"What I discovered yesterday... I was thinking that I couldn't go to that mountain in that direction anymore, so I changed direction today. I don't know where it is, but it was easier to walk than yesterday's mountain. As I walked, I saw a lot of graves, one after another, and then I found a lot of newly dug marks, with some skeletons still outside. I felt something was off, but I didn't know if it was important or not, so I came to find you. I remember you guys were talking about tomb raiding once, right? Does this count? Uncle Ma, it seems like the people you introduced me to last time are all quite impressive, they all seem very capable. Who are they?"
“What you said will be useful. It’s not as urgent as yesterday. I still have to go to the county in a bit, so you don’t need to go today. I know where you are. If the police come, just explain the situation in more detail. Those old men are just like me. If you need anything in the future, don’t hesitate to ask them. They’ll definitely be helpful.”
"Wow, Uncle Ma, you guys are all hidden masters! Uncle, you have to tell me more about your skills in the future so I can learn more. Yesterday, I was afraid that the man would discover me, so I didn't dare to see what he looked like. I feel so regretful, I feel ashamed of my parents and my country for not catching the bad guy on the spot."
"Try going into the mountains again, and I'll teach you a lesson. You've been spoiled rotten. All you know is theory and empty talk. Who can you possibly deal with? These next few days, you'd better just stay here and chop firewood, you hear me?"
"I heard that. I'm right behind my house on the hill. I don't want to go anywhere else. It's too dangerous."
"Let's go quickly! I still need to go to the county."
After returning home, An Moxue decided to stay in the mountains and chop firewood on the hill behind her house instead of going deep into the mountains.
For several days in a row, An Moxue chopped firewood during the day and returned home early in the afternoon, piling up a large heap of firewood with the help of her spatial storage, one pile of branches and another of wood.
She wasn't sure if it was enough, so after dinner she went to find Old Ma again. Before she even entered the yard, she called out, "Uncle Ma, are you home?"
"What's wrong? Come in and tell me."
"I'd like you to check if I have enough firewood."
"Let's go now." So the two of them walked towards An Moxue's house, saying as they went, "Uncle Ma, were the clues I provided a few days ago useful?"
“It’s useful. Now the militia from each village has been assigned to lie in ambush on the hilltops with large graves. Don’t tell anyone.”
"Uncle Ma, do you think they're just digging up graves or do they have other motives?"
"It's hard to say. It's too easy for people in these mountains to do something bad."
When Uncle Ma arrived at An Moxue's house, he exclaimed, "Good heavens! No wonder she went deep into the mountains; there are lots of big, dry logs everywhere!"
"You've gone quite a distance and made quite a few trips; that's about it. Next time you go up the mountain, just pick up some more as you go. Also, gather some pine cones or needles to keep for kindling; you'll need to put those in sacks. Since this is all dried out, go to the brigade headquarters and ask for some straw to weigh it down so it doesn't get wet in the rain. Not bad, it looks quite presentable. Plant the vegetables early next year; we can't possibly eat all of this."
"Uncle, is there any work left after we finish husking the corn?"
"What are you planning to do now?"
"I didn't have much experience in the first year, so I just asked questions."
"There are still some odd jobs, but not many. Okay, I'm going back now."
"Uncle Ma, take care." Old Ma waved and left.
No sooner had Old Ma left than Aunt Guo from the village chief's house arrived. "Mo Xue, are you home?"
"Auntie, come in quickly."
"I've invited a few people to go dig up some dandelions and wild garlic tomorrow. We'll pickle them to eat when we're husking corn. Do you want to come?"
"Auntie, isn't this a wild vegetable that can only be eaten in spring? Can't we eat it in autumn too?"
"Sure, when you get the dandelion leaves in autumn, blanch them and mix them with the dandelion. Pickle the garlic cloves with salt to bring out their spiciness and then mix them with the dandelion. This pickled vegetable can last all winter."
"Auntie, what time are we leaving tomorrow morning, and where do we meet?"
"Just come to my house after you finish breakfast. Take a basket, a bag, and a pickaxe or shovel. Winters here are long, so you need to prepare as much food as possible for the winter. Sometimes heavy snow blocks the roads and you can't get out for a long time, and you can't buy food even if you have money. Prepare as much as you can, just in case. Don't be extravagant, especially when some educated youth ask you to borrow things, don't be silly and lend them everything."
"Auntie, don't worry. I won't. Have any educated youth done anything stupid before?"
"Of course there were. In the first year of the large-scale rural resettlement, our village was the first to be assigned educated youth. At first, they worked alongside the villagers, but then a lot of trouble arose. They would hook up with the village girls and boys, asking them to do chores and get food. One male educated youth, not long after arriving, fell in love with a village girl, eating and drinking at her expense, and it even led to a pregnancy. In the end, her family sent her back to the city, and the young man just left. The girl was still waiting foolishly. By the time her family found out she was pregnant, he had already been gone for over a month, and the pregnancy was already showing. Later, the girl had an abortion and married someone from another village, quite far away. She never came back after her marriage, and she's become a bit mentally unstable. After this incident, the educated youth were separated, and that definitely reduced a lot of disputes. You know, it's normal to not do well when you first arrive in the countryside because you don't earn many work points, but not gathering enough firewood in the fall shows laziness. If you don't gather much at once, why not go back more often? I see there isn't much firewood in the educated youth's yard this year either. If they don't gather more, they'll freeze in the winter."
"Auntie, please tell me what we need to be careful about in winter? I don't know anything about this."
"You need to wear thicker cotton-padded clothes, trousers, and shoes. When it snows, you need to sweep the snow off the roof in time, otherwise it's easy for the house to collapse if it snows too much. Your former educated youth compound was built after it collapsed. Just prepare a long stick. You can gently poke the snow off with the stick, it's not difficult. Dry more vegetables, green beans, eggplants, potatoes, peppers, you can dry any vegetables. These are all winter vegetables. Otherwise, in winter it's just cabbage, potatoes, and radishes. Who wouldn't get tired of eating that every day?"
“Auntie, you don’t know, this place is completely different from where I used to live. It was good before, but this place is so much fun, especially picking wild vegetables in the mountains. It’s so addictive. Aunt Meihua has taken me mushroom picking many times. I’ve pickled some salted mushrooms and dried some. She’s really good at picking mushrooms. We always go together, but no one can pick as many as her.”
“Your Aunt Meihua was capable when she was young. Most people couldn’t do as much work as her. She was one of the best in the village. She was not only fast but also neat.”
That night, Aunt Guo lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and told Village Chief Guo, "You don't know, there's a huge pile of firewood, mostly big logs. There are two large jars of salted mushrooms in the kitchen, and lots of dried mushrooms hanging in the house, with some still drying outside. She's really rummaged through a lot of things. The garden is full of vegetables, even though she planted them late this year, she hasn't left them idle. She even asked me how I'm going to get through the winter and what I need to prepare now. She said our place is interesting."
The village chief chimed in, "That girl is resourceful and hardworking. Old Ma is so picky about people, but look how good he is to her. He even takes care of repairing the house. Have you ever seen her wandering around aimlessly in her free time? Old Ma says she goes into the mountains whenever she has free time, and she even goes deep into the mountains. He can't get her to listen to him, and he's been nagging me about it, telling me to talk to her when I have time. You should keep an eye on her when you're free, because I'm a grown man and I can't always take care of her."
As night deepened, people drifted off to sleep.
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