Cute Wife Gourmet

Chapter 28: Tightening the Belt

After the Dragon-Breaking Stone was opened, Black Wind Hill began to plunder on a large scale. On the first day, two teams were sent down the mountain, but the harvest was very small because it was not the harvest season. On the second day, seven teams were sent to search for food and property in more distant villages and towns. However, by the evening, only four of the seven teams returned empty-handed, and each of them was injured and in a miserable state. It was said that they had fought with the officers and soldiers and the Xinyi people. There is still no news about the other three teams.

The top brass of the Shanzhai immediately held an emergency meeting, and even the second in command who was still recovering from his injuries participated.

Aunt Jiang came to help with the laundry, looking unusually serious.

"Aunt Wu's husband is gone, and she cried so miserably. If we hadn't held her back, she would have hit her head against a wall and died." Aunt Jiang sighed. Although she and Aunt Wu didn't get along well, she was in such a miserable state now, so there was no need to mention those little grudges.

"Uh... Didn't Aunt Wu's husband's team not come back? How do you know that the people are gone?" Ye Jiayao knew that many people died this time, but the detailed list seemed to have not yet come out.

"Just now, the brothers from Panlong Ridge sent back more than 20 corpses. They said that the people from Xinyi Town dumped the corpses at the foot of the ridge and left. Aunt Wu's man's body was almost split in half..." Aunt Jiang couldn't help but vomiting when she thought of the horrible scene.

Ye Jiayao shuddered. Since she came to the mountain, although she had her moments of frustration, she had generally lived a pretty good life. She was not in a hurry to escape, as she felt that she still had plenty of time to plan and find opportunities. However, this sudden change made her feel a strong sense of crisis.

She was not sure whether the soldiers would listen to her explanation after they broke through the stronghold. Even if she did, no one would believe her. Chunyu's analysis was correct. If the news of her being kidnapped by Heifenggang spread, it would damage the reputation of the Ye and Wei families. Therefore, the Ye and Wei families would definitely conceal the news and find ways to remedy the situation. Therefore, when she said that she was the eldest daughter of the Ye family and the daughter-in-law of the Wei family, no one would believe her. Her identity would only be the wife of the third head of Heifenggang.

"I think our village is in danger this time." Aunt Jiang kept shaking her head.

"Aunt Jiang, if the stronghold is breached, do you think we can survive?" Ye Jiayao asked worriedly.

Aunt Jiang smiled bitterly and said, "If the soldiers attacked us, we women might be able to survive, but if the Xinyi people attacked us, it would be hard to say. They are more ruthless than the people in our village! However... maybe they would show mercy to a pretty and young girl like the Third Madam, but for an old woman like me, they would cut her like a melon or a vegetable without blinking an eye."

Ye Jiayao couldn't even smile bitterly. Even if she could survive, she would probably become another bandit's woman! It would be better to follow Chunyu! At least Chunyu was handsome, so handsome that he was invincible and pleasing to the eye. Moreover, Chunyu was sometimes very gentle and considerate. For example, these two nights, he helped her cover her belly, and he covered it all night. No matter what sleeping position she changed, his hands always covered her belly.

She thinks that if she were in their shoes, she might not be able to do it.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this. I believe the boss will be able to find a way. If worst comes to worst, there's still the third boss. He will protect us." Ye Jiayao said without much confidence.

As they were talking, Chunyu and the others came back.

"Third Master, I'll set off after I make some preparations." Peng Wu clasped his fists.

Xia Chunyu nodded solemnly: "Be careful."

Ye Jiayao followed Chunyu into the house.

"Where is Peng Wu going?"

"Go down the mountain." Xia Chunyu said concisely and went straight to the study, took out the map and spread it out to study.

"Why are you going down the mountain so late? Isn't there an ambush at the foot of the mountain?" Ye Jiayao asked with concern.

Xia Chunyu glared at her impatiently: "Can you please stop disturbing me?"

Ye Jiayao snorted angrily and turned to look for Song Qi.

Song Qizheng saw Peng Wu out and gave him his short knife: "This dagger is a family heirloom. It is extremely sharp and can kill with one blow. Take it with you and return it to me when you come back."

Peng Wu put the dagger in his waist and patted Song Qi on the shoulder: "Thanks, brother."

Ye Jiayao also stepped forward and warned: "Peng Wu, be careful, if you can't beat him, just run away."

Peng Wu smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, it's okay. I'm just taking a few brothers down the mountain to find out the situation. I'll try not to fight with anyone."

After seeing Peng Wu off, Ye Jiayao asked Song Qi, "Is the situation very bad?"

Song Qi scratched his head and said, "It's a bit troublesome. The government and Xinyi people seem to have camped at the foot of the mountain. The villagers nearby ran to inform us as soon as they saw us. If we can't grab the food, we will be trapped to death on the mountain."

Ye Jiayao's heart sank. That was really troublesome.

That night, Chunyu and Song Qi patrolled everywhere and strengthened the defense. Chunyu did not come back to sleep until the second half of the night.

When the crisis came, Ye Jiayao felt that all her physical discomfort had disappeared. She got up early the next day and went to the kitchen to get the ingredients herself.

Today's rations were even less than yesterday's, only two kilograms of rice, one kilogram of noodles, one lotus root, two loofahs, and three eggs. Ye Jiayao knew that supplies were tight, but it wasn't tight enough to eat porridge, right? Did Old Yu make a mistake? There were several people in her room!

Old Yu said, "The two eggs are for the second in command. The first in command has ordered that from now on, except for the second in command who is recovering from his injuries, the food for everyone else, including himself, will be halved. Everyone has to tighten their belts to get by." But the belt was too tight all of a sudden. Ye Jiayao had no choice but to take the ration back to the courtyard and start to cook porridge. With such a small amount of rice, she could only drink porridge. She added flour to the old dough to make a few steamed buns. She couldn't afford to eat steamed buns anymore.

Fortunately, Uncle Jiang brought some fermented tofu made by Aunt Jiang. Song Qi and Chunyu each had a bowl of porridge and two steamed buns, so they had a makeshift breakfast.

I thought Chunyu would not be used to it, but he didn't react at all. Seeing Ye Jiayao only drinking porridge and not eating steamed buns, I asked: "How many steamed buns did you make in total? Why don't you eat them?"

Ye Jiayao smiled and said, "I don't want to eat yet. You guys eat it. There's more in the pot. I'll eat it later."

Only then did Xia Chunyu eat the second steamed bun.

"Song Qi, let's go." After eating, Xia Chunyu picked up his sword and went out. Song Qi quickly drank up the porridge, waved to Ye Jiayao, and chased after him.

Ye Jiayao chewed slowly and finished her breakfast. She counted the steamed buns in the pot. There were still eight, a total of twelve. She didn't want to eat them. Song Qi and Chunyu each had six. If Peng Wu came back, each of them would only get four. They were men, and they had to work hard. Even if they didn't eat well, they had to try their best to eat enough.

After clearing the dishes, Ye Jiayao picked a creeping grass from the backyard and put it in her pocket, then took the basket to find Aunt Jiang. In this extraordinary period, she had to find a way to play a role and not become a burden to others. Although she couldn't do other things, she should be able to find something to eat.

"Aunt Jiang, I want to go up the mountain to dig some wild vegetables." She didn't dare to go up the mountain alone, so she wanted to ask Aunt Jiang to go with her to give her courage.

Aunt Jiang said, "It's just right. Aunt Zhao and the others are also going to dig wild vegetables. Let's go together!"

So, Ye Jiayao and Aunt Jiang gathered a few other aunts and went up the mountain together.

"There are many traps on this mountain, so be careful." Aunt Zhao was more experienced. She warned everyone along the way and led everyone to avoid traps, iron clamps and the like.

"Actually, they are all marked. Just be careful." Aunt Zhao pointed to a patch of ground covered with dead grass and a branch stuck on the side.

"Also, each trap should be marked with a mark indicating who dug it, so there won't be a situation where everyone is fighting over the prey." Aunt Jiang whispered to Ye Jiayao.

Ye Jiayao was terrified. She almost stepped on it just now. She thought the most frightening thing about going up the mountain was encountering snakes, but she also had to beware of traps. Fortunately, she went to meet Aunt Jiang, otherwise she would have died on the mountain without anyone knowing.

As for wild vegetables, Ye Jiayao only recognized wild onions, shepherd's purse, dandelion, purslane, and bracken. With Aunt Jiang's guidance, she also learned about Artemisia selengensis, whose young shoots are delicious when fried with eggs; Acorus calamus, which can be stewed in soup; Bitter hyacinth, which has a cooling and detoxifying effect; and Amaranth, which is most refreshing when served cold...

"Don't dig them all up at once. Leave the roots and they will grow again in a few days," said Aunt Jiang.

"Hmm!" Ye Jiayao was digging wild vegetables excitedly. There were wild vegetables all over the mountain, and there were small animals all over the mountain. This Black Wind Hill was simply a treasure trove! Ye Jiayao was originally worried that she would run out of food and starve to death, but now she was not worried at all.

Soon everyone returned home happily with a full load.

Ye Jiayao specially picked some wild wormwood, calamus and red amaranth, one for scrambled eggs, one for salad, and calamus with some wind and meat for stew, so there were three more dishes. Ye Jiayao was delighted and decided to pick wild vegetables every day.

After lunch was ready, Ye Jiayao waited for a long time before Chunyu and Song Qi came back.

"Why did you come back so late today? The food is cold. How about I heat it up?" Ye Jiayao said.

Xia Chunyu waved his hand: "No, just eat something casually, I have to go out later."

The two sat down, and Ye Jiayao went to serve porridge and steamed buns.

Xia Chunyu looked at the dishes on the table and couldn't help but frown. Aren't these wild vegetables? Yesterday, the boss just ordered us to tighten our belts and live a frugal life, and today we are eating wild vegetables?

"Who sent these wild vegetables?" Xia Chunyu asked.

Ye Jiayao said proudly: "I went up the mountain to pick them myself."

Xia Chunyu suddenly frowned and shouted, "Who told you to go up the mountain? Do you know how dangerous it is?"

Oh, he cares about her so much! For the first time, Ye Jiayao felt that his roar was full of humanity, and said with a smile: "I'm going with Aunt Jiang and Aunt Zhao, there won't be any danger."

Xia Chunyu's expression softened and he said coldly, "How can it not be dangerous? You women, if you run into a wild boar or a wolf, you won't be able to run away, and you won't know how to fight. Isn't that a dead end? Don't go there anymore."

Song Qi agreed, "Yes, sister-in-law, I will take time out to go up the mountain every day to get some food. You don't have to go."

"What are you doing? We're not going far, we're just on the nearby mountain, how can there be any danger? You men should just mind your own business and stay out of women's business." Ye Jiayao pouted angrily, she didn't want to be a useless person who just ate and waited to die.

(End of this chapter)