Chapter 93
"What are they doing?"
"Looks like you want to go to Dunzi Island, right?"
"Why do you want to go to Dunzi Island? Is there any rare mountain creature on the island?"
"Look, they've disembarked and are heading to Dunzi Island!"
Several passenger ships were sailing slowly on the Wujiang River, and the passengers on them were all looking at a small boat anchored near Dunzi Island.
It was on this small boat that Gu Ran, the last one to reach the island, reached out and asked Pei Liu, who had already landed, to pull him up, and then he stood on Dunzi Island.
Gu Ran sighed softly and turned to the boatman, saying, "Thank you, Uncle Liu. Remember to come pick us up around noon in three days at the appointed time."
"Don't worry, I'll remember it." Boatman Liu nodded, turned the boat around and rowed back to the Donglin Township ferry.
Because they planned to take a boat to Dunzi Island today, Gu Ran had already found some fishermen on the riverside when he went to the Donglin Township market a few days ago, and rented a small boat to take them to Dunzi Island.
That's why I was able to come here so early today.
"To get from our village to the Donglin Township ferry, we have to rent someone else's fishing boat to take us here. It's too much trouble and not worth it!" It seems that it would be great if we had our own boat.
Do you want Master Huang to build one for you?
Can Master Huang build a boat?
How much silver would that little boat cost?
Even if we have a boat, we have to find a place to store it when it is not in use. Does it have to be stored at the Donglin Township Ferry?
Gu Ran made note of the first transportation problem she had to overcome to reach Dunzi Island. She took out a mask from a small backpack on her side and put it on. She then tied up her trouser cuffs and took out a medicine bag and hung it around her waist. She then found a bundle of mugwort from the bamboo basket she was carrying, lit it, and finally grabbed a sickle. She then followed Pei Liu and Li Ji, who were dressed like her, and walked towards Dunzi Island.
Fortunately, it is the end of October now, the weather has cooled down, and there are fewer snakes, insects, mosquitoes and flies in the forest. As for being afraid of encountering big beasts, she now has two bodyguards with martial arts skills, so she is not afraid.
The reason why Gu Ran came to Dunzi Island this time was, first, to explore the terrain and environment of Dunzi Island, second, to see the condition of the wild orange trees that Pei Liu mentioned, and third, to see if he would meet the madman who had injured Pei Liu.
Neither she nor Li Ji had ever been to Dunzi Island, so the person who acted as a guide was naturally Pei Liu, who had been to Dunzi Island.
Pei Liu led the way based on his memory, using a sickle to cut down the bushes and branches that blocked his way. At the same time, he relied on his memory to find the location of the wild orange tree he saw when he came to Dunzi Island a year ago.
Gu Ran was also walking behind, observing the trees and plants on Dunzi Island.
Although it is winter now, the flowers, plants and trees on Dunzi Island are as lush and green as those on Dayu Forest.
The difference is that the branches here do not grow as densely as those in the island forests, but are very loose. The trunks do not look as strong as those in the island forests, and most of them are thin and slender, perhaps because the trees are still young.
But the road I was walking on was in the outer forest, so it was not surprising that there were no towering trees.
Perhaps like the island forests, the deeper you go, the older the trees are.
Because they are in the same general geographical location, the plant species on Dunzi Island are almost the same as those in the island forest. Shrubs, weeds, cypresses and fir trees are all plants she is familiar with.
She even heard familiar bird calls: the chirping of yellow finches, the chirping of lorikeets, and the low humming of scarlet swallows, not to mention the drawn-out calls of various gulls and seabirds.
It seems that the weather is getting colder. Unlike the north at this time of year where thousands of birds fly across the path, Minzhou has welcomed a large number of migratory birds passing through for the winter. The colder it gets, the more migratory birds migrate south for the winter.
In the first life, Minzhou was the best place for winter bird watching, and the same is true in the current Great Sheng Dynasty.
It is also because the weather is not cold. Although the activities of animals, insects and flies have become lazy, there are still many active winter insects. However, compared with the incessant bird calls, the chirping of these winter insects is much weaker.
After walking silently behind Pei Liu for about an hour, they first found a cave that could accommodate people.
After all, we plan to stay on Dunzi Island for three days this time, so finding a cave to spend the night is the most important thing.
Not many people have been to Dunzi Island, so the cave is very primitive. We can only clean it up by ourselves, light some mugwort to smoke it, and then take a rest outside.
The three of them unloaded their bamboo baskets and placed them at the entrance of the cave. Although they brought drinking water, they still drank sparingly as they could not find a clean water source on Dunzi Island.
Gu Ran chose a stone and sat on it, then took out the rice balls and sesame cakes he had made yesterday.
Fortunately, the weather is cooler now, so the food will not spoil easily. So I made two more days' worth of food and packed it in a bamboo basket for Pei Liu and me to bring over.
Now I took out a small portion to fill my stomach, and put the rest in the cave.
I have to explore the island later, maybe I can hunt some wild animals, so I need to make some space. So I have to move out the straw mats, quilts, pots and jars that I brought with me and put them in the cave.
When Gu Ran and Pei Liu were eating their rice balls, they saw Li Ji taking out some dry steamed buns from the bamboo basket he brought and eating them. Originally, Gu Ran, the host, did not provide food, but since they were all on the island and were family, he gave Li Ji a few rice balls.
She had a space compartment with her, which contained a lot of food, so she could secretly cook for herself at any time. So she gave some rice balls to Li Ji, in order to treat him well and bribe him to work for her.
Sure enough, Li Ji was just gnawing on his steamed bun with an aloof and indifferent look on his face. Well, actually, he was feeling uncomfortable.
After all, he was the prisoner he was escorting a year ago, but now he has become his boss in the blink of an eye. This reversal of status makes him feel awkward, no matter how humble he is.
Now seeing that Gu Erniang didn't care about her becoming an exile and had a calm attitude, she quickly calmed down. She took the rice ball and took two bites. Her eyes lit up slightly, and while eating, she asked about their real purpose of coming to this wild island.
"I'm telling you now, can you please stop yelling at people outside?"
Gu Ran has seen Li Ji's abilities and trusts his character. She wants to hire Li Ji as a good employee in the future. Since Li Ji has been sent to Xiaxi Village, he must work to earn money. She wants to build an orange orchard, so she will definitely need manpower. So it's okay to hire Li Ji to look after the orchard or manage people, right?
Li Ji nodded: "I'm not a talkative person."
"Actually, I bought this Dunzi Island."
Li Ji looked at Gu Erniang, so shocked that he even forgot to eat the rice ball. He looked at her for a long time, then looked at Pei Liu.
Pei Liu nodded.
My goodness, how long has she been in Minzhou? And she's already saved enough money to buy an island?
"You, buy an island, what are you going to do?"
"Growing oranges."
Gu Ran chuckled, drank two sips of water, and put the bamboo basket back on his back.
Grow oranges? Buy an island?
Can’t we just plant it in Xiaxi Village?
Li Ji was puzzled.
He had just arrived in Xiaxi Village and had not heard about the accident in the orange orchard of the Liu and Zhu families in Donglin Township. Although he was puzzled by Gu Erniang's generous move to buy an island to plant orange trees, he did not ask too many questions.
Anyone who can save so much money to buy an island in such a short time must have better vision than ordinary people. Since she has decided to buy an island specifically for growing orange trees, there must be a reason for it.
He was just a hired worker, and as long as he was not short of wages, he had to do his bidding.
After resting for a while, the three of them set off lightly, and Pei Liu led them to finally find the place where they saw wild orange trees when they first arrived on the island.
It is in a valley.
There are some on the valley slopes and on the grass at the bottom of the valley.
They grow in a scattered and sparse manner.
Generally, wild orange trees in the mountains have two initial sources. One is that they grow from seeds abandoned by human activities. The other is that they grow from seeds that birds accidentally eat or carry away from other places and eventually bury in the soil.
Because there were very few people on Dunzi Island, Gu Ran thought it was the latter.
Both require suitable temperature and environment for orange seeds to germinate and grow into trees. Therefore, it is speculated that the soil and climate on Dunzi Island are extremely suitable for the growth of orange trees.
At a glance, there were only three or four orange trees on the slope of the valley, not far apart from each other. The branches of two of the trees were entangled together, like climbing plants, and the branches were covered with thorns.
There are more orange trees in the valley, about eight in total. Some grow two together, while others grow one by one far away from each other. These trees look more natural, and the plants are stronger than those on the valley slopes, like real orange trees.
Because it is the fruit-bearing season, there are many fruits on the orange trees, but perhaps they are late-ripening varieties, most of them are half orange and half green.
Gu Ran picked an orange from each tree, of course, he chose the ripe ones, peeled them, and tasted them.
Some are bitter and sweet, while others are sour and sweet. These are not orange varieties that can be sold directly. To see how they taste in the end, we have to wait until they grow longer and fully mature.
Of course, this time Gu Ran came specifically to look at the mountains that would be suitable for transplanting orange trees in the future.
Now that I see these wild orange trees, I naturally mark the boundaries.
"Let's open up this large area around the valley and plant it all with orange trees." Gu Ran marked out a circle in the dense woods in front of him, deciding the scope of the future orange orchard. Then he looked towards the valley and said, "Don't waste this small hill. Plant it all with orange trees."
"Where are these original wild orange trees?" Pei Liu asked.
"We must wait until they finish harvesting this season." Gu Ran said, looking down at the ground.
Because no one picks them, the oranges grown every year fall to the ground when they ripen, and after rotting with the fallen leaves, they form layers of humus.
Orange trees also require fertile soil, plenty of sunlight, and plenty of water.
The soil in this valley is obviously very fertile, and in Minzhou, where it is hot and rainy, the orange trees will have enough rain to grow even without watering. In addition, there is also plenty of sunlight.
The plants in this valley are short and sparse, but this does not prevent the orange trees from absorbing sunlight.
That's why she planned to reclaim this piece of land and cut down all the extra trees around it, so that she wouldn't have to worry about other tree species competing with the orange trees for sunlight.
"After the oranges have harvested and all have fallen, we'll come back next spring to dig them out and find another place to replant them."
It is late autumn now. Although the climate here is not too cold, the low temperature will still have an inhibitory effect on plants. Spring is the season for growth of all things. Transplanting at that time will naturally be better for the growth of orange trees. Even if there is some damage, the possibility of withering can be reduced due to the active cells.
Although these wild orange trees are not edible, we can still try to improve them and they should naturally be preserved.
But the other trees around these orange trees are different.
They had to be cut down altogether to prevent them from continuing to grow strong after the winter, which would hinder her from planting the orange saplings she had bought.
So now we have to clear the valley. Firstly, it will remove all kinds of trees and shrubs and reduce other parasitic pests. Secondly, we can take advantage of the winter to maintain the land.
Now that the plan was made, Gu Ran immediately put it into action.
Today I measured the valley, which is about one acre, plus half an acre on the valley slope. It seems that the land is still not enough to plant orange trees.
In order to facilitate future maintenance, Gu Ran did not plan to plant densely, so he only planted sixty orange trees per acre.
In such an area of one and a half acres, only about ninety trees can be planted. For a large-scale orange grower who wants to open an orange orchard, less than a hundred trees are far from enough.
So Gu Ran searched again at the back of the valley and found another forest with the same sparse branches. She demarcated another two acres of land and determined the scale of the first generation of her orange orchard.
The first day ended after the site was selected.
While it was still early, I planned to return to the cave where I had chosen to spend the night.
On the way, they found a rabbit hole. Gu Ran and Pei Liu, who were experienced, worked together to dig out two wild rabbits, intending to roast them and eat them at night. When they saw a spring, they processed the rabbits by the stream and then returned to the cave.
All the things they stored in the cave were there, so the three of them split up and worked separately. Li Ji was responsible for finding stones to build a stove, Pei Liu was responsible for collecting firewood, and Gu Ran was responsible for preparing the mats in the cave and getting the pot and salt.
By the time the bonfire was lit, it was completely dark, but the sounds of birds and insects in the woods became clearer.
And the fire too.
Two fires were lit, one for cooking soup and the other for roasting meat.
Make the soup with a few bones that have been stripped of meat, and then add some dried bamboo shoots and dried vegetables.
Steam came out from the edge of the wooden lid on the pot, and the boiling soup made a bubbling sound in the pot. From time to time, the wooden lid was pushed up, and the steam turned into white mist in the darkness, slowly spreading out and warming the surrounding air.
Although it was not cold during the day, the temperature at night in the mountains was lower than during the day. Gu Ran and Pei Liu, who had adapted to the climate of Minzhou, brought extra thick cloaks, intending to put on more clothes when it was cold at night. Now that the fire was on, there was no need to do so for the time being.
While the hot soup was boiling, the rabbit meat cut into pieces was sizzling.
Gu Ran took three small bowls, scooped hot soup into one for each person and drank it. After a mouthful of hot soup, their whole bodies felt warm.
Although today we were just exploring the route and demarcating the area for planting orange trees, we still walked quite a distance. After getting tired, I relaxed and ate and drank, and I felt better.
All three of them were emotionally stable people. They ate in silence, feeling quite at ease.
While eating and drinking, Gu Ran had already started planning his future plans in his mind.
But this is my own plan, I will just ask someone to do it when the time comes. Before that step, I don’t want to tell these two people. I just enjoy the food quietly. When I have beautiful thoughts in my mind, I look up at the sky and see the beautiful night sky.
The winter nights when the weather turns cold are very clear and clean.
Unlike the numerous and lively stars in summer nights, the stars in winter are reserved, quiet, and few in number, but each one is shining brightly, as if carefully selected and polished by someone.
It’s a pity that there is no moon tonight. I always feel like something is missing.
After putting away the soup pots and bowls, it was time to rest. On the first night, Li Ji was on guard while Gu Ran and Pei Liu went to rest in the cave.
No words were spoken all night.
The next day, the three of them gathered all the things in the cave and moved to the valley that they had fenced off the day before to plant orange trees.
At the back of the valley, they found a pile of rocks with several caves inside that could be used for living. What was even better than this cave was that there was a stream around the caves. Living in those caves was certainly more convenient than living in the caves here, so they moved there directly.
After everything was moved to the cave, Gu Ran planned to explore the surrounding area by herself. As for Li Ji and Pei Liu, they stayed and started cutting down trees and removing bushes on the acres of land she had designated.
"Are you going alone?" Pei Liu was not very reassured about Gu Ran's plan.
"It's cheaper to do things separately!" It's also more efficient.
There are still two days left as agreed with Liu Changong. It is impossible to open up all three and a half acres of woodland in these two days, but it has to be dealt with first. Gu Ran has brought the saw used for land reclamation before. Pei Liu and Li Ji are both strong people, so of course they will do the work first, and she will go to familiarize herself with her own island.
"Don't worry. I was alone when I entered the miasma forest before. I will be careful." Gu Ran comforted him, knowing what Pei Liu was worried about.
No matter what danger there is, she still has a workshop!
It can be used by one person, but she would not dare to use it with more than one person, so she went to the woods to take a look by herself, and it was still very convenient.
Village chief Wu said that Dunzi Island is about 200 acres in size, and she really wants to find out what is on the island.
I'm going to come here and plant orange trees in the future. If I have to stay overnight while taking care of them, I can't always live in a cave, right?
So it is necessary to find a place to build a house.
After persuading Pei Liu, and seeing them take out hoes and saws and start working, Gu Ran put on the bamboo basket and headed towards the front of the forest.
After walking out of the mountain bordering the mixed woods, we entered a forest dominated by nanmu trees.
Feeling the lushness and thickness of the trees covering the sky, Gu Ran thought he had entered the deep forest of Dunzi Island. After walking out of the nanmu forest, he saw a river stretching before him.
The river water is clear and sparkling.
From time to time, birds would land and drink and play by the river. When they saw people coming, some of them would fly away, while some would be brave enough to continue combing their hair by the water.
Gu Ran took a rest by the river, took out pen and ink from the workshop, wrote down the places he had visited since he came to the island yesterday, and roughly drew a simple map.
The river is about three meters wide. Standing by the river and looking to the other side, you can see another lush forest, and a mountain peak is visible above the treetops in the distance.
Gu Ran wanted to walk to the other side of the river to take a look, but he couldn't cross the river.
I looked upstream and downstream and saw some large rocks sticking out of the river upstream from a distance, so I walked over there.
The place on the other side of the river upstream, where the birds had gathered just now, was actually a swamp. However, Gu Ran had no intention of going there and only stayed at the place with the big rocks.
Noting the traces of water on the shore, it seems that the water level of the river has not dried up in winter. These stones, one every two or three steps, form a natural stone jumping bridge.
Gu Ran walked over on the stones. The woods next to the river bank on this side were not big. After walking for less than a minute, he saw a grassland covered with rocks. After passing the rocky grassland, he arrived at the mountain he had just seen by the river.
But it is a series of mountain ranges close together.
The highest peak stood straight up, and the smaller hills that followed were relatively low, only about fifty to twenty meters high. The smallest was just a hillside as tall as a tree.
At the foot of the mountain, there are clusters of various trees and a small lake, and the scenery is quite beautiful.
Gu Ran walked around the foot of the mountain and found nothing special. It would probably take a lot of time to walk around the foot of the mountain to the forest behind the mountain, so he stopped and walked back.
Her purpose this time was to explore the way, and she did not pay special attention to any special tree species in the forest along the way, especially on the return trip, she was only focused on hurrying on.
When she returned to the back of the valley along the same route, she saw that a large area of the original mixed woods had been cleared, and a lot of cut trees, flowers and plants were piled on the side.
Pei Liu and Li Ji, who had worked all day, had already built a bonfire next to the cave and started boiling water and cooking.
"You're finally back. I was just thinking about going to look for you." Pei Liu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her.
"I'm calculating the time. Now is the perfect time to come back."
Two caves were also cleared out, one big and one small.
The smaller one was naturally for Li Ji to live in, while the larger cave was for Gu Ran and Pei Liu to spend the night together.
When Gu Ran was helping to make the soup, he discovered that there was a chicken skeleton in the pot.
"Did you catch any pheasants?"
"Yeah." Pei Liu nodded, then glanced at Li Ji, "Uncle Li is very skilled and found the pheasant's nest and caught it."
Li Ji also glanced at Pei Liu coldly before saying to Gu Ran, "Yesterday I ate the hare you caught, and today I'm eating the pheasant I caught. It's a courtesy."
Gu Ran smiled and nodded: "Very good, very good."
Pei Liu, however, was lighting a fire nearby, and he said slowly, "Tomorrow..."
Gu Ran waited for a long time, but without waiting for Pei Liu's next words, he patted Pei Liu's shoulder and went to get the salt and ingredients.
The chicken bones were used to make soup. She also dried some bamboo fungi, and the chicken bone and bamboo fungi soup was quite delicious.
The three of them drank the chicken soup and chicken happily. If they weren't satisfied, they could also eat the rice balls they brought with them. They wrapped them in leaves and heated them on the campfire, which was also very delicious.
Last night, Pei Liu was the last one to wash the dishes and pots, and today it was Li Ji's turn.
When they were discussing who would keep watch tonight, Gu Ran said, "Let me do it. You've been chopping trees all day and have done more work than me. You'll have to continue tomorrow, so you need to get enough rest, otherwise you'll miss tomorrow's work."
"Okay." Pei Liu did not refuse and agreed.
He and Li Ji had already cleared the forest in front of the valley today, and then cut down a piece of forest behind the valley. They were really tired and needed to rest.
So, after Li Ji came back, the two of them went to rest, and Gu Ran sat by the campfire and kept watch.
On a quiet winter night, with the beautiful starry sky and the continuous chirping of birds and insects, I don’t feel lonely at all.
While enjoying the beautiful scenery of the mountains and forests, Gu Ran took out a handful of chestnuts to roast.
It was prepared in advance to kill the long night.
When the chestnuts are roasted in the fire, there will be crackling sounds as the shells crack. When you are sure they are done, use a branch to push away the burnt branches and dead leaves on top, pick out the roasted chestnuts one by one, and then you can peel them and eat them.
While Gu Ran was peeling chestnuts attentively, a dark shadow slipped into the cave where they had spent the night the night before.
The black shadow lay in the cave, blending into the darkness, but the tip of its protruding nose twitched slightly twice, smelling the remaining incense, and then two long arms began to grope around in the cave.
The night wind blew gently, spreading the chirping sounds of insects throughout the forest.
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