Chapter 23 Uneasy, Returning with a Full Load

When Liu Mingan handed the written elegiac couplet to He Wu, he wiped his hands vigorously on the hem of his clothes before taking it with both hands.

Seeing him do this, Liu Mingan sighed silently.

He Wu can be said to be the person in the village who wants to study and learn calligraphy the most. Unfortunately, due to various changes, he can only choose to put down his pen and paper, pick up the hoe, and shoulder the burden of life. Because of the thought of studying, He Wu has always had a respect for him as a "scholar", which is something that others have never had.

"Brother Mingan, thank you." He Wu folded the elegiac couplet carefully and put it in his arms, and thanked Liu Mingan sincerely.

Liu Ming'an smiled and waved his hands: "Brother Xiaowu, you are so polite. It's just a small favor."

He Wu was very grateful and said solemnly: "Then Brother Ming'an, I will go back today. If you need any help in the future, just ask and I will come!"

Liu Ming'an nodded. He knew that He Wu was a man of his words and these words were not just for show.

After He Wu left, Liu Ming'an returned to the house and looked at the empty room. He suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if something was missing.

People's habits are really terrible things. He has lived alone for so long, and Jiang Ning has only been here for a few days. Unknowingly, he has already gotten used to the fact that there is one more person in this room.

Liu Mingan picked up the paper left by Jiang Ning again, staring at the words "Don't worry, wait for me at home." Compared with the words "go into the mountains to hunt," the writing of this sentence is not as smooth and much blunter, and you can almost see the hesitation of the person who put it down.

Jiang Ning's cold face flashed through his mind, and Liu Mingan smiled lightly. He guessed that this sentence was added by Jiang Ning later, and his mood became lighter. The heavy stone pressing on his heart seemed to have lightened a lot. Liu

Mingan started reading as usual, but today he was preoccupied with something, and his eyes looked out the window uncontrollably. He also stared at the mountain not far away from time to time and was distracted. He didn't read a single word of what was written in the book. Is Jiang

Ning back? When this thought flashed through his mind for who knows how many times, Liu Mingan sighed, knowing that he could not continue reading the book today.

Getting up and going outside, Liu Mingan looked at the smoke rising from various places in the village, and then realized that it was already noon. Liu

Mingan turned around and went to the kitchen, busying around for a long time, making a pot of rice and two dishes, setting out the dishes and chopsticks, and waiting from 15:30 to 15:30, the food had already gone cold, and no one had returned.

Jiang Ning returned home at half past 15:00. She came down from the mountain, made marks along the way, picked some mushrooms, and entered the space after going down the mountain. Just like when she came here, she passed through the busy villagers and stopped at the woods two hundred meters outside Liu Mingan's yard.

If she went back empty-handed, and then conjured up pheasants, rabbits, and a bunch of chestnuts

and mushrooms out of thin air, she would probably be mistaken for a monster by Liu Mingan. In the space, Jiang Ning frowned slightly as she looked at today's harvest. Chickens and rabbits were easy to take, but would she have to carry this pile of chestnuts and mushrooms back with her hands? The problem was that she couldn't hold them all.

At this moment, Jiang Ning missed the era of plastic bags.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Ning took off her coat, tied the sleeves, and then put the pile of things on it, and made a cloth bag with the clothes.

When Liu Ming'an heard the noise and went out, he saw this scene: Jiang Ning had her long hair loose and was only wearing an undershirt. She was holding a cage in her right hand, with a gray furry creature twisting inside. In her left hand, she was holding a colorful, clucking chicken, and a bulging bag of things hung on her arm.

Liu Ming'an took a look and saw that the things tied around the chicken's feet were Jiang Ning's hairbands, which he had tied himself in the morning. Looking more closely, wasn't the cloth bag hanging on the crook of her arm Jiang Ning's coat?

Jiang Ning had just stepped into the yard when she saw Liu Ming'an running out, as if he had been waiting for her. Liu Mingan was obviously stunned when he saw her dishevelled hair and disheveled clothes. Then he trotted forward, shouting "Jiang Ning, I'll get it for you," and reached out to the pheasant. Jiang

Ning remembered the peck she had just received, took a half step back to avoid Liu Mingan's hand, and handed him the rabbit cage: "Take good care of these three rabbits, raise them for a few days, and sell them next time."

Liu Mingan took the cage, which was heavier than he thought, and there were three fat rabbits.

Jiang Ning handed him the cloth bag again: "There are some chestnuts and mushrooms in it, put them in the kitchen."

Liu Mingan nodded, and put the rabbits in the aisle between the kitchen and the utility room according to Jiang Ning's instructions to make sure they would not run away, and then went to the kitchen to find a wooden basin to empty the pile of things.

Liu Mingan held Jiang Ning's clothes in his hand, looking at the bright bloodstains on them, his heart sank, and after a while he put the clothes in his wooden basin for washing clothes.

When Liu Mingan finished all these, Jiang Ning had already tied the pheasant to the bolt. Looking at the chicken that kept calling and flapping its wings, Liu Mingan looked at Jiang Ning and said, "This chicken is wild and hard to tame, and its ears and eyes are sharp. Few people can catch it."

Jiang Ning thought he wanted to ask her how she caught it, so she said directly, "You don't have to think so much, just concentrate on studying."

After saying this, Jiang Ning suddenly felt like those parents who wanted their children to be successful, thinking only of their children studying hard, getting high scores, entering famous schools, making a name for themselves, and bringing honor to the family...

It was unbelievable that she, a killer, had such an experience as a mother!

"Jiang Ning", Liu Ming'an was not curious about how she hunted, but looked her over from head to toe with a slightly concerned look, and then asked: "Where are you injured? Does it still hurt?"

Jiang Ning was a little surprised at first that Liu Ming'an knew about her injury, but then she thought of the blood on the clothes and understood.

"My injury heals quickly, have you forgotten?" Jiang Ning just said this, and it sounded like comfort.

"Wouldn't it hurt if the injury heals quickly?" Liu Ming'an asked back with a frown.

Of course it hurt, but Jiang Ning's previous injuries were no less serious than this time, and the pain of being pecked by a chicken could be ignored.

Jiang Ning didn't want to say more. She lowered her head and kicked the pheasant that was tied up by her but still alive. She said in a faint voice, "Go boil some water. I'll go change my clothes. Eat two more pieces of meat later. It will be my revenge."

After that, Jiang Ning turned and went into the room. The pheasant flapped its wings, made a low "cuckoo" sound in its throat, and glared at her back. There was

still untouched food on the table. Jiang Ning was a little surprised. She didn't expect Liu Mingan to be waiting for her to come back for dinner, and it looked like he was hungry too.

The third aunt brought two sets of her daughter's clothes to Jiang Ning. After Jiang Ning changed her clothes, she looked at the clothes she had taken off, and her worries slowly surged in her heart.

How did people wash clothes in ancient times? It seemed that you had to rub them by hand, and there was no washing powder or washing liquid.