Living in the mountains and forests as hunters

Chapter 22

Speaking of winter bamboo shoots, it actually existed before it snowed, but now it’s the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, and it’s time for the snow to cover the mountains!It's just that Zhao Yiyi is not strong enough!She actually forgot about it some time ago, of course it was also because she was too busy in the past, tossing around at home all day long, and going out to pick herbs, she just forgot about such a big delicacy in such a gorgeous way.

Fortunately, she finally came to her senses. When she was preparing to make pork liver, she thought about using shiitake mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots to fry together with pork liver, so that she could eat this one all winter. No, it should be said that it can be eaten with spring bamboo shoots I remembered what happened in March.

An Dalang knew winter bamboo shoots. In fact, these mountain people knew a lot about the edible things in the mountains, except for those mushrooms that had gone wrong before, so what if they knew they could be eaten?The seasoning is lacking, and the cooking method is simple and rude, so even if they know it can be eaten, they don't know how to make it delicious.

But Zhao Yiyi is obviously not among these people. Even An Dalang knows that his daughter-in-law is quite good at cooking. sell money too!These winter bamboo shoots are generally not small in size, and at the price of 10 yuan a catty, he feels that it is a trivial matter to get more than ten catties a day!

From the next day, An Dalang resumed the days of going out early in the morning. While hunting, he went to dig bamboo shoots, and sometimes he would dig some medicinal materials back. Yes, I know, those herbs were told to An Dalang, and even some of the real ones that I couldn’t see for a while were described. She can’t always go out to collect herbs, isn’t she, such a big laborer still needs to be taken seriously of.Look, isn't this just useful? In this winter, she doesn't want to go out. It's too cold, and life without an air conditioner is hard!
Finally, the snow stopped, and An Dalang started to go outside again. He also wanted to upgrade his wife's shop earlier, but after going out for a long time, An Dalang came back with someone. There were still two children, which made Zhao Yiyi a little dumbfounded. Looking at the two boys who looked only about five or six years old, they looked at An Dalang suspiciously, while An Dalang on the other side had a very bad expression. With a trace of sadness, and helplessness.

"Daughter-in-law, this is, hey, this is my aunt's eldest cousin's children, Qian Dabao and Qian Erbao, 7 years old, twins, will live in our house in the future, let's get them something to eat, and take them there later Take a shower and change into some clothes."

After speaking, An Dalang turned around and went to a corner of the cave, picked up the ax and began to toss the wood, it seemed that he was going to make a bed or something, Zhao Yiyi saw that An Dalang was in a bad mood, so he couldn't ask more questions for a while, He curled his lips, discussed a few words in his stomach, and put it down first. Thinking about what An Dalang said just now, he simply looked at these two with a look of uneasiness, his face was full of dishes, and his clothes were thin The children pulled to the edge of the table, let them sit down, and went to cook by themselves.What is even more disturbing in my mind is that suddenly there are two more people in this family, how can I live in the family?What about their clothes?
The bathing and so on are naturally in the hot spring cave, but the two children don't have anything except the clothes they are wearing. Zhao Yiyi doesn't know what's going on, and doesn't understand how An Dalang brought them here. I can only buy two old cotton clothes from the system when the two children are not paying attention, and let the two children wear them. As for the clothes inside?That can only be washed on their bodies when they take a bath, and then dried directly by the fire and continued to wear, who made them have no children's clothes!
By the time they got home, An Dalang had already tidied up the kang in the cave. Fortunately, the kang in their house was really big. Two adults and two children could barely sleep, but Zhao Yiyi was wronged. , I'm afraid I'm going to sleep at the end of the kang, and more importantly, in this way, the usual situation where Zhao Yiyi and An Dalang can add someone will no longer be there. There are such gaps in the crowd no.

After placing the two uneasy children who hadn't said a word for a whole day, An Dalang whispered to Zhao Yiyi who was lying on the side:

"The eldest cousin's family is gone. The snowstorm collapsed the house, leaving only two children. There are no people in their family. The snowstorm also caused great losses to every family. Almost every family died. Whose family I didn't want to raise them, and I guess I couldn't support them, so I sent someone to send them over, saying that I am the child's uncle, the closest blood relative of my eldest cousin's natal family, and asked me if I wanted to raise them. I’m going to sell it to someone’s tooth, so it’s a way for the child to survive.”

Zhao Yiyi listened, feeling chills in her heart, people in this world live in such suffering!Every family has dead people?Snowstorm?God, it's unbearable to hear it!only?
"How did they find you? Why never heard you mention that there is such a relative? Why didn't anyone come when we got married?"

"Brothers from the Wu family sent it to Uncle Lin. My cousin's village is in Tieshan Village, near Xiaohe Town in the southwest. It is also a village in Dashan, about the same size as Dingshan Village, but it relies on picking herbs. A village that makes a living by logging. From our house, the road is the best time to go in summer, and it takes a day to walk without stopping."

An Dalang opened his eyes, not knowing what he was looking at, but subconsciously answered Zhao Yiyi's question,

"Daughter-in-law, you don't know, my mother was bought by my father. My grandfather's family is a mountain dweller in the mountains south of Xiaohe Town. My grandfather fell off a cliff and disappeared. In order to support my underage uncle, my grandmother planned to take the house away. My mother was sold, and my aunt was also sold to other people as a child bride. In order to sell more money, I was going to sell my mother to an unclean place. It was at that time that my father bought my mother. I heard it was a flower. It took a full ten taels of silver to save my mother from those people. For this, my father owed a lot of silver! Uncle Lin also owed it, and it took three years to pay it back."

Speaking of this, An Dalang suddenly thought of his father's hunting of bears back then. I'm afraid that at that time, his father was thinking of saving his own fortune!It seems that my father said at that time that he wanted to save money to marry himself a wife!Is it because of my mother?Forget it, his father is gone, and he still knows what he was thinking at that time, turning his head, looking at his daughter-in-law who was snuggling beside him and lying on the quilt with him for the first time, An Dalang felt warm in his heart, and stretched out his hand to help Zhao Yiyi pulled the quilt and continued:
"Mother was very sad at the time. She felt that grandma was very unfeeling. For the sake of her son, she didn't take her seriously. She only wanted money. At that time, my mother said that since it was sold, there would be no mother's family from now on. I haven’t contacted my grandmother’s family, but I heard later that my uncle died too. I don’t have my own father to teach me how to hunt, and I have no one to rely on. After that, my grandmother heard the news and felt that there was no hope, so she also hanged herself."

"It's been a waste of time! If this is the case, I'm afraid your mother would feel bad at that time."

"What is your mother, it's your mother-in-law."

It was rare for An Dalang to say something to Zhao Yiyi in a firm voice, which made Zhao Yiyi stunned, and then he reacted and stretched out his hand to pinch An Dalang, but he still said in a grumbling way:
"Yes, it's mother-in-law. I made a slip of the tongue. After all, it's a relative. Such an ending is really sad!"

"Yeah! Mother has been crying for a long time, but, hey, later on, Mother let go of her knots and went to inquire about my aunt's situation. She probably thought that there was only one relative. At least the two sisters can move around a little bit, just waiting to know At that time, I was sad again. At that time, my aunt was gone, and I only heard some things from others."

Speaking of this, An Dalang's heart was sour again. There is no good thing that makes people happy at home. Such a life is really boring. To be honest, it is really his grandmother's fault. Woolen cloth!If I had found a good family for my mother and aunt like my mother-in-law, I might say that all three families would be able to live a good life.Just like my family and Yue's family now, thinking about this relative is heartwarming, isn't it!

"My aunt gave someone else to be a child bride-in-law. Naturally, life is not easy. The most important thing is that after waiting for my aunt to finally give birth to a daughter, my uncle died. The people in the husband's family said that she was Kefu, gossip, After a few years of suffering, I finally forced myself to death. The eldest cousin lost her parents when she was seven or eight years old, and her family property was taken away by the clan. She was raised by the orphans in the clan who had no children. People, no dowry, no natal family, what kind of family can I find, but they are randomly matched by the clan. Fortunately, my brother-in-law is a herb collector. Although he is lame, because of his bad legs, it is more difficult for ordinary people to collect herbs. , I didn’t marry a daughter-in-law in my 13s, and my family was suffering in a straw hut, but I was not bad, and it was good for my cousin. , except for the lonely old man, the eldest cousin has never talked to the mother's family. After all, the family is a bit lonely, but although the brother-in-law's family is poor, they are all good people. I have been there a few times, and it is considered a reasonable family."

"Since it's a good family, it's a last resort for them to send their children here. In a few days, you will also go there, and at least send some things over. Our family still has two old cotton jackets. If you send them, you can help one of them. "

Zhao Yiyi originally wanted to talk about the shop, but when she thought about it, there were two children beside her!Immediately changed his tone, after all, it is inconvenient to have two more children!Pay more attention.

"Hey, I see. Speaking of which, I also sent someone to send a letter about our marriage. I thought that I would have a relative or something here. It happened that my brother-in-law had a leg problem again. Only five eggs were sent here, and she didn’t have any money at home, and it was too late to get medicine for her child. Where can I get her things again, I added a pheasant and sent it back after I found out. I want you to go and see them, and I forgot to tell you this, but now, now, I’m only 23 years old! It’s just gone!”

An Dalang really wanted to cry, but he was a man, with his daughter-in-law and child next to him. He held back his hands, put his hands on his eyes, closed them, took a deep breath, and then continued:

"Daughter-in-law, tell me, why is it so hard to be alive? My mother and aunt are all hard-working people! My mother has never had enough to eat since she was a child, and she has been in poor health. Waiting to give birth to me, she is even weaker." It was terrible. When I was ten years old, I died of illness. My aunt worked all her life except for work. There was never a day to rest, and no day to have enough food. It was hard for my husband to grow up and have a child. I had hope, but suddenly became a widow. I didn’t even have a son, and I couldn’t keep my family property. There was also my cousin, who was even more miserable! A hard-hearted person all my life! I have never reached out to anyone, and I became an orphan. I didn't pray for anything, even my mother refused to pick her up, because she was afraid of causing trouble to our family. Later, when she got married, she was closer to me, and she never took advantage of her. It’s not easy, I’m not allowed to help. A few days ago, I was thinking about whether to help them make a heated kang, but then I thought about the situation in their house. I committed a stubborn crime and insisted on doing it myself. I was exhausted and afraid of helping with the work. She asked for money, so I had to delay. I don’t want to, this, this will never have another chance. If I knew this, I should have done it at the beginning. Go a few more times, at least help tidy up the house, so it won't collapse, and it will cost two lives!"

At the end of the story, An Dalang's voice trembled a little, and he couldn't hold it back any longer. He just felt something flow out from the corner of his eyes. Zhao Yiyi didn't know how to comfort him, so he hesitated for a while, gritted his teeth, and finally He just gently stretched out his hand and hugged An Dalang's waist. This was probably the closest they had been since they got married, but there was no ambiguity or other affection, just comfort.

"It's okay, it's okay, didn't we take the two children over here? No matter how bad our family is, it's better than their clansmen. If the eldest cousin knows that you are helping her take care of these two children, even in the underground Don’t worry! You’re my uncle! You don’t have to feel bad about it. No one wants to be wrong about this natural and man-made disaster. All of their villages were hit by disasters. You just have great abilities and can save a few of them by yourself. ?We live in caves, and we never have any scruples about crushing the house. How could you think of this, right? Don’t just blame yourself, who can have front and rear eyes! If I am like you, then What did my dad say? Can I know that this disease can kill people before my dad gets sick? Isn’t my family just as miserable? Isn’t it the same for Dahu who became the head of the family at the age of ten? People always have to look forward. Take good care of the two children, this is the right thing to do!"

Zhao Yiyi's words really didn't sound like comforting words, but her soft and slow words still had a soothing power.An Dalang felt much more comfortable when he heard it. He felt that what his wife said was true. Indeed, his family was really ugly in the eyes of others. He lived in a cave, just like a savage, but it was precisely because he was Cave, so there has never been any collapse of the house, and it has saved a lot of trouble. My house looks bad, but there is food and drink, and it is indeed better than the people in Tieshan Village. Children are also easier to raise than those of the tribe, and there is no shortage of food for the two of them at home.In the future, I will take them to hunt and gather medicine in the mountains, which can be regarded as teaching them the ability to survive. I am afraid that when they grow up, they will have a better life than their uncle back then!

Thinking about it this way, An Dalang felt much more at ease, and turned around to look at his daughter-in-law, so as to give her a hug, but at this moment, there was another rustling sound from the side, like crying, and then It was like a sobbing sound, whether it was Zhao Yiyi or An Dalang, they were all surprised when they heard it, there were no mice in their house, let alone any weird things, this sound.

The two slowly got up and looked towards the place where the sound came from. It was the kang where the two children were sleeping. The two children, covered with a quilt, hugged each other like two little beasts, curled up , the body under the quilt is trembling in the slight candlelight, needless to say, I am afraid that these two children have heard what An Dalang and Zhao Yiyi said just now. As for the cousin who is not very familiar with them, they were raised here when both their parents died and were abandoned by the tribe. The two children are probably very uneasy, and they can really sleep peacefully right away!Thinking about the uneasiness on their faces when they came, and the timidity of not daring to speak, I am afraid that I am still afraid of this unfamiliar cousin, and my aunt will not want them!
Looking at these two children, An Dalang felt very uncomfortable. He stretched out his hand and wanted to touch them, but just as he stretched out his hand, Zhao Yiyi grabbed him. The behavior of the children obviously wanted to do it secretly. To vent my emotions, if An Dalang reaches out, I'm afraid these two children will feel uneasy and embarrassed!

"Go to sleep, get up early tomorrow, there are still some rags, cotton wool and so on at home, I have to make some clothes for the children, right, the cotton trousers are also missing, they have to be newly made! Why didn't you bring any clothes! "

"Well, ah, I'm afraid they are all in the ruins. What else can I bring out there? It would be great if the tribe can help with the funeral. I heard from the person who sent them that there were originally more than 30 people in their village, but now there are only 20 people in their village. There are more than [-] left, and a village is in mourning, hey!"

"Okay, let's not talk about this. Go to my mother's house tomorrow and buy some soil embryos from the village. It's not enough for four people to squeeze into a bed. You have to build a kang."

"Hey, I see."

(End of this chapter)