Chapter 20 Women argue, Jiang Ning enters the mountains for the first time

When Jiang Ning left home, it was the busy farming season in the morning.

She moved in space, passing through the fields, wheat fields, corn fields, lotus ponds... No matter where she went, she could see the villagers of this village passing by her.

This was the second time Jiang Ning saw so many people since she came to this world, digging fields, carrying manure, weeding the land, planting vegetables, herding cattle... This small village is a microcosm of primitive farming culture, showing the simplicity of the countryside vividly.

Jiang Ning passed by these villagers in space, she could see them, but they knew nothing about her.

This feeling was very strange, she wandered among men and women, young and old, like a fleshless, helpless ghost.

Jiang Ning walked and looked around, mostly taking a quick glance, until she met a familiar person in a vegetable field.

It was the third aunt who washed her body and changed her clothes, harvesting peppers in the field.

The old woman carried a backpack on her back, stepped on the ground in straw sandals, bent down slightly, reached out to grab the red peppers, lifted them up, and the peppers were separated from the plants and held in her hands. When she had gathered a large handful, she threw them back and threw them accurately into the backpack.

The third aunt worked swiftly while chatting with a woman in the next field. She had a smile on her face and a kind look.

Jiang Ning was just passing by, but stopped when she heard the familiar name.

"...I don't like what you said. What do you mean by 'Ming An is not worthy'? How is Ming An not worthy?" The third uncle's wife asked the woman angrily.

The woman looked to be in her early forties. When she heard Third Aunt defending Liu Ming'an, she smiled sarcastically with her triangular eyes, and began to refute him:

"They are just not worthy of each other! Third Aunt, it's no use for you to protect a yak. ​​He Yiyi is the most famous girl in our village. Her family conditions are also the best in the village, and her two brothers are very competitive. What does Liu Ming'an have? He has no parents, and his family has only three mud houses. He can't farm. He looks like a pretty boy. Apart from being able to write a few words, what else can he show? How could He Yiyi fall for him?"

Third Aunt was a little angry at first, but after hearing her last sentence, she started to laugh again, and her laugh was somewhat meaningful: "Aunt Li, you are just self-righteous. Yiyi is not as snobbish as you. Maybe she will fall for him."

"Hey~ Third aunt, you know, and I know it too. He Yiyi likes that pretty boy Liu Ming'an, but the problem is, can she make the decision herself? Do you think Second Aunt Lin is a freeloader? Will she let her daughter marry a poor scholar?"

Third aunt was very optimistic: "Wait until Ming'an passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar."

"Even if he passes the imperial examination, he will be a poor scholar! I'm not afraid to tell you, my son, who was working in the town, saw with his own eyes that He Ping was drinking with the youngest son of the owner of the Chen family rice shop. That man even called He Ping "big brother" and said he wanted to marry his sister."

Third aunt was speechless. Although she felt sorry for Liu Ming'an and thought he was good in every way, she also knew that it was very difficult for this boy to find a wife given his conditions. Otherwise, he wouldn't be nineteen years old and still no matchmaker had stepped foot in their home.

Third aunt sighed, walked to the farthest end from the woman, picked peppers with her back to her, and said nothing.

The woman won the verbal battle, her expression was full of pride, she raised her chin and snorted softly at Third aunt's back, which was a mockery of the loser from the winner.

Jiang Ning waited for them to finish talking before continuing to move towards the mountain. Her steps were still as slow as before, but she was not in the mood to look around.

She always knew that Liu Ming'an was different from ordinary farmers, with a white and clean face, not like those who worked outdoors all year round. He read books and wrote in his spare time every day, and was not particular about food. He was more like a poor student.

Jiang Ning didn't think there was anything wrong, after all, everyone pursues different things. Unexpectedly, in such an environment, Liu Ming'an's various behaviors seemed like an alien. Jiang Ning could clearly see the contempt in the woman's eyes when she talked about him.

In the final analysis, Liu Ming'an was too poor. Being poor meant that no one cared about him in a busy city, but being rich meant that he had distant relatives in the mountains. When he became rich, those who looked down on him would probably change their attitude.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning quickened her pace. The further she went up the mountain, the fewer people there were. When she reached the foot of the mountain, there were almost no traces of human activity.

In front of her was a clump of weeds, nearly half a person's height. It was past midsummer, and the grass and trees were a little withered and yellow. Although Jiang Ning would not trip in the space, she felt that it was more and more difficult to take steps, as if she was restrained by some invisible force.

After thinking about the possible reasons, Jiang Ning came out of the space with a sickle, cut the grass blocking the way in front of her, and walked into the space for two steps. Sure enough, everything went smoothly.

It seems that it is not possible to be completely disconnected from the outside world in the space, and it will still be restricted by the actual situation.

The discovery of this fact made Jiang Ning feel a little regretful. She also wanted to use the space to "light water floating" and "unprotected diving", but it seemed that it would not work. She estimated that she would be drowned.

There was no one around, so Jiang Ning simply came out of the space, picked up a long branch from the ground, knocked down the grass in front first, and then slowly walked up the mountain.

The slope at the foot of the mountain is relatively gentle, there are no tall trees, mostly bushes. Jiang Ning cleared the way as she walked. In just a short distance, she had already found no less than ten kinds of edible wild vegetables. Birds chirped from time to time overhead, and the birds were not afraid of her. They even stood on the branches and tilted their heads to look at her.

This mountain is rich in products, but no one has ever set foot on it. The birds are not afraid of strangers, which also shows that there are few humans here. This made Jiang Ning even more suspicious.

Why don't these villagers go up the mountain?

Jiang Ning pondered the possible reasons. After walking for nearly half an hour, Jiang Ning walked into the woods halfway up the mountain.

There are not many trees here, they are sparse, and at most ten meters long. Moreover, many of them have begun to lose their leaves, leaving only bare branches hanging, and birds jumping around on them.

There are no tall weeds here anymore. What grows here are low grasses that are close to the ground and are green. Rabbits should like them.

Jiang Ning threw the branch in her hand away and prepared to look carefully here. After taking two steps, she suddenly felt something hard and it hurt her feet. She looked down and saw a round yellow-brown lump with thorns. It was cracked when Jiang Ning stepped on it, and she could see brown seed-like things inside.

Jiang Ning stared at it carefully for two seconds and was surprised to find that this strange-looking thing was a chestnut!

Jiang Ning squatted down, carefully avoided the hard thorns on the outer shell, and broke the lump open, revealing two round chestnuts inside.

This unexpected harvest made Jiang Ning a little excited, and she quickly stood up and looked around. Sure enough, she saw a chestnut tree ten steps away. Jiang Ning walked over and stepped on many bumps along the way. When she walked under the tree and looked up, she saw that the tree was full of green and yellow balls among the green leaves. They were all hairy chestnuts that had not fallen off.

Looking down, the grass under the tree was almost full of those small balls, green, yellow, black, and almost all of them opened, revealing the chestnuts wrapped inside.

"How do I pick these things?" Jiang Ning muttered to herself as she looked at the piercing thorns, and the only response she got was the clear and melodious chirping of birds.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Ning picked up the branch she had thrown away, broke it in two, and made a pair of long chopsticks.