Gou Sheng nodded and continued, "I still have a lot of seeds in my cellar. I want to bring them up the mountain to see if I can continue farming there."
There wasn't much food at home, and unlike Sister Yimian, he wasn't as resourceful as her, able to recognize all sorts of food from the mountains. So, he could only try to see if he could grow something on the mountain.
Jiang Yimian thought that there were quite a few seeds in the space, but most of them were grains and vegetables, and there were no other seeds such as melons, fruits, beans, or cotton.
Although most people in Xinghua Village grow grains, a few families have also grown cash crops such as cotton. She should be able to find them if she searches around.
Going down the mountain was risky, but she couldn't stay on the mountain forever; she had to go and see what the situation was like outside.
After thinking for a while, she said, "Let's go down the mountain together tomorrow."
Gou Sheng was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and quickly said "okay".
That evening, Jiang Yimian told Wang Fengqin about her plan to go down the mountain.
Wang Fengqin turned pale with fright and quickly stopped her, saying, "Yimian, you can't go down the mountain. Things are already in chaos outside. What will I do if you encounter any danger if you go down the mountain? I don't agree to you going down the mountain."
Putting aside whether the smoke she saw in the village last time was real or not, she was worried about Yi Mian, a young girl, walking alone on the mountain path.
Last time, it took more than three hours just to go up the mountain. If it were a round trip, it would be dark by then. There must be a lot of snakes, rats, insects and ants in the mountains, and we might even encounter some ferocious beasts.
It was dark and the road was slippery. What if something happened to Yi Mian? What would she do then? She had already lost her husband and eldest son, and she couldn't bear the grief of losing her daughter as well.
Jiang Yimian was taken aback. Seeing her usually gentle mother being so firm for the first time, she didn't know what to say. After hesitating for a moment, she took her mother's hand and whispered to comfort her, "Mother, don't worry, I'll be fine. I can't bear to leave you."
These days she has come to regard Wang Fengqin, Xiao Ye, and Xiao Nuan'er as family, and she is reluctant to let go of the kinship she has finally gained.
But she really needed to go down the mountain to take a look.
Wang Fengqin mentioned cooking smoke last time, but she hasn't seen much of it these past few days. She needs to know if there's any threat involved.
Thinking it over, she continued, "Mother, I'll go take a look. I'll go with Gousheng. We're both fast runners, so we'll definitely be back before dark. There's been no smoke or fire in the village these days. I guess it's because it's too remote and nobody comes here."
Seeing her daughter's serious expression, Wang Fengqin could only feel helpless. After hesitating for a long time, she said, "Then you have to be careful. If you encounter any danger, run away as soon as possible. Don't fight head-on. Your own health is the most important thing. Don't get hurt, understand?"
Regarding the smoke from the chimneys, she wasn't sure if she was seeing things, but her daughter was right. It had been quite some time, and there hadn't been a single fire or sign of life in the village, so there must be no one there.
Xinghua Village is quite far from the town and is located in a remote mountain valley. Even if the migrants wanted to rob grain, they would go to the richer villages instead.
Xinghua Village was extremely poor and had nothing to offer; it was certainly not worth those people trying to rob it.
Seeing that her mother finally agreed, Jiang Yimian breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Mother, I will be careful. But is there anything you need me to bring up?"
Last time, in order to keep things simple when they went up the mountain, they only took food and some necessities, and didn't take anything else.
However, the Jiang family had already been completely ransacked by Granny Wu and Old Man Jiang, and they had nothing left.
Wang Fengqin paused, her eyes suddenly reddening. After a long while, she said, "There are some things belonging to your father and elder brother on the roof beam of the west room. Since you are going down the mountain, bring them up with you."
She hid those things secretly.
Because her husband and eldest son had left home one after another and had not been heard from for a long time, Granny Wu said that the two had died long ago and forbade the family to keep their things, as it was considered bad luck.
But she refused to believe it, so she hid those things away. Occasionally, she would look up and think that the two of them would be happy to see them when they came back.
But her husband has been missing for over half a year, not to mention her son, who has been conscripted by the imperial court for several months now. She doesn't know if he's still fighting on the battlefield, or if he's already...
She didn't want to think about it anymore, so she patted Jiang Yimian's hand, forced a smile, and said, "Forget it, just be careful. If you can bring it up, then bring it up; if not, then forget it."
Right now, my daughter's safety is the most important thing.
Jiang Yimian nodded and changed the subject to the mushrooms she had picked that day. "Those mushrooms were fresh and delicious. I'll pick some more in a few days. The ones we can't finish will be dried and stored for winter."
Wang Fengqin responded and then wiped away the tears in her eyes.
The two exchanged a few more words and then went to sleep.
*
The next morning, Jiang Yimian and Gou Sheng had a simple breakfast and then went down the mountain with a few dry biscuits.
The mountain path had been exposed to the sun all day and was now dry, but the two still walked carefully, afraid that they might fall off the cliff if they weren't careful. It took them two hours to get down the mountain.
Upon entering the village, the two went straight to Gou Sheng's cellar, where they indeed found many seeds of fruits and vegetables.
Gou Sheng was quite happy and stuffed all the seeds into his basket before he was satisfied.
With these seeds, they can plant crops on the mountain and won't go hungry anymore.
Seeing that the other person was happy, Jiang Yimian smiled as well.
The two searched another villager's house, but found nothing except some vegetable and cotton seeds.
I went to several more houses, but they were all empty. The tables and chairs were violently thrown aside, and even the corn cobs that were hanging high on the rafters for seeding were torn down, leaving a mess on the ground.
Jiang Yimian frowned, and Gou Sheng was also shocked. "This house looks like it's been robbed. Even if the villagers were in a hurry to escape famine, they wouldn't smash all the tables and chairs, would they?"
Most people only take away some food and everyday items; anything else they can't take will be carefully placed aside, hoping to return someday.
Thoughtful families will even lock their yards.
But right now, the doors of every house are wide open, leaving behind a mess of broken pieces of tables and chairs, and dried mud everywhere.
Jiang Yimian felt something was wrong. The day they fled the famine was a sunny day, so how could there be such a thick layer of mud and sand in the house? It had only rained last night.
The thought that people had already come to the village to take shelter from the rain, and that those people might not have left yet, made her feel dangerous. She quickly pulled Gousheng along and headed towards her home.
“I’m going back to get something and then we’ll leave. People have already come to the village; it’s not safe.”
Upon hearing this, Gou Sheng nodded repeatedly and quickened his pace without even looking at the situation in the village.
As the two passed a low-lying house, a voice filled with discontented curses came from inside.
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