2 Huang Mu

The boy continued to farm his field, giving no sign that he had heard the elder or even seen the group of newly arrived youngsters for that matter. He seemed extremely focused on tilling the ground, the spade moving in a very regular and precise manner.

After being left alone by Lin Fang, the kids started to murmur between each other and one of them, slightly more lively and better dressed than the rest seemed to be holding court:

"I remember now, that kid was the foster son of the old military prefect, my father told me he was found as a toddler abandoned in a puddle of melted snow during a mountainous military excursion by the county guards. The prefect, who had never married and spent his life as a military man, took it as a sign from the heavens that he had been gifted a successor but alas, when the governor tested him at the next ceremony to make sure he wasn't some kind of waste and the stone didn't even react, the reward for the prefect's generosity was having to retire in disgrace and disown the wretched kid, at the time my father told me to remember this lessons but I still don't know what he was trying to teach me."

His monologue was interrupted by a nearby harrump, scaring the boys into immediate silence:

"I'm not surprised you didn't understand what your old father was trying to tell you, don't welcome strangers in your home and look beyond what is in front of your eyes when you make important decisions, of course in your case there are no important decision left to make, so it's a good thing you were too dim witted to understand anyway. Now shut your traps, for my sins I'm Pin Fan, the elder in charge of this place, we call it White Valley and you will quickly learn why; now follow me closely and try to pay close attention, I will introduce you to life here, the rules and regulations you will abide by, where you will be bunking and what will be expected of you in the near future."

Pin Fan also cast a malicious glance at the boy tilling the field and was also completely ignored.

Despite his feigned indifference Huang Mu was still very sad about what had happened a few years ago to his foster father, the military man was not good at expressing himself, but contrary to how the rest of the parents behaved when their child was determined to be a waste, mostly by kicking and screaming at their erstwhile prole while verbally disowning them, he just whimsically sighed and bade Huang Mu farewell, telling him to try his best wherever he ended up and to hold his head high no matter what; Huang Mu later heard that the governor was infuriated by such behavior and the prefect's early retirmened had then been set in stone. Despite how tragic the scene turned out to be for both parties and their future, that was still one of Huang's most cherished memories, the old general still thought well of him despite what happened and in his rare moments of discomfort and depression Huang Mu used this and other memories of his foster father to motivate himself to push forwards.