Everyone was grilling meat that night, but when Yunheng sprinkled some spices on it, the air was filled with the unique aroma of barbecue.
Soon, some people couldn't resist the temptation and came over.
"I really can't stand it anymore, I miss this taste so much." Captain Xiao squatted down next to Yun Heng, but his eyes were fixed on the roasting meat on the fire.
"It smells good, doesn't it? Only my brother Cheng's family used to grow a few cumin plants, and it was only after a lot of effort that they managed to grow them."
What Yun Heng didn't know was that these cumin seeds were cultivated in her space before being transplanted. She had given many villagers seedlings this year, but they were not yet ready for harvest, so her stock was extremely precious.
"Could I trade some meat for these seasonings?"
"What are you thinking? We're already complaining about having too much meat, and we don't even know how we're going to take it back tomorrow. Besides, we only have this small bag, just enough for one meal." Yun Heng refused without even thinking.
"Brother Yong, I just heard you say that your village still grows cumin, is that right?" Aman had also come over at some point, but he was thinking about things much more deeply.
"Yes, we've planted them, but it's not harvest time yet; it'll be a few more months."
"Could we save some seeds then? We can exchange them again later."
"I really don't dare to agree to that right now. After all, we all only planted them this year, and each household only planted one or two. We don't even know if we'll be able to save any seeds." After all, many plants grow relatively slowly now, so the probability of saving seeds is much lower.
“There used to be a lot of these seasonings in my hometown, but after the disaster, no one thought about them. When we ran out of our stock and wanted to find more, we found that no one had any left.”
They usually add cumin when they smoke various kinds of dried meat. Because these seasonings are so common to them, they have forgotten about them. If Pinghe Village hadn't brought them out, they probably wouldn't have cared. But now their taste buds have been stimulated by the aroma, so the villagers asked him to come and inquire.
"If we can save some seeds, we'll exchange them for some for you later," Si Cheng agreed from the side.
"Want a piece?" The meat was ready, but the people surrounding him hadn't left yet, so Yun Heng asked politely.
"Thank you so much, I've been craving it right now," Captain Xiao immediately replied.
Although Aman didn't say anything, his eyes were fixed on the roasted meat in Yun Heng's hand.
"Here, grill it yourselves." Yun Jianying could see Yun Heng's reluctance, since he hadn't even tasted it himself and really didn't want to let others have it for free, so he simply stuffed a large piece of meat into each of their hands and let them handle it themselves.
Before dawn the next day, the people of Pinghe Village got up and began preparations.
They neatly stacked the strips of wild boar meat on the stretcher they had made overnight, laying two layers on top and securing them with rattan. By stacking several layers like this, the stretcher wouldn't come loose even if the stretcher swayed along the way.
"That should be enough. We can bring them all back at once. We can use the backpacks we brought to carry the plants. It's a pity we can't bring back more wild duck eggs this time."
“It’s okay if we can’t take it back. We’ll be staying at that campsite for another night, so we can have some extra food there.” Wu Yong had already made preparations. He could take advantage of staying at the campsite for another night to make some extra dry food so that he could eat it for the next few days.
"Why did you bring so little food up the mountain this time? You planned this all along without even giving us a heads-up."
“Remember this next time. Do you think we’ll go hungry once we’re up this mountain? If all else fails, we can just pick some wild mushrooms or gather some wild vegetables to get by.” Wu Yong had gone up the mountain several times and was much more experienced than them.
Si Cheng saw that Chief Wu and his group had also started preparing, and Chief Wu even came over to greet them personally.
"Is everything ready?"
"Everything was almost ready, and I was just about to go over and say hello to you, but I didn't expect you to come in person."
"I'm getting old, and I don't need to sleep as much. I'll have Amon take some men to go with you later. If you need anything, you can ask them whatever you want. Oh, and there's one more thing I want to ask you."
"Please ask."
“Last night I looked through the list and it seems there was one household that didn’t come up this time. I asked Captain Xiao, and he said that you had already negotiated with the higher-ups and wanted to ask about the specific situation.”
"It's the Lian family, father and son. They're still living in Baijia Village. They didn't have enough time this time, so they need to go back and pack some things. We'll bring them over next time we go into the mountains, or when one of you goes in or out."
"Are these two your relatives?" Chief Wu was not entirely sure. If they were indeed close relatives, they could be arranged to stay in Pinghe Village.
“The relationships here are a bit complicated. They are my mother’s blended family, and they separated later. This time he asked me for help, so I just mentioned it to them.” Si Cheng felt there was nothing to hide. “Last time, Baijia Village was attacked by a pack of wolves, and Lian Jianpeng’s wife and unborn child died on the spot. He felt that he would collapse if he stayed in Baijia Village, so he begged me to put in a good word for him and find another place.”
After hearing what he said, Chief Wu felt much relieved. With this kind of distant but not too close relationship, he wasn't worried about Chief Si getting too involved in the future.
"Brother Cheng, everyone is ready." Wu Yong reported to Si Cheng after seeing that everyone was ready.
Upon reaching the exit, which had been opened a crack, everyone noticed that the faces of the people from Xin San Village were extremely pale.
"Did you stay up all night? How are you going to make your way forward like this?" Yun Jianying frowned as he looked at them.
Wang Zili also knew that he and his group were in a bad state. "Yesterday, we didn't dare to close our eyes for a whole day. Whenever we closed our eyes, we always felt that the three of them were watching us. Later, we just endured it until dawn."
Yun Jianying didn't know what to say, but he could understand that they must have been shocked and felt guilty.
"Let's go. We'll only be walking for half a day today. You can rest properly at the next camp later. Otherwise, we won't stay to wait for you for the next few days." Si Cheng knew that only time could heal their mental ailments.
Si Cheng discovered that the three villages behind the mountain were quite incompatible. The last time they went into the mountain, they were so frightened by the sounds of the animals that they couldn't sleep. Now that Wang Zili and the others had experienced so much here, they had learned a profound lesson. They thought that in the future, they would not dare to easily agree to invite the people of the three villages to come up the mountain again.
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