An orphan girl from a farming family: Everyday farming in the mountains during natural disasters

Some wild kiwifruits have been pecked by birds and have pits on the surface; others have burst due to over-ripening. Their sweet fragrance attracts ants and mosquitoes, and the fruits are covered with black insects.

People with trypophobia will definitely not be able to stand watching this.

Xia Qingyue touched the kiwi fruits that she could reach. Some were soft, while others were still hard.

Chen Dawei, Li Benfu and other tall men went to pick kiwis from the tree tops where there was plenty of sunlight.

They picked a few and shared them. After eating, they all agreed that the ones at the top of the tree were sweeter.

The men have long arms and can easily pick them with just a stretch of their hands.

Xia Qingyue and Chen Yuzhen went to dig wild onions and vegetables.

I picked all the good kiwis from the three trees and filled two full baskets.

"It's time for persimmons to be available at this time of year. It would be nice if we could find some and make some dried persimmons," said Chen Yuzhen.

Xia Qingyue thought so too.

Near noon, they ate some kiwis to fill their stomachs and went into the woods.

Xia Qingyue took them to the place where they had seen the rabbit hole before.

"I encountered a wild wolf nearby last time. Everyone must be careful and don't be careless."

Li Weisheng said, "Sister Qingyue, we know that when we were catching rabbits, you and mother sat on the side to rest."

There were no wild vegetables, fruits or mushrooms near the rabbit hole. While the men were busy catching rabbits, Xia Qingyue and Chen Yuzhen sat down to rest. It was quite cool under the shade of the trees.

Heihei joined the rabbit catching team and took the initiative to lead the men to find the rabbit hole.

The method they used to catch rabbits was the same as the one Xia Qingyue had used before. They first found the rabbit holes and blocked them, leaving only two holes, one for burning fire to create smoke, and one as the only way out for the rabbits, and then they waited for the rabbits to come to them.

Everything was done, Li Weikang blew the fire stick to light the hay.

Soon, there was movement at the hole at the exit, and a rabbit ran out.

Li Benfu and Li Weisheng, father and son, who were guarding there, saw the right moment, raised the sacks in their hands, and rushed over quickly.

In a few minutes, they caught several rabbits.

Everyone was immersed in the joy of harvest.

Suddenly, there was a noise coming from a hundred meters away. Xia Qingyue's heart skipped a beat, mistakenly thinking that a ferocious beast was coming. Her nerves were highly tense, and she stood up with a machete in her hand.

At the same time, Heihei turned and ran towards the source of the sound, its figure running as fast as lightning. It stopped at a certain place, lowered its head and opened its mouth to bite. When it raised its head, there was a rabbit in its mouth.

"Heihei is so amazing!" Chen Yuzhen exclaimed sincerely.

"There is a rabbit hole over there in Heihei. I'll go over there." Li Weikang, Chen Dawei and his sons ran over.

More than half an hour later.

Everyone counted the rabbits they had caught. There were a total of sixteen live rabbits and one dead rabbit that was bitten to death by Heihei.

After packing the rabbit, everyone continued on their way. They originally wanted to hunt in the woods, but Heihei led them around in circles and finally they returned to the pine forest where they picked mushrooms in the morning.

Xia Qingyue saw their doubts and explained, "The forest is too dangerous. Heihei can't find any other safer place for the time being. Let's just leave it at that for today."

"Okay, let's go to the trap and see if we have caught any prey, and then go back." Li Benfu said, walking in front to lead the way.

Five traps were set, and three of them contained harvests. Two of them contained five bamboo rats, each weighing only a little over three kilograms. The other trap caught a wild rabbit.

After exiting the dense forest, everyone walked upstream along the stream. When they reached the prickly ash tree, Xia Qingyue stopped and said she wanted to change her route.

The Li family gave her a basket of kiwis, three bamboo rats, eight live rabbits, and a dead rabbit, and told her to give the dead rabbit to Heihei to eat.

"I want the kiwi fruit, but I didn't help in catching the bamboo rats, so I don't want them. I want five rabbits alive and one dead."

"If you hadn't led us to find the rabbit hole, how could we have caught the rabbit? Besides, Heihei put in a lot of effort, otherwise it wouldn't have been so smooth!" Chen Yuzhen said seriously.

"Yes, Qingyue, just accept it."

"Sister Qingyue, please accept it."

Xia Qingyue still chose to stick to her principles, "I got what I deserved."

Seeing that she insisted on her own opinion, the Li family didn't know what to say.

Chen Yuzhen asked, "Qingyue, didn't you say you wanted some jars? How about we meet here tomorrow morning and bring a few jars?"

"it is good."

"Then let's come early tomorrow morning."

After watching the Li family leave, Xia Qingyue walked around to the prickly ash tree and waited until they were far away before returning to the tiankeng.

After returning home and putting down her burden, she sat on a stool beside the dining table and drank two cups of honey water.

After drinking, she looked at the basket of kiwis and said, "Why not make them into dried fruits and marinate them with some honey?"

"No, the dried fruits need to be exposed to the sun. I have to go out to look for mountain products these days, so I can't turn them over frequently to keep away the flies."

After thinking for a while, she picked the kiwis and ate the soft ones immediately, and put the harder ones aside to make dried fruits later when she had time.

She thought about it today and realized that she had neither too much nor too little supplies. She planted vegetables in the sinkhole, and with these vegetables, she could find some prey outside to raise and eat fresh meat, find some wild fruits to make dried fruits, and nuts, which would be enough.

There is no need to find too many mountain products, just enough for her to get through the winter and eat for three or four months.

We also have to build poultry houses, so the time is tight and the task is heavy.

And in a few days, this month's period will come.

She thought that before her period came, she would just go out to look for mountain products for a few days, and then stay in the tiankeng to build a poultry house.

To survive the winter, food is as important as heating. Later, I have to go out and find more dry firewood, process the saved duck down, make duck down quilts and duck down clothes, and make a few pairs of warm shoes.

What worried her was that she was relatively unfamiliar with the dense forest and that it was full of dangers. She didn't know which places were safe and where she could find more mountain products.

"Alas, tomorrow I can only expand on today's route and see if I can find any surprises."

In the evening, she cooked a dead rabbit for Heihei, made a simple dinner for herself, and went to bed early.

The next day.

After breakfast, Xia Qingyue took her things and went out to the place she had agreed to meet with the Li family yesterday. She lived nearby and arrived first, while the Li family was about twenty minutes late.

Chen Yuzhen and her friends brought five jars, all of which were of standard size.

Looking at the jar, Xia Qingyue secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the size was within her tolerance and she could carry it back in a backpack.

Since they were going to a dense forest, they hid the jar in a secluded place and covered it with weeds. Before leaving, they marked it on a nearby tree for fear of forgetting the location.

Entering the dense forest, Heihei led them to the pine forest they had visited yesterday.

After one night, some new mushrooms grew. Chen Yuzhen and the others were picking them. Xia Qingyue looked around, wondering whether to continue moving forward as she had not been there yet.

She asked the Li family for their opinions, and they all said that they could go over and take a look, and then withdraw if they found any danger.

So they moved forward, and after walking for about half an hour, Heihei suddenly made a grunting sound and started wagging his tail wildly.

Hearing the gentle call, Xia Qingyue's first reaction was that Xiaobai was nearby?

Just as I thought of this, I heard the sound of running and footsteps coming from far away.