As dawn broke the next day, Jiang Xi got up early, yawning as she put her hair up and secured it tightly with a wooden hairpin.
Pushing open the wooden door, Jiang Xi took a deep breath as the cool forest air was filled with the fragrance of grass and trees.
Yes, it feels like a forest, moist and refreshing.
Yan Zheng also got up early and was feeding rabbits and sheep in another courtyard.
Jiang Xi washed her face. Today she was wearing a light green cardigan, which made her look even more aloof.
The color was dyed by her a couple of days ago using a type of wild grass. Initially, she found that the juice of that wild grass couldn't be washed off her hands when she was pulling it, so she tried dyeing a cardigan with it. Unexpectedly, the color turned out to be a light green.
When Yan Zheng returned from outside, he urged her to start exercising.
It starts with basic physical training, like stretching exercises, and gradually progresses to high knees, burpees, and planks.
At first it was fine, but when it came to the burpee part, Jiang Xi was so frustrated she wanted to cry.
Yan Zheng usually seems quite easy to talk to, but when it comes to training, he's completely uncompromising, with a stern face, and he tells you how many sets to do.
During this time, Jiang Xi tried to slack off, but Yan Zheng grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up from the ground to continue practicing.
He stared at her as he said, "I know your abilities. Don't even think about slacking off. Once you're in the forest, those bears and wolves won't care how tired you are."
Jiang Xi dared not slack off anymore. Before even starting the fencing training, she had already used up all her energy for the day.
He was covered in sweat, looking like he had just been pulled out of the water.
Yan Jing'an, who was squatting at the kitchen door, shook his head repeatedly as he looked at her physical fitness.
Seeing that Jiang Xi couldn't hold on any longer, Yan Zheng began to comfort her: "Take it slow. Once your physical strength improves, practicing these things will be much easier."
Jiang Xi practiced until the sun was fully up. She ended her morning exercise with the most basic fencing exercise, the "T-stance."
Breakfast consisted of the simplest root vegetables, red date porridge, cold shepherd's purse salad, and stir-fried sweet potatoes.
The sweet cabbage was picked by Jiang Xi from the ground. Now, almost half a month later, it has grown to more than ten centimeters long, which is the tenderest time. When used for stir-frying, the cabbage heart has a natural sweetness.
Yan Jing'an picked up a shepherd's purse and examined it for a long time. He shook his head and said to Yan Zheng, "I never realized how skilled your hands were before. Now that we're eating chaff and wild vegetables, I know how tough life is in the mountains."
These words came from the bottom of his heart. Yan Zheng used to be able to hunt, and even in winter, he could occasionally get some raccoon meat or roe deer, or at the very least, he could eat cured meat.
Now the cured meat is almost gone, and we're just eating plain porridge and side dishes every day.
He suddenly had a sudden idea and said to Yan Zheng, "How about I learn archery from you later?"
If all else fails, try hunting yourself.
Yan Zheng finished eating, put down his chopsticks, nodded, and said, "I'll teach you later; everyone needs to know how."
Jiang Xi, who was standing to the side, felt that things couldn't go on like this. Yan Zheng was still recovering from his injuries, and he couldn't afford to be malnourished. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Let's go back to the cave with Yan Jing'an today."
Then she asked Yan Jing'an, "Is your head okay?"
"We don't have many yams left at home, so I'll go back and collect some wild duck eggs."
Then, as if remembering something, she added, "We can also set up last year's rabbit traps. When we come back tonight, we might have some unexpected finds."
Hearing this, Yan Jing'an agreed with her and quickly nodded, "Good idea, I'll tidy up the wooden cart in a bit."
Listening to their conversation, Yan Zheng couldn't help but say, "I'll go too."
"No, your injury hasn't healed yet," Jiang Xi flatly rejected his suggestion.
Yan Zheng said helplessly, "I'm not going to do any work. I'll just go for a walk with you guys. Otherwise, it's no fun for me to be alone in this courtyard."
Jiang Xi was about to suggest that he stay home and make bricks, but then she thought that moving bricks was also hard work, so she decided against it and would wait until she came back tomorrow to make them herself.
So he reluctantly agreed.
With the matter settled, Yan Jing'an lost his appetite and ate a few bites before going to check the wooden cart.
There was a problem with the crossbeam of this vehicle before, and the problem became more obvious after they came back last time. So he removed the wood that was used to fix the crossbeam and repaired it again.
Before leaving, Yan Zheng went to the granary and took out a few fish traps that he had woven last year. He would set a couple of fish traps down later to test them.
Before the sun got too hot, the three people and the deer descended the mountain.
This time, Jiang Xi didn't ride in the car; she treated it as physical training. She and Yan Jing'an each walked on either side of the car, holding onto each other. Yan Zheng, with one hand around the neck of the car and the other holding Xiao Lu's hand, walked at the front.
Along the way, the grass grew tall and the birds sang, and the hillsides were covered with green wild grass. The lush green was occasionally interspersed with pink and smoky purple wildflowers.
Upon reaching the entrance to the canyon, the three of them unexpectedly encountered a grove of trees with pink flowers in bloom.
Jiang Xi leaned closer to take a look. It looked like a crabapple blossom and a bit like a peach blossom. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she just thought it was strangely beautiful.
Seeing her interest, Yan Jing'an explained to her, "It looks like a wild peach, but it tastes very sour and astringent, and it doesn't taste good."
Jiang Xi didn't think much of it: "Just admiring the flowers is quite beautiful."
Seeing how much she liked it, Yan Zheng said, "When you come back, dig up a couple of small ones and put them in the yard."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Xi's eyes lit up, and she quickly nodded.
Her biggest dream is to fill her yard with fruit trees, so that she can relive the feeling of childhood.
They walked until the temperature started to rise, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on Jiang Xi's forehead, before the three of them finally reached the bottom of the cliff.
With the arrival of spring, the lakeside is vibrant with life, full of the season's charm. Willows gently caress the azure surface of the lake in the breeze. Flocks of wild ducks and birds are everywhere, along with some rare egrets.
Various aquatic plants have also sprouted from the lake surface, with reeds and cattails creating a lively scene along the lakeside.
As Jiang Xi walked towards the cave, she felt like she had entered a natural paradise, and she was in an exceptionally good mood, chasing wild ducks and scaring away birds.
Yan Zheng smiled as he watched her having fun, while Yan Jing'an, who was standing to the side, kept saying that she was being childish.
Upon arriving at the location, Yan Jing'an first took a shovel and dug up a sweet potato. Yan Zheng and Jiang Xi took a few and went to the rabbit traps to reinstall them.
Then Yan Zheng went to the lakeside with two fish traps after reaching the foot of the mountain.
Jiang Xi tied banana leaves to her head and went to the reeds to collect wild duck eggs. Before long, she had collected a whole basketful.
As the weather gets warmer, there are more ducklings. They're all fluffy, and they quack loudly when they see her.
Jiang Xi vaguely remembered the ducks and chickens her grandmother used to raise; they were fed cornmeal and occasionally some wild vegetables. She thought to herself, "Hopefully I can harvest some corn seeds this year, so they'll be easier to raise next year."
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