Because they had a lot to do, including boiling salt water and digging up sweet potatoes and wild onions, the three of them decided to rest in the original cave for the night. Although the temperature was a bit low at night, they figured it would be fine to make do temporarily.
Early in the morning, Yan Zheng packed a shovel and a pot for boiling salt. With the wooden cart, he specially packed two pots this time. Since it wasn't easy to make a trip, he figured he might as well boil more salt water at once. So he also packed a basket and two earthenware jars.
Yan Jing'an took out his own medicine and also packed some external anti-inflammatory medicine just in case.
Jiang Xi steamed a dried rabbit, tore the rabbit meat apart by hand, and then divided it into three packages in a clean cloth bag. She also brought a cloth bag of root potatoes as dry food. Only after everything was prepared did she leave the house.
The trees and hills in the forest still carried the desolation of late winter, but the sunlight was extremely warm, and it brought a sense of cozy warmth to people.
The weather was great; it was a sunny day.
Yan Zheng led the deer ahead, while Yan Jing'an walked beside him. Only Jiang Xi, wearing a cloak, sat in the car. This was because she was walking too slowly and was wasting time.
Jiang Xi sat in the car, the sun shining warmly, and the swaying made her doze off.
Seeing her nodding her head, Yan Zheng couldn't help but laugh and said, "Jiang Xi, come down and walk around."
Jiang Xi, who was sitting in the car, had just dozed off when she heard Yan Zheng call her. She was a little annoyed and muttered, "I want to sleep for a while."
She thought she had spoken clearly, but what Yan Zheng actually heard was a mumbled, indistinct murmur.
Yan Zheng smiled and patted Jiang Xi on the shoulder: "Don't sleep, you'll catch a cold if you sleep in the car."
After calling her several times, Jiang Xi finally came to her senses. Her eyelids were incredibly heavy. After hearing Yan Zheng's words, she knew she couldn't act impulsively, so she simply got out of the car and followed it.
As you walk, you become more alert.
Only when you are in nature can you clearly feel the changes of the four seasons.
When I used to work, I would go to the office before dawn and get home at dusk after dinner. If I had to work overtime, I wouldn't even notice whether the leaves on the trees in the neighborhood were orange or green.
Looking up, you suddenly realize the leaves have all fallen, belatedly realizing winter has arrived; or, during your lunch break, you see the pink peach trees blooming at the entrance of your workplace, and only then do you realize spring has come.
People who work hard in the city seem to have lost the ability to perceive nature.
But here, she could truly feel the changes of the four seasons bit by bit. Although it was not yet time for grass to grow and birds to fly, the mountains and forests were already showing signs of green.
Everything began to revive, and small animals would occasionally make noises where they walked, such as gray-tailed squirrels running behind the car, or ladybugs hiding in the bushes on both sides.
This reminded Jiang Xi of the spring outings organized by her school when she was a child. Back then, she couldn't keep anything to herself, and most of the fun for children came from nature. She took Yan Zheng's hand and introduced him to ladybugs and lacewings.
As she pondered, her steps quickened, and Jiang Xi hurriedly ran to Yan Zheng's side, following his pace.
Before I knew it, the road didn't seem so long anymore.
When they reached the foot of the mountain and saw the scene before them, all three were taken aback, even though they had been mentally prepared.
At this moment, half of the hillside was covered with traces of water erosion, the watermarks like scars spread across the exposed mountainside. The three of them couldn't help but feel fortunate that they had moved away in advance.
Yan Zheng said to Yan Jing'an, "Let's do it here. There are sweet potatoes on both sides of the foot of this mountain. I'll leave the carriage for you. You can dig them up and load them directly onto the carriage. I'll take Jiang Xi to boil salt. We'll meet in the cave tonight."
Yan Jing'an had no objection. Yan Zheng unloaded the carriage for him: "We need to take Xiaolu with us in a while. With her, our journey will be much faster. You don't need to worry about the firewood tonight. When we come back from the forest, we'll have Xiaolu carry the firewood back with us."
Yan Jing'an nodded: "Okay."
This arrangement is the most time-saving and labor-saving.
After taking down the wooden cart, basket, and shovel, Yan Zheng took out a bag of dried meat and a few sweet potatoes, and tied two pots to the deer's back. He then led Jiang Xi toward the cave.
It's possible that because there's a lot of snowmelt here, the entire mountain path isn't completely dry yet, and the way up is very slippery; both of them stepped into muddy mud.
Jiang Xi almost slipped and fell, and Yan Zheng could only hold her hand carefully, not daring to let go even for a moment.
Inside the cave, about two or three meters in, some fallen leaves and withered grass had been brought in by the snowmelt, but the rest of the cave wasn't as badly damaged as they had thought.
The two didn't linger and headed towards the back of the mountain with the deer. As they passed through the cave corridor, Jiang Xi suddenly heard a chirping bird.
Yan Zheng joked, "As soon as we left, birds started building nests."
Jiang Xi smiled and didn't think much of it: "It seems we did rob their house before."
Nature belongs to all things.
After leaving the cave, Jiang Xi climbed onto the deer's back. It wasn't that she couldn't walk, but the entire back mountain was flooded, and the path was all muddy. Anyone with a slightly unstable back would slip after a few steps.
Yan Zheng originally said he would dig up all the wild onions on the hillside, but when he actually went there, he found that nearly half of the wild onions had been washed away by the water. Fortunately, Jiang Xi buried her taro in a relatively high place, and the rock was still standing there steadily.
Time was of the essence, and there was no time to lament the loss of the wild onions. Yan Zheng dared not linger for too long and continued leading the deer toward the salt spring.
When we arrived at the salt spring, it was already midday. The forest was bare of leaves, and some sunlight could still penetrate.
Fortunately, the water in the salt spring hadn't dried up, and the stone fire pit they used to boil salt last time was still there, which saved them some effort.
Yan Zheng rinsed the pot with some water, then filled it with salt water again, lit the fire, and told Jiang Xi, "You keep watching, I'll go gather firewood."
Jiang Xi nodded, holding the wooden shovel. Then, as if remembering something, she looked at Yan Zheng with bright eyes and said, "There used to be a Sichuan pepper tree here, do you remember? Could you please go and pick some more to take back later?"
The last word had a slight lingering sound, and Yan Zheng felt a sense of comfort upon hearing it.
"Okay, later, I'll gather some firewood first."
This seasoning was used up faster than he had imagined. There weren't many fresh peppercorns left after they were dried, and he had also pickled a lot of things during the autumn and winter.
When there's no chili to warm us up in winter, we think about adding more Sichuan peppercorns and black pepper, and before long, we've eaten almost nothing.
In the afternoon, they had already boiled two pots of water. After the two of them ate some food to fill their stomachs, Yan Zheng carried his basket up the mountain.
An hour or two later, I returned with a basket full of Sichuan peppercorns.
By the time the sun was setting in the afternoon, they had boiled more than half a jar of salt. Jiang Xi felt that the salt boiled in this salt spring was saltier than the bagged salt they had bought before, so they didn't actually eat it very quickly.
This jar should last for about six months.
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