Chapter 196 On the Mountain
"Let's climb the mountain and take a walk." Huo Beixi stabilized the motorcycle, and after getting off, he carried Hua Xiali off the motorcycle. This place is in the territory of the next county, but it is quite far away from the county and it is sparsely populated. Even the locals probably don't come here. No one knows why Huo Beixi suddenly had the urge to come here.
Huo Beixi walked slowly inside, holding food and drinks in one hand and holding Hua Xiali in the other. The mountains here were not very high, only a few hundred meters above sea level, but looking at the rolling mountains in front of them was also very spectacular.
After the two walked for a while, they heard a sound. Hua Xiali pricked up his ears and listened carefully, "Huo Beixi, did you hear any sound?"
"It should be the sound of an animal!" Huo Beixi said.
"Ah?" Hua Xiali couldn't help but exclaimed, "Then will we be in danger?"
"Are you scared?" Huo Beixi asked with a smile.
"Of course I'm not afraid of death, I'm just afraid that I'll never meet you again." If it weren't for her rebirth, how would she have the chance to be with Huo Beixi!
In her previous life, she could only go to Huo Beixi's grave and chat with him when no one was around. After she got used to chatting with him, she didn't know if she had fallen in love with him in her previous life. In her heart, she silently treated him as her own lover, chatting with him, burning paper money for him, and sweeping his grave.
So that his grave will not be covered with weeds.
"We won't die. This is not a deep forest. There won't be any ferocious beasts. I guess the sound was made by the livestock raised by the villagers in the mountains."
After that, the two of them walked up along the goat path in the mountain. When they reached halfway up the mountain, they saw a group of sheep. Some were white, some were black, and they looked quite cute.
Hua Xiali smiled and said, "How about we come here during the Chinese New Year and buy two lambs to eat? I want to eat a whole roasted lamb."
"Okay, then come and buy some. The sheep are still small now and there is not enough meat. Let them grow for another two months." Huo Beixi said. Even if his family did not have that much money, he could still make sure his wife could eat whatever she wanted.
After the two of them took a few steps, they saw an old man coming over with a pole. Hua Xiali asked curiously, "Master, did you raise this sheep?"
The eldest grandfather nodded and said, "Yes, I raised him."
"Can you leave two for us? We'll come and buy them at the end of the year." Hua Xiali said with a smile.
"Okay." The eldest master agreed directly, and then looked at them curiously, "Are you here to play in the mountains?"
"Yes!" Hua Xiali responded.
"Everyone has moved away from this mountain, and there are no houses left. But the scenery is good. If you feel hungry later, you can come to my house for dinner." The eldest grandfather said, pointing to a rather spacious stone house next to him.
"Okay, then thank you, Grandpa. We will come to your house to bother you later." Hua Xiali also agreed readily. All the people in her grandmother's mountain village moved down the mountain, leaving the village empty. It should be the same here. After all, living in the mountains is not very convenient, especially for children's education. In order to give their children a good future, most people will move out.
It’s just that some people will occasionally go back to visit their old houses, while some people completely abandon their old houses.
If she has children in the future, she will definitely let them go to school in the city, but she will not abandon the houses in other places, nor will she let the houses collapse and be overgrown with weeds, unless she dies someday.
Hua Xiali whispered to Huo Beixi, "Let's take our things to the boss later, so we don't come empty-handed."
Huo Beixi nodded.
Afterwards, the two of them walked up along the stone path. As they walked up, they saw stone courtyards scattered everywhere. The stones were grayish white, the same color as the mountain. It was really difficult to find any houses if you didn't look carefully, especially in winter when the whole mountain looked desolate and bleak. The houses were of this color, making them look even more desolate and bleak.
"The houses here are all well built. The wisdom of the ancients in architecture is truly admirable." Hua Xiali said with admiration as she looked at the houses standing safely in the mountains.
"When spring comes and everything becomes more diverse and the trees sprout new buds, this place will look even better." Huo Beixi said, "Are you interested in this place?"
"I really want to buy this place and turn it into a farm stay, but this is just a temporary idea and I haven't thought it through yet!" Twenty years later, when Qinglong Village was demolished, she could no longer grow sugarcane or vegetables. She had no business left but the store in the city.
So she could indeed consider this matter, but not now. She doesn't want to keep herself so busy now because she wants to live a good life.
But she really needs to have a new business, otherwise in twenty years, she will only have a few stores left.
Walking on the path of the ancient mountain village, looking at the large courtyards on both sides and the large stones and rocks on the courtyard walls, Hua Xiali was very impressed. "In the past, there was no cement or glue. How do you think they built such a solid house?"
"The ancients had mortar and glutinous rice ash. The glutinous rice ash was used in the emperor's tomb. The ancients were much smarter than we imagined," said Huo Beixi.
Hua Xiali nodded thoughtfully, "Indeed."
Seeing that the time was almost up, the two of them carried their things and walked towards the yard where the smoke was coming out of the chimney. At present, the eldest grandfather was the only one in the mountain, so the place where the smoke was coming out was naturally the eldest grandfather's home.
When they arrived at the gate of the old man's house, although the gate was open, the two people did not go in directly. Instead, they knocked on the door politely and waited for the old man to come out before they went in.
The yard of the eldest master's house is also paved with stones, and it is clean and tidy, as if it had been washed by rain. However, it has not rained recently, which means that the eldest master cleaned it himself.
"Master, we are sorry to bother you." Hua Xiali handed the things in his hand to the old master, "Master, this is what we brought today, I hope it can be of some use to you."
The eldest master took it and said, "Thank you, please sit down and have a rest. Lunch will be ready soon."
How could two people sit there and wait for the old man to cook? Huo Beixi went behind the stove to help the old man light the fire, and Hua Xiali waited beside him to help. "Old man, how long have the people in this village moved out? I see that everyone's houses are well preserved, as if they haven't moved out for long!"
The eldest grandfather raised his cloudy eyes and glanced up, as if thinking, "It's been almost ten years since we moved out! Your house is so nice and clean because I weed and tidy it up whenever I have time. I can't bear to see your house being devoured by weeds."