Spring scenery in the fields

"Sister-in-law, let me dig, you put the branches in." Shen Wenshan stepped forward and took the shovel from her hand.

"Wenshan, it's already the fourth day and your brother hasn't come back yet."

When Shen Rongshan left, he said he would be in the mountains for a few days, but he didn't say how many days exactly.

She thought two or three days would be enough.

"Don't worry, sister-in-law. My eldest brother said that sometimes we are unlucky and may not encounter wild animals, so we will stay in the mountains for two more days."

Shen Wenshan was also anxious, but he couldn't show it, for fear that his sister-in-law would worry even more.

Ji Wenhe walked to where the branches were piled, picked up the trimmed branches, and stuck them into the soil one by one.

Every once in a while, I would look towards the direction of the village entrance, feeling restless and unable to concentrate on my work.

Tomorrow is Qingming Festival, and every family will visit the graves, so he should be able to come back.

"Wenshan, we are going to visit our parents' graves tomorrow. What should we prepare at home?"

Shen Wenshan stopped what he was doing, walked over to her and squatted down, his tone was very helpless: "There's nothing to prepare, just kowtow a few times in front of my parents' graves."

"In previous years, we would prepare some food, but in a famine year, we can't even eat, so how can we have extra money to buy food for the graves? This is the case for every family in the village."

Ji Wenhe opened his mouth, but didn't ask the question that was about to come out.

The two brothers had been in a very depressed mood these past two days, and she didn't dare to ask too much, for fear of bringing up their sad memories.

Shen Wenshan glanced at him, stood up excitedly, and pointed at the figure that appeared at the entrance of the village: "Sister-in-law, look, my brother is back."

She looked up and saw that it was Shen Rongshan. Seeing him come back, she felt relieved.

He carried a basket with a lid on his back.

"Hey, your brother didn't carry a basket when he went out?" Ji Wenhe stood up, "Wenshan, take the shovel, let's go home."

He must have caught some prey this time when he went into the mountains.

Shen Wenshan picked up the shovel and followed her to the foot of the mountain. The two waited by the tree for someone to come over.

"Brother Shen."

"Big brother."

Shen Rongshan curved his eyebrows and said, "Let's go back first."

After Ji Wenhe walked up the steps, he stopped and walked side by side with him: "Brother Shen, this basket doesn't belong to our family, right?"

"Well, I got it from Master. I'll give it to him later."

Shen Yuanshan saw him coming back and greeted him happily: "Brother, you are back."

Shen Rongshan touched his head and said, "I'm back. I'm sorry to have made you worried."

"I'm glad you're back safely, brother." Shen Wenshan took the bow and arrow from his hand and put it away inside the house.

Ji Wenhe brought a bowl of warm water from the pot: "Brother Shen, drink some water."

His lips were chapped, obviously due to lack of water, and there were heavy bruises under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for a long time.

There was a lot of mud on his body, and his gray clothes were almost turning black.

Shen Rongshan gulped down a bowl of water, handed the bowl to Shen Wenshan, and took the basket off his back.

"I bought some food and some money to burn at the grave tomorrow."

He took out the things one by one.

A piece of fat as big as his palm, coarse salt, brown rice, brown noodles, and black noodles.

"Wenshan, take it inside."

Then he took out some paper money from underneath and gave it to Shen Yuanshan.

"Wen He, I bought you a pair of cloth shoes. Try them on to see if they fit. If the boss says they don't fit, you can take them back for a replacement."

She only has one pair of shoes. It is a little too early to wear straw sandals now as her feet will be cold in the morning and evening, and it is too hot to wear cotton shoes.

"You...you bought me shoes." Ji Wenhe took it with a smile, "Thank you, Brother Shen."

He took off his shoes and tried them on: "They fit perfectly, no need to change them."

The shoes were made of coarse cloth, lotus root color, without any patterns, just ordinary cloth shoes, but she liked them very much and was a little reluctant to wear them.

Seeing that she liked it, Shen Rongshan's eyes softened and he took out some silver and copper coins from his pocket: "I killed a wild boar and sold it for more than four taels. You can keep it."

After I caught it last night, I went to the market that night and waited for a long time at the market before I met a buyer who offered a suitable price.

Ji Wenhe asked curiously, "Is it sold as a whole, or cut into pieces and sold by parts?"

"A whole head of wild boar. The boar meat is firm and chewier than domesticated boar. Some wealthy families love this. I waited for a long time before I found one at a good price."

Afraid that they would be waiting anxiously at home, he took a donkey cart on the way back and spent a penny.

"I also bought a piece of meat and some wine for the master, he loves wine."

She replied, "Of course."

He learned his skills from an old hunter, and this time he borrowed his dog, so of course he had to thank him.

"Brother, we have found the three people who beat me." Shen Yuanshan told him everything Zhao Anguo had found out.

He asked his elder brother to avenge him!

Ji Wenhe took over the conversation: "Brother Shen, just scare them. If they really did it, beat them to death."

Shen Rongshan nodded: "I will return the basket to Master now, and go find them later, and come back before evening."

He carried the basket on his back, walked two steps, and then looked back at her: "Do you know how to marinate oil?"

"forget."

I saw my grandmother marinating oil when I was a child, but I have forgotten the specific steps.

"Brother, we can." Shen Wenshan replied, "Yuanshan and I will make the oil. You can go and come back soon."

"Okay." Shen Rongshan glanced at the three of them, and walked down the mountain regardless of his physical fatigue.

Ji Wenhe looked at his back, feeling a pang of pain in his eyes.

Holding the silver and cloth shoes in my hands, I felt both moved and sad. I wondered how he had been living in the mountains these days.

After putting away the silver, I went to the kitchen, where Shen Wenshan was cutting meat.

"Wenshan, you and Yuanshan make the marinated oil. I'll wash the wild vegetables and soak some bamboo shoots. I'll stir-fry the oil residue and the bamboo shoots later."

I haven’t eaten stir-fried dishes for a long time. You can’t just eat the residue. Stir-fry it with some side dishes, it will be absolutely delicious.

"Sister-in-law, wash more wild vegetables and bake some wild vegetable cakes with black flour."

"Okay." Ji Wenhe looked at the black noodles. It was her first time eating black noodles.

The aroma of marinated oil wafted out from the kitchen. She stood in the yard and took a deep breath. It smelled so good, so good that she couldn't help but drool.

He lowered his head to look at the chicks running back and forth in the yard, waiting for Shen Rongshan to come back and talk to him, and then buy a few more.

"Come on, come on, don't run. I'll take you down the mountain."

Ji Wenhe put the chicks into a basket and said to the people in the house, "I'm going to take the chicks to Aunt Lan's house and I'll be back soon."

"Understood." The two responded.

"Brother, the weather is getting hotter and hotter. It's not okay for the three of us to squeeze into one bed. That day, my eldest brother slept on the door panel."

The door was small and his elder brother was big, so he couldn't move when he lay down on it.

Shen Wenshan held the spoon and looked into the pot: "How about finding some stones and putting the door and bed together?"

"The stones are uneven, and we can't move the heavy ones. The door is old, and I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep for a few days, and the door panel will be damaged by my brother."

It's okay for the two of them to sleep on it, but there's no guarantee. After all, the door panel is old and who knows how long it can last.