In the southern part of the July Kingdom, at the foot of the mountain, near the mountains, lies a small village, which is Wangjia Village. Most of the people who live here have the surname Wang, and they have lived by chopping wood and farming for generations. Because life is too poor, it is becoming more and more difficult for the men in the village to find a wife.

But on this day, Wangjia Village suddenly became lively, and the villagers stopped working and came to the house of villager Wang Linshan. "Lin Shan, congratulations, you're about to become a father. The old village chief said to Wang Linshan. "Xie Lu Xie Village Chief..."Wang Linshan was so excited that he didn't know what to say, "Lin Shan, did you have a good name for the child?" "It's good, it's good, my mother and I have already gotten up, and the boy is called Wang Yan, I hope he can study hard." "Okay, good!" The old village chief nodded and praised, "Lin Shan, after the child is born in a while, you can accompany us to drink and have a good time." The villagers surrounded Wang Linshan and talked nonsense.

"Wow~~~" A clear baby's cry came out, and the villagers were quiet all of a sudden, Wang Linshan was even more excited, the child was born, and he became a father.

"Come on", there was a sudden urgent call from Wen Po in the house, "The child is bleeding heavily, come to Langzhong to save people!" "I, I don't know what to do, I've never encountered anything like this," Wen Po said. "It's the first time I've seen such a hemorrhage, I'm afraid I won't be able to wait for Lang Zhong to come, so if you have anything to say, say it quickly."

"Lin Shan, you-you come here", Wang Linshan heard his daughter-in-law speak, and hurriedly came to the bed, holding his daughter-in-law's hand, "Cuilian, you hold on, Lang Zhong will come soon, you must be fine." "I know that I can't do it, Lin Shan, you must promise me to raise the child well and don't let him suffer." "Uh-huh", "You bring the child over, let me take a look", Wang Linshan took the child from the hands of Wen Po and hugged it to his daughter-in-law, "It's a boy, he looks like us", Cuilian slowly stretched out her hand, wanting to touch the child, but before the outstretched hand touched the baby, it hung down from the air weakly.

"Cuilian, wake up, wake up." Tears gushed out from Wang Linshan's eyes, his legs weakened, and he fell to his knees, "God, what are you doing to me?"

Wang Yan was born, but he was born and became a motherless child.

Time passed, and five years passed in the blink of an eye.

Wang Yan is five years old, thinner than children of the same age, although some villagers look at their father and son pitifully, and sometimes take care of them, but Wang Yan still can't eat enough and can't dress warmly. Five-year-old Wang Yan is already very sensible, he knows from the conversations of the villagers that his mother died because he gave birth to him, and he is an ominous child in the eyes of the villagers, and no child will play with him. Wang Yan often hides secretly, watching other children play and play with their mothers, and is very eager for his mother's care and love, whenever this time, he will run to his mother's grave and talk to himself, and talk to his deceased mother in his own way, "Mother, when will you come back to see me, hug me, I am very lonely, I miss my mother, woo woo......." Tears flowed down his face every time he spoke, "Daddy rarely talks to me now, his hair is all white, I heard the village chief grandfather say that he turned white the next day after his mother left, his face is much older, his body is not strong, he can't do his work anymore, and the family often eats this meal without a meal." Come back, mother, come back quickly, woo woo ......" Every time Wang Yan would say the same sad and tearful words, crying and talking, crying until he was tired, he fell asleep by the grave, and when he woke up, he went home alone.

One night, when Wang Linshan and Wang Yan had eaten dinner with wild vegetables and pickles, and were chopping firewood, the village chief came over: "Lin Shan, you see that five years have passed since Cuilian was absent, and you should also make it from the original grief, should you consider finding another mother for Yan'er?" "Village chief, I know what to do." But my heart aches at the thought of Cuilian, if it weren't for this little obstacle, she wouldn't be gone. Wang Linshan said in a low voice. "Hey, the child is innocent, don't think about it so much. I'm here to propose marriage to you. I heard the matchmaker say, fifty miles away from our village, there is a Li Zhuang on the edge of Hongyue City. It is close to the city, and Zhuangzi is also rich, and there is a woman named Li Mei in the village, who is not bad-looking, but has a big temper. The matchmaker said about your family's situation, and the woman didn't object, that is, she agreed, do you think about it? Our Wangjia Village hasn't added population for a few years, and if it goes on like this...... "The village chief wants to speak and stops, "I listen to your village chief, don't say anything." Wang Linshan nodded in agreement.

Half a month later, Wang Linshan of Wangjia Village married Li Mei of Lizhuang and found a stepmother for Wang Yan. But is this a good thing for Wang Yan? The answer should be no. The arrival of stepmother Li Mei made Wang Yan's already miserable life even worse. And at the same time, everyone in Li Zhuang was rejoicing that they finally sent the tigress away, and Li Zhuang finally had peace in the world.

The next morning, before dawn, the villagers in Wangjia Village were awakened by a loud roar: "Lazy man, don't get up and work quickly, this family is so poor, do you want me to marry and live with you to drink the northwest wind? And you, a little rabbit cub, will learn to be lazy with your useless father, don't come back to eat if you can't cut back a thousand catties of firewood today!! "After the door was slammed, the village was quiet again."

"Is this the mother-in-law of the Lin Shan family who just married? I heard that the temper is bigger, but this is too terrible, it's just a dominatrix." "It's so unreasonable, Lin Shan's father and son have fallen into the fire pit now. The villagers of Wangjia Village slowly began to discuss.

By the faint starlight, Wang Linshan and Wang Yan, father and son, walked towards the edge of the woods. Wang Yan carried a huge axe that was seriously disproportionate to his body, and followed behind Wang Linshan with one foot deep and one foot shallow. It was dark and quiet. Only the sound of hurried footsteps as father and son walked. Wang Yan became more and more tired as he walked, and gradually became farther and farther away from Wang Linshan. Wang Yan was a little scared in his heart, so he shouted, "Daddy, wait for me." It's a pity that Wang Yan only got two words without the slightest emotion, and even in the dark, "go quickly"

Wang Linshan's figure finally disappeared into the darkness. Wang Yan stopped and sat on the ground, rested for a while, and heard a sound of "click, click, click" chopping wood in the distance. Knowing that Daddy had already started working, Wang Yan gritted his teeth and walked in the direction where the voice came. When he saw his father holding an ax and chopping wood hard, Wang Yan learned to look like him and wanted to swing the axe. But the axe, which weighed more than a dozen pounds, did not obey the call at all in the hands of five-year-old Wang Yan, and fell to the ground with a "clanging bell". After trying more than a dozen times, Wang Yan was full of strength, and he couldn't pick up the axe to look at the branches that were only the thickness of his fingers. Wang Yan was bored, and he couldn't chop firewood.

"Daddy, I can't chop wood. I'll send you back the wood you've chopped first, so that you can have more time to continue chopping. Five-year-old Wang Yan used his brain and thought of ways to help his father. "Okay," Wang Linshan's still cold voice came.

Using a rope to tie together a large pile of chopped firewood and carrying it to his shoulder, Wang Yan immediately walked in the direction of home. The bundles are large and very heavy. If you look at it from behind, it looks like a large bundle of firewood moving slowly and staggeringly forward. Wang Yan, who was still very tired physically, felt strong when he thought that he could help his father work, and his whole body felt strong.

When the sun rises, after dawn. The villagers were amazed when they saw Wang Yan going back and forth between the mountains and forests and his home over and over again, what was the strength that supported Wang Yan, who was only five years old, so that he could be tireless, regardless of the blisters on his shoulders and feet, and the pain of the blood blisters being worn out, he insisted on not stopping.

And Wang Yan, when he faced the concerned inquiries of the villagers, he could only smile back and leave in a hurry without saying a word.

When the sun set, Wang Yan and his father Wang Linshan finally cut 1,000 catties of firewood and transported it all back home. However, after such hard work, all they got was a few cold rice balls and a jar of cold water. Stepmother Li Mei watched Wang Yan and Wang Linshan eating these cold foods with difficulty, and scolded: "Two lazy people, it took a whole day to chop such a little firewood, you are not even as good as pigs." ”

Wang Yan was so tired that he couldn't hold on, and after eating the wild vegetable rice balls, he went to bed and fell asleep. Suddenly, a sharp pain came from his ears, which woke Wang Yan up. "Why don't you go to work for the old lady soon, and sleep with a dead pig." The roar of the stepmother Li Mei followed into her ears. Wang Yan rubbed his eyes with his hand, turned his head to look at the window that did not have a trace of light, and before he could react, his stepmother Li Mei slapped Wang Yan's face with a loud slap, "What do you see, you have slept all night, and you haven't slept enough? "Stepmother Li Mei's anger is getting bigger and bigger.

Seeing that his father was ready to go out, Wang Yan didn't dare to delay and hurried up. I followed my father out of the house. I saw that the courtyard was empty, and all the firewood that filled the yard yesterday was gone. "Where's the firewood?" Wang Yan asked with some confusion, "It has been sold to the merchant who collects the firewood for money." Your mother has contacted the merchant who collects firewood, and she will come over every day. We have to chop a thousand pounds of wood every day and come back. Wang Linshan said expressionlessly.

The days of chopping firewood have continued, every time it rains or snows, and when he comes back from not cutting 1,000 catties of firewood in a day, Wang Yan will be scolded and beaten by his stepmother Li Mei.

Day after day, year after year, time flies, and in the blink of an eye, three years have passed. Far from crushing Wang Yan, such heavy chopping of wood made his body stronger than that of children of the same age. Wang Yan grew up, and the amount of food also increased, but his stepmother Li Mei never gave him a little more food. There are still only two wild vegetable rice balls every day, in Li Mei's words, it is better to feed the rice to Wang Yan, it is better to feed the pigs, because the pigs can still be sold at a good price when they grow up. Wang Yan didn't expect his stepmother to give him anything, and when he was usually hungry, he found some wild fruits in the woods to satisfy his hunger.