He slept deeply.
When Shi Hou opened his eyes again, dusk had fallen.
"Awake?"
Lin Yun was sitting beside the bed, stitching shoe soles. Seeing her son sit up, she pressed her slightly rough hand to his forehead.
Shi Hou rolled his neck.
"Where's Dad?"
Shi Hou glanced around. No one else was inside, and the large hunting bow usually hanging on the wall was gone.
Lin Yun snorted and rolled her eyes. "That old fool cares too much about saving face. He's gone into hiding."
"Hiding?" Shi Hou blinked.
Lin Yun pursed her lips. "He thinks that because he's your father, he can't lower himself to lie on the chopping board and let you smack him. I saw him chopping wood in the backyard earlier. He's hacked it all into toothpicks. He's clearly itching for it, but he won't say so."
Shi Hou grinned.
"I'll go take a look." Shi Hou was about to get out of bed.
"No need. Wait here."
Lin Yun stood, strode to the back door, and bellowed at the figure wrestling with a piece of hardwood in a corner of the yard:
"Shi Shoushan! Get your ass in here!"
The figure in the yard visibly stiffened.
A moment later, Shi Shoushan shuffled into the house.
He deliberately straightened his back, but that only made him look stiffer. Catching sight of his son sitting beside the bed, his eyes began wandering. He stared at the cured meat hanging from the rafters, refusing to look at either of them.
"Well... Skinny Monkey's awake, huh? I was thinking I'd go reinforce the courtyard wall some more. Things are about to get rough, after all..."
"Reinforce my ass!"
Lin Yun marched over and grabbed Shi Shoushan by the ear.
"Even the freshly weaned babies in this village have