Chapter 187 Wishes
The autumn has dyed the mountains golden and red. On the way from Zhou Laizi's home to the village outside the village, the pheasants that had been let go by Chen Lie and his friends recently and were able to live a leisurely life like before, had only been at leisure for a few days before they were chased by a father, son and brothers.
A boy from the other family grabbed one of the female pheasants and held it tightly. When he looked up, he saw Shen Lie and his group. He was so scared that he almost dropped the pheasant in his hand. He held it tightly and quickly stood up, hiding behind his father and brother. The whole family gathered together and looked at Shen Lie and his group vigilantly.
The rule of survival in the mountains during troubled times is to avoid people if possible. Chen Lie understood this, so he just stopped and looked for a few seconds, then left quickly with everyone.
But after walking a long way, Chen Dashan left the team alone, walked around in circles, and returned after a while. He said, "There is a cave of a decent size in the mountain behind the forest. A large family should have settled there, at least 15 or 16 people, and there may be more people in the cave that we haven't seen yet."
This so-called temporary residence will not be moved until a safer place is found. If it is run like the Zhou family, it may become a long-term residence for a relatively long period of time.
Sang Luo thought that there should be a few small caves near the village, and her heart became a little nervous. In this situation, she was not willing to have neighbors whose background she didn't know.
Everyone did not delay any longer and immediately returned to the village outside the village. Fortunately, no new neighbors appeared, perhaps because the caves here were small, or because they found several caves owned by owners here, or because no one had passed by this area.
Chen Youtian said, "Come over and lock the doors of the small caves that can be used for living. We can decide later whether Laizi's family will live here or not. We have to occupy the land first, and we can't let a stranger live here."
If strangers settle down nearby, they will have no convenience in the future.
Everyone nodded, and those who still had door locks at home offered to bring out a set of door locks. The people were divided into two groups, one group went to the area between Chen Lie and Chen Dashan's homes to continue processing the mountain products they brought back, and the other group went to cut down trees to make doors and occupy the land.
The drying mats were brought back and spread out one by one. Each family was doing it in an orderly manner. Shi Erlang's wife, Sang Luo, and Chen Ning were protected in the middle of several families. She was a little worried at this moment: "A Luo, do you think our place will not be peaceful in the future?"
Sang Luo spread the fungus evenly while saying, "There's nothing we can do about it, but as long as we don't run into a large group of bandits, we should be able to deal with the rest. We're better off than the people outside, at least we can advance or retreat. Let's save some food while the inner area isn't too chaotic now."
When Shi Erlang heard Sang Luo mention the valley, he felt a little relieved and his brows finally relaxed.
"That's right. We still have a place to retreat to. To be honest, after listening to what the old man said about the situation outside today, and seeing that family with two dead and three injured, I was scared."
Walking in the mountains with Chen Lie and Chen Dashan, they were always well protected. Whenever there was danger, someone would rush to the front, and it would not be her turn even at the end. Ever since she saw Sang Luo shoot a wolf last time, she was even excited when she met a wolf again. When she climbed up a tree, she was thinking about how to have one too, and she had even forgotten how to write the word "fear".
Thinking about the many groups of people she had met today, she sighed again, "I wonder how my family is doing now, as well as my eldest sister-in-law's family."
Her family members had also found a place to hide grain in the mountains early on, but the tribe has its own rules. Just like they couldn't let their family members know where they hid the grain, the tribe wouldn't let married women know where the grain was hidden. So now she didn't know where her family was, and what could happen? Did they hide deep enough? Would they encounter bandits who had entered the mountains?
Sang Luo also knew the situation outside, and didn't know how to comfort them for a moment, so she could only say: "They have made preparations early, and if they have many relatives, it should be okay. Maybe they have settled down somewhere in the mountains like us?"
Shi Erlang's wife nodded: "I hope so. I hope good luck will come to us."
Faced with such a situation, they had no idea what to do and could only hope that their parents and brothers could survive this disaster safely.
…
When Chen Lie and his group came back in the evening, each family collected their mountain products and returned to their own caves.
Sang Luo was drying mountain products next to her house, so she had prepared dinner for Chen Ning. She cut chestnuts, mushrooms, and bacon into small pieces and added rice to cook the bacon rice over low heat. The aroma was so fragrant that Chen Lie's stomach growled before he even washed his hands.
Sang Luo laughed when she heard this, she put out the fire, asked Chen Ning to get out the bowls and chopsticks, served a bowl to each person, and then sat down on a few large boulders at the entrance of the cave that Chen Lie had moved there at some point, and started to eat dinner.
Everyone was busy with their own things the whole afternoon, and there was no need to talk about food. Sang Luo asked Chen Lie, "Have you discussed the arrangements for the rest of the day?"
When men get together, it's impossible not to discuss such a big thing.
Chen Lie nodded and said, "Before the inner circle gets more chaotic, we must continue hunting and looking for mountain products. We have just discussed that from today on, the young and strong will not return to the valley. We must leave people outside to guard at all times and not let people get close to this area. Otherwise, people will hide in the valley, and it will be troublesome to defend when they are discovered. Anyway, there will be more people in the inner circle, and we will not be the only ones farming in the area, so we won't be inconvenient."
"From now on, we will be divided into three groups. One group will go out hunting, and the other two groups will farm and dry mountain products here and secretly guard the valley. The three groups will take turns to go. Dashan and I will take turns to lead the team. Uncle Shi will also be asked to come outside the valley. Zhou Cunzheng and the others who stay in the valley will be responsible for guarding the entrance at night."
This arrangement was very reasonable. The valley was their best retreat route, and most of the people inside were the elderly, the weak, women and children, who were in need of protection the most. Now the unstable factors were outside the valley, so the backbone forces were naturally placed outside. As for guarding the entrance to the valley, to put it bluntly, they were there to support these people. As long as there were no problems with the defense line outside and there was no danger inside, Zhou Cunzheng and his people would be more than capable of doing it.
Sang Luo was just a little worried, "Only four or five people go out at a time. Is it safe for you to hunt?"
Chen Lie nodded: "The mountains are actually the best place to hide people. Whether it's me or Dashan, as long as we are deliberately careful in the mountains, it is not difficult to avoid people if we only bring a few people. Besides, Dashan will send bows and arrows to the Zhou family tomorrow, and he will collect some more herbs on the way back. Then he can make more arrow poison for self-defense."
Sang Luo thought about it and realized that it was true. How chaotic was the north at that time? It should not be any more peaceful than Qiyang County now, right? They also came here this way.
Just as I was thinking about this, I heard Chen Lie say, "I'll take you, An Ning, and Second Aunt Shi back to the valley at night, right? It's not peaceful out here."
Sang Luo looked at him and said, "We are just getting started now."
She wanted to ask Chen Ning to go back, and she could take a walk while the inner circle was not too chaotic. Thinking about the days, she found that it would be inconvenient for her to walk outside in a few days. She stopped abruptly, "I'll go back and rest for a few days. In seven or eight days, you can pick me up when you deliver things in the night. If nothing else, I may know more mountain products than you."
Many plants were discovered and domesticated only after they had been with humans for thousands of years. Although the time and space are different, it has been about a year since we arrived at this time and space. The difference in products between the two time and space is really not that big. Sang Luo is still confident about this. However, considering her identity in this life, this statement is actually a bit strange.
She herself felt strange, but Shen Ning was particularly supportive, and didn't think much about it. When she heard that there were many mountain products that she recognized, she nodded subconsciously: "Sister-in-law has read a lot of books."
Sang Luo was actually quite thick-skinned, but she felt a little embarrassed by the girl's sincere acknowledgement.
This really has nothing to do with studying, but she has put on the guise of studying a few times, and now a group of familiar villagers in the valley have welded this impression on her.
Of course, it was also because she spoke out the facts first, just like Chen Lie now, who was speechless.
I thought to myself, it's true. Most people don't know about Dioscorea, Ophiopogon japonicus, and Magic Tofu, not to mention the Snakehead Grass, which they have always believed to be highly poisonous and dangerous. She also has a way to remove the poison and make it into food like vegetarian tripe.
Seeing that he had nothing to say, Sang Luo smiled and said, "It's okay. I'll be wherever you are and I won't leave you even three steps away."
This sentence caused Shen Lie to chuckle.
"Okay, I'll pick you up in seven or eight days."
…
In the Shi family cave, Shi Erlang was also saying the same thing to his wife. It was not safe back there, so the eldest brother came out and asked his wife to go back to the valley.
I thought she would agree without hesitation, but Shi Erlang's wife was staring at the stove and didn't respond to him for a while.
"What? You don't want to go back?"
Shi Erlang's wife looked up at him, not knowing what to say for a moment.
She was not very brave, and it was naturally safer to go back to the valley than to go outside. Besides, her uncle had come out, and there was only one bed in this small cave, so it was not convenient for her to stay there.
But she was thinking about something else.
"Tell me, how are my parents and brothers doing now?"
Shi Erlang then realized that his wife had been worried since he came back. He thought she was worried about the instability in her family, but he didn't expect it to be like this.
"Are you worried about your father-in-law, mother-in-law and uncles?"
Shi Erlang's wife nodded and said, "After what I heard today, how can I not be worried? We are able to hide so deeply because of Chen Lie and Da Shan's protection. My parents, uncles and aunts are with the tribesmen, so they shouldn't be able to get very deep, right? There are quite a few bandits outside now, and I don't know what the situation is."
She was fine with Sang Luo during the day, but she burst into tears in front of her own man.
How could children not miss their parents?
Shi Erlang saw her crying and hurried to help wipe her tears, but his lips moved and opened again, but he didn't know how to comfort her.
What words of comfort could truly make her feel at ease?
No.
Shi Erlang's throat was a little dry, and he said: "We are actually taking shelter from the Chen and Chen families. The valley is so small, and we all have relatives, so there is really nothing we can do."
He was afraid that his wife would give birth to a left-handed baby like the one in Lu Dalang's family.
Shi Erlang's wife nodded: "I know. When we first entered the mountain, we really couldn't bring anyone with us. I just thought... I thought, if my parents and brothers didn't hide deep enough, they would have to come out by now, right? The situation now is different from when we first escaped into the mountain. Both entrances are well hidden, and there is a small village outside."
"I was thinking, could you guys be more careful when you're out hunting? What if you run into them? You don't have to come to our place, just live next to the Zhou family and be their neighbor. We can take care of each other, and we won't have to expose ourselves to the elements in the valley, and we can still get help..."
In fact, ever since she saw the Zhou family settled down in the mountains, she had always been secretly envious.
But having said this, she realized that what she was thinking was no different from daydreaming, equally unrealistic.
Shi Erlang's wife lowered her head and covered her eyes: "The mountains in the Qiyang area are too big. If we had gone in a different direction, we would have gone further and further away."
Shi Erlang patted her on the back and said, "Don't think too much. Let's not talk about anything else. You see, we met a stranger today, and Uncle Tian and his family are here to help us, not to mention our relatives. If we really meet him, we won't take him to the village, but we can definitely help him settle down next to Zhou's family. But these things are actually out of our control. It can only be a wish. Whether we can meet him or not depends on luck."
These words were so true that Shi Erlang's wife burst into tears again.
Looking at the sky now, I feel really hopeless and have no idea where to use my strength.
But everyone is looking at the sky, and so are they? Natural disasters and man-made disasters, no one knows when and where they will fall, so they can only try their best to prevent them and make as much preparation as possible.
Shi Erlang saw that he was getting more and more frustrated, and really wanted to slap himself in the face, so he quickly tried to make amends: "Don't worry, what I want to say is that the situation is different now. A Lie also knows my uncle, and he taught him how to hunt. If we really run into him, we don't need to beg him. If my father-in-law and mother-in-law really need help, he will lend a hand if he can."
He assured her again and again: "Don't worry, my brother and I will be careful when we are hunting outside."
…
Sang Luo and the others were sent into the valley by Chen Lie and his team after nightfall, under the faint moonlight. Because it was the middle of the night, Chen Lie's strength was indispensable to go up and down the valley. For all the things they discussed, only Chen Dashan went down once and knocked on the doors of his own house and Zhou's house, one to get the padlock that they were going to take out, and the other to inform them of the situation outside and the discussed response.
Zhou Cunzheng did not want to wake up other families, so he took the job of keeping watch first. He also woke up his second son who stayed at home and asked him to pack up and go out of the valley to provide help outside the valley.
Chen Dashan and his men cut down a lot of firewood in the afternoon, and stuffed it into the valley along with two baskets of fresh grass for feeding the sheep before leaving.
It was not until the next day when everyone in the valley woke up and learned from Sang Luo about the unexpected events outside. Many people were worried about their families, or like Shi Erlang's wife, they were worried about their relatives. The atmosphere was quite heavy for a while.
Shen Jin didn't dare to approach Sang Luo until the adults had left, and asked Sang Luo if he could still go out with his elder brother later.
Sang Luo thought for a moment and said, "Stop for a while. We have food and vegetables. There's no need to rush. Wait until it's peaceful outside before you go out."
It's still too small after all.
She then took a small basket of sun-dried chestnuts from the basket and gave it to him, saying, "Take it home and dry it in the sun for another three to five days. When you can hear a sound from inside when you shake it, it means it is completely dry. Then hang it in a cool and ventilated place for storage. If you want to eat it, soak it in water for a few hours first to let the chestnut kernels absorb enough water before cooking it. Let Aning teach you how to make it delicious."
Shen Jin blushed, "Sister-in-law, I'm not here to ask for food. There's enough food at home if I don't go out for a while."
Sang Luo smiled and said, "Not much. You don't have these chestnuts. Take them back and try them."
Seeing that he didn't take it, she said, "Didn't I get a small bag of grass seeds from you last time? Keep it. Next time you go out and see something delicious, bring me some."
He stuffed the cloth bag into Shen Jin's hand.
Shen Jin took the cloth bag and held it in his hand, "Thank you, sister-in-law."
…
The valley has changed slightly since that day. Several ponds have been dug inside the valley, and the space has become smaller. Children who like reading used to gather under the trees to read together in the morning. But after knowing that there are people coming from the inner area, even if they have tried before, the sound of reading together in the valley will not be heard, and no one reads anymore.
Everyone was feeling nervous, even the children.
However, Shi Erlang's wife secretly hoped that one day she would meet her parents and brothers and have them become neighbors with Zhou Laizi's family, which would be half done.
Sang Luo learned the news at the time agreed with Shen Lie, when Shen Lie and his men delivered supplies back to the valley late at night and picked her up.
Someone Sang Luo had never thought of.
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