Yan Zhen was startled. When she came to her senses, she instinctively looked towards the door and saw that Xiao Lu was nibbling on the roses that Jiang Xi had planted by the wall.

The seeds of this rose were brought back by Yan Jing'an from the forest last year, and she planted them at the base of the courtyard wall in the spring.

Since the beginning of summer, these flowers have been blooming continuously, with pink and yellow roses blooming brilliantly, making the small courtyard full of vitality.

Until one day, all the blooming flowers disappeared overnight, and even some of the buds vanished.

Jiang Xi thought about it for a long time but still couldn't figure out the reason. She originally thought it was the birds' doing, but now she saw the real culprit.

"Well, you've finally caught me! I knew my flowers were just disappearing for no reason." With that, she patted the fawn's back, took the reins, and tied it to the deer pen.

"I'll let it slide since you're so tired every day. But if you eat my flowers again, you won't get any sweet potatoes."

To welcome this bountiful and magnificent autumn, even the deer are on high alert.

At this point, it is no longer a sub-adult.

Jiang Xi thought of the doe she had seen last year, whose back was covered in spotted patterns. The fawn looked exactly like its mother.

It's about the size of a small donkey, or even a bit bigger; it's practically a walking, mobile load-bearing frame.

Transporting fruit, potatoes, and meat, pulling carts—sometimes when Jiang Xi and Yan Zheng returned from working in the fields, the little deer could still run even while sitting on the wooden cart. So from early summer to autumn, it was arguably the greatest contributor to the family.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, a magnificent sunrise spread across the sky, and the once dark jungle began to take shape and show color.

Jiang Xi and Du Ling had prepared water and food for the two of them early in the morning. One of their original plastic water bottles had been lost, so they were now using water bottles made from gourds.

Considering the high mountains and long distances, and that it would be inconvenient to travel with the deer, the two decided to continue on foot.

After seeing them into the woods, Jiang Xi and Du Ling began their busy day.

As usual, we led the deer to the field first, picked ripe tomatoes and cucumbers, gathered fresh grass for the sheep and rabbits, and took a quick stroll around the wasteland to see if any new mushrooms had sprouted.

On the way back, we passed by the entrance to the forest and went in to cut two baskets of vines to take home and dry in the sun.

After finishing all the chores like drying and cleaning, and feeding the livestock, the sun was already high in the sky.

In the afternoon, Du Ling continued spinning thread, a task Jiang Xi had given her to teach her how to make her own bed sheets and duvet covers.

Du Ling learns things very quickly. After Jiang Xi taught her how to make clothes, after dinner, Du Ling would sit by the oil lamp, spinning and crocheting. The two short-sleeved shirts she was wearing were all made by herself. Just by looking at the styles, you could tell that Jiang Xi was her teacher, as the styles of the clothes she made were exactly the same.

Jiang Xi felt quite ashamed about this, since she hadn't graduated with a degree in tailoring and couldn't really be considered an expert.

While Du Ling was busy, Jiang Xi was also preparing to dye her wedding dress. Her wedding dress was already finished, but she didn't know how to make complicated ones, so she made two simple wide-sleeved Hanfu.

Although it's called Hanfu, she doesn't actually know how to make it. She can only rely on her memory to figure it out, and it barely looks somewhat like the original.

Since the wedding would ultimately have to be red, she had prepared the red raspberry powder for dyeing well in advance.

Pour the red raspberry powder into a large vat filled with water, stir well, then soak the finished clothes in it, constantly stirring and turning them with a stick to make the color more even.

After letting it sit for ten minutes, wring out the dyed fabric and put it in salt water. This step is to fix the color. After it is thoroughly soaked, take it out and let it air dry.

Then, the dyeing process was repeated three times, and the clothes, which were originally slightly yellowish, turned into a watery red color.

Looking at the splash of red before her, Jiang Xi felt a mix of happiness and indescribable sadness. This step she and Yan Zheng had taken had been incredibly difficult. They had crossed the barriers of time and space to finally be together in this foreign land.

The water-red color was too vibrant, so she simply dyed it twice more. The last time, the color came out much more subdued than the water-red she had just seen.

Only then did Jiang Xi nod in satisfaction.

After finishing their work, it was getting dark, and there was still no movement in the woods. Du Ling washed her hands and prepared to cook dinner. At this time, Du Ling took a bow and arrow and went to the entrance of the woods to stand guard, ready to meet them.

As the last rays of the setting sun dipped below the horizon, Du Lin finally heard Yan Jing'an and Yan Zheng panting as they hurried along.

From afar, Yan Jing'an's voice could be heard: "Finally home. These days, sheep eat so much more and can really run fast. I'm exhausted."

As they drew closer, she saw two men carrying a ram. Yan Zheng was already covered in sweat, while Yan Jing'an was in even worse shape, his hair soaked through.

Du Ling, with a blade of grass dangling from her mouth and a slight smirk, jumped down from the tree and said, "So you've got a time when you're all disheveled? When we were in the woods, you seemed to have plenty of energy."

When it was just the two of them, Yan Jing'an could run faster than anyone else in the forest, never complaining of being tired. He would even often ridicule Du Ling when she couldn't keep going. Now it seems he was just a paper tiger, all show and no substance.

Startled by her sudden appearance, Yan Jing'an instinctively reached for the dagger at his waist, only lowering his guard when he saw it was Du Ling.

He was already exhausted and out of breath. Seeing Du Ling's sarcastic tone, he gritted his teeth and said, "I advise you to go back now and open the sheep pen. That way, I might spare your life later."

Du Ling, who was walking ahead, rolled her eyes. "All show and no substance, a paper tiger, all he does is scare her."

Having learned from the experience with the ewe, feeding the ram was quite easy, since they were only digging up wild grasses and vegetables that the ram loved to eat. In just half a month, the ram had gained a lot of weight.

For the next month, Yan Zheng and Yan Jing'an spent their time by the lake and in the woods, bringing back either a few fish or some wild ducks every day.

Small-eared pigs are becoming increasingly rare to encounter. Yan Zheng had previously noticed that these animals are very alert. If he frequently appears in one place, small-eared pigs will not appear in that area for the next ten days or half a month.

It's been a month, and he's only encountered a handful of pigs; he's only managed to catch three in the past month.

Jiang Xi processed them all, cutting off the pork belly and leg meat, marinating them, and then putting them in a pot of oil to make jarred meat, sealing them one jar after another.

The spare ribs were still made into cured spare ribs using pine branches, and strung together with rope and tied to the beams of the warehouse.

Days passed by, and finally it was time to harvest the corn.

From the morning onwards, Jiang Xi was exceptionally energetic, eagerly anticipating a good corn harvest this year.

Four people stood in the field, first breaking off the corn cobs, and then using sickles to cut the corn stalks from the root and stack them together.