Night falls.
Zhang Cheng heated up the noodles that Aunt Hua had brought over at noon, and he and Shi Yangyang ate a simple meal together.
Boiling water was poured into the basin, and white steam rose up.
Zhang Cheng wrung out the towel and wiped Shi Yangyang's face.
Her cheeks flushed, and her voice was barely audible.
"I can wash it myself."
Zhang Cheng grinned, his gaze burning:
"But I want to help you."
After washing up, he took off his heavy cotton-padded clothes and crawled into the warm, cozy bed.
Shi Yangyang's body stiffened slightly, and she could clearly feel his hand slipping under her lining and resting on her lower abdomen.
He pulled her closer to him with a slight force and whispered:
Go to bed early.
"Um."
Shi Yangyang responded lightly, and seeing that he did not make any further moves, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
If he really wanted it, she didn't know what to do.
Zhang Cheng held her close, his fingertips tracing unconsciously across her delicate skin, yet he felt no sleepiness whatsoever.
Shi Yangyang was held tightly in his arms, and she also found it difficult to fall asleep.
After an unknown amount of time, she reached out, grasped his hand that was resting on her lower abdomen, and slowly moved it upwards.
"Go to sleep."
Zhang Cheng abruptly pulled his hand away, his voice slightly hoarse.
"It's too cold, there's nowhere to take a shower."
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he was afraid of upsetting her.
She is in much better spirits now and is recovering rapidly.
"Rehabilitation"
.
Shi Yangyang slowly turned around, and with the faint moonlight from the window, she could barely make out the outline of his face.
"Pop!"
She suddenly leaned over and gave him a light peck on the lips.
Zhang Cheng's heart fluttered, and he tightened his arms, pulling her into a tight embrace.
The next morning, Aunt Hua's greeting woke Zhang Cheng.
He dressed neatly, opened the door of the consignment store, and Aunt Hua was standing outside with a lunchbox in her hand.
"Auntie, why so early?"
"Still early? The villagers have all gone up the orchard."
Aunt Hua walked into the shop and placed two aluminum lunch boxes on the table.
"Eat the porridge and steamed buns while they're hot, you and Yangyang."
Business at the consignment store is slow, but the villagers have already stocked up on most of their daily needs.
Zhang Cheng carried the lunchbox into the house, where Shi Yangyang had already put on her cotton shoes.
"Wife, breakfast is ready."
After breakfast, Zhang Cheng had nothing to do and was planning to visit Er Ya at the old house.
"elder brother!"
Zhang Weiguo and Li Qiming ran over carrying fishing nets and baskets.
What are you doing here?
"Qiming said he was going to catch some catfish and fry them."
Li Qiming grinned.
The stone tiger cubs in the mountain streams are about the size of a thumb; their meat is fresh and delicious, whether boiled in soup or fried.
The snow has melted, and the fish are starting to become active again.
"Brother, want to go together?"
Zhang Weiguo asked.
"Don't you have to work?"
"Just got back from a stroll around the orchard, just going through the motions is fine!"
Li Qiming chuckled.
"Alright, let's go together."
The three headed straight for the back of the mountain.
The stream is narrow and shallow, with clear, cool water.
It was too cold for anyone to go into the water.
Li Qiming rolled up his sleeves and moved stones to block the water flow.
Zhang Weiguo ran upstream and used a stick to slap the water's surface, driving the stone tiger downstream.
Before long, Li Qiming was using a net to scoop water from the blocked pool.
The water temperature is low, so the catfish are not very active. They can be caught easily, but there are not many of them.
After more than half an hour, I only got a little over half a pound, not even enough to fill a tooth gap.
"Too early!"
Li Qiming held the fish basket in his hand.
"Let's go catch turtles!"
Zhang Weiguo pointed to the stream.
“I saw the tracks left by the old turtle.”
Zhang Cheng was not as skilled at fishing or catching turtles as the two of them.
After observing for a moment, Li Qiming and Zhang Weiguo each picked up a rock weighing more than ten kilograms and smashed it against the large rock in the stream.
"Bang! Bang!"
When a rock hits a stream stone, water splashes everywhere, and the tremendous force can stun fish and turtles underneath.
After smashing around for a while, Li Qiming turned over the stream stones, but found no turtle, only some small fish and shrimp.
"Let's go see what's at the end of the stream."
Li Qiming made the suggestion.
More than half an hour later, the three of them climbed to the halfway point of the mountain.
The stream here seeps out from the mountain and, over time, has formed a large pool.
When it's hot, many young people in the village bathe here.
"Old turtle!"
Li Qiming let out a low shout and pointed to the edge of the pool.
A black turtle, weighing about five or six pounds, was breathing through its nose.
Zhang Weiguo reacted extremely quickly, quietly approaching with a fishing net.
"Gurgle!"
The turtle exhaled a string of bubbles, paddled with its limbs, and instantly disappeared into the deep water.
"This turtle is huge!"
Li Qiming sighed.
The turtle escaped, but the three were not discouraged.
Zhang Weiguo searched around for a while, then ran back with a frozen, furry mouse in his hand, and crushed it on the stream stones.
He took the net, placed the mangled rat carcass into it, sank it into the pool, and waited quietly.
After a short while, Zhang Weiguo's hands and feet were starting to feel stiff.
"This old turtle is a monster; it doesn't even show its head!"
He cursed as he put away the net and dumped the rat carcass into the pond.
Li Qiming grinned:
"When it gets warmer, we'll call more people, and we won't have to worry about not being able to touch it."
He handed the fish basket to Zhang Cheng:
"Brother, take these stone tiger roe and make soup."
"OK."
Zhang Cheng readily agreed, and the stone tiger soup was incredibly delicious.
The three returned along the stream.
Along the way, more than ten roe deer were drinking water by the stream. Startled, they scattered. One of them, in its panic, fell into the stream, got its foot stuck in a crevice, struggled for a few moments, and then choked to death.
Li Qiming and Zhang Weiguo looked at each other and smiled.
"The mountain god saw that we hadn't harvested much, so he delivered himself to our door!"
Li Qiming stepped across the stream stones, grabbed the dead roe deer, and pulled hard, forcibly freeing the deer's broken leg.
In the evening, the kitchen of the consignment store was filled with the aroma of meat.
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