Ye Wenxue realized halfway there that she hadn't brought the rope, so she turned back. When she came back, she saw the three little ones and Yuanyuan in the basket standing there blankly, staring at the valley exit for a long time.
Her heart suddenly softened.
Under the surprised and delighted gazes of the children, he stepped forward and patted each of their heads.
"Mother, how...how did you come back?" Siwang asked, confused. He bit his nails and hesitated, "Are we still planning to go straight down from the cave?"
Won't it be drafty when you sleep at night?
Shuangshuang glanced at her older brother, who had gone back to the cave to get things, then at her mother, and made a reasonable guess: "Didn't you bring the hoe?"
Ye Wenxue blinked: "We didn't bring any rope. It's too high up here, and it's not safe to use vines all the way here."
The three kids reluctantly gave an "oh".
"Your mother and your eldest brother will be back soon, don't worry."
Ye Wenxue glanced at Dazhuang, who was carrying several pieces of hemp rope, and whispered a few words of comfort.
When the children were in Shanqing Village, while their mother went to town to work and their eldest brother searched for wild vegetables and food, they would often stay quietly at home waiting for them to return.
But isn't this in the mountains? There's no one around.
Without familiar neighbors and surroundings, seeing my mother and older brother leaving the valley today inevitably made me feel uneasy.
Even though they knew the two wouldn't abandon them and would be back soon, they couldn't adjust their emotions in a short time.
Upon hearing Ye Wenxue's words, Shuangshuang, Sanyuan, and Siwang nodded silently, but remained standing in place, not uttering a sound, gazing into her round, large eyes, and silently watching her go.
Da Zhuang steeled his heart, about to tell them to go back to the cave and stay quietly, when Ye Wenxue suddenly spoke:
"Isn't there a hole in the cave that overlooks the lake? You should finish your work quickly and go back into the cave to take a look. You might see us there."
The three children opened their eyes wide, and after a moment, they quickly turned around to do the work that Da Zhuang had assigned them.
Siwang was the youngest and was assigned the important tasks of feeding the geese and rabbits, as well as taking care of Xiaoyuan. He didn't forget to take Xiaoyuan with him when he left.
The goose, left behind, peeked out at Siwang, then at Ye Wenxue and the other person, and quacked twice.
It stomped its feet and leaped into the basket on Ye Wenxue's back, barking incessantly at the valley path.
The meaning is clear: Go for it!
Da Zhuang frowned. They went to scout the way today and didn't know when they would return. If the goose went with them, the valley would be one less layer of protection.
Although my mother would set up traps and mechanisms on the path every time she left the valley, the valley was safer with the strong geese around.
He was about to snatch the goose off when it wasn't looking, but the goose noticed him and snatched it away, almost biting his hand.
"Mom, it bit me!"
Ye Wenxue couldn't help but smile as she listened to Dazhuang's complaint.
She thought for a moment and said, "It's alright, take it with you, it might come in handy. The lake is at the foot of the mountain, we can make it back and forth in time. If you're really worried, I'll set up a few more traps on the path."
The goose raised its neck high and cried out, "Quack!"
Da Zhuang had no choice but to remind the younger ones again not to leave the valley, and told Si Wang that he would bring the goose with him.
With less work to do, Siwang was overjoyed and kept nodding.
After carefully setting up several traps along the valley path, Ye Wenxue led Dazhuang to assess the terrain and head towards the cliff face that led down the mountain.
The valley where we landed wasn't the highest peak in the area; it wasn't particularly eye-catching or unusual.
However, the terrain is extremely treacherous and difficult to climb. As long as the valley path is guarded, other places cannot be entered at all, which is exactly what the book says about 'easy to defend and difficult to attack'.
It's clearly impossible to descend directly from the cliff edge of the path to the lake.
With no climbing ropes available and a child no taller than her shoulder accompanying her, Ye Wenxue could only be extremely careful.
Da Zhuang followed behind silently with his lips tightly pressed together, and even when he accidentally stumbled, he didn't cry out in pain.
About half an hour later, Ye Wenxue, who was ahead, looked at the blazing sun hanging high in the sky, wiped away her sweat, squinted at the seven or eight-meter-high cliff in front of her, and turned around to say:
"Let's go down from here, otherwise we'll have to take a detour and waste a lot of time on the way."
Da Zhuang, his face pale, peered down and calmly nodded: "Okay."
After the two agreed, Ye Wenxue tied the long hemp rope she had brought together, made a tight knot, and after tugging at both ends of the knot to make sure it was secure, she tied the hemp rope to a large tree about waist-thick.
The rope hung down, and at a glance, it was still about a person's height above the ground.
Ye Wenxue and Dazhuang rested for a while.
After regaining her strength, Ye Wenxue took the lead and descended the cliff along the rope.
She stood at the bottom of the cliff and shouted to Dazhuang, who was clinging to the rope, "Come down quickly, Mom will catch you."
Dazhuang wasn't afraid of heights, but he was terrified of the feeling of being suspended in the air with no chance of ever landing. He gritted his teeth and slowly descended inch by inch, stopping at the end of the rope.
Ye Wenxue stood patiently in place, waiting for Dazhuang's next reaction.
In just a few breaths, Da Zhuang thought of many things.
His expression gradually hardened, and he decisively let go of her hand and jumped down.
Ye Wenxue caught him easily and placed him gently beside her: "How are you? Are you alright?"
Dazhuang smiled, his smile now showing more ease: "Yes, Mother, let's go."
The path down the mountain was a bit far from the valley below. The two walked along, comparing the cliffs and the lake, and it took them quite a while to find the valley.
Not knowing if her children could see this, Ye Wenxue waved upwards.
Da Zhuang strained his ears: "I think I heard Si Wang screaming."
"quack!"
After leaving the valley, the usually quiet goose let out a couple of sharp cries, flapped its wings, jumped off Ye Wenxue's basket, and ran towards the center of the lake like a madman.
Ye Wenxue called to Dazhuang, who was staring intently at the cliff face, and followed closely behind.
The lake shore is covered with dry, cracked soil, and dead fish, shrimp, and shellfish can be seen from time to time.
After following the geese for a while towards the center of the lake, the mud underfoot became increasingly soft, and my cloth shoes were covered in mud.
Dazhuang struggled to pull his foot out, his trouser leg half-wet.
Ye Wenxue immediately stopped, no longer daring to blindly follow the goose:
"We'll just look around here. We don't need water at home for now. The most important thing is to dredge lake mud to build a house."
Dazhuang glanced reluctantly at the geese splashing and swimming on the lake, and softly responded.
The area around the lake is not as hot and dry as the area below the mountain when it is directly exposed to the sun.
Ye Wenxue spent a long time under the blazing sun gazing along the lake shoreline, and after estimating the distance from the valley to the lake, she quickly came up with an idea.
Compared to digging up stream mud from the old forests outside the two mountains and carrying it home, the lake mud at the foot of the mountain is obviously more convenient and more suitable for building mud houses.
It's not good for the kids to live in a damp cave. It would be best to build a house as soon as possible to save time.
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