After he finished eating, he didn't say anything. Before Jiang Xi and Yan Zheng could speak, he lowered his head and went back to the deer pen, where he squatted in the corner again.
Yan Zheng and Jiang Xi saw surprise in each other's eyes.
To be honest, this person is quite easy to take care of.
Then, the two heard a creak from the wooden door of the main house.
A dark shadow the size of a basketball hoop darted out of the house.
They grabbed directly at Yan Zheng.
Yan Zheng was holding clothes in his hands, so it was inconvenient for him to touch it. Its legs were covered in paw prints from being scratched by the dog.
After a while, seeing that Yan Zheng wasn't touching it, it came over and started pawing at Jiang Xi, which made Jiang Xi keep rubbing its head.
These past few days, because of an uninvited guest, he's generally not allowed to come out.
They seemed to be having a blast when they came out today.
After playing for a few rounds, Xiao Hei suddenly changed its demeanor, as if it had sensed something. Its two cat-like eyes were fixed on the deer pen, its entire body was arched, and it was making a purring sound, as if it were about to attack.
It was just that it wasn't very big and didn't look intimidating at all. Jiang Xi was amused by its cute but fierce appearance.
"How can you be so cute?" she said, pulling it into her arms. The leopard, which had been so fierce just moments before, instantly retracted its claws and turned into a docile kitten.
After collecting the clothes, Yan Zheng went to the deer pen and re-tied the child's hand to the wooden stake, checking it again in case of any accidents.
I kept the doors and windows tightly closed even when I went to bed at night, not daring to relax.
Fortunately, it's Christmas Eve again.
After a long day in the fields yesterday, Jiang Xi slept in late, a rare occurrence. When she woke up, it was already bright outside.
After changing my clothes and stepping outside, I discovered that there was food left for me on the octagonal table.
Stir-fried sweet potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, and a bowl of soy milk.
The sound of a hammer hitting the wall could be heard from outside from time to time.
It should be Yan Zheng and Yan Jing'an doing the work.
Jiang Xi washed her face and obediently finished her meal at home.
Then he went to see the deer pen, and someone put two sweet potatoes in his bowl, but he hadn't touched them yet.
Jiang Xi ignored it and locked the door to go about her own business.
The rabbits and sheep had already been fed, and Jiang Xi squeezed some goat milk for Xiao Hei.
Then he carried the basket on his back and went to find the two men.
Yesterday, a large portion of the hunter's house's courtyard wall was knocked down. Today, the demolition continues, but this time there are three people working on it.
Yan Zheng's arm hasn't fully recovered yet. He can only use a wooden rake to rak the stones that have fallen down from the clods of earth.
Jiang Xi picked up the stones from the smashed area and loaded them onto a wooden cart, which was then pulled by Xiao Lu and unloaded into the blacksmith's yard.
She has much greater arm strength now than before. She used to struggle to move a few bricks, but now she can move a rock the size of her head without feeling any weight.
Yan Zheng was quick; he and Yan Jing'an finished demolishing the entire courtyard wall in just one morning.
They ate some sweet potatoes for lunch, and in the afternoon, the three of them took all the stones they had collected to the blacksmith's yard and unloaded them into a pile.
By the time everything was finished, it was already late. I stir-fried a few plates of leafy greens with butter and had some sweet potatoes for dinner.
Unable to go hunting, they could only eat these three meals a day. Even Jiang Xi, who used to love vegetables, was now completely vegetarian.
We can only hope that things will calm down in the next few days and that no wild man or bear will show up again.
Once they were sure there was no danger, they were able to go into the mountains to obtain more food sources.
When the time comes, you can walk across the ridges of the fields and go to the lake to catch fish, wild ducks, wild pheasants, and even the wild duck eggs that you're tired of eating.
Thinking about the wonderful life ahead, Jiang Xi ate a few more bites of food.
When I brought the child dinner that evening, he was still quiet and didn't make a fuss. He stayed in the corner, just like yesterday, going to the bathroom first and then eating.
Jiang Xi prepared a basin of water for him to wash his hands and face, but he insisted on refusing, saying he was unwilling to wash off the black smear on his hands and feet.
Jiang Xi figured he probably had some inexplicable obsession with this thing, so she didn't press him. After thinking for a moment, she said, "You can leave first thing tomorrow morning."
This was also Yan Zheng's idea. He had been locked up for almost three days; if someone wanted to rescue him, they would have come long ago.
He suffered a great loss this time, and he probably won't provoke them again in the future.
When the child heard Jiang Xi say that, he was stunned for a moment, and then lowered his head again.
Jiang Xi didn't care what he thought; they had already treated the prisoners well, and the rest was not her concern.
After dinner, the three of them sat together around the oil lamp. Jiang Xi continued to crochet fabric, Yan Zheng sat on a wooden stool sharpening his tools, and Yan Jing'an twisted fiber rope for Jiang Xi. Whenever he had a free hand, he would play with Xiao Hei.
The three chatted casually, and eventually the conversation turned to the renovation plan for the courtyard.
Needless to say, the outer wall was originally separated from the two courtyards by a three-meter-wide path. Since the two courtyards were to be merged, this path had to be extended into the courtyards first.
However, the renovation and layout of the entire house were of paramount importance.
Yan Zheng was the first to suggest a solution, saying, "The main beams are still intact, but the most critical issue is the broken pillar outside. It wasn't supporting any weight, and a third of the roof has already collapsed."
"We need to find some more timber to make beams to support the weight of this section, repair the roof, and add more load-bearing timbers."
Regarding architecture, Jiang Xi had previously learned about the basic principles of ancient architecture, and she also noticed the issues Yan Zheng mentioned.
She listened and nodded, then added, "I checked the walls of the whole room and they're all in pretty good condition. We just need to clean them up."
"After the renovation is completed, some square bricks will be fired to be laid in the house as floor tiles, and some yellow bricks will be fired to divide the house in two, one as a living room and the other as a bedroom, and a brick bed will be built in addition."
Yan Zheng agreed with her opinion, and added, "It's good to leave the place where the firewall was. If there's time after the autumn harvest, we can reinstall the firewall."
This gives us a general idea of the direction for the modifications.
Jiang Xi looked at Yan Jing'an, who hadn't said a word, and asked, "As the homeowner, why don't you offer any opinions?"
He seemed indifferent: "You guys can arrange it, I'm fine with whatever you say."
This wasn't because he had any objections; it was precisely because he didn't care about these things.
I don't care where I live, or what kind of place it is, as long as I'm near them.
Jiang Xi looked down and, fiddling with the fabric, asked, "What about the kitchen? How do you want to set it up?"
She asked casually, but Yan Jing'an reacted very strongly to her question.
"No kitchen needed, we agreed to eat together."
Jiang Xi then realized that she had forgotten who had said that they shouldn't have separate kitchens and should eat together; it was an oversight on her part.
Yan Zheng laughed and said, "Okay, then let's share a kitchen. The blacksmith's kitchen can be converted into a small granary to store our usual food. That way it will be more convenient to take things back and forth."
Yan Jing'an hugged Xiao Hei and nodded, which was taken as agreement.
Yan Zheng thought for a moment and then said, "The two courtyards together are quite large. Why not keep the rabbit hutch in the other courtyard and then fence off another area with a wooden fence to make a sheep pen?"
"We only have one ewe right now. If we're lucky, we can get a ram and build a bigger sheep pen by using stones against the outer wall."
This arrangement is undoubtedly the most suitable at present, and none of them have any objections, so we will proceed with this plan for now.
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