Chapter 36: So Many Ingredients on the Mountain

The setting sun dyed the horizon a brilliant orange-red.

Leng Chen and Leng Yun entered the courtyard, grabbed their firewood knives, and headed straight for the back mountain. They aimed to chop some firewood before dark, so that after Leng Tian unloaded the goods, he could haul it back. This way, before the long winter arrived, they could spend more time digging for medicinal herbs and storing food.

Wen Nuan Nuan moved the goods out from the storage area, while Leng Tian sorted and placed each item in its appropriate spot.

“Eldest Brother, it’s getting colder and colder. Later, take the hemp cloth and find someone else to make a few sets of outerwear and shoes first.”

“Okay.”

“Have Auntie Zhu make the quilt covers and inner garments first; the cotton-padded clothes can wait.”

“Okay.”

After carefully giving her instructions, Wen Nuan Nuan went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Leng Tian waited until Leng Chen returned before pulling the flatbed cart to the back mountain to find Little Brother and bring back the firewood.

After quickly finishing dinner, Leng Tian and Leng Yun took advantage of the night to carry the hemp cloth and copper coins to another family’s Auntie Jiang to discuss the number of sets and the payment.

Wen Nuan Nuan, freshly washed, touched her pillow and fell asleep instantly.

A full day of nonstop activity had completely cured her of troubles like insomnia and difficulty adjusting to sleeping conditions.

In the face of exhaustion, sleeplessness simply didn’t exist.

Wen Nuan Nuan slept until the sun was high in the sky. When she stepped outside, she realized it was already midday.

Second Brother had already woven several bamboo baskets in the courtyard, and Eldest Brother and Little Brother had hauled two or three cartloads of firewood home!

Wen Nuan Nuan was immediately overwhelmed with guilt.

“I’m sorry, I got up so late. You must be hungry, right? I’ll go make something to eat!” Wen Nuan Nuan apologized, her face flushed.

She thought about how she had just boasted to Leng Xiao yesterday about taking good care of the three little ones, yet here she was, failing on the very first day.

“Not at all. There’s rice and vegetables in the kitchen. We cooked some vegetable porridge and ate until we were full! We figured Sister-in-law must have been tired and sleeping soundly, so we didn’t wake you for breakfast. We kept it warm in the pot for you. Go eat something to fill your stomach,” Leng Chen said with a gentle smile.

Before, they didn’t even have coarse rice to eat. Now they had meat, rice, and vegetables—all thanks to Sister-in-law. They couldn’t always rely on her to cook for them.

Wen Nuan Nuan went to the kitchen, lifted the lid of the pot, and saw a small basin of vegetable porridge being kept warm over water, with a poached egg resting on top.

Her eyes instantly grew moist.

Ever since she left her grandparents to study in another city, no one had ever kept warm meals waiting for her.

It turned out that the feeling of having family who cared, of having loved ones who looked out for her, was just like when she was a child—so beautiful it was touching.

For lunch, Wen Nuan Nuan stewed a pot of spare ribs and Chinese yam soup, reheated the beer duck, braised a plate of oil-simmered prawns, pan-fried some leek and egg pancakes, and stir-fried a dish of shredded pork with green peppers and Pickled Mustard Tuber, along with another dish of mushrooms and green vegetables.

It could truly be called a lavish feast!

The three little ones ate until their mouths were shiny with oil, completely satisfied.

After replacing the window gauze with Cicada Wing Gauze, Wen Nuan Nuan followed the three little ones up the mountain.

Leng Chen had previously prioritized gathering food from the mountain, but they hadn’t felt comfortable leaving Wen Nuan Nuan home alone, so they kept him, who knew how to weave, at home to protect her.

Now that Wen Nuan Nuan was also going up the mountain, the three little ones had no more reservations and all went together.

Wen Nuan Nuan picked out two pieces of each type of pastry she had bought in the city the day before, wrapped them in oiled paper, and placed them in a bamboo basket to take up the mountain for a snack.

Wen Nuan Nuan was amazed the first time she carried a bamboo basket.

This thing was so convenient!

No wonder every household had one.

It was the accumulated wisdom of working people’s lives.

“Eldest Brother, has this path always been so overgrown with weeds?” She had thought the dirt road from yesterday was the hardest to walk, but today there was a mountain path overrun with weeds!

It completely refreshed Wen Nuannuan’s perception!

“No.”

Wen Nuannuan’s heart had just leaped with joy.

Then she heard Leng Tian continue, “There’s not just weeds ahead, but also gravel and shrub branches.”

Thanks, well said, but please don’t say it again next time.

“Sister-in-law, here.”

Wen Nuannuan looked at the branch Leng Yun handed over, completely baffled. “No need, I can walk.”

She wasn’t old enough to need a cane yet.

Besides, she was wearing her oldest, poorest-quality clothes today, so she didn’t have to worry about them getting torn.

“Carrying a branch helps push snakes away. Sister-in-law, are you not afraid of snakes like us?”

Snakes?

Wen Nuannuan jumped three feet high!

She nearly burst into tears on the spot.

That was her greatest fear in this life.

Wah, what kind of human suffering is this!

Was it too late for her to go back now?

“It’s fine, sister-in-law. Just follow us. Any snakes will be scared off by our movements.”

Suppressing the urge to go home, Wen Nuannuan carefully walked up the mountain between the three of them.

When she saw the bright red persimmons and hawthorns on the branches, the heavy pears, the various wild fruits she had never seen before, and the clusters of mushrooms scattered all over the mountains and fields, all thoughts of snakes, insects, rats, ants, and the difficult mountain path were long forgotten!

Heavens, this was so stress-relieving.

So many delicious things, and the key was—they were all free!

Wen Nuannuan was even more excited than when she went into the city yesterday.

One moment she was hopping around picking persimmons and pears, the next she was picking hazel mushrooms and gathering hazelnuts.

The saying “a bear breaking corn cobs” perfectly described her current state!

Wen Nuannuan had climbed mountains before—mountains in scenic areas.

The paths were lined with lush, green trees.

But this was a pure, natural, wild mountain deep in the wilderness. Looking up, trees of different shapes and colors each had their own charm, forming a breathtakingly beautiful painting.

Not only beautiful, but also practical.

Food was everywhere!

And this was just at the foot of the mountain, not even halfway up the slope. If they reached the mountaintop, or crossed this mountain into the deep wilderness, how many treasures would be waiting there?

This touched on Wen Nuannuan’s impoverished and lacking knowledge gap—she couldn’t even imagine.

“Sister-in-law, the good fruits at lower heights were picked clean by the villagers long ago. The ones left aren’t good.”

Leng Yun fetched a bamboo pole, tied a cloth bag to its end, climbed up a tree in a few moves, and stood firmly on a branch. He called down, “Sister-in-law, the fruits at the top of the tree are the best—big and sweet. I’ll pick them, and you catch them!”

Wen Nuannuan nodded eagerly, her head bobbing like a garlic pounder.

The two worked in perfect harmony, filling a large bamboo basket with pears and then gathering a bamboo basket full of persimmons.

Wen Nuannuan had always wanted to try Northeastern frozen pears, but people from that region said the pear variety was key. Now, great—she finally had the chance to taste the most authentic frozen pears!

As for the persimmons, she would use them to make dried persimmons.

She would make a large batch at once and store them in the storage room for later. Whenever she wanted to eat some, she could just take them out.

After all, whatever was put in there came out exactly the same—perfect beyond perfection.

“Little Brother, pick lots of hawthorns too!”

Candied hawthorns, hawthorn cake, hawthorn rolls, hawthorn slices, hawthorn snowballs…

Just thinking about it made her mouth water.

Leng Tian and Leng Chen chopped firewood while smiling as they watched Wen Nuannuan and Leng Yun chattering excitedly, happily picking this and that.

It was truly wonderful.

With sister-in-law here, everything was different.