Du Yuhan stewed both rabbits, adding some potatoes, and made a big pot of stew. She lined the edge of the pot with cornbread; some of it fell into the broth and became even more delicious. She also made a pot of cornmeal porridge.
While little Du Haisheng was drooling with anticipation, the rabbit meat was finally served amidst everyone's eagerness.
A large bowl of rabbit meat, along with potatoes, was placed directly on the prepared kang table.
On this dark and cold winter night, with the northwest wind howling, the second branch of the Du family ate rabbit meat, something they had never dared to dream of before.
It was the first time the three boys had eaten rabbit meat, and they thought it tasted even better than pork, although they couldn't remember what pork tasted like.
The Du Lianqiao family finally had their first full meal in many years, and in the end, they even poured all the vegetable soup into their porridge bowls and ate it all together.
The three boys, so full of themselves, lay in a row on the kang (a heated brick bed) holding their bellies, motionless, which made Du Lianqiao and his wife, along with Du Yuhan, chuckle.
Du Haifeng and Du Haichao kept saying they would go rabbit hunting every day so they could eat rabbit meat every day.
The hardships they had endured throughout their lives made them feel that this was the happiest and most heartwarming moment in all these years.
For ordinary people, the greatest happiness is being able to eat a full meal after years of hunger. In the face of hunger, everything else has to take a backseat; survival is the most important thing.
Both the east and west rooms of the main house are habitable, but considering that Du Yuhan is a girl, Du Lianqiao let Du Yuhan live alone in the west room, while the rest of the family of five lived in the east room.
Du Yuhan didn't refuse, which made it much easier for her to enter and exit the space. Besides, she wouldn't be staying for much longer; she estimated that Han Yixian's aunt, Han Xiuqin, would come to pick her up soon.
On the second night after the Du Lianqiao family moved in, everyone had a hearty meal and felt incredibly comfortable lying on the warm kang (heated brick bed). They finally slept soundly and peacefully.
Du Yuhan was finally able to have a room by herself, and she entered the space late at night.
Du Yuhan has already harvested the pasture, white radishes, and carrots planted on the land in the space several times. After several days of hoeing, sowing, watering, weeding, and harvesting, she has gained a lot of experience points. With one more day of hard work, she can accumulate two hundred experience points and level up to level one.
Upgrading also grants random gift packs, all of which are extra rewards. Once the farm reaches level two, you can plant wheat and rice. Both are food crops that Du Yuhan urgently needs.
Du Yuhan didn't keep any of the harvested hay and radishes; she sold them all to the store for gold coins.
Besides buying seeds, she needs to start saving gold coins now, because the bone-healing ointment for Han Yixian's leg is very expensive. She must accumulate enough gold coins, otherwise it will be useless if she doesn't have enough money to buy it when she reaches the required level.
Du Yuhan also tidied up the things in the villa and took stock of the things she could use in the future.
The villa has a lot of things, but many of them are out of touch with the times and cannot be used directly.
Aside from food and some cloth, she didn't need anything else for the time being. Even with the food and cloth, she had no excuse to take them out, which was really worrying.
The next day, Du Lianqiao's family didn't get up until dawn. It was the most restful and sweet sleep they had ever had. They truly slept until they naturally woke up.
In the morning, everyone in the family drank a bowl of thick corn porridge. Du Lianqiao also went into the mountains with Du Yuhan and her two siblings to collect firewood. He also wanted to learn how to set rabbit traps from his daughter so that the family could still have rabbit meat from time to time after she passed away.
They went to check the spot where they had set the rabbit snare the day before, and the results were very encouraging—they had caught another rabbit, though it had already frozen to death; it was too cold for it to be solid. Anyway, it was good to have a success.
Du Yuhan also carefully explained the methods and techniques for catching rabbits to her father. The two younger children listened attentively again.
Under Du Yuhan's guidance, Du Lianqiao tried to set up the rabbit traps and then went to collect firewood with the children, waiting to check the results when they returned.
The four of them, father and sons, gathered firewood. Du Lianqiao used a machete to cut dry branches, and they could also cut down dead trees and drag them home, quickly gathering quite a lot.
Du Lianqiao told Du Yuhan and Du Haichao to continue gathering firewood, while he and his eldest son would deliver it home and then come back. They wanted to gather as much firewood as possible so that it would be warmer in the winter.
Although the New Year is over, it will still be more than a month before the weather warms up, and we don't have enough firewood to burn.
When Du Lianqiao and his son returned home after delivering the firewood, Du Yuhan and her brother had already collected quite a bit more.
The four men gathered enough firewood, tied one bundle to each of them, and headed down to the place where the rabbits were caught.
This time, the rabbit snare was set up by Du Lianqiao under Du Yuhan's guidance. The location was also good, and two big rabbits were caught. The whole family was overjoyed.
Du Lianqiao felt that since they separated and started living separately, life at home had clearly improved. Everyone was in a good mood, and the oppressive feeling was gone. Everyone felt that there was hope for the future.
Du Lianqiao was a strong laborer, and with his help, the harvest of firewood collection and chopping increased significantly.
In fact, Du Yuhan also knows how to dig traps, but there are no large animals in their area, so digging traps wouldn't yield much and would be a lot of work.
The days passed by as Du Lianqiao and his three children gathered firewood, chopped wood, and hunted rabbits.
Because the family's meals have improved significantly, the family's physical and mental well-being has noticeably improved. They've all gained weight in their faces and are much healthier than before, no longer as thin as skin and bones.
Du Lianqiao and Du Yuhan's two younger brothers have mastered the skill of catching rabbits and have also gained some experience in recognizing the movement patterns of animals.
In fact, many things are interconnected. As long as you are good at observing and summarizing, you can always develop your own set of skills.
The family didn't eat all the rabbits that were caught; Du Yuhan kept the ones that were still alive in a makeshift burrow.
After collecting a few, they had Du Lianqiao secretly take them to the town's purchasing station. This way, the second branch of the Du family had some spare cash.
Life is getting better day by day.
Half a month after the second branch of the Du family separated, the family in the city that Liu Cuilian had found for Du Yuhan came to pick her up.
When Liu Cuilian led a middle-aged woman into the courtyard where the second branch of the Du family lived, Du Yuhan, who was tidying up firewood, immediately recognized the woman as Han Xiuqin, Han Yixian's eldest aunt.
The other members of the Du family's second branch all turned grim when they saw Liu Cuilian bring in a woman who looked like she was from the city.
The wonderful two weeks they had spent together had almost made them forget that Du Yuhan was getting married, and that their daughter/sister would continue to live with them. But today, their beautiful dreams were shattered; their daughter/sister was about to leave them.
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