After Li Laoshi left, Xiaoman sighed, "Luckily, no road was built! It would be a little easier for us on this mountain, as we can't afford to support more people."
The road up the mountain was destroyed by a summer downpour. When Xiang Dejin and the others had nothing to do, they offered to help repair the old road, but Jiang Zhi and Xiaomanye both said they wouldn't.
People from the same village all know where each other's charcoal kilns are located.
If they're determined, they won't need Li Laoshi to lead the way; those people will come anyway. But since the road is difficult to travel, there's less chance of being harassed.
The two families are now barely managing to make ends meet while living on the mountain.
Although crops are grown in the mountains, the harvest is small. The main food sources are oak flour, sorghum, beans, and various vegetables. The main meats are wild boar and rabbit.
If more people are added, everyone will go hungry.
Jiang Zhi nodded: "A little kindness is appreciated, but too much kindness breeds resentment. Our fine grains are only enough for the children."
Jiang Zhi and Xiaoman were perfectly in sync on this matter, not even asking the names of the families who had returned.
Back at her home on the cliff, Qiaoyun went into the kitchen to put away the egg basket, looking somewhat dazed.
Caixia was hungry and whimpered for milk. Xu Errui picked her up and went over. Noticing that Qiaoyun's expression was off, he asked, "Qiaoyun, what are you doing?"
Qiaoyun looked uneasy: "Errui, are we going back to the village too?"
Almost a year after moving up the mountain, Qiaoyun felt happy every day. She didn't want to go back to the village and didn't want to see her mother-in-law arguing with people every day and then taking her anger out on her family when she came back.
She didn't like that kind of life.
Xu Errui scratched his head: "Mother didn't say when she'd be coming down the mountain. Don't worry, Mother's temper is great now. She won't scold anyone even if she comes down the mountain."
He now understands that his mother's bad temper was caused by her past stress, and it was also related to Xiao Tian.
Now that Xiaotian has left, her mother has calmed down.
Moreover, my mother will need to sell medicine and cultivate those few acres of land in the future. Living on the mountain would allow her to dig for medicine, but it wouldn't be convenient. She would definitely need to build a house in the village to settle down.
However, the medical tent is still there, and moving down the mountain is a matter for the future.
As time passed, it snowed in Ba County during the coldest days of winter.
Snowflakes piled up on the treetops and along the cliff edges, but never landed on flat ground.
Xiaoman and Nini built a snowman, running up and down several slopes before they collected enough grass leaves to fill two buckets.
But the snow melted into water as soon as you squeezed it, and in the end you managed to make an ice figure that was 20 centimeters tall.
Nini tore off leaves and grass stems and used them to make a mess of the Ice Man's hair.
Winter weather is like this: rain and snow, snow melting into rain, freezing you to the bone, with cold winds and rain coming in turn.
On the rare occasion when the sun shines, the women from both families are busy airing out their quilts, the straw used for making beds, and all their belongings.
Finally, everyone, including Peppa Pig, went out into the sun to bask in the warmth.
If you don't sunbathe something when the sun is out, you feel like you're doing the sun a disservice.
They weren't idle at other times either; Grandpa Xiaoman led Xiaoman and Xu Errui to another abandoned charcoal kiln to burn charcoal.
Large charcoal blocks were used for heating, while small charcoal ash was piled under Xu Dazhu's wooden house to prevent dampness.
Winter is a good time to repair water conservancy projects. The two families worked together to deepen and lengthen the irrigation canals above the terraced fields, which will ensure water supply for the rice paddies below the following year.
The ditch behind Xiaoman's house has also been rerouted, so that there will be no more flash floods washing away the house when it rains.
Xiaoman and Qiaoyun made some snacks to keep in their pockets during the New Year.
There were no fancy pastries or candies, only steamed and sun-dried sweet potatoes, some fried dried soybeans, fried pumpkin seeds, and fried rice.
However, the children in Bavaria County have another snack.
The fruit picked from the mountain during Xiaoman is called "Piao Geng Mi" (瓢羹米).
Wutong seeds
These are seeds of the parasol tree, a local product that has been around for thousands of years.
Everyone knows the saying: "Plant a phoenix tree, and the phoenix will come."
The Book of Songs, in the Greater Odes, says: "The phoenix cries out, on that high hill; the parasol tree grows, in the morning sun."
The phoenix will not perch on anything but the parasol tree, nor will it eat anything but the parasol tree's seeds; this is what is being said about it.
The plane trees that ordinary people know about on the streets today were introduced by the French from England and planted in the Shanghai concessions. Their leaves are shaped like those of the Chinese plane tree, hence the name "French plane tree".
The poems about the parasol tree have nothing to do with it.
Roasted tung seeds are very fragrant and are a common snack for children in rural areas.
The Chinese parasol tree, also known as the green parasol tree.
Besides food, we also need clothes for the New Year.
It's impossible for everyone to have new clothes to wear.
Xiaoman's grandmother took apart the old clothes and re-dyed them, starching them neatly. She replaced the badly worn sleeves and trouser legs with new fabric, and it became a thick new garment.
Xiaoman grew up so fast that he couldn't wear new clothes anymore. He had to attach pieces to all his old clothes, making them look like new styles, which amused everyone.
Life can be poor, but it cannot be sloppy. Every day on the mountain is fulfilling and busy.
Even in these busy days, some discordant things still happen.
In the two weeks since the Xu family returned, they learned that most of the families who had not fled the famine had died in the wildfire, but two families were still alive.
Moreover, they learned two names from the stranded refugees: Aunt Jiang and Xiaoman.
Xu Genbao rubbed his empty stomach, looked up at the high mountains and forests, and said happily, "It's Dazhu and Chang Geng. I want to see how they are doing."
There are acquaintances from the village here; they're all family.
Moreover, Chang Geng is a kind-hearted person. He once helped repair his own house, and now that he is in trouble, he will always lend a helping hand.
Xu Genbao's mother, Liu, had a worried look on her thin face: "His family, young and old, including a paralyzed person, is probably worse off than us. Don't go looking for them. Instead, help your older brother build a shack and start working on the land as soon as possible."
Beside her, Xu Genbao's wife held her skinny, emaciated child and glared at her mother-in-law: "We work tilling the land every day, and people are starving to death. Everyone is having a hard time. Is there anyone in the world who is having a harder time than us?"
It's all your fault for being so useless. You didn't dare to join the army because you were afraid of dying, and you didn't want to stay in Yuzhou Prefecture to work because you were afraid of being tired.
Now that they're back, they're being asked to find something to eat at the clinic, but they're saying they're embarrassed.
"He has no talent but still wants to save face. He deserves to suffer poverty and hardship. It's just a pity for my poor Leiwa, who's only three years old. He has no rice, no noodles, and hasn't had a single piece of meat in six months. He was truly born into the wrong family."
Xu Genbao and Liu were immediately silenced by the rebuke.
Genbao's wife glanced to the side again. Her brother-in-law's family was still tidying up the shack, and her sister-in-law, Tian, was hanging a woven straw curtain at the door to block the wind.
Genbao's wife spat angrily: "Who are you trying to impress with that virtuous act? What's so special about touching a chicken coop? You can't find gold just by touching it every day!"
She was filled with resentment and couldn't stay any longer, so she turned around and left with her child in her arms.
Seeing her youngest daughter-in-law's complaining temper, Liu sighed helplessly: Why did we choose her for her looks in the first place? She's picky about food and clothing since she came into the family, and everyone in the family has to give in to her.
I didn't notice it normally, but now that a disaster has struck, it's still the same.
Fortunately, the eldest daughter-in-law is honest and kind, doesn't like to talk and is willing to suffer losses. The three children also endure hardship and don't hold grudges against their sister-in-law, otherwise there would have been a huge uproar long ago.
However, the eldest son had complained privately several times that he hadn't mentioned dividing the family property during the year they fled famine, and if the two of them came back still didn't know any better, he would abandon them.
Sigh, if Genbao and his wife continue to be so clueless, this family will fall apart sooner or later.
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