◎Happy Day 62: Homecoming Gift◎

When Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen returned to Nanshi, they took a day to walk to the western suburbs and another half a day to ride their bikes back to the community from the outskirts of the city.

On the way back, there was no need to take a detour or spend time looking for the way. We had already left the range of the western suburbs mountains. The gas station was not far from the cave. Jiang Muyun estimated that it would take more than an hour.

Jiang Muyun didn't know if it was because they were riding too fast, but he felt the wind was getting stronger and stronger.

At first, there were occasional cloudy days in the sunny weather. Gradually, the clouds in the sky were pushed by the wind and gathered from all directions, and the sun only appeared occasionally.

When the sun was completely covered by the clouds, Jiang Muyun could already see the familiar shape of his own hilltop.

As the sky darkened, Jiang Muyun, hoarsely shouting in the wind, asked Chu Buwen, "Why don't you think about it now? What literary common sense can take away your halo?"

Chu Buwen really thought about it and shouted back, "Just wait, I won't let you go!"

Before Chu Bushun could finish his words, the wind choked his throat.

Jiang Muyun said that this was the retribution for his blind recitation of cannon fodder's quotes, and Chu Buwen felt that this was clearly the power of metaphysics at work.

As the saying goes, a horse dies after being chased down a mountain. Jiang Muyun saw the top of his own mountain early on, but it still took them nearly twenty minutes to reach the foot of the mountain.

They had left a "safe passage" on the mountain without any traps. When Jiang Muyun arrived at the place, he hurriedly jumped out of the car, dug out the rope from under a pile of rocks, and pulled it a few times.

This is one of the reasons why paracord is so fast to use.

They now communicate with each other by means of this rope-pulling device.

When Jiang Muyun pulled the rope, Chu Buwen dragged out the stone that was fixed with the pulley device.

The response from the mountain was quick. Not long after, a tinkling sound was heard, and an iron ring with a rope tied to it bounced down from the mountain.

In order to facilitate the transportation of materials, the pulley device itself is located in a relatively steep place. The rope on the mountain is hung with heavy objects and then thrown down, and it can easily reach the foot of the mountain.

Chu Buwen quickly wound up the rope and handed the end with the iron ring to Jiang Muyun, who then climbed back up the mountain with the rope.

When Jiang Muyun climbed up the mountain panting, Qin Shiwen and others had just finished a game of mahjong.

Recently, the temperature has finally returned to a range suitable for human survival. They have nothing to do all day long, and it is too dangerous to go to the city to search for supplies. So, apart from occasionally going down the mountain for a stroll to see if they can pick up something, they just get together to play mahjong.

It was said that Qin Shiwu, not very good at mahjong, was trying to make his own playing cards and Three Kingdoms Kill. Wang Qingqing was even quicker, having already made a deck of Werewolf cards, waiting for Jiang Muyun and the others to return and gather enough heads before starting the killing spree.

Jiang Muyun was afraid that Chu Buwen would wait too long at the foot of the mountain, so he turned around and the acid rain fell on his head and face. He ran and jumped all the way up the mountain and was so tired that he could hardly breathe.

What greeted her was not the warm greetings from her friends, but strange humans with notes stuck all over their faces who popped their heads out of the cave after hearing the noise, and a white cat that almost crushed her to death.

"I heard Xiaobai and Dabai shouting there a long time ago. You came back quite early." A small black ball jumped out of Qin Shiwen's pocket and hung on Jiang Muyun's clothes, shouting more and more mournfully.

"I just went out to install a pulley. They said there were a lot of people who could afford a place. Who's going to give me a seat later?" Wang Qingqing, who was standing next to Qin Shiwen, extended her hand and greeted Jiang Muyun. "Hey, Ji Shiyu, can we have a separate table later?"

Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen came back, and now there were eight of them, just enough for two happy mahjong tables.

Wang Qingqing almost laughed out loud just thinking about it.

Jiang Muyun lay on the ground and struggled to pull the two cubs off her body. She felt that the two of them could not possibly be missing her if they were crying like that.

It's more accurate to say that they sensed that acid rain was coming.

"Let's get them back first. Let's not talk about mahjong yet, it's going to rain outside." Jiang Muyun stuffed the big white ball that was holding her tightly and refused to let go into her pocket. "You guys didn't notice in the cave, Chu Buwen and I watched the sky darken. It's going so fast, we can't be sure if it's going to rain again."

Several people who had received the notes looked at each other.

Chu Buwen at the foot of the mountain quickly received the signal from the mountain, and the pulley set started working.

Chu Buwen waited for a while at the foot of the mountain. After the second signal came, indicating that the things had been delivered, he dismantled the pulley system, pushed the stone that fixed the fixed pulley back to its original place and hid it, and then carefully covered it with a layer of thermal blanket.

The thermal insulation blanket is mostly PE aluminum-coated film. Aluminum has poor acid resistance, but PE is acid-resistant, and covering the pulley can provide some protection.

To be on the safe side, Chu Buwen wrapped the stones as well.

Some stones are acid-resistant and some are alkali-resistant. For example, granite is a typical acid-resistant rock.

Chu Buwen wasn't a professional geographer; he'd long forgotten most of his high school geography lessons. He only knew that Nanshan was made of granite, and that the entire Nanshi area was also a granite-producing area. But how could he possibly tell the names of the rocks on this mountain?

I might as well just wrap it up and be done with it.

Chu Buwen kept working with his hands, looking up at the sky from time to time, calculating the time, carefully covering the entire pulley with stones, and moving a lot of stones to press around, and then hurried up the mountain.

After going up the mountain, I found that Jiang Muyun was the only one at the entrance of the cave, and Xiaobai, who looked well-behaved, was squatting beside him.

Jiang Muyun had just tied the thermal blanket to the fixed pulley with a nylon rope, covered several iron nails tightly, and pressed it down with flat stones.

Seeing Chu Buwen coming up, Jiang Muyun greeted him.

Chu Buwen asked, "Where are they?"

Jiang Muyun leaned his head out to check the outer part of the pulley: "They've gone to pack up their things. Some are digging, some are collecting solar panels, and some are removing traps."

"Here, for you." Jiang Muyun stood up and took out the Dabai from his pocket and returned it to Chu Buwen.

Dabai is over one year old this year, but he still looks like a little coal ball and hasn't grown at all. After Chu Buwen took Dabai, he put it in his pocket, making it extremely convenient to carry.

Chu Buwen arrived just in time, and Jiang Muyun instructed, "Don't be idle either. Put away all the bells and other things outside. I don't know when this rain will start. Hand me that stone behind you."

Chu Buwen picked up the stone and handed it to her. He couldn't help but ask, "How did you get away with it?"

Digging the soil and dismantling traps are clearly preparations for acid rain.

If he didn't know that Jiang Muyun knew what was going on, he would have thought that Jiang Muyun had told him about the acid rain.

Jiang Muyun flattened the last bit of shelter, clapped his hands, and stood up: "Just say it's going to rain, isn't that enough? Say you're afraid of another downpour, so you're making preparations in advance."

They were scared to death by the previous rainstorm. When they saw the gloomy sky outside, they immediately wiped the notes off their faces and hurried out to pack their things.

Jiang Muyun didn't even mention whether to save the soil, but Zhou Ying hurriedly pulled people to dig.

The last heavy rain washed away all the mountains, and the soil on the mountains is full of pits as if it had been gnawed.

This time the plants haven't grown back yet, and the rain is coming again. If we don't prepare some more soil, we can't wait for the water to recede and then go down the mountain to dig up the silt that is mixed with who knows what.

When the small vegetable seedlings they planted were just moved into pots, Zhou Ying said that the soil on the mountain had been tossed around by heavy rain and high temperatures, and it looked like the clay soil was about to dry into sandy soil, making it difficult to grow crops there. So he wanted to try to change the soil quality and improve its fertility at the same time.

Jiang Muyun had taken this class before, so she used the excuse that she had read related content because she wanted to grow flowers before, and copied to Zhou Ying how to mix various soils.

It was obvious that those things were memorized by rote, so no one doubted Jiang Muyun's words.

Jiang Muyun was truly a pure theorist. She had never even touched soil suitable for growing vegetables—except for that time she secretly scraped someone else's vegetable patch. So, apart from providing theoretical support, Jiang Muyun could only rely on Zhou Ying's hands to slowly test the soil.

The others had no idea what garden soil and sand were, so they could only follow Zhou Ying's instructions and dig up several large sacks of soil to store for her to use in experiments. They hoped that Zhou Ying would succeed soon and not neglect the little ancestors they had worked so hard to grow.

Now it seems that there may be another heavy rain. Zhou Ying is afraid that after the rain, the soil will need to be dried again, and now he wants to scrape away all the soil.

Chu Buwen was not here just now, so Jiang Muyun listened to Zhou Ying's popular science lecture.

It is said that to grow root vegetables such as sweet potatoes and potatoes, what is needed is loose and breathable sandy soil.

If potatoes grow fast, they can mature in two or three months. Now is the time when we need a lot of sandy soil to expand the planting scale.

It was difficult for her to produce soil with a texture close to sandy soil when she couldn't get finished river sand and garden soil. If there was another heavy rain outside that would last for who knows how long, how would they plant potatoes?

Jiang Muyun handed Chu Buwen a piece of dark green waterproof membrane cloth, and drove Xiao Baida back to the cave. The two of them went up the mountain together to dismantle the early warning device.

This kind of membrane cloth is made of nylon and is acid-resistant. They got a lot of it in Nanshan. Now everyone has one and uses it as a raincoat when it rains.

This is also why Jiang Muyun dared to pack up things outside with a group of people even though he knew it was acid rain.

The sky grew darker.

Unlike the dim sky of the last rainstorm, this time the sky was gray and dark, and the clouds seemed to be falling to the ground.

Without the sun, the once ferocious summer is like a tiger with its teeth pulled out, no longer able to show off its power of high temperatures.

A gust of wind blew by, and Qin Shiwen, who had just dismantled an iron nail trap, straightened up and stretched, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"I don't know how long it has been since I encountered such a lukewarm situation." Qin Shiwen threw all the nails in his hand into the bag in Qin Shiwu's hand.

"Hiss—" Qin Shiwen withdrew his hand abruptly before he could finish his words.

Qin Shiwu asked, "What's wrong?"

Qin Shiwen looked at the red fingertips and gently twisted his thumb. The wetness and the familiar slight pain were transmitted to his thumb.

"I just thought I was stung by a bug." Qin Shiwen looked at his two fingers which were a little red, and his tone was a little confused.

Qin Shiwu pulled her hand, but before he could see what was happening, he felt a slight pain on his forehead.

Qin Shiwu subconsciously reached out to touch it, and his fingertips felt a tingling sensation.

Their hands were placed together, both of them were red and moist.

Qin Shiwu instantly spread out the waterproof membrane and draped it over the two of them: "It's acid rain, go back and call them."

Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen had been prepared. When they collected the bells and were going down the mountain, they saw what seemed to be raindrops falling and simply blocked them with a piece of film, so no one was hurt at all.

Wang Qingqing and the others were in a rather embarrassing situation.

They were all bent over and digging the soil. Covered by their clothes, they didn't notice that sporadic raindrops were falling.

Zhou Ying was the first to feel the tingling pain at the back of her neck, and she thought it was an illusion.

It wasn't until Zheng Xiang asked them if they felt any insects biting them that they realized something was wrong.

Wu Xingyue's hometown is a heavy industrial city. She has witnessed several acid rains and noticed something was wrong when she saw the skin of several people coming into contact with the rain.

When Jiang Muyun and Qin Shiwen found them, they were huddled in a circle with the membrane on their heads, worrying about how to get those big bags of soil back.

Not only do we have to get the soil back, but we also have to protect them from rain.

Those grown at home are the little ancestors, and these big bags outside must be at least the great-grandfathers in terms of seniority.

Fortunately, the reinforcements arrived in time, and the two of them worked together to bring these treasures back to the big cave.

In addition to the two lifeboats that looked a little wilted, there were also bicycles and supplies brought back by Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen, as well as a pile of mahjong and handmade semi-finished playing cards.

The rain has started, and it doesn't make much difference when they go back. They simply clean up the cave first, at least to put away their precious mahjong and handmade cards.

Jiang Muyun picked up the big bag of supplies from the car, weighed it twice, and decided to wait until the rain stopped before getting it.

Zhou Ying put the mahjong back into the box and turned to Jiang Muyun. "I have your vegetables with me. Remember to come back and get them. The spinach is past its ripening stage. I picked some for seed. You can eat the rest when you get home. The chives are almost ripe too. Pick them when you see fit."

They had discussed this matter long ago. Since spinach is a vegetable that cannot be harvested and grown again, each family would set aside a portion for Zhou Ying to save as seeds.

Jiang Muyun responded: "I'll move it when the rain stops. Thank you."

Zhou Ying waved her hand, carefully wrapped the plastic box containing the mahjong and put it in her bag.

After packing up, the rain outside was still falling gently, which was completely different from the heavy rain last time.

Wang Qingqing stood at the entrance of the cave and sighed, "It's quite beautiful."

The drizzle of rain fell on the dry earth, and there was fog slowly dispersing in the distance, which could be described as a hazy scene of mist and rain.

The dim sky and earth were filled with desolate silence. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of raindrops hitting the rocks. For a moment, it seemed as if they were the only people left in the world.

"There are sparse raindrops on the empty steps, and the lights in the ancient temple are always on. It has been a long time since I have experienced such a quiet yet not dead moment." Zheng Xiang leaned against the cave entrance, took a deep breath, and then coughed because of choking.

It looks good, but it is not practical.

The air stank of sulfur dioxide, the rain-soaked land no longer growing the familiar plants. And the mist, perhaps the white smoke emitted by something corroded, could even be poisonous.

But the acid rain has already fallen, and they can't turn it back, so they'll just have to make do with it.

The rain seemed to be quite gentle, and the sounds it made were very soft, but the caution the people were taking when they returned home was many times more than during a heavy rain.

The rain was quite corrosive and would turn the skin red if it touched them. The group walked cautiously with the waterproof cloth. Xiaobai simply lay in Jiang Muyun's arms and refused to get down.

Seeing how big Xiaobai was, Chu Buwen said he wanted to send them both back, but Jiang Muyun was too embarrassed to agree.

Her own child was brought back by Chu Buwen, so was she watching from the side? Then she would really be a black-hearted landlord.

Jiang Muyun, who didn't want to be a black-hearted landlord, supported Xiaobai, the cub weighing dozens of kilograms, with one hand, and held the waterproof cloth to keep out the rain with the other hand. He also had to be careful while walking on the mountain road. His life was already very hard, but Xiaobai was still restless and refused to slide down even a little bit.

Just when Jiang Muyun was thinking about whether he should just throw Xiaobai out to be beaten since it had mutated, Xiaobai suddenly turned its head, and its ears just covered Jiang Muyun's hand that was pulling the waterproof cloth.

Then Xiaobai's whole body trembled violently, and the strength with which he clung to Jiang Muyun suddenly increased. He squeezed desperately into Jiang Muyun's arms, looking as if he would never let go.

Jiang Muyun dragged Xiaobai upwards and saw a small wet spot on its ear. He cursed himself silently in his heart.

Her own cub was so scared that he still knew to shelter her from the rain. She just carried Xiaobai for a while and she actually wanted Xiaobai to be beaten. She is really not a human being.

Jiang Muyun had packed all his things before going to Nanshi, and the awning at the door was also set up again.

Fortunately, Jiang Muyun used waterproof membrane cloth to make the roof, and the steel pipes used as support were also acid-resistant. Otherwise, in her current posture, it would be difficult for her to enter the house.

I put Xiaobai down on the clean space at the door, and turned around to see the two chickens poking their heads out of their nest.

The acid rain, which Xiaobai didn't even want to touch, slid down directly along the shiny feathers of the two chickens.

However, they didn't seem to like the rain either. They poked their heads out to look at Jiang Muyun, as if saying hello to their bread and butter, and then retracted their heads without making a sound.

Jiang Muyun was instantly happy when he saw that they didn't like getting wet in the rain.

Generally speaking, plants and animals that hate rain are either not poisonous themselves, or their toxicity is not very strong, at least they won't kill people. Of course, fragile pet dogs like Xiaobai who are simply afraid of pain are another matter.

This conclusion has no scientific basis. It is just a rule summarized by people after eating and seeing a lot.

It may not be exact, but it's pretty close.

Jiang Muyun had previously seen these two eating poisonous locusts as snacks and thought that they must be poisonous. Unexpectedly, there was a turn for the better!

Looking at it this way, maybe these two are just more resistant to poison?

Jiang Muyun rekindled the fire of hope.

The cave was no different from before she left. Jiang Muyun turned on the light and took a look around, disinfecting the cave with a mixture of alcohol and insect repellent powder.

The previous disinfection was done very well. Jiang Muyun left for a few days and did not find any strange insects in the house.

Xiaobai hadn't seen Jiang Muyun for several days. He had just waited for her with great difficulty, but was left in the cave by Jiang Muyun again. Now he refused to leave her and followed her wherever she went.

Fortunately, Xiaobai is so big that Jiang Muyun is not afraid of stepping on it, so he just follows it.

Everything was safe at home. Jiang Muyun took out the bathtub and took a comfortable hot bath.

Fortunately, the wind stopped after the rain stopped. There were only a few red spots on Jiang Muyun's body, and no itching symptoms. Xiaobai was only touched by the rain when he blocked Jiang Muyun's body, and it was fine after washing with soap.

The rain outside hadn't gotten any heavier, it just kept falling softly and gently. The temperature was just right, and the mosquitoes that had been driven away by the high temperature hadn't shown up yet.

Jiang Muyun simply moved the small table under the awning, used a pole to block the left and right sides of the awning with film, sat at the entrance of the cave to eat dinner, and enjoyed the rare tenderness of Blue Star.

She took advantage of the fact that there was no wind or acid rain outside, so the smell could not dissipate at all. She also had Xiaobai on duty to warn people, so she set up a small oven on the table, found a bunch of semi-finished skewers and happy water, and sat at the door to slowly grill and eat them.

It got dark early today. Jiang Muyun hung the camping light in the middle of the awning, which did not affect her dinner at all.

The temperature was just right, neither too hot nor too cold, there was a drizzle, hot barbecue, and happy water with ice cubes. Jiang Muyun felt that he still liked rainy days very much.

It would be better if the rain didn't have that smell.

Jiang Muyun is a person without romance. After enjoying her dinner, she didn't want to sleep, so she watched a movie while enjoying the smell outside.

This disaster film, about a volcanic eruption, is a double enjoyment of vision and smell for Jiang Muyun, who is now wrapped in acid rain.

The movie was well made. Jiang Muyun even thought seriously about how to escape in the event of a volcanic eruption. After she planned every step and escape route, she remembered that there were no volcanoes in Nanshi, and the only way was to set fire to the mountains.

The sea of ​​fire that burned the mountains a while ago counts as one of them.

Thinking about how he was almost steamed to death in the cave, Jiang Muyun silently spat three times.

In order to seek the support of metaphysical power, Jiang Muyun also found a wooden table and knocked on it three times, meticulously completing the entire exorcism ceremony.

This can't be a bad omen. She doesn't want to encounter a sea of ​​fire again in her life.

At night, Jiang Muyun sprinkled a circle of realgar around the bed and the entrance of the cave. He deliberately did not close the door tightly and slept a rare good night's sleep listening to the white noise outside.

The next morning, Jiang Muyun was awakened by the creaking sound of the door.

The wind picked up outside.

The east wind is gentle, carrying raindrops slowly and leisurely.

Jiang Muyun's door was a bit heavy, and there were membranes on both sides of the awning to block it, so the wind could only come in through the gaps.

The wind made it difficult to push the door open, and only by gathering strength every now and then could I make the door shake a few times.

Jiang Muyun stood at the entrance of the cave, eating a bun and drinking soy milk. When the wind blew over, he cautiously took two steps back.

There's no way I could stay outside today.

She pushed the door open and found a clay basin to lean against it, thinking that it would be nice to hide in the cave and watch the rain, which would be better than locking herself up at home in depression.

Jiang Muyun chose the time when the wind was the weakest and went out. As soon as he put down the clay basin, the wind brought rain in through the gaps in the membrane on both sides, and a few drops happened to fall on Jiang Muyun's hands.

Lan Xing has had a really bad temper in recent years. Even the occasional soft drizzle, with each drop falling, is like a gentle knife.

Jiang Muyun washed his hands with soap, touched Xiaobai who was curled up at the edge of the cave and looking out, sat down next to Xiaobai and began to discuss with Xiaobai when to take it out.

Acid rain has fallen, and mutant animals will soon appear in large numbers. When Xiaobai appears in front of people, he will no longer have the label of "reserve food" on him.

The gentle knife of the blue star fell densely for four days before it stopped. The once cracked land was soothed by this rain and began to nurture new life.

Tentacles stretched out from the cracks in the rocks to explore left and right. A furry ball deep in the cave shook its ears. The skin of the annelid, which had just been rained on, was shining, and it circled happily on the wet ground.

In the dark brown soil, inconspicuous sprouts gradually appeared, poking their heads out from various cracks.

Jiang Muyun also received a belated homecoming gift - an egg that looked a little strange.

From two chickens that ate for a year but only worked once.

Early in the morning, the two chickens brought Jiang Muyun to their nest with their heads held high and showed him the gift they gave to their parents who provided them with food and clothing.

The eggshell was clean and white, so smooth that it was slippery to the touch. It didn't look like a whole egg, but more like one that had been peeled after being boiled.

This is the only one they have had after so long. Could it be the fruit of their love?

Jiang Muyun carefully put the egg back to its place.

Perhaps because they saw Jiang Muyun staring at him for a long time without any movement, the two chickens became impatient, stretched their heads out and pecked the eggshell open, and in a few crunches they finished the egg, leaving only a few broken eggshells.

Jiang Muyun had mixed feelings: "You two are really capable."

I don’t know if he has always been producing and selling his own products, or if he demonstrated it to her because he saw that she didn’t move.

But these two even dare to eat live locusts. What results can they get from testing poison?