Yuan Shitou led Yun Xiaoxiao for three days before finally arriving at the foot of a cliff covered in moss.
Yun Xiaoxiao looked around the place with curiosity.
The cliff face is quite high, and it is covered with many moss-like plants.
Below the cliff is a river that is four or five meters wide and not deep.
In some places, you can still see exposed rocks.
Yun Xiaoxiao was a little confused. There was no salt here.
Could it be underground?
Forgive her, even if she's from the new century, she wouldn't know that salt would be found in a place like this.
All I know is that seawater can be used to make salt, but I don't know anything else.
Sigh, if I had known I was going to end up in this remote mountain forest, I would have brushed up on my knowledge in this area.
Instead of immediately mining salt, Yuan Shitou cut down trees and built houses.
Yun Xiaoxiao is confused again.
Weren't we supposed to be harvesting salt?
Why are you building houses again? Are you going to live here all the time?
Yuan Shitou, being a child raised in the mountains, quickly finished building the framework of the house.
Moreover, it's quite sturdy.
Yun Xiaoxiao doesn't know what she's supposed to do.
When asked, Yuan Shitou told her to just rest and not to lift a finger.
Yuan Shitou is busy with all this, so Yun Xiaoxiao can't just sit by and watch, can she?
So she took the grain out of her basket, set up a pot, and started cooking.
At first, she was curious about what Yuan Shitou was carrying in his basket, but later she learned that it contained some grain and tools.
He also carried two sets of clothes for Yun Xiaoxiao.
Of course, he also had his own, but only one set.
As it was getting dark, Yuan Shitou finally finished building the house.
They scattered a lot of medicinal powder around the area and told Yun Xiaoxiao to go to sleep when she was extremely sleepy.
Looking at the small room, Yun Xiaoxiao asked, "Where will you sleep?"
Yuan Shitou said somewhat embarrassedly, "I also live here."
But Xiaoxiao, don't misunderstand, I won't do anything reckless.
The main problem is that this is in the mountains; it's okay during the day, but it's very unsafe at night.
Seeing that Yun Xiaoxiao didn't speak, he quickly added, "If you don't want to, I'll just sleep in the tree."
Yun Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and moved the things around:
"Come in, it's spacious inside, we can each take one side."
As he spoke, he folded the thin blanket into a strip and placed it in the middle.
"You must remember not to exceed this blanket, otherwise... hmph."
She didn't say what she meant after that, but I believe Yuan Shitou knew what she meant.
Yuan Shitou nodded happily: "I know, Xiaoxiao, don't worry, I won't cross the line."
Having not had a good night's sleep for several days, Yun Xiaoxiao fell asleep as soon as she lay down.
Nothing happened overnight.
In the morning, Yun Xiaoxiao woke up and found herself in Yuan Shitou's arms, which startled her.
Just as I was about to explode, I noticed that my sleeping spot was empty, and the 38th parallel was still there.
The 38th parallel was flattened and collapsed, clearly caused by her.
Why say it was my own doing? Just look at my current posture and you'll know.
She was currently in Yuan Shitou's arms with her upper body inside him, and her legs were resting on Yuan Shitou's legs.
It's obvious that he was a restless sleeper and ended up on Yuan Shitou's side.
How shameful! I was on guard against Yuan Shitou, but I broke the rules myself first.
At that moment, she felt her face burning with embarrassment.
Regardless of whether it would wake Yuan Shitou, he quickly pulled his leg back and rolled to his own territory.
Yuan Shitou was awakened by her movements and slapped his forehead: Damn it, how did I fall asleep?
He then recalled how Xiaoxiao kept rolling towards him last night, even rolling into his arms.
He had intended to push it away, but found it felt quite nice.
So he played a little trick and pretended to be asleep and unaware.
At first, he remained vigilant about his surroundings, preventing any wild animals from approaching.
Gradually, I fell asleep comfortably.
Thankfully nothing serious happened, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Never mind, he can sleep in the tree tonight.
Both of them acted as if nothing had happened, each going about their own business.
They tacitly avoided mentioning what happened last night.
Yuan Shitou started working on various things early in the morning.
Yun Xiaoxiao had no idea what he was trying to do.
When there's nothing else to do, I collect some dry firewood from the surrounding area so I can start a fire at night.
She also picked up a lot of black fungus from the surrounding area.
Dry them on the rocks while they're in the air; they'll taste better later.
Ever since Yuan Shitou slept with her on the first night, he has slept in the tree every night.
They say this makes it easier to keep watch at night.
Later, thanks to Yun Xiaoxiao's persistent efforts...
She kept watch for the first half of the night, while Yuan Shitou kept watch for the second half.
Animals also come here to drink water, but they run away as soon as they see people.
We didn't see any large, ferocious beasts.
Overall, it is relatively safe.
After staying there for five days, Yuan Shitou started packing his things and said he was going home.
Yun Xiaoxiao asked curiously, "Brother Stone, are we not going to collect salt anymore?"
Yuan Shitou chuckled and said, "There are about ten kilograms here, enough for a long time."
Before long, the village will organize people to go to another place to collect salt.
We'll gather more then.
Yun Xiaoxiao nodded: "Isn't there salt for sale outside?"
They always gather it themselves from the mountains.
As Yuan Shitou packed his things, he said:
"We mountain people are poor to begin with, so we try not to spend money if we can avoid it."
Besides, no one would carry salt to sell.
Yun Xiaoxiao was a little puzzled: "Didn't you say that peddlers would come to the village to sell things?"
Yuan Shitou nodded: "He only sells small items; he doesn't sell things like salt."
"Why? Isn't salt very profitable?"
"They said it was forbidden to sell salt privately."
Yun Xiaoxiao was even more puzzled: "It's not ancient times, why restrict the resale of salt?"
Yuan Shitou didn't know either, and couldn't reply to her.
Yun Xiaoxiao asked again, "The little guy doesn't earn much money at all, why is he still willing to be a peddler?"
Yuan Shitou thought for a moment and said, "It seems that his sister was abducted and sold into slavery. He was a peddler who went from street to street looking for his sister."
"Did he find his sister?"
Yuan Shitou shook his head: "It seems he's dead."
Yun Xiaoxiao felt a little down when she thought about her situation.
Seeing her expression, Yuan Shitou comforted her, "Xiaoxiao, don't worry, our whole family will treat you like a treasure."
They will never hit or scold you, or starve you.
Yun Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "I know you are all good to me, and I consider you all my family."
Whether I stay or not, I want to find my brother.
He is my only blood relative in this world, and I don't want to lose him.
As she spoke, tears streamed down her face.
When Yuan Shitou saw her crying, he panicked and, disregarding the mud on his hands, went forward to wipe her tears.
The more she wiped, the dirtier Yun Xiaoxiao's face became.
Yuan Shitou dared not say it aloud, for fear that a small misunderstanding might lead people to think he was doing it on purpose.
Yun Xiaoxiao also noticed that her hands, which she used to wipe her tears, were covered in mud.
She laughed when she realized what was happening.
Yuan Shitou smiled when he saw her face, which looked like a cat's face.
After helping Yun Xiaoxiao wash her face, he started tidying up again.
He also reassured Yun Xiaoxiao, "When we have money, I'll go with you to find your brother."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com