The woods were slightly cool in the early morning. Yan Zheng put on his clothes, carried the fish tank back to the pond, and the pond, which had been cleaned the night before, was clear and tranquil again after a night of settling.

He poured the fish into the bucket, and one of the black-backed fish flipped over belly up. Yan Zheng thought it wouldn't live much longer, so he simply scooped it out and cooked it later.

Yan Jing'an, who had just stepped out of the house, raised his arms and did two chest-expanding exercises. He saw Yan Zheng returning with a bucket and asked him, "How's the pool?" As he spoke, he wiped his face on the washstand.

Yan Zheng carried an empty bucket into the kitchen: "The water is clear now, and I don't see any fallen leaves. The river in the mountain still needs to be cleaned regularly, otherwise it might get blocked again next time."

Yan Jing'an pulled out a towel and dried himself: "Okay, I'll clean it up when I get back tonight."

Yan Zheng cleaned the fish thoroughly, removing its internal organs and making decorative cuts.

Yan Jing'an prepared to start a fire, and watching his skillful movements, asked, "How do you plan to eat?"

The fish was chopped into small pieces. Yan Zheng threw the fish pieces into the bowl and said, "Let's make soup. Add some shepherd's purse."

As they were talking, they saw through the small window that Jiang Xi had also gotten up. She was putting her hair up as she walked out, her face flushed. She saw Xiao Hei and greeted him with great enthusiasm: "Good morning, Xiao Hei."

Then she squatted down by the kitchen window to brush her teeth, while Xiao Hei circled around her, sometimes pouncing on her, sometimes licking her.

Jiang Xi was so angry that she brushed her teeth while shoving her away, saying, "Xiao Hei, go away." She still had charcoal powder in her mouth, so her speech was muffled.

After everyone woke up, the courtyard immediately became noisy.

Yan Zheng watched the man and dog making a ruckus, a smile appearing on his face. He chopped some wild scallions and rubbed them into the fish pieces for a while. He wiped his hands and said to Yan Jing'an, "You do it, I'll go feed the livestock."

Once outside, he freed his hands and scooped Xiao Hei into his arms, saying to Jiang Xi, "It must be hungry. I'll take it to drink milk."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xi spat out the charcoal powder in her mouth and asked him, "Aren't you going to milk it anymore?"

Xiao Hei struggled fiercely in his arms, and Yan Zheng patted its head: "It won't be able to squeeze out much now, so let it drink it directly."

Good idea.

Jiang Xi cautioned, "Be careful the ewe doesn't kick you."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

It wasn't as smooth as expected. After all, Little Black was a leopard, and mammals have an innate fear of them. When the mother sheep saw Little Black, she suddenly lunged forward.

Yan Zheng put Xiao Hei on the ground. Xiao Hei's hunting instincts had already begun to sprout. He was fearless all day long and would rush straight at any ewe he saw.

Yan Zheng said sternly, "It's settled."

As soon as the command was given, Xiao Hei immediately stopped pouncing. Although it calmed down and sat down, it was still anxiously stamping its front paws, its wary leopard eyes glancing at Yan Zheng and then at the ewe.

As if waiting for Yan Zheng's order, they couldn't wait to rush forward immediately.

Yan Zheng patted its head with satisfaction: "Good, lie down."

He repeated it twice before Xiao Hei reluctantly lay down on the ground.

At this moment, Jiang Xi arrived. She took out fresh grass from the basket next to her to comfort the ewe. When the time was right, the two of them let Xiao Hei approach, and Jiang Xi guided it to drink milk.

The ewe's milk was indeed running low. Little Black drank for a long time, and Yan Zheng could tell from its anxious look that it wasn't full.

Back in the yard, I threw the fish innards back to it.

Breakfast was simple. Yan Jing'an also fried four duck eggs and put them in the fish soup. The fish soup turned milky white, which contrasted sharply with the bright green shepherd's purse. Just looking at it was enough to make one's mouth water.

Jiang Xi also made stir-fried bracken with pork and cold sweet vegetable salad.

The four of them each drank a bowl of fish soup, but this new type of fish had a lot of bones. Du Ling wasn't good at eating fish and almost got a fish bone stuck in her throat.

She shook her head, indicating that she would no longer eat fish.

After finishing his meal, Yan Zheng went into the woods to look for wood that made a crackling sound. It was a type of hollow wood that would produce a popping sound when burned.

Yan Jing'an began packing his things. Actually, he didn't have much; it was just a few clothes, some rare trinkets and pieces of wood of various shapes that he usually found in the forest.

Jiang Xi and Du Ling carried the lighter items to the next room for him. After all the things were moved over, she rolled up the straw mat on the bed and carried it over with Du Ling.

The house next door wasn't separated by a wall; it was just one room. But Jiang Xi thought that since someone was going to live there, it should be tidied up properly. Not having a kitchen already saved a lot of trouble, but other things couldn't be neglected. She dragged Du Ling to the warehouse to find mugwort.

There was some dried mugwort that had been dried earlier. Jiang Xi took it and first used it to fumigate the room to repel snakes, insects, and mosquitoes.

The brick bed, in particular, was carefully fumigated with mugwort three times.

Then she laid out the straw mat, and Jiang Xi took two more oil lamps and placed them on the brick shelf on the wall.

After everything was tidied up, Yan Zheng returned shortly with firewood on his back. He placed the brazier in the yard, first lighting dry branches, then adding hollow wood.

As the flames grew larger, crackling sounds began to emanate from the brazier, echoing throughout the mountains and forests.

Yan Jing'an covered his ear with one hand.

At first, Du Ling was a little scared, but when she saw Jiang Xi covering her ears with her hands, she followed suit. Jiang Xi thought she was cute, and the two of them laughed and hid together.

After a flurry of activity, the simple housewarming ceremony was complete.

Yan Jing'an clapped his hands: "Alright, this counts as a major matter settled. I'll head into the woods in a bit."

"I've been delayed a lot these past few days. I need to take advantage of the good weather to go into the forest and see what else I can dig up. The xiangbing fruit I ate last time was pretty good. I wonder if it can survive if I dig it up now."

Jiang Xi was about to grab a broom when she heard this and her eyes lit up: "Okay, then you and Lingling should take care of each other." As she spoke, she winked at Du Ling, she hadn't forgotten what Yan Jing'an had promised her last time.

Du Ling, who was standing to the side, understood their conversation and stood there somewhat at a loss.

Yan Jing'an glanced at her, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and asked Jiang Xi, "What are your plans for this afternoon?"

Jiang Xi thought for a moment and said, "I want to go to the field to check on things. I haven't been there for the past few days, and I don't know how the vegetables are growing."

Yan Zheng took the broom from her hand and swept the ashes around the brazier, saying, "Okay, then let's go to the fields first."

Yan Jing'an nodded: "Then you should take Xiaolu with you. We'll scout ahead today, so we don't need a cart." With that, he turned and walked into the house.

After taking only two steps, he turned back to Du Ling and said, "Go back and pack your things. Wait for me at the entrance of the woods later."

"

"Oh, and remember to bring your weapons."

Du Ling pursed her lips and nodded emphatically at him.

After Yan Jing'an and Du Ling entered the woods and fed the rabbits and sheep fresh grass, Yan Zheng and Jiang Xi led the deer and pulled the wooden cart out. Before leaving, they made sure to lock the gate, mainly to keep out wild animals, even though there wouldn't be anyone else around.