Chapter 175 One Step Closer

The aroma of food and the Chen family leading a large group of children to move stones into the valley attracted the Zhou, Lu, and Shi families who lived on the other side, who came over one after another.

It was already dark, but because of the two fires burning, it was still possible to see clearly.

The Shen family's dinner eventually turned into a midnight snack for a group of people in the valley. The only ones who managed to eat their fill were Chen Dashan and Shen Lie, and the rest were the Shen family's younger children.

Shen An and Shen Ning were fine, there was nothing to avoid. The three brothers Shen Jin were told by Sang Luo not to eat too much grilled meat, and could only try one or two small pieces of chicken steak. They should focus on light food, so they ate some slate-fried tofu and slate-fried cabbage, which were relatively easy to digest. Even this was delicious. The most important thing was that it was lively, with a group of children gathered together. Except for Shen Tie, who was unable to move away from the food, the other children of the Shen family could not even sit at the table.

Sang Luo prepared a lot of things, including three chickens and a lot of wild boar meat. While Shen Ning was roasting them, a group of children found chopsticks from nearby houses and gathered around the stone stove waiting to taste the new food. While the Shen family was eating, the Chen family also joined in. This was probably the happiest day for the children since they moved into Yun Valley. Even Wang Yunzheng, who was a good-tempered man, was brought to the stone slab by Xu Wenbo.

Xu Wenyin was the one who reacted the fastest. While eating, she found an opportunity to get close to Sang Luo and said, "Sister-in-law A'luo, where did you find this stone slab?"

Sang Luo laughed when she heard it: "You want to roast it too? It's in the mountain stream not far outside the valley. Let Chen Lie take your father or Uncle Xu out to have a look tomorrow."

Xu Wenqing shouted at the side: "I'll go, I'll go!"

Not only Xu Wenyin was happy, but all the children who heard it were happy and they all pulled their fathers to help them find stone slabs.

How could they not agree to this? Not only were the children greedy, but they were also greedy after watching the show. What's more, it would be quite lively to do this, so they all agreed immediately.

The lively midnight snack lasted for more than half an hour before everyone dispersed. This was because each family had to deal with the wild boar meat that they had just obtained today.

There is no other way. It will be the sixth lunar month in a few days and the weather is really hot. Even though it is cooler in the cave than outside, the meat still needs to be processed early.

The pig skin and pig head were processed when the wild boar was hunted. The Lu and Shi families had large families and were not as good at hunting as Shen Lie and Chen Dashan. They were afraid that the winter in the mountains would be colder than outside, so they took the skins away. Therefore, the Shen family had to deal with pork and offal now.

Chen Lie and Chen Dashan were in charge of cleaning and moving the tables and chairs, a few younger ones were in charge of washing the dishes, chopsticks and plates, and even the whole family worked together to process the wild boar meat. The advantage of having more people was revealed at this time. Even if there were only a few younger ones, as long as there was work assigned to them and they were taught by Chen Ning and Chen An, they would do their work in an orderly manner. Cleaning the pig offal was basically done by this group of kids.

Shen Jin and Shen Yin studied very seriously, because they knew very well that they would have to learn these skills themselves in the future.

While Chen Lie was removing the bones and dividing the meat, Sang Luo started to prepare the marinade for the bacon. It was actually very simple. There was no mountain wine, but fortunately there was a lot of ginger grown, so she prepared a small bowl of minced ginger and borrowed Xu's iron pan to stir-fry peppercorns with salt, and then the ingredients were ready.

Except for two large pieces of lean meat, put aside the meat that Chen Lie had cut, and evenly spread minced ginger and pepper salt on the rest of the meat, tied them up with ropes, and then the two of them went out together. There was no need to build a new stove for smoking meat. The barbecue stone slabs had cooled down by now, so they moved them back to the kitchen. They lit a bonfire on the barbecue stove outside, put a meat hanging rack on top, hung the meat strips, and made a small barbecue house with a drying rack and wooden boards that could be dismantled at any time. It could retain smoke and prevent rain, and they only needed to add firewood from time to time.

The two of them went to see the offal that the children had washed, and helped to clean the unwashed ones. They left the whole pig stomach, cut a small part of the heart, lungs, small intestines and liver to make pork stew the next day, and added the rest to the two large pieces of meat that had been set aside separately, put it in a clay pot, put it in cold water, and took out the spices that they had bought earlier, and filled the entire pot with braised ingredients.

Fortunately, the mountains surrounding this valley are very high and there are many trees on the mountain walls, so the fragrance dissipated before it could float to the air and was absorbed by the branches and leaves of the grass. It was just the greed of the families in Gou Gou Valley. However, today every family got meat, and every family was smoking bacon according to their own skills, so all the families were actually the same.

If anyone is depressed, probably it is only the eldest branch of the Lu family.

The whole family could only watch.

There was no other reason. No one in their family went out hunting, and of course, no one would take them out. The meat that Chen Lie sent was just a favor for sending rice before, so it had nothing to do with them. So they could only smell it.

The old couple of the Lu family, Lu Erlang and his wife, and Lu Sanlang are okay in this regard. When there is delicious food, they will still call the children from the eldest wife to come and have a taste. As for Lu Dalang and Wang Chunniang, forget it. They are grown-ups and should just endure it. Do they expect to be treated the same as the children?

So the only ones who were really tempted by the fragrance that night were Lu Dalang and Wang Chunniang.

…

Chen Lie and Sang Luo took the children to work until midnight before they washed up and went to bed. They were tired during the day and slept well until dawn.

There is no need to go out hunting today. I just need to go out for a walk after breakfast to see if the traps I set yesterday have caught the pheasants. However, out of habit, I got up quite early.

Chen Lie and Shen An got up early and lit the fire for smoking meat, and did all the work at home and in the fields. Chen An and a group of children did their morning reading as usual, while Chen Lie called up the families who had said they wanted to go out to look for slate yesterday and took them out together.

Sang Luo led Chen Ning to prepare breakfast. Today's breakfast was simple. When taking out the rice for dinner, they left some rice soup and continued to cook it for a while. They cracked two eggs and mixed them, then boiled the rice soup with the egg drops. It was very nutritious.

Dice the braised pork and mix it with wild amaranth to make the filling. Add half a bowl of flour to make thin-skinned braised pork buns.

The only drawback is that there is no rice wine, so the dough cannot rise and has a texture similar to that of dumpling skins. Sang Luo thinks that making some rice wine should be enough in this weather in the valley. Chen Lie often hunts, and occasionally when there is a lot of meat or vegetables, it would be nice to have rice wine to rise the dough and make some buns or cakes.

While kneading the dough, I was thinking about steaming some rice wine.

Chen Zheng was having breakfast, a dozen braised pork buns and thick rice soup with egg drops floating in it. These two simple dishes were satisfying to the whole family.

Shen Yin and Shen Tie stayed in the valley for two days. Although they were still frighteningly thin, they were obviously in better spirits and seemed to be on their feet.

As for Shen Jin, Sang Luo took a quick look and found that the boy had dark circles under his eyes. She was a little surprised and asked Shen Jin, "Did you not sleep well last night?"

Shen Jin was stunned for a moment, but finally shook his head.

Sang Luo glanced at him and said nothing more. After breakfast, Chen Lie and his group went out to see if the traps they set yesterday had any results. When they came back at noon, each of them carried a load of firewood. Each family had caught a pheasant. Shen Jin had three, and with the one he caught yesterday, that made four in total.

Raise it happily.

Chen Lie's pheasants today were also alive. Shen Jin would now come back with a large basket of grass when he went out, so Sang Luo simply clipped the wings of the pheasants and kept them alive, and would kill them when they were short of meat.

During the afternoon nap time, Shen Jin slept particularly soundly. Everyone else was up, but he was the only one who was still sleeping soundly.

At night, when Chen Lie was about to blow out the lamp and go to sleep, Sang Luo stopped him and said, "Leave the lamp on and move it to the lampstand over there. There are people lying on your platform and you can't see them when you get out of bed at night. Don't step on them."

Chen Lie didn't think much about it. There were indeed many people sleeping on the first floor, five of them, so he simply didn't blow out the lamp. He moved the lamp to a lamp stand carved into the stone wall next to the dining table as Sang Luo said, and said to Sang Luo, "If you think it's too bright, just close the curtain."

Sang Luo agreed with a smile.

Shen Jin heaved a sigh of relief, but he had already laid down and no one noticed.

…

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Chen Youtian and Shen Lie finished making the double-decker bed, the door and a few simple shelves. As for the remaining tables, chairs, cabinets, wooden desks, etc., Chen Lie could make them slowly by himself later.

The three brothers Shen Jin moved seriously. They didn't have much stuff, just a few sets of clothes, a bed and bedding, some pottery bowls and chopsticks, a kitchen knife and a bow and arrow. The rest were all given by Shen Lie and Sang Luo.

According to what was discussed that day, Chen Lie carried several large bags of grain to the upper cave. Shen Jin, Shen Yin and Shen Tie stood aside and watched the grain being put on the shelves. The three brothers wiped their tears together.

This was the scene that Sang Luo saw when she brought Shen An and Shen Ning up with more than twenty pieces of smoked bacon.

No one said anything. They helped to make a small wooden rack to hang the bacon, and told Shen Jin and Shen Yin to hang it outside to dry in the sun when the weather was good. Then they went downstairs and brought up a jar filled with snow-white salt.

Shen Jin really cried at this moment, and choked up as he thanked Sang Luo.

Sang Luo smiled and said, "Okay, live a good life with Xiaoyin and Xiaotie from now on. Time flies, and they have grown up in the blink of an eye."

Shen Jin wiped his tears and nodded repeatedly.

After all the things were moved, Shen Lie was installing the door frame and door at the top, while Shen Jin led Shen Yin and Shen Tie downstairs. On the vacant land belonging to the Shen family, there was a small chicken coop for the brothers. There were already seven pheasants in the chicken coop.

Shen Jin caught one and went to the cave of his elder brother and sister-in-law. Without going in, he saw Sang Luo moving a stone slab to practice calligraphy. Shen Jin caught the pheasant and said, "Sister-in-law, I'm sending pheasants to everyone. This first pheasant is for you and elder brother first."

Sang Luo frowned.

She remembered that she said that the family didn't lack this, and it was true. For someone like Shen Lie, the products in the mountains were really rich. But seeing Shen Jin holding the fluttering pheasant and waiting for her answer, she understood what she meant. She smiled and went over to take the pheasant: "Okay, thank you, Xiao Jin."

Shen Jin was very happy when he heard that she wanted to accept it. He didn't let go and said, "I'll just put it in the chicken pen for you."

He turned around and ran to the area that Sang Luo had fenced off with wooden fences for chickens and ducks to walk around in, and put the pheasant down. Then he smiled, said hello to Sang Luo, and led Shen Yin and Shen Tie to open the chicken coop and catch pheasants again. This time they went to Xu's house.

Sang Luo looked at it, smiled, then turned around and went back into the cave.

…

Chen Lie was unable to take Sang Luo out of the valley as he had promised. As soon as June came, there was more rain in the mountains, and it was not so easy to go out. Occasionally when the rain stopped, the mountain roads became slippery. At this time, Chen Lie often went out only with Chen Dashan, and did not bring many people with him, not even Shen Jin.

When it rains, the valley has to worry about drainage. Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu and Zhou Cunzheng got together to discuss and planned to dig a few more empty pools in the open space inside the valley.

The area where children play has obviously shrunk a lot, but if the puddle is full of rain water, it can be diverted to one empty pool after another to prevent it from flooding into the fields. It also serves as a preparation for water storage when the weather is dry and hot, just in case.

Therefore, the people in the valley would start digging ponds as long as it was not raining. It was not a big project, so a group of people who usually did not leave the valley took on the job. People like Chen Lie often went out of the valley and had to collect firewood as well. Even if they were in a semi-resting state at this time, it was a rare opportunity for them to have some free time.

Fortunately, Shen Lie made several sets of cabinets for Shen Jin and the others, as well as a set of quite comfortable tables and chairs. Shen An and Shen Ning, together with the Xu brothers and sisters, A Xu, and Xiao Ya'er, had found a new place to stay. They all stayed in the cave of the Shen and Jin brothers to read and write, because the cave was located higher and obviously brighter, the table was spacious, and the chairs were comfortable.

Shen Jin also changed his previous laziness and took the initiative to learn. Although his progress was not as good as that of the youngest A Xu, he did work hard. He had to cherish everything he could learn. It didn't matter how well he learned, as long as he could recognize words and count.

The Shen family cave was now empty, which suited Shen Lie's taste. He spent most of his time in the cave practicing calligraphy on bamboo slips, with Sang Luo and him each having a stone slab. At first, they each shared half a table, sitting diagonally opposite each other. As Shen Lie would ask about the meaning of words and stroke order from time to time, after two days, Sang Luo pointed to the bench beside her and said, "You should sit over here."

Shen Lie couldn't suppress the smile between his eyebrows. He moved the stone slab and sat down next to Sang Luo.

Sang Luo pretended not to see the corners of his lips that were constantly raised but were trying hard to suppress, and continued practicing her calligraphy, but a smile couldn't help but well up in her eyes.

…

The rain continued to fall on and off until mid-June, and the reservoirs in the valley were 70% full. Old Man Chen had already discussed with Chen Lie that if the rain continued, the water would have to be diverted to the entrance of the valley, as that was the only place where the water could be drained.

But God was obviously kind. When several reservoirs and ditches were about to be full, the rain stopped and the clouds cleared.

When Sang Luo saw the sun, she felt like she could relax her whole body. Needless to say, the valley was filled with people drying grain and quilts.

It had been raining on and off for nearly twenty days, and the one who was most anxious was actually Shopkeeper Xu.

The door of the shelter was actually opened at an angle, so no rain should be able to get in, and the shelves for storing food were also raised, but he couldn't help but worry about moisture, after all, it was underground.

As soon as the sky cleared up, Shopkeeper Xu asked Chen Lie and Chen Dashan for help, asking them to escort several young men from the Xu family as they went out to carry food.

Of course, this help was not in vain. Thirty percent of the grain was given to the Chen family and the Shen family.

Chen Lie and Chen Dashan didn't want the food, they just said: "Let me take you for a walk and see what the situation is like outside. If it's safe, we can take a detour and sneak over to transport the food out. If it's not safe, we can only push back."

"This is natural. Safety comes first." Shopkeeper Xu thanked him repeatedly.

Chen Lie set the departure time for three days later.

Shopkeeper Xu had no objection. This matter would not be delayed in a day or two. To be honest, the situation outside the county was still unclear, and the possibility of a wasted trip was very high.

After Manager Xu left, Chen Dashan asked curiously, "Why three days later?"

Shen Lie looked at him: "Have you forgotten what happened recently?"

Chen Dashan thought about it, but couldn't come up with an answer for a while. However, Sang Luo, who was standing beside him, thought about it for a while and asked uncertainly, "Is it possible to harvest the herbs that Grandma Chen mentioned?"

Chen Lie laughed and nodded, "Yes, it takes time to collect herbs and make medicine. Before we go out, let's look around to see if there is any. We can leave today. If there is, you can make medicine in the valley first. Dashan and I probably don't have much left after this trip, so we can continue. Before we go out, I will hunt some fresh meat for you and get some more mushrooms after the rain."

The old lady had taught the family members how to identify this medicine. Apart from her own family members, she only taught Sang Luo and Shen Lie, so this time they went out to find medicine and pick mushrooms at the same time.

When Sang Luo heard Chen Lie say that she could go out today, her eyes lit up.

God knows she hadn't been out of the valley for more than fifty days. The only time she went out, she just walked to the mountain stream and then hurried back.

After confirming that they could leave today, Sang Luo reminded Chen Dashan: "Ask Uncle Youtian or Auntie if they want to go out. It has been raining for such a long time, there must be a lot of mushrooms outside. I think Auntie must want to go out for a walk."

The old lady might also want to go. Like her, she can't stay idle for long. But forget it, it's deep in the mountains.

Chen Dashan also laughed: "Okay, I'll go back and ask."

As soon as Chen Dashan left, Sang Luo began to prepare things, including a backpack, a hoe, and even took out her bow and arrows.

Turning around to see Chen Lie watching her holding the bow and arrow, she smiled and said, "Just take it with you. Maybe it will come in handy. I practiced hard in the past."

When we entered the woods, we even provided support from a tree, but I’m too embarrassed to talk about that.

Chen Lie laughed. The time was set for three days later. He actually had his own selfish motives. He had promised Sang Luo early in the morning, but had not been able to go because of the rain. Now seeing Sang Luo hear Shan Gu's joy, the corners of his lips curled up unconsciously, and he followed to pack and prepare.

At the end, he went up to tell the younger ones about leaving the valley. Shen Jin put down his brush and stood up: "Brother, take me out. I haven't hunted for a long time."

Although his elder brother would always bring back prey every few days, Shen Jin was always uneasy as he hadn't gone hunting for nearly twenty days.

Chen Lie didn't understand at all, and patted his head: "I took your sister-in-law out this time. I promised it a long time ago. I will take you out later. Study with Xiao An and the others. There is no rush these few days."

He walked away with a smile on his face.