Back at the camp, Lin Shuo briefly told Grandma Zhao and the others that they should not go too far when digging for wild vegetables on the road, and they should not leave the camp alone when resting.
The group hurried on their way, quickening their pace, eager to leave the forest infested with wolves as soon as possible.
Under the bright sunshine, Lin Yinan rode his horse through the forest.
The forest was lush with foliage, and there wasn't a breath of cool air; everyone was sweating profusely from the heat.
It wasn't until sunset that the Yun family guards found a flat spot away from the forest, with a shallow stream running through it.
Everyone agreed to stop here and rest for the night.
Grandma Zhao asked Lin Shuo to take down the pot and the food for dinner. There was water nearby, so she planned to cook a pot of wild vegetable porridge for dinner.
Because of what happened at noon, after the stop, the women and children were no longer allowed to go out to dig for wild vegetables on their own; they were only allowed to move around the campsite.
After a day of jostling on horseback, Lin Yi'an and Lu Changqing dismounted and collapsed onto the oilcloth, no longer bothering Lin Yinan.
Lin Yinan carried a bow and arrows and prepared to patrol around the camp.
As she passed by the Yun family camp, Lu Xueying was tidying up her things. When she saw her coming, she quickly took out a piece of dried meat from her bundle and stuffed it into her hand.
Not far away, Zhu Jinhui stared at the two of them with a sinister look in her eyes.
Lu Xueying glanced at her sideways, not daring to say anything, "Good girl, take it and eat it."
Lu Yashuang, who was holding her pregnant belly, smiled and nodded at her.
Lin Yinan accepted the dried meat, thanked him, and then left.
"What a lovely young girl!"
Lu Xueying sighed, wishing they hadn't gotten engaged. She could only blame Sanlang for not being lucky enough.
The brothers Lin Yizhang and Lin Yisong led four horses and a cow to drink water by the stream, while Lin Shuo and several guards from the Yun family were upstream, digging a small pool in the stream with shovels.
The stream is too shallow to hold much water; it needs to be dug deeper to make it easier to draw water.
"Anan, don't go too far," Lin Shuo said to her when he saw her.
"I'll just look around this area."
Lin Yinan was walking in the woods when suddenly, a fruit with sharp thorns fell from a tree and hit her on the head.
Looking down, I realized this thing looked familiar.
After stepping on the fruit a few times, an oval-shaped fruit with a brownish-brown outer skin and a smooth, hard shell was revealed—it was a chestnut.
Lin Yinan looked up and saw a chestnut tree that had been growing in the forest for who knows how long, its branches laden with thorny fruit.
Chestnuts are high in starch and contain nutrients such as protein, fat, and sugar, making them a good substitute for grains.
She bent down, picked up a few chestnuts, and held them in her hand, intending to go back and call everyone to come and pick them together.
What are you picking up?
Lin Yinan was so focused on picking things up that she was suddenly startled by him.
Yun Mo emerged from the forest with two of his men, several pheasants hanging from his waist.
"Chestnuts," she said irritably.
Upon hearing this, Yun Mo looked up and glanced around, his eyes immediately lighting up.
He turned to his subordinate and ordered, "Go back and get a few sacks, and call everyone in the camp here."
Lin Yinan chose the biggest tree with the most chestnuts and quickly climbed up to assert her dominance.
"This tree is mine."
"I'll go up and help you."
Yun Mo leaped and landed on a tree branch that was even taller than Lin Yinan.
Before Lin Yinan could refuse, Yun Mo stood on the tree branch and shook it vigorously.
One by one, the spiky chestnuts fell from the tree, several hitting Lin Yinan on the head and back, making her wince in pain.
After shaking it enough, Yun Mo leaped forward and used his sword to cut the stubborn chestnuts off the branches, and soon the entire tree was devoid of any more fruit.
"How was it?" he asked with a smile as he landed beside her.
His smile was like sunshine, deep and bright, so captivating that it was impossible to look away.
Lin Yinan curled her lips into a smile. "Very good!"
Receiving her affirmation, Yun Mo felt as if his chest was filled with honey, and he flew towards the remaining trees in one go.
By the time the people from the camp arrived, Yun Mo had already shaken almost all the chestnuts off the tree.
A whole bunch of people were also exposed around Lin Yinan.
Chestnuts are prone to getting infested with insects and don't keep well, so she peeled some and put them into her space. She'll discuss with Lin Yiheng later whether to store any leftover chestnuts in her space.
"My God, so many chestnuts?"
Grandma Zhao was overjoyed and immediately started kicking the chestnuts that were scattered all over the ground, one after another.
Liu Zhaodi wiped away her tears and choked up, "Now I don't have to worry about going hungry anymore."
God knows how worried she was about not being able to support so many children after their father died; she only dared to eat a few bites of bread each day.
"So many chestnuts! They're so expensive at the academy gate." Su Yunyan exclaimed, then said to her two older brothers, "Big brother, second brother, hurry up and pick them up so we can ask Mother to make sugar-roasted chestnuts when we get back."
Seven-year-old Su Yunrui was the most enthusiastic, saying, "Third brother, let me help."
Apart from Yun Erlang, who was injured and unable to move, and a few guards who stayed behind, everyone else joined the chestnut-gathering team.
In the end, each family had collected about two sacks of chestnuts. If they hadn't been too tired to carry them and it hadn't gotten late, they would have wanted to keep collecting.
Grandma Zhao put the flour she had taken out to make the porridge for wild vegetables back into the porridge.
At dinner time, the campsite was filled with the aroma of chestnuts, boiled and roasted over the fire.
The most extravagant family was the Su family, where Zhu Jinhui made sugar-roasted chestnuts to satisfy her son's cravings.
Su Yunzhi brought a large bowl to Lin Yinan.
Lin Yinan ate two and then shared them with the children, including Liu Yu who received five.
After the meal, the Yun family guards came over and said that they had set up four simple sheds not far from the camp, and everyone could line up to go inside to wash up.
Lin Yinan was just about to build one herself; the Yun family really knew how to treat people.
After traveling all day, her clothes were constantly wet and dry, leaving white streaks on her black clothes.
That night, all the families arranged for people to be on duty, and the Yun family even arranged two extra guards.
In the middle of the night, Lin Yinan was awakened by the howling of wolves.
She sat up and listened carefully; the wolf howls were still some distance away from them.
The watchmen stood guard with knives around, and after an hour, the wolf howls gradually faded away.
It was past midnight when Lin Yinan lay down and continued to sleep.
The next day, when Lin Yinan got up, she saw that Grandma Zhao was stewing chestnuts and chicken in a big pot.
"Grandma, where did this chicken come from?"
Grandma Zhao beamed with joy.
“It was sent by Yun Sanlang. It weighs about five or six pounds. He said that last night, the howling wolves scared the wild animals into our mountain forest. Before dawn, he and his men hunted a bunch of wild animals and gave each family a chicken.”
A hint of doubt flashed in Lin Yinan's eyes, but she didn't ask any further questions and got up to take care of her personal needs.
Lin Yinan ate three large bowls of the delicious pheasant stew with chestnuts.
After eating and drinking to our hearts' content, we continued our journey.
Around noon, they encountered the Lin family villagers who had become separated from them in a flat grove of trees.
Seeing everyone lying or sitting on the ground, all looking worried and gloomy, even the children were not crying or making a fuss, the atmosphere was unusually somber.
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