the one carrying the heavy load of the blacksmith shop, while Old Buck mostly spent his days at the village entrance bragging to the other old men and, incidentally, inspecting his son-in-law's work.

"How is it going?"