My humble days in ancient times

The brother and sister went to the butcher's stall and bought two pounds of meat, and went to the grain store to buy fine rice and fine flour. Then they took the ox cart back. Someone on the cart leaned over to see what Xu Ruyi had bought in her backpack, but it was covered by a piece of cloth, so she couldn't see anything.

"What are you buying? And you're covering it with cloth so no one can see it." A woman from the same village was a little curious.

"Don't ask others what they buy. That's their freedom, why bother with them?" someone nearby reminded the woman. Then everyone fell silent.

The oxcart soon arrived at the village entrance. It was strange that there was no one at the village entrance today.

As soon as everyone got off the bus, several children came running over. One of them shouted from a distance, "Mom, Big Bear and Little Bear killed a tiger today. I'll go over and take a look." The children played together and then ran away happily.

"The child is running so fast, slow down, don't fall." The child's mother jumped out of the car and strode home.

The other people riding the ox cart also started talking about it when they heard that Big Bear and Little Bear had killed the tiger.

"Big Bear and Little Bear are so powerful. There's one less tiger in the mountain. When all the tigers in the mountain are gone, I want to go for a walk in the mountain!"

"It's really amazing. Tiger skin is a valuable commodity. I heard it's worth a lot of silver!"

"That's right, these two brothers are really capable. Look at them. Even though their parents passed away early, they still go hunting in the mountains every now and then. They still live well and have built a big brick and tile house early on."

"I'll leave the stuff at home later. Are you still going to see the tigers?"

"Go, why not? Go join in the fun, take a look and come back to cook."

"Yeah, it won't take much time."

Everyone walked towards home in groups of three or four, talking.

"Brother, I want to go see it too."

"Then you go first, I'll take the things back." Xu Qinghe was carrying a backpack filled with things on his back and holding an empty backpack in his hand.

Big Bear and Little Bear were tall and strong, both skilled archers. Their parents died when Big Bear was ten. The brothers farmed a few acres of land for a living. Later, they gradually practiced archery and martial arts, often going up into the mountains for small fights. Over time, their skills and courage grew. They rarely approached the villagers, and the villagers rarely approached them. Many people, seeing their size and strength, hesitated to provoke them. Gradually, the brothers were marginalized, becoming the odd ones out in the village.

Fortunately, every time they came back from hunting, some villagers would come over to see them. Compared to the other strange people in the village, it was much better. At least they could still see the villagers stepping into the yard.

Another outlier in the village was Zhou Qiang. He was tall and thin, not as strong as Big Bear and Little Bear, but he was skilled in martial arts and quite skilled. He had lived with his grandparents since childhood. His parents died young, and then, when he was fifteen or sixteen, his grandparents also passed away. He then lived on his own, eventually working in a gambling house in the county town. He kept to himself and didn't interact with the villagers.

But he and Big Bear and Little Bear often drank together. The villagers considered them like-minded. Only they knew each other's hardships.

All three of them had built large, tiled houses with blue bricks thanks to their own skills, but now, at the age of twenty, no one had come to them to find a partner, and they hadn't even hired a matchmaker themselves. None of them seemed in a hurry, and the villagers often gossiped about them behind their backs.

Xu Ruyi quickly arrived at the Xiong family's home. A number of villagers were already gathered there, watching the tiger. The tiger lay bloodied and dead on the ground. Several children danced around the tiger. The brave ones reached out to touch the tiger, giggling. A timid child burst into tears right after touching the tiger, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

Some people saw the tiger and hurried back.

Those who didn't leave were whispering to each other.

"This tiger is quite big, and its skin is very valuable!"

"That's right. By the way, I heard that tiger meat tastes like beef!"

"I haven't eaten it, but I have eaten beef, and it tastes good."

"I heard that the big restaurants in the county town serve tiger meat and bear meat. Last year, the bears killed by Xiong Da and Xiong Er were also sold to the restaurant."

"I've heard of bear paws, but I've never eaten them. I wonder if they're delicacies from the wild or the sea?"

"I heard that bear meat is not tasty at all, and the most valuable parts of a bear are its paws and gallbladder."

"Then why don't restaurants make delicious dishes?"

"After all, it's an uncommon wild game, and the rich are looking for something new."

Xu Ruyi listened to the villagers' discussions, looked at the tiger on the ground, and admired the courage of Big Bear and Little Bear.

Well, the tiger had seen it all, so he headed home. Xu Ruyi marveled at the ability of the ancients. He used to think they were ignorant, but now he realizes that environment shapes and influences people, and that luck is crucial. It's not that the ancients were unindustrious or unintelligent, just as the main reason for not having enough food was low yields per acre.

Few of the villagers have tiled houses: the headman's family, Uncle Xu's at the village entrance, Xiong Da and Xiong Er's families, Zhou Qiang's family, Xu Ruyi's grandparents' family, and the grocery store and tofu vendor. In fact, many villagers are working hard to make a living.

On the way, Xu Ruyi met her brothers, sisters and they also wanted to come and watch the fun.

"I'm going back to cook. You guys can watch for a while and come back early."

"I know!" Xu Qingyan said while making a face.

When I passed by my grandma's house, I saw Tian Yuhe busy picking wild vegetables.

Xu Ruyi's grandparents were Xu Dafu and Li Lanxiang. When Tian Yuhe first arrived, Li asked for a travel permit. After reviewing it, she agreed to let her stay, but only for a month. Xu Ruyi admired her grandmother for this. A little kindness is worth a ton of gratitude, but a ton of grudge is worth a ton of resentment. It's best to maintain a proper distance between people; after all, distance creates beauty. Getting too close can sometimes be disastrous.

Although many neighbors had given Tian Yuhe gifts of wild vegetables and coarse noodles when she first arrived, life was difficult for everyone, so Li Shi didn't take these small favors too seriously. She still went to the village head's house privately to tell him about Tian Yuhe's situation. The head understood Li Shi's intentions and, since there were several empty houses in the village, he decided to find time to talk to Tian Yuhe.

Living under someone else's roof was not easy. They dared not speak loudly, were too embarrassed to eat too much, and were too embarrassed not to do the work they saw. Tian Yuhe washed all three meals a day and the couple's clothes.

Tian Yuhe wanted to earn some money more than anyone else. She had figured it out these days: without money, she couldn't live well on her own. Without a house or land, she was like a rootless duckweed.

Tian Yuhe was in an awkward situation, and had come into contact with some villagers recently. She became more observant and kept an eye out, hoping to find a suitable person to marry, which would also give her a way out.

I'm almost 30, and it's not easy to find someone of my age. Xu Dachuan can be counted as one, but with four children... well, being a stepmother is not easy either.

Perhaps they were too eager to make money. Tian Yuhe had noticed that Xu Ruyi and Xu Qinghe had dug up a lot of wild vegetables and then followed the ox cart to town in the morning. Tian Yuhe knew what was going on.

After lunch, Tian Yuhe didn't go to bed. Instead, she packed her backpack and sickle and headed out early. Shepherd's purse can be found in wheat fields, so you don't have to go to the mountains. Tian Yuhe walked into a wheat field and started digging shepherd's purse.