Shen Qing put the cloth bag with biscuits, the water bag and the rope for tying firewood into a small backpack. The backpack was not big and could be carried on the back or with one hand. Usually Shen Qing did not use it and just tied the water bag and cloth bag around his waist. However, there was a hawthorn forest where he planned to go today. The fruits were ripe at this time of year, so he planned to pick some and bring them back.
After greeting Miao, Shen Qing went up the mountain with her hatchet. Miao had suggested that Shen Qing buy an axe before, so that Shen Qing only needed to chop some large pieces of wood and carry them down the mountain, and Miao would split them into equal-sized pieces at home. The mother and daughter could save time by working together, and they could get three loads of firewood every day.
Shen Qing did not agree, mainly because of Miao's health. In Shen Qing's mind, he could not earn money to pay for Miao's medical treatment, but how could he let his mother do such physical work? He refused to do anything and only let Miao do some simple housework at home.
In the old Shen family, although Shen Qing did all the heavy labor for her, Miao's life was not easy. She had to wash clothes for the whole family and cook for the whole family. Not to mention the miscellaneous tasks such as washing dishes, cutting grass for pigs, feeding pigs and chickens, cooking pig food, and sweeping the floor. Shen Qing also had to work in the fields at that time and could not always look after her. He was busy like a top all day.
Now there were only her and Shen Qing at home, and a brood of chicks. Shen Qing never came home for lunch, so Miao was left alone all of a sudden, and she was not used to it.
She was also a person who could not sit still if she had work in her eyes. She could not do heavy physical work, so she cut some rushes and came back to weave mats on the kang. This work included weaving a basket, a backpack, a curtain, etc. There was no man, woman or child in the village who could not do it, it all depended on the skill.
Miao's craftsmanship is average. The weaving is neither good nor bad. It is not good enough to be sold, but it is still strong and tight for home use.
At this time, the mat is not only used for cooling off in the summer, but also serves as a mattress. It is much more comfortable to lay on the kang to prevent moisture and insects than to use only straw as a mat. In addition, it can be laid on the ground to dry grain and vegetables, or used as a door curtain to block the wind.
Winter was about to come, and their family was reluctant to buy cloth for door curtains, so they just weaved some mats.
This was not work for her, it was just a rest. She had just finished making breakfast, and the kang was still warm. Miao lowered her head and knitted quickly, decorating the rented house bit by bit to make it more like a home.
Shen Qing walked along the hillside behind the house into the mountains. He stopped after walking for half an hour. He was already far away from the area where the villagers usually collected firewood and dug wild vegetables. No one dared to go deep into this place. When he was a child, he didn't have enough food, so he came here to pick mushrooms and dig bird eggs. The ones near the village had been dug and picked up by the children in the village, but there were still a lot of them in the deep mountains that no one dared to enter.
Shen Qing often went into the mountains and found out where it was safe without wild animals and where there were delicious fruits. Over time, he even built several secret bases to facilitate his baking.
The area we visited today is one of them. There is a towering banyan tree in the southeast, growing against the mountain wall. What is rare is that there is a cave on the mountain wall. It is two or three people high and cannot be climbed. One has to climb over the thick branches of the banyan tree. There are also a few bushes growing at the entrance of the cave, and a few wild flowers are growing out of the cracks in the rocks. It is so dense and vigorous, and the canopy of the banyan tree covers the cave tightly. If you don't look carefully, you can't find it at all.
Shen Qing discovered this cave by accident. He originally just wanted to see if there was a bird's nest on the banyan tree, so he climbed up. After that, he regarded this place as one of his secret bases. He used to roast food in this cave. If he found something good in the mountains that was inconvenient to bring back to the Shen family, he would hide it in this cave first: the terrain here is high, and small wild animals can't reach it, so hiding food is not easy to be destroyed by small animals. He is agile and it is effortless for him to climb up and down.
Later, Shen Qing began to sell firewood secretly. After making some money, he also bought firewood, pottery jars and salt and placed them in the cave, which added deliciousness to the roasted bird eggs.
Shen Qing placed the small backpack under the banyan tree, and instead of rushing to chop wood, he started picking mountain products first.
There are many good things in the deep mountains, but few people dare to go so deep. There are wild vegetables everywhere, and they have grown old without anyone picking them. There are also many mushrooms. A few days ago, there was a short autumn rain, which did not make the mountain road muddy, but wet the moss and rotten wood, and clumps of fungus and mushrooms grew. A little further ahead, there are several hawthorn trees, with red fruits hanging on the branches.
There is also a big persimmon tree on the east slope, and the persimmons are big and sweet. If you dare to go deeper, there are walnut trees and chestnut trees, all of which are good things, but you can occasionally see the footprints of wild animals there, so even Shen Qing doesn't dare to go there often.
Soon, the small backpack was filled with mushrooms, fungus and hawthorn. Shen Qing put the backpack in the cave and started to chop firewood nearby.
He didn't just chop down any tree he found. Although this place was deep in the mountains and didn't bother anyone, it was always painful to chop down a good tree. Shen Qing always tried to find dead or worm-eaten trees, or trimmed some branches from trees that were growing crooked or had side branches. When he took a break, he would plant branches or bury a few seeds in the open space, trying his luck to see if he could replenish the trees he had chopped down.
So he concentrated on searching and cutting down trees, and gradually walked farther away. When he saw the footprints of the beast and heard the grunting sound, he was already some distance away from the banyan tree.
Shen Qing stared nervously at the half-grown wild boar in front of him, and the wild boar was also staring at him not far away. One pig, two bears, and three tigers, especially wild boars in winter are the hardest to mess with. Fortunately, this is a half-grown wild boar that looks like an immature, and it may have come out of the mud pit by itself and got alone, and its body is still covered with wet mud.
But even if it wasn't an adult wild boar, Shen Qing didn't dare to face it head-on, and was even more afraid that if he killed the young one, the old one would come. He made a decision in a few breaths, and before the wild boar launched an attack, he quickly ran towards the banyan tree.
This wild boar, which was about to reach adulthood, might have still been a little playful, or it might have regarded Shen Qing as prey, so when Shen Qing turned around and ran, it also lifted its four hooves and chased after him.
Two legs can never outrun four legs. Even though Shen Qing consciously circled around the tree, he was still caught up by the wild boar. The long fangs scratched him, and a string of blood immediately appeared on his arm. This was considered lucky. If Shen Qing had not dodged in time, the fangs would have stabbed into his stomach and he would have died.
The smell of blood seemed to arouse the wild boar's temper, and it let out a long howl. Fortunately, it was already near the big banyan tree. Shen Qing gritted his teeth and endured the pain. He ran a few steps and suddenly jumped onto the tree, then quickly climbed along the trunk into the cave.
After entering the cave, Shen Qing finally relaxed the tension in his mind. He broke out in a cold sweat, and only then did he truly understand why Miao Tongsheng and the others were impressed by his courage, and why his uncle was so worried when he heard that he wanted to be a woodcutter. If he hadn't encountered this beast, he would have thought that the mountain was not that dangerous. If he really encountered it, he would be finished.
He held onto a large bluestone at the entrance of the cave and looked down. The wild boar was aroused by the smell of blood and refused to leave. It kept howling at the bottom of the cave and occasionally bumped into the big banyan tree that Shen Qing had climbed up.
Fortunately, wild boars can't climb trees. Shen Qing leaned against the big bluestone and panted. The cut on his arm was bleeding. After a long time, he struggled to sit up and picked some wild chrysanthemums growing at the entrance of the cave. He squeezed the white juice flowing from the roots on the wound on his arm.
This is a folk remedy he learned from an old hunter. Usually, it works well by scraping and rubbing. The white juice of the wild chrysanthemum seems to have an adhesive effect and is very effective in wound healing and hemostasis.
Fortunately, the wound looked long and rather hideous, but not too deep. Shen Qing picked all the wild chrysanthemums at the entrance of the cave, and the bleeding stopped. He tore the hem of his inner garment to bandage his arm. Normally, Shen Qing would definitely not be willing to tear his clothes, as these clothes were newly made after they separated. But he was afraid that the smell of blood would attract more wild animals, so he had to bear the pain.
After the bandage was completed, the wild boar below still refused to leave, and Shen Qing began to worry. He was afraid that the wild boar's howling would attract more wild boars - wild boars are social animals.
Second, he was afraid of being trapped in the cave and unable to return. It didn't matter if he stayed in the cave for one night. Although the weather was getting colder, there were firewood and sticks he had left in the cave to keep warm.
But if he didn't go back at night, Miao would definitely be worried. If she was just worried, it would be fine. She was most afraid that she would come to the mountain to look for someone and run into a wild boar, which would be dangerous.
While thinking about how to lure away the wild boar, Shen Qing suddenly felt a flash of light in front of his eyes. Turning around, he suddenly discovered that the cave he often visited was different from before.
The cave was not very deep, and was a relatively regular semicircular cave. But now there was a conical tunnel deep inside, and there seemed to be a small opening at the end of the tunnel, as if there was light.
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