next day
Jiang Yuwei thought she should still go up the mountain to try her luck. Maybe she could find wild ginseng today. Ning Huaizhi's leg was bound to get worse the longer it was left untreated. She had been busy building a house the other day and couldn't find the time. Now that she had some free time, she should hurry up and look for wild ginseng.
Jiang Yuwei took out her basket, packed some dry food and pickled vegetables, and prepared to go out. Ning Huaizhi, seeing Jiang Yuwei about to leave, hurriedly called out:
"Yuwei, where are you going?"
Jiang Yuwei was already afraid that Ning Huaizhi would find out and prevent her from going up the mountain, so she planned to sneak out and go home early. Now that she had been caught red-handed, she turned around and smiled awkwardly:
"Huaizhi, I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back this afternoon. I've prepared lunch. You can just heat it up for lunch."
Ning Huaizhi said in a deep voice:
"Yuwei, I've already said it, it's better if my leg doesn't get treated. I don't want you to risk going up the mountain. What if something really happens to you, a weak woman, on the mountain? How will you cope?"
Seeing that she couldn't hide it any longer, Jiang Yuwei smiled and said:
"How about this, I won't go deep into the mountains, I'll just try my luck on the side. Today I'll bring Xiao Jiu with me up the mountain, so that we can help each other if there's any danger."
Ning Huaizhi nodded after seeing Jiang Yuwei's response:
"Then hurry back, don't make me worry about you at home."
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei hurriedly went to the backyard to call out the wild cat, smiled at Ning Huaizhi, and the two of them went up the mountain.
Jiang Yuwei had just climbed halfway up the mountain when she saw Xiao Jiu squatting by a clump of grass, refusing to go any further. Jiang Yuwei tried to tempt Xiao Jiu with some dry food, but it wouldn't budge. Helpless, Jiang Yuwei approached it, patted its head, and said:
"Why aren't we going? We need to hurry up the mountain, or we won't have time to get down."
Xiao Jiu lowered her head and sniffed the grass in front of her. Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei also hurriedly looked into the grass. She saw that there were some things vaguely visible in the grass. Jiang Yuwei stepped forward, parted the grass, and looked inside.
Jiang Yuwei was overjoyed to see so many eggs in the grass. Could these be wild eggs? She quickly put down her basket and gathered them all, picking them up as she walked. She was surprised to find she had collected half a basketful. This was the first time she had seen so many eggs since arriving in this world, and she kept muttering to herself:
"As expected, there are good things in the deep mountains. Little Jiu, you've done a great job again today. I'll give you an egg later!"
Xiao Jiu seemed to understand Jiang Yuwei's praise, and instantly raised her round head high, looking so proud that Jiang Yuwei couldn't help but laugh.
Seeing that there were no more eggs around, Jiang Yuwei picked up her basket and continued climbing the mountain with Xiao Jiu. They hadn't gone far when she spotted a wild Sichuan pepper plant and exclaimed in surprise:
"So Sichuan peppercorns are also grown here. Is it because the locals don't know how to prepare them that they're not sold in town?"
With that thought in mind, Jiang Yuwei dug it up by the roots and planted the wild pepper plant in her own space.
Xiao Jiu, who was standing to the side, saw Jiang Yuwei appearing and disappearing intermittently. Although she was puzzled, she obediently squatted down and waited.
After planting the wild peppercorns, Jiang Yuwei led Xiao Jiu into the deep mountains. She lied to Ning Huaizhi because she knew that the old wild ginseng must be hidden deep in the mountains. If it grew in the surrounding area, it would have been dug up long ago.
Jiang Yuwei felt a bit hungry after walking for a while, so she took out some dry food from her basket, took one for herself and handed one to Xiao Jiu. Upon seeing this, Xiao Jiu obediently squatted down next to Jiang Yuwei and ate the flatbread.
Jiang Yuwei was eating while observing the surrounding terrain. In the distance, she saw a place with many tall trees. After eating a few bites, Jiang Yuwei took Xiao Jiu to check it out.
But as she got closer, she realized it was an orchard with jujubes, star fruit, pineapple, green papaya, green mango... Jiang Yuwei was overjoyed. These were perfect ingredients for making pickled fruits. Just thinking about pickled fruits made Jiang Yuwei's mouth water uncontrollably.
Jiang Yuwei thought that there was still plenty of room in her thatched hut to store the fruit, so she started shaking the tree trunks to pick some to make pickled fruit. However, the trees were too old and thick; she couldn't even budge the trunks. Seeing this, Xiao Jiu climbed up a branch in a few steps and started patting the fruit down with its paws. Jiang Yuwei exclaimed happily:
"Xiao Jiu, take more pictures, and I want this tree and that tree too."
As Jiang Yuwei spoke, her hands never stopped moving. She quickly picked up the fallen fruit from the ground, filled the basket with fruit, and sent it into her space. Unexpectedly, the two of them kept moving through the fruit orchard.
Jiang Yuwei also forgot the time, and was so engrossed in picking up the fruit that she couldn't move her legs. After a long time, Jiang Yuwei finally felt a little tired, so she held her waist and called out:
"Xiao Jiu, come down quickly, stop picking them, I can't pick any more, these are enough."
Xiao Jiu only ran down the tree and walked to Jiang Yuwei's side after hearing Jiang Yuwei's shout. At this time, Xiao Jiu was also tired and her breathing was a little rapid.
Jiang Yuwei patted its head and smiled:
"Little Jiu is great, go eat an egg to replenish your energy."
As he spoke, he took out a raw egg from his pocket, cracked it open, and handed it to Xiao Jiu, who then licked it with her tongue and ate it.
Jiang Yuwei was also feeling a bit hungry, so she grabbed some fruit and ate it, then ate a piece of bread to replenish her energy. When she came to her senses, she realized that she seemed to be lost in the orchard.
Looking at the sun in the sky again, Jiang Yuwei exclaimed in surprise, "It's hanging on the horizon, about to set!"
"Oh no, we were so focused on picking fruit that we forgot about the time to get down the mountain. We probably won't be able to get down tonight. Huaizhi must be worried."
Jiang Yuwei thought that the only thing she could do right now was to find a way down the mountain, then find a suitable place to make a fire and stay overnight, and then go down the mountain when it got light.
Jiang Yuwei looked at the direction of the sun and roughly found the cardinal directions. She then followed the footprints from before and started walking down the mountain. However, she became more and more confused as she walked. Seeing that the sun was about to set, Jiang Yuwei dared not delay any longer. She found a large rock to use as cover, gathered a lot of dry firewood, and then took out a flint and steel to start a fire.
As darkness fell, Xiao Jiu's eyes grew increasingly wary. She sniffed around Jiang Yuwei and listened intently to the sounds around her. Jiang Yuwei became very nervous because of Xiao Jiu's behavior and unconsciously tightened her grip on the dagger in her hand.
Jiang Yuwei first cleared out a space for herself and Xiao Jiu to sleep in, and then carefully observed the surrounding terrain so that she could escape in time if danger occurred at night.
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