Liu He finally climbed up the mountain, her legs and back aching from exhaustion. She sat down on a rock and couldn't get up for a long time. Ma Mingyue was very careful along the way, trying to maintain her image. But no matter how cool it was in the mountains, it was still summer. After sweating, her hair stuck to her neck and her clothes clung to her thighs.
"...I'm exhausted. These people are really enthusiastic. This is just an ordinary mountain. Is it necessary to go through so much trouble to climb up here and carry so much stuff? Meat only tastes good when eaten here?"
After being warned by her son, Liu He finally dared not try to get close to others anymore, but Ma Mingyue suffered from her constant nagging.
She stretched out her hand and waved it vigorously, but it didn't create much of a breeze. She quickly stood up and said, "Auntie, you rest here for a while. I'll see if I can help."
The men worked efficiently and quickly gathered stones to make a spot for grilling meat, without needing any help. Lu Yang pulled out his fishing rod and said, "You guys just need to gather some firewood, we'll go catch some fish."
They had eaten breakfast before leaving, so the meat could be grilled later. The three of them picked up a stone from the stream and started fishing there.
Song Qing snatched Jian Dong's straw hat and put it on his head, saying, "Let's go gather firewood and see if we can find any wild vegetables along the way."
As Ma Mingyue walked over, she saw the three of them holding hands and walking into the woods nearby. The smile she had managed to force on her face almost vanished.
Since we're not taking her, we might as well go to Battalion Commander Lu's place.
People don't talk much when they're fishing, and He Zhangcheng was even less so; he barely spoke a word afterward. When Ma Mingyue came over, she looked up at her with some confusion.
"What are you doing here?"
Her tone wasn't polite, carrying some lingering resentment from her mother. Ma Mingyue stopped in her tracks. "...Cousin, I came to see if there's anything I can do to help?"
"No need." After a while, she realized that her tone was too harsh. After all, she was her cousin. Although they were not very close, she was someone she had watched grow up. She softened her tone first. "Just go find a shady spot over there to sit down."
Even sitting on randomly picked stones, the three of them sat upright with proper posture. Coupled with their consistently expressionless faces, Ma Mingyue couldn't find anything to talk about and felt awkward. In the end, she could only return to Liu He's side.
"Mingyue, I don't need anyone to keep me company. Go and have a good talk with your cousin. He must be suffering from the heat. Fan him. Did you bring any water?"
In a fit of pique, Ma Mingyue found a rock and sat down, saying, "They don't need me at all."
"You child, why are you standing there like a block of wood just like Ye Man? You have to take the initiative to care for a man. Do you expect him to come and care for you?"
...
On the other side, several children followed Liu Jiandong and the other man into the mountains and disappeared from sight. Ye Man was still a little worried, after all, the shadow left by the last time was too great. Song Qing patted her hand.
“It’s alright. Third Aunt said that Jian Dong ran up the mountain to play before he was even weaned. He’s very familiar with the mountains, and the other kids listen to him. Besides, Junliang and Ronghui can help keep an eye on them.”
Song Qing and Zhao Qin had been going up the mountain frequently for the past year and had lost interest in it. Ye Man, on the other hand, found everything new and interesting, and picked countless flowers and leaves she had never seen before.
They were almost out of bags when they felt a little embarrassed, saying, "I forgot we came here to collect firewood."
"It's still early. They didn't say they were going fishing, so who knows when they'll catch anything?"
As Song Qing spoke, he picked up a stick and started looking for wild fruit, which put Ye Man at ease.
"Should we check their traps?"
Song Qing still remembered the way, and led the two of them, turning left and right, until they finally found a group of people in the woods.
The flower wreaths on the children's heads had been replaced with straw hats, tied tightly together. After putting them on, they squatted in the grass and almost blended into the grass.
"Shhh"
Zhuangzhuang's eyes lit up with excitement. He was now a hunter in the mountains, which was quite an achievement.
"...Mom has pheasants."
Pheasants are fattest in winter, but these days people aren't picky about meat. The pheasant with its feet tied was originally placed in a basket, and Xiaoting and Suisui kept peeking at it from the basket. Later, Liu Jiandong simply took it out and threw it on the ground so they could look at it to their heart's content.
"...Its fur is really beautiful."
The two children looked at their beautiful eyes and felt a pang of pity. An'an quickly added, "Their legs were injured by the trap. They won't survive even if we don't eat them."
Zhuangzhuang: "You girls are just..."
Before he could finish speaking, his mother glared at him, so he could only shrug and say, "Then I'll eat by myself later."
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