Chapter 182 How to Sleep
The men were making mats, processing the skins and dividing the meat, while the women were helping to process the hawthorns, washing them, slicing them and drying them in the sun.
Originally, cattail mats needed to be dried in the sun before being woven. However, they were not really used to make bed mats, but just as drying mats, so there was no need to be too particular about it and they were just woven directly.
When they finished all the work, it was already late noon. Each family divided the wolf meat. Zhou Laizi and his son and Shi Erlang shared the same wolf. Everyone knew that Zhou Laizi's family could not even afford a set of warm clothes and a thick quilt in winter. The Shi family would hunt something from time to time, so Shi Erlang simply gave his share of the wolf skin to Zhou Laizi and his son.
Chen Lie and Sang Luo also had bedding at home, and they had saved up a few wolf skins. Although they had to take care of Xiao Jin and his brothers now, they would have a chance to get more later. Of the two and a half wolf skins, they gave the other half to Zhou Laizi's family for use during the winter.
The Zhou family was so grateful that they didn't know what to do. The eldest daughter of the Zhou family came up to her mother and whispered a few words. Zhou Laizi's wife smiled and let her go and take care of it.
It turned out that the wolf meat and wolf offal were divided among the families. The eldest daughter of the Zhou family saw that her family had gotten a lot from everyone. It was already late noon and everyone would go out hunting soon, so she discussed with her mother to take out some wolf meat, wolf offal and mushrooms picked today to cook some food for everyone to fill their stomachs.
We can't prepare a very sumptuous meal, but we can still make it work by adding more soup. When their family members come to feed their babies, they can just drink some broth and boil some wild vegetables.
They found that Zhou Laizi's wife and daughter were preparing food. Every family knew the situation of the Zhou family, so they took some meat and offal from their own share and sent them over. Finally, Sang Luo and Shi Erlang's wife went to help, after all, they had to feed more than a dozen people.
Chen Lie and his group were not idle either. They got some firewood and built a bonfire under the wooden rack where they had skinned and slaughtered the wolves. They cut the meat into pieces of several pounds and asked the Zhou family for some hemp ropes to string them together. They hung the pieces on wooden poles, surrounded them with firewood, and covered them with large leaves to make small rooms for quick smoking meat. They started smoking the meat.
A fire was burning at the place where skinning and meat cutting were originally done. The smell of blood gradually faded away, and the aroma of meat came later.
This stuff needs to be smoked for an entire afternoon, and the smell of meat might attract the livestock, so Chen Lie and his companions added firewood to smoke the meat while discussing leaving a few people here to guard the place in the afternoon to prevent trouble for the Zhou family from handling food here. This would also help the Zhou family to quickly fence off the planting area and make a few simple drying racks, so that they could handle and dry the food directly in the yard in the future without having to leave too many people behind.
Everyone had no objection. Lu Erlang thought about the abilities of Chen Lie and Chen Dashan, and asked to stay, allowing Lu San to continue gathering and hunting with them.
Chen Lie smiled and said, "If we get any prey this afternoon, Dashan and I will share some with you."
Lu Erlang laughed: "Then I'm taking advantage."
He himself can't catch up with Shen Lie and Chen Dashan in hunting.
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan both laughed, and finally decided that one person from each family would stay behind after lunch. Firstly, they needed people to weave mats and set up drying racks, and secondly, they had to help the Zhou family improve their defenses. In addition, the food also needed to be processed. Chen Lie and Chen Dashan had hunted a lot of pheasants and rabbits, and these all needed to be cleaned up and smoked.
So Uncle Xu, Chen Youtian, Zhou Dalang, Sang Luo, and Shi Erlang's wife all stayed. When Zhou Laizi heard that they had to fence off a yard for their own family and they had made some gains in the morning, they would be able to go out with the others later, so the three of them, father and son, also stayed.
Outside the small cave, which originally had only one family, it was now very lively. The aroma of earthenware pots wafted from the temporary stove in the cave courtyard, and Zhou Jiasanlang came out to call everyone in to eat.
The Zhou family didn't have enough bowls, but fortunately everyone brought bamboo tubes to hold water, and they broke two wooden sticks, peeled them and washed them, and they became ready-made bowls.
Bamboo tubes were passed around one by one, and Zhou's mother and daughter helped to fill them with food, making each portion completely full.
When the eldest daughter of the Zhou family serves food to someone older than her, she will smile and call him "uncle" or "unclere" and say that if it is not enough, she can have more.
The young lady with a gentle voice made Chen Youtian look at her more carefully.
…
Lunch was quickly over, and it was time for Chen Lie and the others to set off again. At this time, at least one backpack was free, so they could just take their weapons and set off.
Before leaving, Chen Lie told Sang Luo, Shi Erlang's wife, and Zhou's mother and daughter, who had little fighting power, to stay inside the small courtyard and weave mats as much as possible, and let the men do the work outside. He also gave Sang Luo a small porcelain bottle in private and whispered, "If there are really wild animals that are difficult to deal with, give this to Uncle Lu."
They helped build the inner courtyard wall of the Zhou family, which also had an observation hole that could be opened and closed like a small window, making it extremely easy to attack from outside with a bow and arrow, or to pass small objects like this.
Sang Luo nodded, took it and put it away.
Chen Lie then went out to look for Lu Erlang and told him to be more careful, saying, "Every wild animal has its own territory. Eight wolves have been hunted in this small area, so there shouldn't be many big ones left. But you'd better be careful. Don't let women and children work outside. You should also hurry up to build the courtyard wall. It's not too early, and we won't go too far. We can just walk around the mountain next to us. We should be back within an hour and a half. We have to hurry back before dark."
Lu Erlang agreed: "Okay, there is a yard here that we can hide in. If something really difficult to deal with, I can't guarantee anything else, but no one will be hurt, just go out without worry. With so many people, we should be able to help them fence off this small piece of land by this evening."
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan were relieved, and took Xu Wenqing, Zhou Erlang, Shi Er, and Lu San, a group of six, to the nearest mountains.
…
As soon as they left, the people who stayed behind were not idle either. The men chopped trees and built wall stakes to surround the yard. Chen Youtian, who had carpentry skills, used the existing knives and axes and even vines to make a simple drying rack with the aid of binding. Sang Luo and the others were weaving mats in the yard.
With enough manpower, Sang Luo and Shi Erlang's wife, Zhou's mother and daughter plus two small children, weaving cattail mats was much faster. As soon as Chen Youtian's drying rack was finished, a few simple mats were also woven here. The ground outside was slightly leveled with stones, and the drying rack was set up. The mats were spread out, and the cut hawthorns, mushrooms, white fungus, etc. from each family were dried in sections and sections. Simple marks were made on the drying mats with hemp rope to distinguish which family's things belonged.
Next, they made smoked meat from the pheasants and rabbits that they had hunted in the morning. They called Lu Erlang to help with the rabbit skinning. They were busy and finished the work at hand. They also made a drying rack and several drying mats, in case more mountain products came back later and the ones from before were not dried yet, so they were kept as backup.
This preparation was not in vain. When Shen Zheng Chenlie and his companions came back, their backpacks were full. However, what attracted everyone's attention was not the backpacks on their backs, but the wild animals they were carrying.
Sang Luo heard the noise outside and thought it was Chen Lie and his men coming back. She stood up and looked at the observation port. It was true. She and Shi Erlang's wife opened the door and went out, just in time to see a group of people putting down the prey they had lifted on the pole.
Sang Luo leaned over to take a look. It looked a bit like a deer but not a deer. It had a pair of long and sharp fangs on its mouth. She looked up at Chen Lie and asked curiously, "What is this?"
It was rare that there was something Sang Luo didn't know. Chen Lie had a little smile in his eyes: "Musk deer, the meat is very good."
When Sang Luo heard the word "musk", she was surprised, as it was a creature she had only seen in novels. She then knew that this creature actually had a pair of sharp fangs, so she took another closer look.
Four musk deer were hunted, two big musk deer and two small musk lambs. One small musk lamb was hunted by Xu Wenqing and Lu Sanlang together, and the other small musk lamb was hunted by Shi Erlang. The two big musk deer belonged to Chen Lie and Chen Dashan.
Of the six people who went out, only Zhou Erlang had no accuracy in his arrows and failed to hunt anything. While Sang Luo and the others were processing wild grapes and mushrooms, Chen Lie and the others were skinning and cutting the meat. As mentioned before, he and Chen Dashan each cut a musk deer leg for Lu Erlang, and each of them cut a few pounds and distributed them to Zhou Erlang, the only one who had no harvest, and Zhou Laizi's family who failed to go out, to taste.
When Lu Erlang received the two deer legs, his face was filled with joy: "I haven't had this for a long time. The last time I had it was on the way back from the north. Today I got a great bargain."
Zhou Erlang and Zhou Laizi's family also had to take a few pounds of game back for the whole family to taste. It was so delicious that it was even more lively than the New Year's celebrations in the past. In recent years, even Zhou Cunzheng's family could not buy such delicious game for the New Year, let alone Zhou Laizi's family. They had not tasted meat for many years.
At that moment, Zhou Laizi thought that it didn't matter who was the emperor outside. If he could stay in the mountains forever, without corvée and taxes, they could open up a piece of mountain land and live beautifully in the deep mountains and forests for the rest of their lives.
However, he also knew that this good life was because Shen Lie and Chen Dashan were with them. It would have been difficult for them to survive on their own.
Especially when he looked at the planting area that had basically been fenced off, he felt that all the good luck in his life had been saved up by God and bestowed upon him recently.
Sang Luo and the others washed the grapes and hung them out to dry. They poured mushrooms and fungus on their respective drying mats. Only a few hawthorns were left, not a lot. Zhou Laizi's wife said, "You guys should go back. If you don't leave now, it will be dark and unsafe. We will help pick up these and cut them and hang them out to dry. We will also collect your things in the cave tonight and dry them out tomorrow morning. Don't worry about it."
The mother and daughter brought out a small bamboo basket and handed it to Sang Luo, saying, "These are some of the grapes that were left when we washed them today. Take them home and share them. They will make your mouths sweet in the evening."
Sang Luo didn't take it, and said with a smile: "If we want to eat it, we can just take a detour on the way back and pick some more. Aunt, please keep some for the children at home."
Zhou Laizi's wife refused to take it, saying that she had some at home. She smiled and stuffed the basket into Sang Luo's hand. She really refused to take any advantage.
Sang Luo smiled and looked at the door on the wall that had been fixed. She simply called everyone over to share the food. After working for an entire afternoon, it would be nice to have something sweet.
Each person tasted more than ten, then picked some clean leaves to pad the basket, and put the meat that was almost smoked in the afternoon into the basket.
It was getting late. Although a wall had been built, it was not a good idea to keep the musk deer meat at the Zhou family's house to be smoked. Even though wild animals should not be able to get in, it would be better to avoid causing trouble for others. They put the meat in another sack and carried it in their hands. In the evening, they would go back to the small cave and gather together to continue smoking it.
It was not yet 31 o'clock when they returned to the village outside the village. As there was an open area in front of the cave where Chen Dashan lived, everyone went there and built a few smoking piles, hung the meat on them and continued to smoke it.
I have to make some food for myself, so I don't need anything else. I just cut off a few pieces of meat harvested during the day, sharpen a branch, spread a little salt on it, and roast it over a fire.
As for Chen Lie, he was skilled and bold, so he didn't need to join a group. He made a smoking pile directly outside his own cave. Sang Luo didn't want to eat food roasted directly over fire, so she left a piece of fresh roe deer meat and stewed the meat in a clay pot on the stove.
She was busy cooking. Chen Lie was worried that Sang Luo would not be used to living outside, so he borrowed the saw, chisel and other things hidden in the cave from Chen Youtian. He cut down several trees near his own cave, built a simple toilet with logs next to the cave, and chiseled a toilet.
After living together for more than half a year, Sang Luo had become calm and didn't care about it. She washed some mushrooms she picked up on the way back in a small mountain spring nearby, and when the meat was almost cooked, she added them in.
The sky had completely darkened. There were only a few bonfires burning outside the caves of the Shen and Chen families. The aroma of smoked meat and food filled the air. It was hard to say whether it attracted animals from the nearby mountains to come here, but everyone had swords and bows with them, and with their numbers and strength, they were not afraid.
After going out hunting with Chen Lie and Chen Dashan a few times, I sometimes even felt that the wild animals came as food for them.
Perhaps it was because Chen Lie and his gang had indeed swept the area frequently. After dinner, Chen Lie and Sang Luo finished all the work they needed to do. They had sweated a lot during the day. Chen Lie even chiseled a shallow bucket for Sang Luo and asked Sang Luo to use a clay pot to boil some water to wash her body. He took a cold shower himself and washed all his clothes and hung them in the cave. No wild animals came until midnight.
It was late at night, and the meat of each family had been smoked almost completely. Chen Dashan locked the door and sent everyone back to their caves. Chen Lie lit an oil lamp in the cave, and he and Sang Luo began to put away the smoked meat hanging on the rack and hung them one by one on a makeshift wooden rack in the cave.
It's time to go to bed.
Sang Luo had been thinking secretly about how to sleep tonight since she had dinner. Since she brought two thin quilts with her, she had even thought about putting a pillow in the middle and sleeping on each side. However, after entering the cave, Chen Lie closed the door, and before she could say anything, he half squatted down, reached over and pulled something out from under the bed.
A simple single bed with a footrest that can only accommodate one person.
Sang Luo burst out laughing.
Shen Lie is really a talent.
Still a straightforward idiot.
She only laughed very softly at first, but Chen Lie had good hearing, and Sang Luo couldn't suppress the smile on her face. When Chen Lie turned his head, their eyes met.
Chen Lie was a little confused. Seeing Sang Luo looking at him and laughing, his ears felt a little hot for no reason. He subconsciously asked, "What's wrong?"
Sang Luo laughed again: "Nothing, I was just worrying about how to sleep at night."
It is of course possible to go back to the valley, but everyone goes out to hunt and build a village outside the village. In fact, it is because they take into account that people outside the mountain are getting closer and closer to the inner circle, and they try to leave as few traces as possible when entering the valley. She came out to collect, and it is not good for one person to make an exception.
The most important thing is that after getting along with Shen Lie for a long time, she actually trusts him very much. Obviously, he repays her with more trust than she gives him.
Chen Lie's heart was beating fast. Sang Luo had already turned around with a smile, took out a cloth made of rags and handed it to him to wipe the makeshift bed. She then went around to the end of the bed, picked up two animal skins from the bed, half squatted down and helped Chen Lie to spread the bed.
The corners of Sang Luo's lips never drooped when she was making the bed. Chen Lie turned his head and took a peek, and the corners of his own lips also rose.
Everything was ready. Sang Luo gave Chen Lie a thin blanket and climbed onto the bed from the footstool. Chen Lie blew out the oil lamp and lay down on the footstool beside the bed.
Sang Luo couldn't see anything in the darkness, so she just kept her mood up. She slept on her right side. Chen Lie was actually beside her, but he was sitting lower. The corners of her lips curled up again, and she smiled, "Chen Lie, good night."
God knows how fast Chen Lie's heart was beating. He had stayed in the mountains for a long time and always had to be on guard at night. His night vision ability had been trained long ago. By slightly tilting his face, he could roughly see that Sang Luo was sleeping facing him, and he could even feel the smile on her face and in her words.
It was like a heart immersed in honey, sweeter than the wild grapes eaten during the day, soft and warm, and seemed to be floating up lightly. There were all kinds of feelings that were indescribable, but his chest was overflowing with the inexplicable and yet endearing joy. His throat moved, and he suppressed the feeling that made him feel a little strange, and whispered good night in reply.
Sang Luo smiled and closed her eyes, but Chen Lie slightly turned sideways, eagerly looking at her eyebrows and eyes in the dark night.
The corners of Sang Luo's lips curled up again, and Chen Lie was so frightened that he quickly closed his eyes and dared to open them after a while.
Sang Luo had turned to the side without knowing when, but even so, Chen Lie couldn't hide the joy in his heart and was reluctant to fall asleep.
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