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

"It's called wild cherry tomato. It can be eaten as a fruit or cooked in a vegetable dish. I want to dig some seedlings and plant them back home, but the weather has been bad in recent months, so they won't survive if I take them home..."

Before she finished her words, Han Zhibai said, "Come and dig again anytime in the future."

"Thank you!" she thanked with a smile.

Han Zhibai smiled deeply in response.

The two then went up the hillside and came to the halfway point. The trees here were dense and tall, and some mushrooms could be seen among the rotten leaves on the ground.

Xia Qingyue took this opportunity to teach Han Zhibai how to identify several non-toxic edible mushrooms and also pointed out and explained the poisonous ones.

While I was picking mushrooms, I suddenly heard a rustling sound in the grass behind me, and two gray figures hurriedly ran through the grass.

"It's a rabbit!" Xia Qingyue smiled, took out her bow and arrow and chased after it.

Han Zhibai followed behind her, not too far away.

He was following her while she was hunting, and when he saw the prey was about to slip away, he called the two little ones, and they went together to intercept it so that she could chase and hunt.

In the forest, we first encountered a wild rabbit, and then we encountered a few pheasants hiding in the grass to avoid the rain.

Later, Han Zhibai took her around in the woods and hunted several bamboo rats.

During this process, Xia Qingyue also saw a snow-white fox. It moved very agilely and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

She stared blankly at the direction the fox left. "That fox is so pretty."

"There are red foxes in the mountains, and sables."

"Are there any cows and sheep?" she asked.

“I haven’t seen any cattle yet, but there may be some further away. If you leave the valley and walk towards that forest for a few hours, you can hunt sheep. We caught the sheep at home from there.

There is a pool of steaming water on the high mountain over there, and there are many flowers and plants, the scenery is very beautiful." Han Zhibai said, pointing in a certain direction.

It's a hot spring!

Xia Qingyue looked into the distance with longing in her eyes. She knew that was the other side of the valley. She thought there must be an exit and there might also be formations protecting the outside.

Seeing that she was interested in this, Han Zhibai took the initiative to talk:

"There are many sweet trees over there. The brown sugar at home is made from them. And..."

"Sweet tree?" She couldn't help but interrupt him. "Does this sweet tree look a bit like bamboo?"

"Yes, it's in sections and tastes very sweet, but after you drink up the sweet juice, the flesh will prick your throat." Han Zhibai frowned slightly and raised his hand to touch his throat. His expression looked a little painful, as if he was recalling some bad memories.

Xia Qingyue was stunned for a moment, then bent down and laughed, "I'm sorry, I... I really couldn't help it, hahahaha..."

She laughed loudly, and her slender arms, which were supported on her knees, shook violently.

“???” Han Zhibai was confused. Why did she suddenly laugh so happily?

Whatever, as long as she is happy.

Han Zhibai looked at her and laughed along with her.

Originally, Xia Qingyue thought that Han Zhibai suffered because he didn't know how to eat sugarcane, and she shouldn't laugh at him. Thinking of this, Xia Qingyue adjusted her mood. But when she looked up, she saw him laughing foolishly. She felt funny for some reason, and she broke down again, laughing so hard that her eyes were wet.

After a long while, Xia Qingyue finally recovered. She cleared her throat a few times, pursed her lips slightly, and tried to hold back her laughter. "Is it possible that the sweet tree is for eating its juice and not the flesh?"

Han Zhibai heard it, and his dark eyes broke into clusters of light, like the morning light rising at dawn.

"I thought so too, but my dad said no, that it was all edible and that I was wasting it!"

There was a look of understanding in her eyes. So that's how it is.

"You guys are amazing. You can think of using sweet trees to make brown sugar."

"My father made it. He said he saw the method in a book and it took him a long time to figure it out."

When talking about his father, Han Zhibai always smiled and seemed to be in a good mood.

The two continued walking while chatting, looking for prey to hunt.

After chatting, Xia Qingyue had a rough understanding of the world outside the valley. It was a wider place with rich resources and few people set foot there.

In the blink of an eye, more than an hour passed and it was already past three in the afternoon.

Xia Qingyue originally wanted to go back early, but the time she spent on the mountain passed too quickly. She even wondered if someone had set the clock forward.

No matter how reluctant she was, she had to go back. She had gained a lot today, hunting five rabbits, four pheasants, and several bamboo rats.

Han Zhibai took her down the mountain by another route. When they were almost at the foot of the mountain, a loud buzzing sound came from the front.

She was moved, "Is that the beekeeping area ahead?"

"Yes, don't be afraid, as long as you don't actively provoke them, they won't sting you."

After walking for two minutes, they arrived outside a wooden house.

The wooden house was about ten square meters in size and had a window that was slightly open. Through the gap, she saw many wooden boxes in the slightly dim room, which were covered with bees.

It seems that he has quite a lot of bees. No wonder he has so much honey.

He is such a rich man. Oh, no, it’s just that he is so hardworking and has great hands-on skills!

Although the valley is rich in resources, if there is no hardworking hands to create and manage it, the valley will be hollowed out in a short time.

Walking down the path, they came to the river. Han Zhibai handed a basket to Xia Qingyue, "You go back first. I'll go catch some river shrimps and snails."

"it is good."

She carried the basket of vegetables and called the two little ones to go back with her.

After walking for a while, the heavy basket in her hand caught her attention. She didn't even notice when Han Zhibai was carrying the basket and what was in it.

She lifted a large green leaf covering the basket and saw that it was filled with a basket of wild tomatoes, all of which were bright red.

"When did he pick them? Why did he pick so many?"

Also carefully cover it with large green leaves, otherwise it won’t last long if it gets caught in the rain.

Xia Qingyue stopped and looked back at the river.

In the river, the tall figure came straight into her sight. She only looked at him and automatically ignored everything around her.

After a while, Han Zhibai came back with a basket of river fish, which included several big fish, many river shrimps and snails. He found two wooden barrels and put them in.

After that, he went to the poultry house, tied the ewe with a rope, and led it out.

After packing up, Xia Qingyue walked out of the main hall. She handed him four taels of silver and said, "Money to buy the sheep."

She gave a little more as a reward.

"It's too much." Han Zhibai only took two taels of silver. Without waiting for her to speak, he turned and walked towards the kitchen, "Qingyue, wait for me."

After waiting for a while, Han Zhibai came out holding four jars.

"You?" She recognized them as canned fruit and jam.

He put all the cans into the backpack that Xia Qingyue brought, lifted it onto his back with one hand, then carried two wooden barrels of river food and led the ewe, "I'll take you a ride."