Jiang Yue and the other man were both heavily reeking of fish. As they were about to lie down after their shower, they faintly heard a commotion outside. They were returning quite quickly.
In the early morning of the next day, when Jiang Yue was about to wake up, she heard another quarrel.
She was about to get up and take a look, wondering if a thief had broken in.
Jiang Nian held her in his arms and comforted her, "Don't worry, the villagers have tasted the sweetness, and a new group of people are going to the mountains again."
They only lead the way the first time, and what happens afterwards is none of their business.
However, everyone was still grateful. They used their fishing nets and gave the couple six fish every time they caught fish.
Jiang Yue accepted it all.
She closed the door and built a fire in the yard.
After scraping off the scales and gutting the fish, Jiang Yue marinated them with onions and ginger for half an hour to remove the fishy smell.
Jiang Nian made a rack according to her request, put the fish on it, and turned it over the fire.
The fish skin quickly became crispy, and the breeze brought a fragrant aroma.
Jiang Yue leaned back in his arms, and the two of them sat on a small stool.
The fish was not easy to eat after it was grilled, so she held the plate and Jiang Nian took a pair of chopsticks, put his hands in front of her, and fed her a bite after he took a bite.
"Is it tasty?"
"Yeah, everything you cook is delicious."
Jiang Yue chuckled, raised her hand to touch his chin, and her words became sweeter and sweeter.
As long as the villagers have meat to eat, they will work hard. They don’t even care about the ten-hour journey back and forth, and they are happy to travel long distances to work.
Jiang Yue thought it was an illusion. Could it be that it was not ten hours but ten minutes?
No one came to borrow her mule, not because they were afraid, but because they themselves felt that the mule was too valuable to be used casually to move heavy wood. In their eyes, they would not be willing to let the mule break down.
It must be said that the villagers' hunting skills were improving rapidly. In addition to mountain rats, some people started to catch rabbits and pheasants. However, during the disaster years, there were not many wild animals, so these were rare.
Without waiting for Jiang Yue to remind him, the village chief knew what was going on and reminded everyone to be careful about safety, not to let anyone snatch away the prey they had worked so hard to hunt, and not to let anyone follow them into the village.
However, no matter how careful everyone is, it cannot be avoided.
One day, the people who went up the mountain came back with wounds all over their bodies, but fortunately, neither the wood nor the prey had been stolen.
"Some people, I don't know if they were refugees or city dwellers, saw us carrying our game and tried to get close to us. Were we that stupid? We just didn't answer. Then they got impatient and tried to snatch it, so we started fighting. But there were only five of them, and we were eight, so we still won."
The village chief frowned, "Didn't he catch up?"
"No, we were careful and walked around a bit to make sure no one was following us before we went into the village."
This incident sounded a wake-up call to the village chief. If he was more careful, he would still notice it.
"We'll stop for now and only have to go up the mountain every few days. First, we have to guard the grain and vegetable fields. The harvest is still more than two months away, and we can't afford to make any mistakes. Second, we have to increase patrols and guards in the village. Third, we have to store water for the scorching summer heat."
For more than half a month, they took turns to send people up the mountain every day, and brought back a lot of wood and dry firewood, as well as hundreds of fish and a dozen mountain mice, rabbits, and pheasants, all of which were made into jerky. It was considered a good harvest.
Too much is as bad as too little.
As it got dark, the villagers went home to rest. He carried a pheasant and a rabbit and went to knock on the Jiang family's door.
The person who came to open the door was Jiang Nian. The wooden board on his arm had been removed, but he was still unable to do heavy work.
When he saw the village chief, he turned around and called Jiang Yue, "Yueyue, the village chief is here."
Jiang Yue was cooking wild vegetable dumplings in the kitchen, using the tender wild vegetables given by the villagers.
She wiped the water droplets from her hands and walked out, "Village Chief, please come into the house and talk."
Then he said to Jiang Nian, "Please scoop up all the dumplings. They are almost cooked. Any longer and they will become rotten. Only use your right hand."
"good."
No matter how many times Village Chief He saw this, he would sigh, "How could such a tall man be so obedient to his wife? It's like a mouse meeting a cat and being eaten alive."
The two entered the house. Village Chief He placed the rabbit and pheasant on the table and smiled wryly. "Young lady, you are a straightforward person, so I will speak frankly. We would like to ask you two to teach the villagers some leg and foot skills. We don't ask for much, just enough to protect ourselves."
His neck flushed red as he said this. They had agreed not to disturb them, and since the couple had done the village a lot of favors, he was pushing it too far. But the villagers wanted to survive, so he had to give it a try whenever he found a chance. What did face matter?
Jiang Yue had a good impression of them, and this wasn't a big deal. The villagers were able to protect themselves, so they could stay in the village longer.
"Village Chief, we can't really say for sure about your leg skills. After all, we're not masters from that martial arts school. But we do know that in addition to relying on brute force and cleverness, the most basic thing in a fight is physical fitness, that is, physical strength."
The village chief nodded. He understood what was said. No matter whether you knew one or two moves, at least you couldn't be panting like a donkey in the middle of a fight. Otherwise, you would fall down without anyone even coming to attack you.
"It's unavoidable that we are all short of food and clothing, but if we exercise every day, we can always gain some strength. Tomorrow morning, my husband will tell you all about it."
Village Chief He finally let go of his worries and was overjoyed. "Hey, hey, good!"
Jiang Nian placed three bowls of dumplings on a wooden tray and brought them in with his right hand.
"Village chief, come and have some dumplings with us. These dumplings are stuffed with wild vegetables and are delicious."
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