"Mom went for a walk and accidentally wandered a bit too far. Come in and lock the door. You should wash up and go to bed. We have to go into the mountains early tomorrow morning."
Yan Xia remained completely calm, showing no signs of having just done something wrong.
"Alright, Mother, you go first. I boiled the water a while ago, and it's still warm. Jinlu and I just took a bath in the river. It's not quite hot yet, so the river water is a bit cold. You and your sisters can use this water for now."
Jin Fu poured a basin of water for her and put the towel in the basin as well.
It was called a towel, but it was really just a tattered piece of cloth, so torn that you couldn't even tell its original color anymore. Yan Xia was disgusted, but there was nothing she could do. She gritted her teeth and washed her face, then used the water to rinse her feet. The ground was all muddy, so it didn't matter where she poured the water. After washing, Yan Xia handed the basin to Guihua.
The two sisters washed up one after the other.
Yan Xia wanted to brush her teeth, but there wasn't even a toothbrush here. She could only wait until she woke up tomorrow and try to brush them with a twig.
Why....
It's terrible! Not only do they smell bad, but they can't even brush their teeth. No wonder many elderly people in this village have lost most of their teeth by their fifties.
Sudden,
Outside the door, a figure flashed past the entrance of the dilapidated temple, carrying a cloth bag in his hand.
It was just too dark at night to see clearly.
Yan Xia was unaware of this; she had already fallen asleep. On her first night here, she slept soundly until dawn.
When he woke up, all four of his children had large dark circles under their eyes.
"What's wrong? Didn't you sleep well?"
As she spoke, Yan Xia took a willow branch from her eldest son and put it in her mouth to brush her teeth.
"Mom, there's a mouse! Didn't you hear it? It even crawled onto my hair! It's terrifying! Big brother, could you block up the mouse hole in the temple today? Otherwise, I won't dare to sleep tonight."
Wax Plum spoke with a hint of morning grumpiness.
“Okay, I’ll do it when I’m free this afternoon. Didn’t Mom say she was going to go up the mountain to cut down trees? Mom, I’ve already borrowed two axes. Jinlu and I will be in charge of cutting them down.”
Jin Fuqi was the first to do it. He borrowed two axes from a good family in the village, then went to the willow tree by the river to break off a few branches. He even boiled a pot of water for his mother and younger siblings to wash their faces and rinse their mouths.
After a simple breakfast of brown rice porridge, the family headed to Aishan.
As we passed by the Chen family's house, Zhu Xiaohua and her youngest daughter-in-law, Wang Lihua, were standing at the gate talking to each other.
It seems the effects of the sleeping potion have worn off.
Yan Xia pretended not to see them and walked straight away.
"Pah! What a load of crap! Look at your smug faces, I wonder what you'll eat and drink in the future!"
Zhu Xiaohua muttered curses under her breath as they walked away.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go dig pig feed. You're useless. You can't even give birth to a son. Learn from your sister-in-law. Look how successful she is. She gave birth to my precious grandson in the second year after she married into the family. And you? After giving birth to a money-losing child, your belly hasn't shown any signs of pregnancy at all. I get so angry when I see you!"
Not satisfied with just scolding Yan Xia and the others, they even dragged their young daughter-in-law into the mess.
"Okay, Mother, I'll go right away."
Wang Lihua was used to being scolded, and she responded expressionlessly.
"What a lazybones! If you were as lucky as your sister-in-law and gave me a grandson, I'd let you sleep in too. With that jinx gone, you'd have to do all the housework. Remember to wash the clothes when you come back from digging pig feed, you hear me?"
"Oh, I heard you, Mom. I'll go dig some pig feed now."
Wang Lihua put the sickle into the basket on her back and ran away.
She was afraid that if she dawdled for a while, her mother-in-law would scold her again.
Jin Fu and Jin Lu were cutting down trees on the low hill.
Yan Xia and her two daughters were picking mushrooms. The fertilizer in the field needed to ferment for three days, during which time they didn't need to go to the field.
"Mom, there are no mushrooms here. Let's go pick some at the other end."
The pots for the osmanthus and the wintersweet were both empty.
“Your sister and I went to the other side yesterday. It was similar to this place. We searched for a long time and only found a little bit. I guess the villagers picked them all. Why don’t we go up the mountain and take a look?”
Yan Xia suggested.
She's so strong now, she has the ability to protect herself.
Instead of wasting time here, why not go and try your luck up the mountain?
"It's dangerous there, Mom~ Are you tired? Why don't you go home and rest? My sister and I will go pick them. Don't worry, Mom. If we can't find mushrooms, we can eat bitter greens. I just saw a big patch of bitter greens to the south. They don't taste very good, but at least they can fill our stomachs~"
"Osmanthus said softly."
Yan Xia knew about bitter greens. When the original owner of this body was starving, she would secretly cook some bitter green porridge to eat. This kind of vegetable is bitter and astringent, and it is very hard to eat. Unless you are so poor that you are about to starve to death, basically no one would eat this stuff.
So they're everywhere.
Knowing her daughters wouldn't agree to her going to the mountains, Yan Xia decided to go alone secretly.
With two little tails following her around, she felt quite restricted.
Yan Xia grew up in a remote mountain village, and the mountains were like flat ground to her.
What hasn't she seen?
"Alright, then I'll go back and rest for a while. You all go back with your brothers later, and don't wander off."
Yan Xia put on her dramatic act, pretending to be tired as she spoke.
"Okay, Mom, my sister and I are going to find mushrooms on the other side. Be careful on the road, Mom, don't step on any slippery stones."
The mother and her two daughters split into two groups.
Yan Xia hurried down the mountain.
When she reached the foot of the mountain, she did not return to the village, but instead headed towards the mountain path.
The oxygen was rich at high altitudes, and when she arrived at the foot of the mountain, she immediately felt the temperature drop by several degrees.
Compared to the low hill next door, the high mountain is overgrown with weeds.
After walking for only ten minutes, we saw several places with delicious wild vegetables.
This place is truly rich in local products.
Yan Xia didn't dig them up, but continued forward; her goal was to go deep into the mountains.
When she was a child, she learned some hunting techniques from her grandfather, such as how to set traps and how to dig pits.
She didn't bring any tools this time; she planned to scout out the terrain first and then come back to hunt in a couple of days. She couldn't spend the money she stole from the Chen family.
She really couldn't stand eating wild vegetables every day.
Although she often goes to supermarkets to eat and drink for free these days, it's still meat and refined grains.
Compared to those unpalatable wild vegetables, it's simply a delicacy.
After climbing for more than an hour, we finally arrived in the mountains.
The place was lush and green, and extremely humid. Even the air felt cool. Yan Xia looked around and saw a small stream at her feet.
There are also small fish as thick as a finger in the stream. You can deep-fry them, sprinkle them with cumin, salt and chili powder, and take a bite. They are fragrant, crispy and delicious.
Unfortunately, we didn't have any oil at home, so we couldn't eat it even if we took it back.
She looked away and saw a bright yellow tree on the other side of the stream. Yan Xia took off her shoes, waded across the water, and walked to the tree, only to find that it was a wild fruit tree.
The fruits on the tree were all as big as a girl's fist, like modern apples, but with the refreshing fragrance of pomelos.
This is the first time I've ever seen this.
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