Xiao Xin was lagging behind as they hiked through a beautiful pine forest, but that was something he always did. There were lots of ways in which his curiosity shone through, and lots of things about him that made him a curiosity too, Huo Linghun thought.

When Xiao Xin caught up to him he held something up and asked, "What's this called?"

"That's a pinecone," Huo Linghun told him.

The ground of the forest was littered with pinecones. So many in fact that Xiao Xin tripped on one within the next second. He fell face first onto the carpet of pine needles, pinecones exploding out from his sleeves. Xiao Xin immediately began filling his sleeves back up with pinecones.

"What are you going to do with all those?" Huo Linghun asked as he watched with amusement.

"We don't have a pine forest near our bamboo forest," Xiao Xin replied. "So I'm going to make one out of pinecones."

Huo Linghun began helping him collect pinecones. "That's a great idea," he said. "You really like pine forests?"

"I really like all forests," Xiao Xin said. "I like all the things in forests."

"What do you think is the best thing in a forest?" Huo Linghun asked.

Usually Xiao Xin would become thoughtful for some time when asked such a question, but this time he answered right away: "The best thing in a forest is time with you."