Chapter 42 Sour Radish and Old Duck Soup
Old Dao saw them off at the door, while Lu An rode his tricycle slowly with Zhao Xuan into the mountains.
The winter sky was mostly overcast, with thick clouds and no wind. The surroundings were a hazy, grayish-green, and the fields along the way were barren and yellow. Their fields and the Yao family's fields were left with only large patches of rice stalks, clumps of short, stubble resembling a man's unshaven beard. In other unclaimed fields, large swaths of yellow weeds lay flat, from which came the occasional cooing sound of some unknown animal.
The world was desolate, with only the rhythmic creaking of the tricycle.
Zhao Xuan suddenly felt a pang of emotion. Around this time a year ago, they arrived here, dragging a rickety cart. Back then, Lu An was so thin that she could be blown away by the wind. Sometimes she would let Lu An lie alone in a sheltered spot while she went to the wasteland to dig up sweet potatoes to eat. When she saw wild birds flying by, she wanted to chase after them, but she would be panting heavily after only a few steps.
At that time, they were no different from the Yao family members they had met the first time. She and Lu An were too weak, and if they continued walking, they would starve to death.
However, a year later, she and Lu An are now able to carry enough food to their hunting grounds—the phrase "our hunting grounds," which is full of adolescent angst, comes from Lu An's own words. He said that with that little hut as a transit point, they can hunt large wild game in the deep mountains.
The two rode to the foot of the mountain, tied their tricycle to a tree, and prepared to hike up the mountain with their backpacks.
The temperature in the mountains is noticeably lower than outside. It's a cold air with a very high moisture content, carrying a sweet, earthy scent.
Lu An explained that there was actually a path that led to the hut, but unfortunately a landslide buried the path. The path they took was one that he and Lao Dao had explored together, and the terrain was relatively flat. After all, they had once dragged a large wooden plank weighing several hundred kilograms into the hut.
Lu An led Zhao Xuan very slowly. At this moment, they were passing through an endless cedar forest. The cedar forest, which was over thirty years old, had grown so tall that it blocked out the sky. It was a man-made forest with only this one type of wood, and the trees were planted regularly. However, the person who planted these trees was probably no longer around.
The forests near the village are generally planted by humans. There are also bamboo forests and pine forests, mostly made of moso bamboo and Masson pine. Further in, you will find a variety of beautiful primeval forests.
The terrain in the primeval forest is uneven, with many broken and fallen dead trees, or small puddles formed by springs. Although the temperature is low, the soil here is moist and fertile, and many places are covered with green moss and a small number of mushrooms that can only grow in low-temperature environments.
The forest is filled with towering ancient trees and low-lying ferns, with various green plants growing in an intertwined manner, and even the air seems to emit a faint green glow.
The ground was too slippery. When Zhao Xuan was stepping over a dead tree, he accidentally stepped on it and landed right on his butt.
The deadwood wasn't clean; it was covered in decaying leaves, which made a large black patch on Zhao Xuan's buttocks.
Zhao Xuan turned his head with all his might, glanced at his own backside, and suddenly thought of something. He asked Lu An, "How could anyone build a house in this deep mountain forest?"
Let's steal a tree.
"ah?"
"You'll see if you go any further in. There are many ancient trees inside, some of which are just stumps the size of a table. I talked to Lao Dao, and it seems that the people who steal trees live here. It takes several days to transport an ancient tree down."
Zhao Xuan thought for a moment and asked, "For this kind of itinerant crime, sleeping in a tent for a few days is fine. Building a house is too much trouble."
"So Lao Dao said it's also possible that the house was built by the forest rangers... It's all possible, but now nobody knows what that house is used for."
The two of them walked and stopped for almost a day before finally reaching their destination.
—It was clearly a small clearing that had been cleared out, surrounded by lush trees, except for a bare patch in the middle with a small house perched on top.
The small house is suspended in mid-air, supported by several pillars over a meter high, similar to a stilted house. In the humid south, where snakes and rats are plentiful, this construction method helps to wick away moisture, and in the event of a landslide or mudslide, the house is less likely to be buried.
The supports under the house for raising the ceiling are made of steel bars, which are very sturdy. The walls are made of bricks, and the roof is made of waterproof board and wood. From a distance, it looks like a small matchbox.
The staircase leading to the house had broken off at some point, and the current steps were clearly made of wood by Lao Dao and Lu An. Zhao Xuan climbed up and found that the room was only a few square meters in size, and the door had been taken from another place and installed here.
The inside was surprisingly clean, and the damaged parts of the roof had been repaired. The large coffin plank they had brought had been turned into a loft bed. Because the room was so small, there wasn't enough room for anything else after placing the large plank, so they simply used two pillars to support one side of the plank and nailed the other side to the wall, similar to a loft apartment, so that there was room to sleep on top and space to move around below.
The large wooden plank was very thick, and a thick layer of dry straw was laid on top of it. It was obviously woven by Lu An and his team not long ago, and their craftsmanship was quite good.
Several rows of wooden shelves were nailed to the wall of the lower space, on which were placed a bucket, two plastic basins, a small frying pan, two soup pots and two sleeping bags. On the ground below were two empty jars, presumably one was for temporarily storing grain and the other for storing charcoal.
To Zhao Xuan's surprise, there was a small fireplace at the other end of the corner. It was clearly installed by the previous owner of the house when it was built. The fireplace was fixed to the ground, and the exhaust pipe led outside the house, with the joints carefully sealed with cement. The fireplace looked quite new, with dried firewood piled up next to it, and two small stools for warming oneself by the fire in front of it.
Lu An said, "Originally, Lao Dao and I planned to dismantle this fireplace and take it home, but it was nailed too firmly to the ground, and once the fireplace was lit, all the dampness in the house disappeared, so it works quite well."
Zhao Xuan patted the fireplace and said with satisfaction, "No need to take it apart, just leave it here. You can still cook on it. If you cook outside by fire, you might accidentally burn the mountain down."
Lu An took a bucket to a nearby spring to fetch water. He also took a homemade filter made of charcoal and gauze. Although the spring water looked clean, Lu An and Zhao Xuan still habitually filtered it before using it.
Filtering the water would take some time, so Zhao Xuan started a fire first. The fireplace was well-sealed; even when the firewood inside crackled and popped, there was no smell of smoke outside. The temperature in the room quickly rose, also carrying away the dampness Zhao Xuan had accumulated on his journey.
The walls of the house were also very clean. Although they had turned yellow, there were no stains. It must have been that Lu An and the others had cleaned it carefully.
Zhao Xuan changed her dirty pants, then picked up her sleeping bag from the shelf, shook it out, and spread it on the bed. Next, she took out the food from her backpack one by one. The wild duck had already been chopped into pieces before she arrived. Zhao Xuan picked up a small frying pan, blew off the ash, and stir-fried the duck until it was half-cooked. Then she waited for Lu An to return.
The small house had only one window open, and bored Zhao Xuan leaned on the windowsill to look at the scenery. It was very quiet around him. There were several tree stumps in front of the house, all of which were centuries old. The closest to the house was a lush yew tree, a very ancient species that bears small red berries. Furniture made from it is very valuable, not just the trunk, but the roots, which are often dug up by tree thieves.
Zhao Xuan was very happy that the centuries-old tree had not been stolen.
At this moment, Lu An returned with water. Zhao Xuan poured the stir-fried duck meat into the soup pot, added pickled radish cubes, ginger slices and two pieces of chili, and finally filled it with water, covered it, and put it on the stove to simmer slowly. Another soup pot was used to steam rice, and it was also placed on the stove.
Zhao Xuan also brought a ceramic teapot. She had preserved some osmanthus honey in the autumn using white sugar. It wasn't as fragrant as honey, but it was the best thing for them now. The water in the ceramic teapot boiled quickly. Zhao Xuan poured a cup of osmanthus honey for herself and Lu An. The two sat in front of the stove, their faces glowing red in the firelight. After a long day of walking, they both let out a long sigh of satisfaction after drinking the warm sweet water.
Zhao Xuan was a little sleepy. She hadn't eaten much all day, and the low blood sugar made her feel tired. She yawned and half-closed her eyes.
Lu An glanced at her and said, "Go to sleep. It's almost dark. I'll wake you up when dinner is ready."
Zhao Xuan obediently climbed into bed. The straw mat was very soft, and she felt incredibly warm and safe lying in her sleeping bag.
She slept for a long time, had a long dream, but remembered nothing when she woke up. The fatigue in her body had mostly disappeared due to sleep. The moment she opened her eyes, the small house was not as bright as she had expected, but rather a blur, with only flickering light coming through the fireplace.
It was completely dark outside. There were no candles lit in the room, but the fireplace provided enough light. The temperature dropped quickly in the deep mountains at night. Zhao Xuan heard the whistling wind outside, but it was warm and dry inside, accompanied by a fragrant aroma that wafted into his nose.
That was the aroma of rice and duck soup.
Her dirty pants had been washed by Lu An and were hanging to dry not far from the fireplace, with some more firewood and a full bucket of filtered water nearby.
Lu An was still sitting in front of the fireplace, his head nodding, presumably having fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Zhao Xuan tiptoed out of bed, grabbed a thick coat to put on Lu An, but before the coat even touched his back, Lu An woke up.
Zhao Xuan smiled at him, wrapped him tightly in her clothes, and smoothed Lu An's messy hair: "Are you tired?"
The rice on the stove was already cooked; Lu An had taken it down earlier and placed it near the heat source to keep it warm. The old duck soup was still simmering. Zhao Xuan lifted the lid, and the milky white soup inside was bubbling away. She stirred it with a spoon, and seeing that the duck meat was tender, she used a damp cloth as a base to carry the pot full of pickled radish and old duck soup down.
"How long have I been asleep? It's completely dark now," Zhao Xuan asked as he scooped rice into Lu An's bowl.
"About two hours..." Lu An smiled, "About two hours before I fell asleep."
"Then this duck soup is cooked to perfection."
In winter, hot soup is the perfect accompaniment.
The pickled radish, which had been simmering for a long time, had completely dissolved into the soup. The sweet and sour taste of the radish, along with the spiciness of the ginger and chili, made one sip of the soup drive away the chill from the body. The duck meat was very succulent, with the fat melting into the soup, making it white and thick. The duck meat was also tender and fell off the bone, savory and delicious, and could be eaten with three large bowls of rice.
The two were very hungry, so they ate a whole pot of pickled radish and old duck soup with rice. Zhao Xuan then took out two oranges and a handful of water chestnuts and put them on the stove. While the fruit was roasting, she washed all the pots and pans.
She found a place, dug a hole, and buried the leftover bones.
It was much colder outside than inside. Zhao Xuan shivered. After burying the bones, she rushed back. She locked the door, but because the fireplace was still burning, she didn't close the window. She hadn't been gone long when she returned to find Lu An wrapped in his clothes, curled up in the corner, and asleep again.
So she took a basin, filled it with some cold water, mixed it with some hot water, soaked a small towel, and washed Lu An's face. Then she wiped his hands.
"Lu'an," she gently patted his face, "go to bed and sleep, don't catch a cold."
Lu An opened his eyes groggily, reached out and hugged Zhao Xuan, then climbed into bed, crawled into his sleeping bag, and soon his even breathing could be heard from above.
Perhaps because she had slept for too long earlier, Zhao Xuan couldn't fall asleep this time. She locked the door and added two more pieces of firewood to the fireplace.
The house was small, but the firelight from the fireplace made it warm and cozy. Zhao Xuan picked up some piping hot oranges and water chestnuts and leaned against the windowsill, gazing aimlessly at something. The night wind was already quite strong, whistling and howling as it blew through the house and around it. She grabbed a piece of clothing and wrapped it over her head to protect herself from the wind, then peeled the oranges in her hands.
Roasted oranges and water chestnuts taste sweeter, with their outer skins dried and wrinkled, while the flesh inside remains soft. While it's not suitable to eat raw or cold food in winter, Zhao Xuan loves fruit, so she often roasts the fruit before eating it.
She looked up at the circle of sky enclosed by the tree canopy in the center, where the stars were very bright. Zhao Xuan was slightly nearsighted and usually needed to wear glasses to do homework or use the computer. She had lost her glasses long ago after the apocalypse, but it didn't affect her movements. Later, without mobile phones and other electronic products, her eyesight actually improved, and now she could see distant stars very clearly.
Even without neon lights at night, the winter nights are still dazzling with stars.
Zhao Xuan recalled that his solar system was actually located in the "outskirts" of the Milky Way, and wondered what kind of magnificent splendor the planets at the center of the Milky Way possessed at night.
"It looks so good..." she murmured to herself as she chewed on a water chestnut.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Xuan finally got sleepy. She tiptoed onto the bed, snuggled her sleeping bag towards Lu An, and fell asleep next to him.
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