The sun had drifted westward, and the afternoon sunlight, tinged with laziness, spilled into the Ning Family Courtyard.
After guiding his younger sister Ning Xiaohe through the few characters she had learned that morning and accompanying her through some gentle closing exercises, Ning Chuan let her play by herself in the shade.
Watching his sister's lively back, Ning Chuan's desire to improve the family's circumstances grew even stronger.
Relying solely on his father occasionally going into town to sell meat was not a long-term solution.
They could not keep living off their savings. The money earned from selling those "stones" would eventually run out.
They needed a stable, sustainable source of meat.
His gaze unconsciously wandered around the courtyard, as though he wanted to find something within the familiar surroundings.
When his eyes swept over a shadowy corner by the courtyard wall where miscellaneous items were piled up, Ning Chuan's gaze suddenly lit up!
There, hanging against the wall, was something that had nearly been forgotten—a wooden bow.
The bow was covered in dust, its color dull, its bowstring sagging loosely. It had clearly been abandoned for years.
Ning Chuan quickly walked over and carefully took down the wooden bow.
It had some weight to it.
The bow was made from a common hardwood from the back mountain. Its craftsmanship was crude, simply carved and sanded into shape without even a coat of lacquer.
Ning Chuan gave it a test pull. The string had aged and possessed almost no elasticity.
This was likely a crude bow his father, Ning Dazhuang, had made when he was younger, perhaps to help support the family or perhaps on a whim. He had probably failed to hit many animals with it, and eventually abandoned it.
Yet this battered old wooden bow was like a