Chapter 19 The dumb woman's experience, leaving a note on the mountain

Liu Mingan sat at the table, looking at the porridge and side dishes in front of him, and his appetite was aroused.

The vegetable porridge was cooked over a high fire, and the aroma was fragrant. The rice grains were cooked and crushed, and mixed with finely chopped vegetable leaves. The special fragrance of oil millet and the mellow rice aroma intertwined, and when it went into the stomach, the lips and teeth were fragrant, and the stomach was warm, and the whole person felt docile.

The hot and sour radish was as its name suggests, sour and spicy, appetizing and relieving greasiness, and it was a perfect match with the vegetable porridge.

As for the sauerkraut sent by the dumb woman, Jiang Ning tasted a piece. It was seasoned with pork and chili peppers, then stuffed into the pig's small intestines and smoked. It tasted spicy and dry, almost the same as the modern Sichuan-style sauerkraut. In order to prevent it from spoiling, the sauerkraut was salted a bit too much. It would be salty if eaten alone, and it is best eaten with porridge.

"You just said that the dumb woman was also bought. What's her situation? Tell me."

Liu Mingan just picked up the bowl and suddenly heard Jiang Ning ask.

"She was bought back last year. She seemed to be a slave in a wealthy family. She made a mistake and was sold by her master."

Jiang Ning also picked up the bowl and chatted with Liu Ming'an while eating: "Was she bought back as a daughter-in-law by the He Zhao you mentioned?"

Liu Ming'an nodded: "He Zhao was injured when he went hunting in the mountains when he was young. He walks a little lame and has a scar on his face. He looks scary, and no girl is willing to marry him. It happened that Coach Zhao brought the dumb girl to sell and asked for eight taels of silver, but no one bought her. He Zhao had just caught a nest of wild rabbits and caught a few snakes at that time. He sold them for a lot of money, so he bought her."

Jiang Ning listened, squinted his eyes, and seemed to be thinking about something.

Liu Mingan took a bite of rice and continued, "Actually, He Zhaoren is a good man. After he bought the mute girl back, he didn't force her. He slept in the woodshed by himself. The two of them were together in the back. It was her will."

Jiang Ning was a little surprised. A single man who wanted a wife spent a lot of money to buy a woman, but he could resist touching her. What a gentleman he is.

However, Jiang Ning's attention was more focused on the "hunting", "hare" and "snake" mentioned by Liu Mingan.

"Did He Zhao hunt on that mountain?" Jiang Ning looked through the window at the tall and straight mountain not far away.

It was early autumn, the trees on the mountain were lush and green, and the mountain peaks were covered with mist. You can imagine how quiet and gloomy it would be to walk into the mountain.

Liu Ming'an followed Jiang Ning's gaze and answered "yes".

"Are there many people hunting in this village?" Jiang Ning asked again.

Liu Ming'an retracted his gaze and answered, "Except He Zhao, no one will go to the mountain to hunt. But he hasn't been to the mountain for more than half a year since he got together with Du Niang."

"As the saying goes, 'live by the mountain, eat by the mountain; live by the water, eat by the water'. Such a big mountain, it seems that there should be a lot of good things, why doesn't anyone go up?" Jiang Ning Jiang Ning seemed to be very interested in this mountain, with a glimmer of inquiry in her eyes.

Liu Ming'an listened, but for some reason, a hint of pain appeared in his eyes, but Jiang Ning, who was immersed in her own thoughts, did not notice it.

"Anyway, no one goes up." Liu Ming'an answered hastily, lowered his eyes and concentrated on eating.

Although Jiang Ning felt a little strange, she didn't think much about it. She finished her meal quietly. When Liu Ming'an went to wash the dishes, she stood up and walked outside and entered the room where the junk was piled. Jiang Ning

had inspected the house before. She remembered that in addition to a large amount of firewood for cooking, this junk room also had a lot of farm tools.

The small and dim room was full of dust and spider webs could be seen everywhere. Jiang Ning covered her mouth and nose with her sleeves, walked through the pile of neatly stacked firewood and walked to the innermost part. As expected, she saw a pile of farm tools.

Hoes, sickles, shovels, plowshares, backpacks, baskets, bamboo cages, dustpans, and a hand-cranked blower that Jiang Ning had only seen in books, a stone mortar for pounding rice, a stone mill for grinding flour... There were also some tools that Jiang Ning had never seen before, and she couldn't name them or know what they were used for.

It was obvious that Liu Ming'an's family used to be authentic and simple farmers, but for some reason they put all these tools away now, and it seemed that he had never been seen farming, only planting some vegetables in the yard.

Could it be that he wanted to concentrate on studying and getting a good reputation? Jiang Ning guessed.

This reason seemed reasonable.

"Jiang Ning?"

Liu Ming'an's voice rang out from next door. He must have called out because he didn't see her when he came out after washing the dishes.

Jiang Ning did not delay any longer. She reached out and picked up a rusty sickle. She frowned and knocked it on the ground to shake off the thick layer of dust on it, and then put it into the space.

She turned around and wanted to leave, but after taking two steps, Jiang Ning remembered something and turned back, picked up the bamboo cage that was the same size as the lantern, and put it into the space.

"Jiang Ning?"

Liu Ming'an called again. It sounded like the voice came from the yard, and seemed a little anxious.

Jiang Ning patted the dust on her hands and quickly left the utility room. As soon as she came out, she saw Liu Ming'an looking around in the yard, with a panicked look on his face, and hurriedly walking towards the outside of the yard.

Jiang Ning hurriedly called out, "Liu Ming'an!"

The anxious man turned around and looked at Jiang Ning standing in front of the utility room, and slowly exhaled.

"What are you doing in the utility room? There's dust everywhere."

Liu Ming'an walked up to Jiang Ning and asked with a smile.

Jiang Ning looked at the dirty dust marks on her hands, and answered, "Nothing, I just went in to take a look out of curiosity," while walking to the water tank at the door of the kitchen. Liu Ming'an saw

that Jiang Ning wanted to wash her hands, but was worried that the dust on her hands would dirty the water scoop, so he took the initiative to help her scoop a scoop of water, lifted it up and slowly poured it down.

Jiang Ning rubbed the dust on her hands with the running water, and heard Liu Ming'an say, "There's nothing good to see there, it's very dirty."

Jiang Ning didn't say anything, and then heard Liu Ming'an's voice lowered a little: "I thought you left, and left without even saying hello."

The tone sounded like a complaint, but also like a relief. Jiang Ning paused, and after a moment, she only said, "I won't leave."

Liu Ming'an felt as if joy was surging from the bottom of his heart, with a bright smile on his face, and his clear eyes were filled with tiny fragments of light.

Jiang Ning looked at him, and her expression relaxed a little, and the invisible frost shell on her body seemed to melt bit by bit.

"There's no water, you go fetch some water."

Jiang Ning shook her washed hands and said to Liu Ming'an.

Based on her understanding of Liu Ming'an, if she directly said that she wanted to go into the mountains, she would probably be stopped. Although Liu Ming'an couldn't stop her, the thought of having to talk her out of it made Jiang Ning feel overwhelmed.

She decided to get rid of him and go secretly.

When Liu Ming'an heard Jiang Ning ask him to fetch water, he did it without any doubt, replied "OK", picked up the shoulder pole, and went out with two wooden barrels.

After watching Liu Ming'an disappear on the path outside the yard, Jiang Ning turned and went into the house, took out his pen and ink, and wrote a few words on the paper: "I went into the mountains to hunt."

As soon as she put down the pen, Jiang Ning's mind flashed back to Liu Ming'an's panicked and anxious face when he was looking for her just now. After thinking for a while, she added a few more words on the paper:

"Don't worry, wait for me at home. Jiang Ning, stay."

Pressing the paper with the inkstone, Jiang Ning closed the door and left. After leaving the yard, he entered the space and moved towards the mountain.