Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Now I have family

Huo Xing left home and headed for the nearby town. He often took this route, and he had been traveling back and forth here since he was seven or eight years old.

The old hunter died a year before he got married, and Huo Xing buried him on the mountain. They had a simple wooden house on the mountain, which was also the old hunter's residence. After the old hunter died, Huo Xing would also live here when he went up the mountain to hunt.

It took Huo Xing late into the night to walk from his home to the mountain. He was so familiar with the place that he arrived without any problems. He simply made some rest and did not even light a fire. He leaned against the wooden wall of the cabin and took a nap to rest.

After dawn, Huo Xing opened his eyes, stood up and stretched, then began to look for the things left in the wooden shed. These were the herbs he and his master had found before. After searching for a while, he found the medicines that Miao Ying needed. Fortunately, they were all common ones.

He really couldn't do anything with just donkey-hide gelatin.

Huo Xing put the medicine he had found into his bag, and remembered Miao Ying's satisfied look when he ate fish that day. After thinking for a while, he put down the bag, picked up his bow and arrow and hatchet, and walked out.

Outside the simple wooden house were circles of unknown plants. Huo Xing had stepped on some of them at night, and now those plants were drooping on the ground.

Huo Xing didn't know what this thing was. He only remembered that in early spring, these plants would bloom many small yellow flowers, which looked very beautiful when connected together. After the flowers fell, the leaves slowly withered, and then they would produce long bean pods. After they grew, the beans in the pods turned black and could not be eaten. However, they grew every year and could not be completely removed, so he just ignored them.

It was already winter, and there were very few prey in the mountains. The traps that had been set earlier were also empty. This was a very common occurrence in winter, so his master taught him that hunting should not be endless, and animals should be given the opportunity to recuperate. Therefore, in winter, Huo Xing would usually stop hunting and go to work in the town or county to support his family.

Meeting Miao Ying was the last time he came down from the mountain. Seeing Miao Ying lying in a pool of blood, he looked like he was in great danger. But when he got closer, he found that Miao Ying was still breathing.

Without caring about anything else, Huo Xing took Miao Ying back home.

Huo Xing waited for the whole morning, but no prey appeared. Thinking that Miao Ying's injury was more important, he didn't wait any longer and went back with the medicine.

On the way back, Huo Xing thought about Miao Ying's reaction today. In the few days he spent with Miao Ying, he felt that he still didn't understand Miao Ying very well.

The stupid people seemed to have extra trust in God when they thought about things. Huo Xing thought that if what Miao Ying said was true and he was not the real Miao Ying, then God should be kind to him.

Huo Xing shook his head and stopped thinking about it. What he had to do now was to go back quickly, heal Miao Ying's injuries, and then divorce him and set Miao Ying free.

Just as he was about to go down the mountain, he suddenly heard the sound of flapping wings. He immediately turned around, drew his bow and pulled the string. As the sharp arrow flew through the air, a pheasant fell from the tree.

Huo Xing picked up the pheasant, which was very plump, but it was impossible to find such a fat pheasant in this season.

When I got home, Miao Ying had already woken up. He was sitting at the door looking at the sky. His face was pale, as if he would die in the next second.

Miao Ying's eyes lit up when he looked at the fat chicken in his hand. He stood up immediately, but he almost fainted again due to excessive blood loss. Huo Xing supported him with his other hand.

Li Hongying also came out to greet them. Huo Xiaobao was even more excited than her. He stood around Huo Xing's legs and looked at the pheasant. His grandmother was not at home. It seemed that she had gone out to chat with others.

"I'll go make some medicine." After saying that, he lowered his head to look at Miao Ying. Miao Ying, like Huo Xiaobao, was staring at the pheasant.

Miao Ying looked at the pheasant and thought of countless ways to eat it in his mind: braised chicken, spicy chicken, cold chicken, lotus leaf chicken, beggar's chicken, Bobo chicken, oh, no, Bobo chicken is not a chicken.

"Drink the medicine first." Huo Xing said.

Miao Ying had no choice but to watch Li Hongying take the chicken away with a bitter look on his face.

He had nothing to do, so he leaned over to watch Huo Xing light the stove. Nankouba Village had no mountains, so the more affluent villagers burned coal, while the less affluent burned straw and corn cobs. Huo Xing's family, thanks to Huo Xing, was able to bring in some firewood from the mountains, which they piled in the yard. Occasionally, villagers would ask him to buy some, which was also a source of income.

Huo Xing put the medicine into the pot according to the prescription and used a small fan to keep an eye on the heat.

The sun today felt a little warm on his body. Miao Ying leaned against the pillar under the eaves and was drowsy. Huo Xing looked up at him. His face was very pale due to excessive blood loss. When the sun shone on him, he seemed to become transparent, as if he would become transparent and disappear in the next second.

He walked to Miao Ying's side and heard his shallow breathing, and then he breathed a sigh of relief. Miao Ying opened his eyes and looked at him, a little puzzled: "What's wrong?"

Huo Xing shook his head.

Miao Ying closed his eyes again.

After a while, the medicine was ready. Huo Xing took out the medicine, let it cool down, and brought it to Miao Ying.

Miao Ying didn't fall asleep again, but just closed his eyes to rest. After smelling the medicine, he instinctively felt nauseous, but when he thought of his head, he pinched his nose and took a gulp.

After drinking the medicine, he didn't dare to sit down any longer, fearing that he would spit out the medicine he had just swallowed. He could only stand up and look at Huo Xing again: "How many meals is this medicine enough for?"

Huo Xing paused and said, "It can be drunk for three days."

Miao Ying nodded: "Okay."

After he finished drinking and stood for a while, he saw Li Hongying already processing the fat chicken that Huo Xing brought back.

He wanted to do it himself, but when he thought of Li Hongying's attitude towards him, he decided to give up so as not to offend others.

Li Hongying killed a chicken and plucked its feathers. Huo Xiaobao ran around the yard with a pheasant feather in his hand. He called Huo Xiaobao over, but Huo Xiaobao was not afraid of him at all. He ran to Miao Ying with a few chicken feathers in his hand.

Miao Ying leaned close to his ear and whispered something. Huo Xiaobao opened his eyes wide and looked at him expectantly. Miao Ying nodded, and he ran to his grandmother's sewing basket, carefully selecting several pieces of cloth, but they were all scraps, and also took his grandmother's scissors.

He cut a small hole in a few strips of cloth with scissors, then touched his body and found that he had a copper coin with a square hole on him. He took a breath and found that Huo Xiaobao had brought him a lot of chicken feathers.

Miao Ying smiled, arranged a few beautiful feathers, and then inserted the chicken feathers into the square hole made by stacking the cloth strips and copper coins together. He inserted them densely so that they would not fall out of the hole, and then wrapped the chicken feathers with cotton thread.

Originally, the base needed a few more copper coins, but he didn't have that many, so he could only look at it and couldn't kick it, but it could still be used to coax the children.

As expected, Huo Xiaobao was overjoyed, holding a simple shuttlecock and walking towards his mother. Li Hongying was stunned when she saw it. Huo Xiaobao didn't understand the things between adults, and said happily that it was made by his sister-in-law.

When Miao Ying heard the word "sister-in-law", his back stiffened. He still couldn't accept that he was a man and still being called sister-in-law.

His every move could not escape Huo Xing's eyes. Huo Xing withdrew his gaze and did something else.

Li Hongying cut a fat chicken into four pieces. Fortunately, it was winter now and the chicken could still be kept. Miao Ying had a hunch that they would have to keep the chicken until the Chinese New Year before eating it.

So greedy.

I still have to make money first, Miao Ying thought, when will the days when I can't even afford meat end? I had no idea for a moment, and Miao Ying felt a little helpless and angry.

He watched Li Hongying finish cleaning the chicken and was about to throw away the chicken entrails when Miao Ying quickly stopped her and blurted out, "Mom, this can be eaten."

Li Hongying was stunned. She looked at the basin in her hand, which contained a sticky mass, and frowned: "Can we eat this?" Although their family was poor, they would buy some cheap pig offal when they were really hungry, but there was only a little chicken offal, and there was nothing good to eat except the chicken oil.

Miao Ying shook his head: “Mother, if you can eat it, please help me deal with it and I will do it.”

Li Hongying was half-believing and half-doubting, but she still helped him deal with the chicken livers and hearts. She even used bamboo strips to turn the small chicken intestines over and wash them clean.

Not long after, the grandmother also came back from visiting relatives. She was stunned when she saw the shuttlecock in Huo Xiaobao's hand. When she heard Huo Xiaobao say that it was made by his sister-in-law, the smile on her face disappeared.

Miao Ying didn't have any thoughts. His original body had done so many wrong things, and the Huo family was already very kind to keep him and let him recuperate.

Soon it was time for dinner. Huo San went somewhere to drink again. Li Hongying stewed the chicken necks and feet into soup and prepared to make mixed flour steamed bread. Miao Ying grabbed Huo Xing's sleeve and asked if he could have noodles.

Chicken offal goes best with noodles.

Huo Xing nodded and went to the kitchen to discuss with Li Hongying. Miao Ying was waiting outside and heard Li Hongying's complaints, but finally started kneading the dough.

After the dough was kneaded, Miao Ying went to the kitchen, cut the chicken offal into pieces, picked up some pickled vegetables, and fried the chicken offal with chicken oil. The chicken soup in another pot gave off a rich aroma, and Miao Ying was almost drooling.

But you still have to cook the noodles first. If the noodles are not made with pure wheat flour, they will not be chewy and the taste will not be good. But when mixed with the fried chicken offal, those shortcomings can be completely ignored.

The five of them ate with relish, especially Huo Xiaobao. He gulped down a whole bowl of noodles made with chicken broth that Li Hongying had cooked for him.

By cooking for himself, Miao Ying was finally able to eat his fill. It might be because the family was poor and lacked everything, so Li Hongying's cooking was not delicious. It might also be that people nowadays only care about filling their stomachs and do not pursue the taste.

But in the end it all comes down to no money.

After dinner, Huo Xing gave him the medicine again. After drinking it, he still didn't dare to lie down. Seeing Li Hongying going out with a basket of vegetables, he followed her out.

Li Hongying ignored him and just went her own way. Soon they arrived at a vegetable field. Although it was winter, the field was still green. There were juicy radishes, round cabbages, turnips, and baby vegetables. This made Miao Ying more certain that this place was Sichuan Province compared to his world.

Li Hongying was picking some radishes and vegetables to take back. The pickled vegetables had been used up quite quickly in the past few days. She turned around and saw Miao Ying sitting on the edge of the field, hugging his knees and staring at the radishes. She didn't know what he was thinking.

"I won't pull you back if you can't get up." Li Hongying's basket was full. She got up from the field. She was afraid that Miao Ying would not be able to get up and faint here again, so she reminded him again.

Miao Ying stood up by holding on to the edge of the field and followed Li Hongying. There was a moon tonight, and the ground looked like it was covered with frost. The two of them walked one in front and the other behind, and their shadows were elongated.

Miao Ying walked behind her, and suddenly felt much more satisfied in his heart.

Time travel is not entirely useless, at least I have family now.