Riding the wind of rebirth

Zhou Zhi carefully looked at the cakes in the basket and said, "Well, it worked this time. There are no cracks."

Gillette Abi laughed and said, "No wonder Elbow is so good at everything. Most people can't compare to his dedication to research."

The viscosity of black buckwheat is not good enough, so Zhou Zhi added some corn flour into it, and then blanched the flour with boiling water. The crust made in this way can withstand frying, and the color turns into light brown, which looks more attractive.

"Come and eat, it's delicious." Mai Xiaomiao greeted the two people who had just entered the room. She had met Shama Ricong before, and she had only seen a photo of Jike Azi, but she had lived in her room, so she was not completely unfamiliar.

"Should I call you sister or younger sister?" Jike Azi was quite generous, but Mai Xiaomiao was petite and had a childish and innocent face, which made it easy for people to misunderstand her age.

If the two of them stood together in front of outsiders, most people would think that Mai Xiaomiao was the younger sister.

"You have to call me sister. Xiao Miao is one year older than you." Zhou Zhi asked with concern: "A Zi is about to take the final exam, right?"

"It's so annoying. You should worry about yourself first!" Jilie Azi rolled her eyes at Zhou Zhi, then smiled at Mai Xiaomiao and said, "Sister Xiaomiao, we finally meet."

"She's only been here a few days." Zhou Zhile interrupted, "Why do you make it sound like you've known her for a long time?"

"Of course." Jilie Azi took Mai Xiaomiao's arm and said, "We are all members of Guan Tingting's fan club!"

After Mai Xiaomiao's identity was lifted, he has been quite active on the forum recently, but it did not affect his work, and Zhou Zhi had no way to control him.

“Come and try Zhouzhi’s new invention.” Mai Xiaomiao tried hard to recommend it: “He said it was based on something…something…” from his hometown.

"Hundish water cake, made according to the recipe of Hunshui cake." Zhou Zhi said: "Hundish water cake in our place also uses mother-and-child lime water, but it is mixed with rice flour."

"It's delicious!" Shama Ricong on the side has already tasted it. The Yi girls in Liangshan Prefecture don't seem to have any pressure to gain weight and never skimp on themselves when eating: "Not bad, not bad! It's much better than the old buckwheat cake!"

At this time, Wu Renzhong came in with a basket on his back: "Shama said that he saw that you like to eat Yanyuan apples, so he bought a bunch of them, but they are a little heavy."

"Huh? Is this the dry food for tonight?"

"Some dry food for tonight." Zhou Zhi said, "Wait until you finish helping Auntie cook the fried meat, then we'll set off."

"Where's Grandpa?" Ah Zi asked, "Is he going with us?"

"He's going to prepare horses for us." Zhou Zhi said, "He said you know the way, so he told us to take the black dragon and be careful with the fire, and he won't join us young people in the fun. Did you bring your swimsuits?"

"I brought it, and I also bought one for Sister Xiaomiao." Jike Azi looked Mai Xiaomiao up and down and said, "Brother Elbow has a pretty accurate sense of size..."

"Stop it!" Zhou Zhi interrupted immediately: "I'm going to fry some fresh meat, move aside, it's no joke if you get burned!"

After frying the meat and sealing the jar, Zhou Zhi and his companions packed up their luggage, went outside the grain station, mounted their horses, and started heading towards the mountain.

It was still afternoon. Two men and three women were riding five horses, and two of them were carrying things. Led by Jike Azi, they first walked up the stone road of the mountain village to the back mountain, then bypassed the chicken farm, followed the path beside the pine forest to the ridge, and rode slowly along the relatively flat ridge.

The ground in the pine forest was covered with pine needles. Under the sunlight, the forest was filled with the pine scent of the tabulaeformis. The horseshoes stepped on the soft pine needles silently, and the bumps made people feel very comfortable. Mai Xiaomiao was not very familiar with riding horses. Yesterday, he caught Erjia and asked him to teach him for a day. Today, at least he was not afraid of horses. Now he has some riding experience, and said to Zhou Zhi: "Elbow, can we include riding horses in our morning exercise?"

"Sure, but we need to ask Grandpa Chi Ri to pick out two good horses so that it will be more convenient for many of our classmates to ride horses there. This can be considered a rigid demand."

Jike Azi and Shama Ricong looked at each other and laughed secretly. Elbow was really an expert at making excuses.

Their destination this time was a hot spring deep in the mountains. According to Lao Chi Ri, the water there was very clear and it was a great place to take a bath.

"Azi, do you usually go alone?" Seeing how primitive the environment in the mountains was, Shama Ricong couldn't help but be amazed at Jike Azi's courage: "You are quite brave."

"We have been picking mushrooms since we were young, and we often go into the mountains and then disperse." Jike Azi said nonchalantly, "It's not far. I have gone back to my grandmother's house alone, and it's even farther away."

Zhou Zhi had heard about Gillette Abi's hometown. It was a plateau meadow. Zhou Zhi estimated that the altitude difference between it and Lianhe Township was more than 2,000 meters. To get there, one had to climb over countless mountains, cliffs, and wild forests. If one went to the hot spring now, it might just be drizzling.

"If you are in an unfamiliar forest, you must always remember to leave traces." Jike Azi reached out and pinched a branch next to the Soma flower bush beside him, but did not completely cut it off, leaving the branch hanging upside down: "Just like that."

"What if we encounter wild animals?" Mai Xiaomiao asked worriedly.

"In fact, wild animals are very smart. They know how to hide from people." Jike Azi said, "You have to be alert in the forest. As long as you find wild animals early and don't enter their alert range, they will only hide from people and won't chase people."

"Grandpa said there are generally only two ways for wild animals to chase people. One is that you block its path, and the other is that your behavior drives it into a corner. As long as you avoid these two situations, there is basically nothing to worry about."

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"The road I'm walking on looks desolate, but in fact, it's always been walked on by people. There's a human scent all along the way, so wild animals are very alert and generally won't come to such a road."

"If you go into the mountains in summer, you should be more careful about snakes."

“There are still snakes?” Mai Xiaomiao was a little nervous.

"It's almost winter now, and the snakes are already hibernating." Zhou Zhi said, "Don't be afraid."

"After turning this ridge, you will enter the colorful forest. The colorful forest is now the most beautiful, look!"

As Jike Azi led the horse team through the pine forest, a large area of ​​native forest belt distributed along the mountain range appeared before everyone.

"Wow!" Wu Renzhong couldn't help but exclaimed: "This place can definitely be put on the calendar!"

The sky was pure blue, and strong sunlight shone obliquely from behind, covering the hillside.

There are two dividing lines on the hillside. From top to bottom, there are first some peaks with snow still on them. Because it is not the season yet, there is not much snow on the peaks, but mostly blue-gray rocks. Further down is a plant belt made of moss and small shrubs, which almost merges with the mountain. Further down is the first dividing line, where emerald green pine forests begin to appear.

The pine forest under the sunlight changes from sparse to dense from top to bottom, and all the way down to the densest place, but it is stubbornly blocked by other woods.

In the eyes of these trees, the pine forests should be unwelcome outsiders. These trees are the survivors of human activities and the native forest belts that have been growing here since ancient times. (End of this chapter)