Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Getting in Bed
Arriving at the wooden house in the mountains, Kang He cleaned the house inside and out. It was like a new baby had been born after not coming back for two days.
He put away all the dry food he had brought with him, and went back and forth, which was no easier than going up the mountain.
The mountains were already damp, and it had been raining for a few days. We hadn't cooked during these days, so when we suddenly came in, it was extremely damp and cold.
Fan Jing lit a fire, and after an hour or so, the room began to feel a little warmer.
He sat in front of the stove, took off the gauze on his arm, looked at his wound, and saw that it had healed.
I haven't felt any pain when moving these past two days. I took the bow and pulled it twice, but there was no dull pain from pulling, and I felt satisfied.
"I'm going out for a walk."
Kang He knew that his arm had healed and he couldn't stay there any longer, so he didn't intend to stop him from going out. He was afraid that his hands would be itching to do something after not having practiced with the bow for so many days, so he said, "Eat your meal first, then go out."
"Zhen'er made some pancakes. I'll take them out to eat."
After saying that, he picked up two pieces of cake, picked up the water bag he had prepared on the mountain and had not finished eating, put on his hat and went out.
"You're so rude! You won't even eat with me. I'll give you all the bread tomorrow, and see what else you'll take out to eat."
Kang He muttered something with a crooked mouth, not feeling very happy, but he still rushed to the gate of the yard and said to the figure that had already disappeared into the rain and fog, "Come back early, it gets dark early in the rain."
Back in the house, Kanghe felt lonely.
He looked at the small beds placed in the corners, and raised the corner of his mouth.
When Fan Jing came back, it was not yet dark, but the rain outside had gotten heavier.
He was carrying a cage and a pheasant.
Kang He came out of the house upon hearing the noise: "Are there any goods?"
Fan Jing nodded and handed him the cage with a female rabbit with white fur and red eyes inside: "You made this cage."
The rabbit was caught in the rain and huddled in the cage, not moving much. Kang He closed the door and let it out. As soon as it touched the ground, it jumped into the corner and hid there, looking very alert and clever.
However, the pheasant that Fan Jing caught in the trap was injured and thrown to the ground, unable to run away and could only flutter around.
Kang Hexi said: "The living creatures locked in the cage will not be harmed by food, so we can feed them ourselves."
Fan Jing took off his straw raincoat and asked him, "Where is it kept?"
"I'll build a shed in the yard, so it won't stink when it eats or poops."
Fan Jing said nothing and saw that another bed was put together next to the small bed he slept on at the foot of the wall.
He looked at Kang He.
"This afternoon, I used some palm bark I'd saved and mixed it with some hay to make a mat. It's big enough to fit between the two beds. Winter's getting cold, and if you don't sleep on something thick, you'll catch a cold."
Kang He spoke seriously, but his eyes secretly glanced at Fan Jing's expression. Seeing that his brows were furrowed, he quickly added, "Don't worry, the beds are just put together. I put a curtain in the middle."
Fan Jing said, "The mat is big enough for two beds, why not just make two?"
“.......”
Kang He coughed dryly: "Isn't this just because he's afraid of trouble? It's faster to sew one than two. With one, I can sleep tonight. If I sew two, I can sleep tonight anyway."
Fan Jing glanced at Kang He and let him argue. He didn't know whether he believed what he said or not, but he didn't say anything else.
At night, the two of them ate simple meals, pancakes and vegetable porridge.
After dinner, I soaked my feet in hot water and didn’t rush to bed.
Kang He got to work right away. He found some wood in the house and started hammering away, really preparing to make a rabbit pen.
He thought to himself that if he was lucky, he could catch a male rabbit in a cage, and then raise the two together. When they gave birth to some rabbits, he could sell them. Wouldn't that be safer than relying solely on luck in hunting?
If you want to plan for the long term, you can't just rely on luck and fortune.
Hunting is good, but you can't always get what you want.
Fan Jing also sat on one side and fiddled with his bow and arrow for a while.
Today he went out to circumambulate the mountain, and maybe because it had been raining for a few days, he didn't see any flying creatures. He hadn't drawn the bow for so many days, and his hands had been itching for a long time, but he couldn't use the bow today.
The low fire in the stove warmed his body. After he finished stringing the bow and watched over Kang He's rabbit pen for some time, he felt a little sleepy, so he got up, took off his shoes and went to bed.
Kang He's newly made bed was indeed much more comfortable. The bed board was originally covered with moisture-proof dry mugwort, and now with the addition of a mattress, it was not as hard anymore.
It was really cold in the mountains, and even though I had just brought up a thick mattress, it still felt as cold as iron.
Kang He saw Fan Jing get on the bed with one eye. He was working on the carpentry work very attentively, but suddenly he lost interest in making the rabbit shed.
He stood up to wash his hands, coughed dryly, and walked towards the bed.
Fan Jing was sleeping inside, lying flat on the couch with his eyes closed.
The curtain that separated the two small beds was not drawn.
Seeing this, Kang He's mouth curled up a little. He quickly took off his shoes, unbuttoned his coat and lay down on the bed.
The two beds were put together, and surprisingly they were so spacious that even if you lay on them together, your hands and feet wouldn't touch.
There is indeed an extra person next to me, and I can feel every breath.
Fan Jing, who was used to sleeping alone, was a little uncomfortable at first, but when he thought that it was Kang He who was sleeping, he didn't feel any resistance.
"Are you cold?"
A voice came from his ear, but Fan Jing didn't open his eyes and said, "It's not cold."
"You're so cold-resistant? I think it's much colder in the mountains than before we came down."
Kang He said a few words, then turned over and lay on his side, looking at Fan Jing. He spoke softly, "Even though my feet have burned red on the bed, I can't feel warm when I get under the quilt. Instead, the mattress has cooled me down."
“That’s how it is in the mountains.”
Kang He said, "Next time I go to the city to sell things, I'll buy you a hot water bottle. Fill it with boiling water and cover it under the quilt at night to keep you warm."
Fan Jing listened to Kang He's whisper and nodded softly.
He felt that the tone of the person's slow voice was a bit sleepy, and sleepiness gradually came over him. He didn't say anything, and Kang He didn't continue to try to find conversation.
Then, the room fell into silence.
Just when he was about to fall asleep, a hand suddenly reached out from under the mattress and held his hand.
Fan Jing was stunned and his sleepiness disappeared immediately.
Two clasped hands lay quietly under the mattress.
The room was so quiet that one could almost hear the beating of one's heart in the chest.
This was actually the first time Kang He had done something like this.
He looked at the face so close to him, which was clearly cold and indifferent, but the more he looked at it, the more he liked it, and he couldn't help but want to be closer to him.
It is quite natural for two people to touch hands when they are together.
But Fan Jing was quiet and cold, and he looked serious and didn't care about other people's affairs, which made Kang He feel a little embarrassed.
Fan Jing's knuckles are long, with thick calluses, and they feel slightly cold.
Seeing that Fan Jing did not pull his hand back and did not scold him, he felt indescribably excited.
Although I don't know whether he is happy to do this or if he has fallen asleep and has no response.
Kang He laughed in his heart, thinking that he was like a silly boy.
But on second thought, this body is only seventeen or eighteen years old, four years younger than Fan Jing, so it's just a young boy.
Fan Jing had a clear mind, but he didn't show any emotion. He didn't know what to do.
He had never been married to anyone, nor had he carefully observed how other couples lived. He didn't know what it meant to hold someone's hand while sleeping. Did most couples do this?
After thinking about it, I couldn't figure it out, so I just pretended to be asleep.
The slight sweat on his palms had already betrayed him.
In the dim light of the stove fire, Kang He unconsciously raised the corners of his mouth.
Knowing that Fan Jing was not asleep, the wooden bed creaked, and the two mattresses that were covering each other suddenly overlapped on the two people's bodies.
Kang He quickly got into Fan Jing's bed and stuck close to him.
"I am warm and can be a warm stove for you."
Fan Jing said nothing.
Seeing that he was still pretending to sleep, Kang He pulled his hand over and placed it on his hot heart inside his clothes.
Fan Jing's hand seemed to be burned, and he subconsciously wanted to pull it back, but Kang He held it tightly.
Kang He asked him, "Isn't it warm?"
Fan Jing opened his eyes and turned his head so that his face almost touched the person's.
His brows tightened: "Who sleeps like this?"
"Of course it's between husband and wife. We've agreed to give it a try. If we don't try to see if we can sleep well together and make adjustments accordingly, how are we going to get through the rest of the time?"
Fan Jing felt that what he said made sense, but his logic seemed a little distorted.
He said, "I don't have the habit of sleeping with someone touching me, so let me go."
Kang He didn't do what he was told. He said, "It's fine if you don't have this habit, but can I touch you while you sleep?"
Fan Jing was silent for a long time, and Xu also thought about it: "No."
Kang He frowned and said, "If you can't even touch me, how can we continue the family line in the future?"
Fan Jing hesitated for a moment: "Not now."
"So you mean you're willing to have children with me?"
"Why do you talk so much?"
Fan Jing pulled his warmed hand away from Kang He's chest.
This is even more extraordinary for men at a young age when their bodies are hot and their blood is full.
Fan Jing took his hand away, and Kang He felt a little empty for a moment. He begged, "Brother, I'll just hold your hand, okay?"
Fan Jing didn't respond to him, but he didn't say no either.
Kang Heli held the man's hand as if he had obtained something, and felt satisfied in his heart.
"Go to sleep."
The next day, the two of them slept close together in the bed, feeling so warm that they woke up too late.
The rain had stopped outside, and although the sun hadn't yet broken, the view was still quite open. Such weather in winter was a rarity.
The two of them got up, washed quickly, had breakfast, locked the door, and went out together.
The last time he came back to the mountains, Kang He had almost dug out all the fern roots in the places where he often walked.
It is indeed profitable to turn this root into powder, but unfortunately, there are not many wild ones and they are not easy to get. A hundred kilograms of roots can only produce a few kilograms of powder.
Kang He followed Fan Jing to circumambulate the mountain and look for it elsewhere along the way.
"Ferns grow in the ground and can't run away. They don't seem like living things. They have legs and can run from one mountain to another. Even if they stay in one mountain, they can still hunt."
Kang He and Fan Jing said, "Why don't I go to the other hill and take a look."
"There are other hunters on other hills. Not to mention that if he doesn't like you going to his hill to get things, he will have plenty of ways to torment you. Even if he doesn't care about you coming in and out, you are not familiar with the wild forest and without anyone to show you the way, you will easily get into danger."
Fan Jingying's eyes were looking around, but after hearing Kang He's words, he turned his gaze back to him, warning him not to risk his life in order to find Ying.
In their spare time, the villagers also like to go up the mountain to get some things, but they only dare to go to the area where people often gather.
Everyone is begging for mountain products outside the mountains. It is hard to find firewood in that area. Everyone knows that things are better found in the deep mountains, but there are still very few people coming. No one who does not have some skills dares to take the risk easily.
Kang He didn't say anything. He knew that Fan Jing was right, and he hadn't forgotten the rash thing he had done before.
If Fan Jing had not been familiar with this piece of land and had not led him around several times, they would have suffered losses.
Seeing Kang He didn't say anything, Fan Jing said silently: "You don't need to worry, my arm is healed and I can make money."
After hearing this, Kang He raised the corner of his mouth: "Are you going to support me?"
Fan Jing glanced at Kang He and said, "Eat less, and you can still survive."
Kang He laughed in his heart: "How much do I eat in one meal? You think I eat too much?"
Fan Jing didn't answer him, but suddenly pulled out a bamboo arrow from the basket tied to his back.
There was a loud rustling sound of breaking wind, and with a bang, a big stupid bird landed in front of Kang He's feet.
Kang He was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses. He saw a stupid bird flapping its wings at his feet. The bamboo arrow only injured its wings, but did not kill it overnight.
He looked up and saw Fan Jing holding the bow in one hand, his eyes like lightning, and now he was slowly putting his hand down.
This was the first time Kang He saw Fan Jing use an arrow.
I had expected that his archery skills should be good, but I had never seen it in person. I didn't expect it to be so clean and neat.
It’s no wonder that the young man from the Qin family, who is also a hunter, boasts so much about Fan Jing’s archery skills.
Fan Jing stood not far away, his eyes sparkling with admiration and admiration, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly: "I promise you can eat more today."
Upon hearing this, Kang He smiled and picked up the stupid bird.
"This is really heartbreaking. It seems like I must have accumulated eight lifetimes of blessings to be able to follow you."
Fan Jing glanced at the man, took out a thin hemp rope from his waist, bent down and tied up the stupid bird's feet.
His eyes were unusually gentle.
The two of them wandered in the mountains for a day and only returned home when the cold wind blew from the empty valley.
Today, Fan Jing hunted four stupid birds, a pair of wild ducks, and a fat gull. He learned that no living creature he encountered that could be hunted escaped.
Kang He got three kudzu heads, about ten pounds of fern roots, and some mountain products from the forest.
The only thing that comforted him was that he had caught four grass carps weighing half a pound each and a few shrimps in a few baskets in the river.
Fan Jing planned to hike up the mountain for another day tomorrow and go down the mountain to sell mountain products the day after tomorrow. Kang He was not in a hurry to get the ramie out, and at night he picked up the rabbit shed that he had not finished yesterday.
The next day, Kanghe did not go out and stayed in the wooden house.
He got out the three radishes in the morning, cleaned the yard in the afternoon, and set up the rabbit shed in the open space to the left of the house. He filled it with dry and soft grass to prevent the rabbits from getting cold.
He couldn't do two things at once, and it was getting late. He saw that the konjac had taken shape, so he cut out a piece and prepared to cook it in the evening.
I was cutting vegetables in the house when I heard a loud knock on the door outside.
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