Over the next two days, Qiu Yan prepared to gather medicinal herbs.
Once you've dug up enough, you can accumulate it little by little and sell it to a pharmacy, which will significantly improve your quality of life.
Since they had flour at home, Qiu Yan made some pancakes the next day and took some wild peaches she had picked last time as provisions.
While her younger siblings were still half asleep, she dragged them on a morning run to the mountains to dig for medicinal herbs. Qiu Xu didn't say anything, but Qiu Ling'er protested, to no avail.
No matter what, these two must have the ability to protect themselves. As the older sister, Qiu Yan can't stay by her younger siblings' side every day.
On the first day, we seriously gathered medicinal herbs. Although there were herbs, they were not plentiful.
The next day, Qiu Yan took her younger siblings a little further away.
They walked and searched, and gradually came to a hillside, where they found many medicinal herbs, including Polygonum multiflorum, Phellodendron bark, and Cnidium monnieri.
They set off at dawn, and it was now past midnight. Qiu Yan taught her younger siblings to identify medicinal herbs while diligently digging for them.
When she was hungry, she ate the dry food she made herself; when she was thirsty, she drank some spring water from the mountains. This kind of relaxed and comfortable life was something Qiu Yan had never experienced before.
Before long, they had searched the hillside for all the herbs, and their little baskets were already full.
During her digging, Qiu Yan discovered rabbit droppings. This discovery sparked a thought in her mind.
Whether it's the nearby mountains or the more distant forests, most of the wild animals have already been hunted by local hunters and are rarely seen. Now that she has discovered traces of a wild rabbit, how could she not catch it?
"Wow..."
The sound of a boy crying caught her attention.
Qiu Xu and Qiu Ling'er were both startled. Qiu Ling'er immediately said, "Sister, this voice sounds so familiar."
Qiu Yan led the two of them to the sound and saw a little baby sitting on the ground crying loudly.
Isn't this the toddler next to Gu Qian? This father is so irresponsible! How could he leave such a young child alone in this deep mountain forest?
As soon as Qiu Ling'er saw Gu Xiaoran, she exclaimed in surprise, "Xiaoran, it's you!"
Qiu Yan ran forward in a few steps. When Gu Xiaoran saw her, the fear in her eyes lessened, and she reached out her hands, asking Qiu Yan for a hug.
A day passed, and Qiu Yan still thought the father and son had left long ago.
Seeing the child's pitiful state, Qiu Yan opened her arms and hugged him tightly. "Xiao Ran, where's your father?" After saying that, she didn't forget to look Gu Xiao Ran up and down to see if the child was injured anywhere.
Gu Xiaoran could only cry and couldn't utter a complete sentence.
Qiu Yan had no choice but to let Qiu Ling'er play with him, but Gu Xiaoran clung to Qiu Yan and refused to get down no matter what.
In all his life, no one has ever held him except his father.
The woman's embrace now stirred a strange feeling within him.
He snuggled closer to Qiu Yan, "Mother..."
Qiu Yan was speechless, "..."
Qiu Ling'er covered her mouth and chuckled, "Sister, does he want to nurse?"
Qiu Xu's expression froze, and he subconsciously looked at his sister.
Qiu Yan: "..."
She tried to put the outspoken child down, but Gu Xiaoran refused. "I'm afraid...I'm afraid...Daddy...will hit me..."
Qiu Yan, who had never comforted a child before, racked her brains and remembered that she had only two peaches left in her bundle. She gave them to him, which finally stopped the child from crying. "Xiao Ran, be good, tell me where your dad is, and let's go find him together, okay?"
Gu Xiaoran sniffed, took a bite of the peach, smacked her lips twice, and casually pointed to the distant dense forest, "Daddy is there."
Qiu Yan carried Gu Xiaoran forward, followed closely by Qiu Xu carrying a basket and Qiu Ling'er.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, they heard the sounds of fighting. These sounds were unusual.
Qiu Yan found the source of the sound and saw two men, one tall and one short, locked in a fierce battle.
Qiu Yan took a closer look and recognized them as none other than her neighbor, Uncle Li, and Gu Qian.
Uncle Li usually seemed unassuming and unassuming, so Qiu Yan never expected him to be so skilled.
Qiu Yan couldn't hear clearly what the two said, but their movements during the fight were exactly the same.
Qiu Xu watched from afar, his eyes filled with envy.
They fought for a long time. After a break, Li Zheng turned and left. Gu Qian stood there, lingering for a long time, before finally remembering Gu Xiaoran. His heart suddenly panicked. "Xiaoran!"
He turned around abruptly and saw Qiu Yan carrying Gu Xiaoran as they approached him. His heart... froze for a moment. "Xiaoran, I'm sorry."
He reached out and took Gu Xiaoran from Qiu Yan. Gu Xiaoran tilted her head, looking unwilling, but eventually left Qiu Yan's body.
“The child is too young. As a father, you have to take responsibility for him.” Qiu Yan finished speaking and turned to leave, but Gu Qian stopped her. “You’re right, young lady. It was my dereliction of duty.”
He took a close look at the small basket full of herbs in Qiu Xu's hand and became very interested in the girl in front of him.
Gu Qian placed Gu Xiaoran on his shoulder with one hand, and without waiting for Qiu Yan's consent, he jogged to keep up beside her. "Miss, thank you so much for earlier. You still haven't told me your name?"
Gu Qian, who had just been looking serious, now had a smile on his face.
"Qiu Yan!" Qiu Yan said truthfully.
She had barely finished speaking when she heard a whoosh. A quick glance to the side revealed a large, fat rabbit galloping away at breakneck speed through the woods.
Without saying a word, she picked up a dead tree trunk from the ground and threw it directly at the wild rabbit.
The rabbit was somewhat dazed by Qiu Yan's attack, and its movements became sluggish.
Gu Qian watched Qiu Yan's movements with curiosity. Although she was thin and weak, she was still quite remarkable for a country girl.
Qiu Yan took off chasing after the rabbit. When she got close, she swung her sickle and the rabbit was now locked in a throat lock.
Gu Qian saw it clearly, and he clapped his hands together, exclaiming, "What skill you have, young lady!"
A gust of wind swept by, and Qiu Yan focused her gaze. Another wild rabbit darted past her and disappeared into a burrow. There was a rabbit hole ahead.
This mountain forest seems to hold treasures, constantly surprising her.
Qiu Yan followed the direction of the wild rabbit to the burrow and began to ponder how to drive the rabbit out of its burrow.
Gu Qian squatted down, placed Gu Xiaoran on the ground, and reached out to take out a tinderbox. "Use this."
Qiu Yan nodded, "Okay, we'll use that." Fearing the wild rabbit might have other burrows to escape into, she searched the vicinity and, sure enough, found two more burrows.
She blocked one of them, then guarded the other and started a fire.
Gu Qian, on the other hand, stood guard on the other side, ready to welcome the wild rabbit out of its burrow at any time.
The three children watched intently, occasionally helping to fan the flames; catching wild rabbits was truly fun.
Before long, the wild rabbits were choked by the smoke and bumped into the walls of the burrow. One of the rabbits suddenly darted out and was picked up by Gu Qian.
Then, another one appeared.
Qiu Yan was overjoyed. She had only intended to catch one wild rabbit, but unexpectedly, she caught a pair.
Gu Qian tied the limbs of the two large wild rabbits one after the other, and then hung the rabbit that Qiu Yan had just caught on his shoulder.
"I'll take these, we'll go back together."
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