Chapter 754 Improving Food
Yu Haitang drooped her eyelids and twisted the corner of her clothes. It had been a long time since Wang Jianguo finished speaking, and the strands of hair at her temples were still swaying slightly with the trembling of her fingertips.
As sparks crackled in the stove, she suddenly thought of the old locust tree at the entrance of the alley in Sijiucheng.
On Laba Day, she was carrying an empty clay pot to make porridge when she ran into Li's sister-in-law being grabbed by the hair by a man and slammed against the wall.
The old ladies watching were cracking melon seeds and muttering "Women's life is like rapeseed", their saliva splashing on the bluestone slabs, mixing with the melted snow water to leave dark marks.
"Safety Brother,"
She suddenly clenched her sleeves, leaving deep wrinkles on her coarse cloth shirt.
"You said the land in the Great Northern Wilderness can support people, but can the people there... also allow women to walk with their backs straight?"
The wind outside the window blew snow foam onto the window paper. She looked at the ice flowers condensed on the glass, and vaguely saw the peeling wooden door of her main room.
That evening when her father held a feather duster and forced her to bring water for her brother to wash his feet, the creaking sound of the door hinge turning sounded very much like the chattering of her teeth at this moment.
Wang Jianguo added a piece of dry firewood to the stove, and the firelight suddenly illuminated the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes:
"Sister, women in our village hold up half the sky. They earn more work points in the fields than men!"
But Yu Haitang's nails had already dug into her palms. She had seen too many people who always said "A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent."
Those suggestions hidden behind the door curtains and discussions wrapped in the soles of shoes can penetrate the cotton-padded jacket better than the cold winter wind.
"Once this space is opened, let my sister, Jingru, Jiedi and the others go first."
She stood up suddenly, and her apron made a crisp sound as it swept across the earthenware pots on the stove.
"If it's really like you said, that women can earn their own food and don't have to rely on men... I will leave this space."
The oil lamp on the kang flickered, illuminating the pomegranate flower sewn with red cloth in her hair.
It was secretly stuffed into the luggage when I left Beijing. The edges of the petals have been worn rough, but the color is still stubbornly maintained.
Wang Jianguo lowered his eyes and stared at the tender grass sprouts growing out of the cracks in the bluestone slabs under his feet. Yu Haitang's fingers, which were clutching his sleeves, still carried the coolness of early spring.
As the sun was setting, he tried to persuade her for the third time, but was blocked by the stubbornness in the girl's eyes.
She insisted on staying in the wild apricot forest in the shady valley to collect spiritual energy and refused to move no matter what.
"Okay, okay,"
He pulled the corner of his mouth helplessly and reached out to tuck her hair that was messed up by the mountain wind behind her ears.
"Just tell me when you want to go out later."
Yu Haitang chuckled and tapped the back of his hand with her fingertips. Wang Jianguo turned around and walked deeper into the forest, pushing aside the half-man-high ferns.
The valley was filled with the scent of pine needles and wet soil. Wang Jianguo leaned against the cracked stump of an old apricot tree, listening to the subtle sounds of people discussing the cultivation of spiritual plants not far away.
The sun gradually sank below the ridge line, and the slanting golden light passed through the gaps between the branches and leaves, casting flickering spots of light on his navy blue trouser legs.
"Brother Jianguo, it's time to go home."
He Yushui's voice came from the other side of the bamboo forest. She was holding half a fluorescent fern leaf in her hand. The light green halo flowing between the veins was particularly clear in the twilight.
When Wang Jianguo stood up, he heard a slight sound from his joints. He rubbed his sore lower back and looked into the depths of the valley. He saw He Yushui standing on tiptoe to pick magical herbs high up, with a few tiny apricot petals on the ends of her hair.
As he walked out of the secret realm, the last ray of sunset was dyeing the sky orange-red. Wang Jianguo looked up at the mountains and forests bathed in the twilight, and suddenly remembered the rich scent of plants and trees he had just smelled at the bottom of the valley.
"The hunters should still be packing up their winter hunt gear."
He stretched out his hand and crushed a leaf that was stained with spiritual energy. The slightly cool touch left on his fingertips made him more certain.
"After Qingming Festival, we should have become familiar with the paths along the mountain road. If we want to find such abundant spiritual energy again, we may have to go deeper into the old forest."
He Yushui followed behind him, pushing her bicycle. The wheels made a rustling sound as they rolled over the dead leaves.
The two walked along the winding mountain path for about half an hour and stopped in front of a rocky beach where a stream turned.
The air here is filled with fine spiritual water droplets, which feel cool when they hit your face.
Wang Jianguo took off the leather quiver from his waist, drew his bow and aimed at the branches on the opposite bank, when he heard Yu Heyushui's soft call not far away.
It turned out that several snow-white mushrooms were emerging from the moss at her feet, with crystal dewdrops hanging on the edges of their caps.
As the sun was about to set, the space progress bar finally jumped to 90 percent.
Wang Jianguo wiped the sweat from his forehead and caught a glimpse of two brown shadows flashing in the bushes not far away.
He held his breath, drew his bow and arrow, and the sound of the vibrating bowstring pierced the silent night sky. Two pheasants flapped their wings and fell into the grass almost at the same time.
"We have to find a reason for Shuzhuo and the others,"
He tied the pheasant to the handlebars with a straw rope, and the chicken's claws were still flapping.
"We can't say we've gone into the mountains to starve."
As the two pushed their bicycles out of the mountain, the dew had soaked their trouser legs. He Yushui giggled at the shadow of the pheasant dangling on the handlebars.
Wang Jianguo pedaled the bike with his back hunched, and the chain made a regular clicking sound.
He heard He Yushui humming an old song behind him. The tune mixed with the night mist in the mountains and slowly drifted towards the village in the distance where lights were gradually lighting up.
As the two of them walked towards Zhao Shuzhuo's home in the golden light of the setting sun, the pheasant in He Yushui's hand was still flapping its remaining tail feathers, and the chicken feathers were blown by the wind and flew onto Zhao Shuzhuo's shoulders.
He reached out and dusted it off, looking at the girl's blushing cheeks from the rush of travel, and couldn't help but smile:
"Walk slowly, Sister Xiaohua must have already lit the stove."
Before he finished speaking, wisps of green smoke began to billow out of the chimney of the adobe house, mixed with the smell of firewood and earth filling the twilight.
As He Yushui stepped over the wooden threshold, she heard the clinking of spatulas in the kitchen. She shouted "Sister Xiaohua" and the door hinge creaked and was pushed open from the inside.
Yang Xiaohua was standing behind the door wearing a blue apron, with some flour on her temples. When she saw the two of them, her eyes curved into crescents:
"Finally you're back. I was chopping potatoes. If I were any later I'd have to cook in the dark."
She stepped aside to let the two enter the house, and her eyes immediately fell on the pheasant in He Yushui's hand. The bird had colorful feathers, and its claws were still kicking the ground, and the chicken's blood left dark red marks on the mud.
Yang Xiaohua subconsciously raised her hand to cover her mouth. Her fingertips rubbed against the flour on her apron, but she didn't bother to wipe it off. She squatted down and gently stroked the pheasant's shiny neck:
"Wow, this fur is so handsome... Where did you get it?"
"It's the birch forest to the west," Wang Jianguo leaned his shotgun against the corner of the wall and took a sip of the water bottle from his waist.
"Yu Shui had sharp eyes. He saw them struggling in the grass nest and shot them down with one shot."