Qin San Lang felt it was a pity that today they had only wandered around the shallow mountain area of Dafeng Mountain and did not venture into the deep mountains. His original intention was to explore the deep mountains, but knowing that the adults would worry, he nodded and said, "Okay."
The others agreed as well, and each carried their belongings down the mountain.
That sack of snakes was a bit dangerous, so Qin San Lang didn’t let Gu Jinli carry it. Instead, he used a hoe as a carrying pole, with one end holding the sack of snakes and the other end carrying about twenty wild sweet potatoes.
Luo Wu was holding several large mountain rats, each weighing about half a pound.
The three wild chickens were carried by Luo Huiniang, Gu Jinli, and Tian Xiaohua.
Tian Xiaohua cherished the wild chicken greatly, holding the wingless, foot-tied bird in her arms, a smile covering her thin, dark face. Tian Erqiang followed closely beside her, occasionally reaching out his hand to protect the chicken.
Gu Jinli found it amusing yet also felt sowhat sad; the Tian siblings were like this because of their poverty, reminding her of the urgency to make money.
Gu Jinli withdrew her gaze from the Tian siblings and turned to look around. She looked at the especially tall trees, the small slope they had passed, and the distinctly shaped distant peaks.
She was morizing the terrain of Dafeng Mountain, planning to return to the mountains in the future. Only by rembering the terrain could she avoid getting lost in the mountains.
Qin San Lang also had the habit of rembering the terrain. He looked at the characteristic scenery along the way and listened to the surrounding sounds. If he heard the sound of water, he would stop, morize the surrounding scenery, and then continue walking.
They walked briskly for about two hours, and just as they were about to leave the mountain, Luo Wu couldn’t help but ask Gu Jinli, "Xiao Yu, is your family doing well?"
Gu Jinli smiled and said, "They are all doing fine."
Luo Wu, not quite satisfied with the response, frowned.
Gu Jinli ignored him and continued walking out of the mountain.
As they were about to exit the mountain, Luo Wu hurriedly caught up to Gu Jinli and asked softly, "Your sister, is she doing well?"
Gu Jinli turned back, flashed him a grin, and said, "She’s pretty good. My older sister has always been practicing those few defensive moves; you don’t need to worry."
With that, she said no more and turned to continue on her way.
Luo Wu would turn eighteen after the New Year, and his feelings for Gu Jinxiu were known not only to her but also to the adults of both families.
However, until the Luo Family formally proposed a marriage, she couldn’t talk much about Gu Jinxiu with Luo Wu. This was ancient tis, where a single rumor could ruin a girl’s life.
Luo Huiniang, who didn’t think much of it, thought her big brother was just inquiring about Sister Xiu’s martial arts training. She said, "Big brother, don’t be too demanding of Sister Xiu. She’s not suited for martial arts; it’s already good enough that she can manage those few moves."
Sister Xiu was gentle and frail; when she was at her old ho, she only used to do needlework and embroidery, practicing martial arts was too hard for her.
Luo Wu, embarrassed by Luo Huiniang’s words, uttered sothing to brush it off and then hurried along with the others.
After they got down the mountain, they took a big detour and finally returned to the path leading back to the Qin family house.
Third Grandma was standing on the path, anxiously looking towards the end of it. When she saw their figures, she breathed a sigh of relief, waved her hands at them, and called out, "Hurry up and co ho, it’s getting dark."
They had left the mountain in the afternoon and had walked for two hours. It was already evening by the ti they reached this point.
Several people saw Third Grandma and hurriedly ran to her.
Luo Huiniang held up a pheasant in her hand and said to Third Grandma, "Third Grandma, look, we caught a wild pheasant."
Third Grandma was astonished to see both pheasants and large rats in their hands: "How did you find so many good things?" All of this is at.
Luo Huiniang tilted her chin up, sowhat proudly, "We are quite impressive, aren’t we?"
"Very impressive, you are all good children, let’s go, let’s go ho," Third Grandma was very pleased and led them ho.
The n from several families gathered at Gu Jinli’s house to discuss matters. Seeing them bring back so many items, Third Grandpa imdiately decided, "Call everyone from the families, let’s have a good al tonight, it’s been so long since we had at."
Tian Erqiang imdiately ran to inform the families.
Soon, the won from several families ca with pots and pans, food supplies, and their families in tow.
Mrs. Chen was the most eager, grabbing two pheasants right away: "I’m great at slaughtering chickens, leave them to , and I’ll make sure they are properly handled."
Because there were many people, amounting to about thirty mouths, and all craved at intensely, two pheasants were not enough. Qin San Lang caught three more large rats to prepare, and soon had them beheaded, legged, skinned, and cut into evenly sized small pieces, taking them to Gu Family’s kitchen.
In Great Chu, mountainous rodents are referred to as mountain rats, but what they caught today were bamboo rats, which are actually quite plump.
Gu Jinli took bamboo rat at chunks from Qin San Lang. He blanched them first, then washed them thoroughly. First, he rendered so fat from the bamboo rat itself, then he poured the bamboo rat at chunks into the iron pot, slow-frying them over low heat until the at pieces were shiny golden and aromatic.
Mrs. Chen watched the bamboo rat at in the iron pot, swallowing her saliva: "Xiao Yu, this slls too delicious."
Unable to resist, Mrs. Chen actually reached into the pot and grabbed a piece of bamboo rat at, stuffing it into her mouth.
Seeing this, Gu Jinli smiled and said, "Aunt Gui, the at isn’t thoroughly cooked yet. Eating it now might lead to worms in your stomach, according to dical books."
Mrs. Chen’s face stiffened, and she hastily spit out the at from her mouth.
Mrs. Cui, Ms. Chu, Ms. Yan, and Aunt Tian were all used to Mrs. Chen’s behavior and kept busy without comnting on her actions.
Third Grandma couldn’t stand it anymore, scolding Mrs. Chen: "Can’t you wait a bit longer? You’ve spoiled such a big piece of at."
Mrs. Chen knew she shouldn’t have been greedy, but she couldn’t help herself. However, since Third Grandma ranked higher, she didn’t dare to retort and could only give an embarrassed smile and go back to stewing chicken soup.
As darkness fell, the won from several families brought forth a big pot of stir-fried bamboo rat, a large pot of chicken soup, a basket of stead sweet potatoes, and a big pot of soybean and old rice porridge.
Each family had brought old rice and soybeans, making up a full pot.
In the main hall, a fire was burning with two torches standing. Thirty-so people from several families sat around the fire, enjoying this rare, sumptuous al under the light of the fire.
The children from these families were even happier, they didn’t even use chopsticks, directly grabbing with hands, ending up with oil-smudged faces.
After a joy-filled dinner, Elder Qin began discussing issues about Da Feng Village with the families: "Da Feng Village has two prominent surnas: the He and Lu families. The He family has lived in Da Feng Village the longest and produced the most village chiefs. Most He family mbers are decent, but there are a few troublemakers and slackers, like He Sanlai, He Shanwa, and He Dacai. Keep your distance from them and if you co across them alone, it’s better to detour."
"Lu family moved to Da Feng Village over a hundred years ago, they are not as senior as the He family. But the Lu Family Patriarch, who is Old Master Lu, has money, owns several shops in the county, and his daughter is a concubine to the County Magistrate, having given birth to a son and daughter for him, and she holds so status at the County Governor Mansion. Hence, Old Master Lu is quite domineering in Da Feng Village, even Village Chief He is intimidated by him."
"The intimidating act towards us was demanded by Old Master Lu for Village Chief He to carry out."
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