“Auntie Meihua, we’ve just settled in and are planning to have a housewarming meal tomorrow night. We’d like to invite you and Uncle Qian to come over to our place tomorrow night for the housewarming to make things lively,” Wen Xi invited, striking while the iron was hot.
Auntie Meihua nodded with a face full of smiles. “Alright, I will definitely come with your Uncle Qian tomorrow night to celebrate your housewarming.”
After bidding farewell to Auntie Meihua, the three of them walked out of her courtyard. Wen Xi immediately spotted Jin Changfeng standing outside the gate next door to Auntie Meihua’s house.
A flash of surprise crossed Wen Xi’s eyes. Was Jin Changfeng living here? She had also spent two years in the countryside in her past life, so why had she never seen him or known anything about him?
Or was he here for work and just staying here temporarily?
Jin Changfeng naturally caught the fleeting moment of confusion in Wen Xi’s eyes. He didn't know what she was puzzled about—could she be wondering why he was here?
After the three of them left, Auntie Meihua remarked to Captain Qian that the character and temperament of these three were much better than the previous ones; she preferred associating with such straightforward people.
Upon returning home, everyone drank some tea and then went to their respective rooms to rest. Because they had woken up so early, many people had not yet gotten out of bed on a day when they didn't have to work by the time they returned from Captain Qian’s house.
After waking up from her nap, Wen Xi wanted to go out for a stroll to scout the situation and then head to the back mountain to dig up some wild vegetables. She had to go to the youth hostel to eat dinner tonight, and while she didn't want to bring anything fancy, it would be improper to go empty-handed. Therefore, she wanted to prepare two dishes of wild vegetables to bring over as a small token of her appreciation.
Wen Xi planned to call Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue to go out with her, but both were still sleeping soundly, so she locked the door and set off alone.
“Sister, does your family have a shovel for digging wild vegetables? I’d like to borrow a shovel and a basket to go up the mountain to dig some,” Wen Xi said, seeing that the gate to Chang Qingqing’s courtyard next door was open, and walked over to knock.
Chang Qingqing walked over, looking puzzled. “Xiao Xi, did you finish all the vegetables we swapped yesterday?”
Wen Xi felt a bit embarrassed. “No, it’s just that I heard shepherd's purse is very delicious, so I wanted to dig some to try. I also want to see where I can find firewood; since the three of us are living together, our demand for firewood is quite high.”
“Xiao Xi, you’ve only just arrived and don't know the situation in the mountains. Don't wander too far in! Just circle around the outer layers,” Chang Qingqing instructed as she brought over a basket and a shovel.
“Thank you, Sister. I understand, I will.” Taking the basket and shovel from Chang Qingqing, Wen Xi thanked her and turned to leave.
The alley between their two houses led directly to the foot of the mountain; the end of the alley was the base of the mountain.
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, she saw several children coming out of the woods, carrying baskets on their backs—some filled with wild vegetables, others with firewood.
Children from poor families grow up fast; while children of this age in the city were happily enjoying their childhood, these children were already working for their families.
It wasn't until the children had giggled their way down the mountain that Wen Xi stepped onto the common path and began heading up.
In this season, the leaves had all fallen and the weeds were withered and yellow, so even a little bit of green stood out clearly. Although Wen Xi didn't recognize many other plants, she knew most of the wild vegetables here, as she had dug them up in her past life.
However, it was still early, and Wen Xi didn't want to dig vegetables so soon. At this hour, there were no snakes, insects, or rodents to worry about being bitten, so she began walking aimlessly up the mountain.
Furthermore, since everyone frequented the outskirts, there was almost nothing good left there; she wanted to venture a bit deeper!
As she walked, Wen Xi’s foot suddenly stepped on something hard, jarring her so much she nearly tripped. Looking down, she saw a chestnut shell that looked like a hedgehog.
A surge of joy rose in Wen Xi’s heart, and she hurriedly looked down to search. To her surprise, she actually found chestnuts among the withered branches and fallen leaves, so she happily squatted down to pick them up.
After picking around the chestnut trees for about half an hour, she had gathered about three or four pounds of them, varying in size. Although they were uneven and didn't look particularly pretty, who was that picky in this era?
Anything that could fill your stomach was good stuff.
Moreover, she had a way to make chestnuts taste exceptionally delicious.
Having finished picking the chestnuts, Wen Xi continued forward. As she walked, she heard the sound of rushing water. She hurried toward the source of the sound, only to find it was a river.
This river flowed down from the mountain. In some places, the drop was quite large, making the sound of the water crashing down quite loud, which was why she could hear it from so far away.
The river wasn't large, only about two or three meters wide. It was clearly not man-made but a purely natural formation; there was likely a waterfall upstream. However, Wen Xi didn't have time to investigate that today, as she was here to dig vegetables and had to eat at the youth hostel tonight!
Coincidentally, there were large patches of green wild vegetables by the river. Wen Xi squatted down immediately and began digging. There seemed to be very little foot traffic from villagers here, as the wild vegetables showed no signs of having been harvested.
Wen Xi quickly dug a full basket of wild vegetables. As she was leaving, she couldn't help but look back at the river, wondering if there were any fish inside.
Thinking of this, Wen Xi set down her basket, walked to the riverbank, and leaned over to look in. The river water was clean, transparent, and so clear that the stones at the bottom were visible.
Thinking that since no one came here anyway, Wen Xi took out a high-quality imported umbrella-style shrimp and fish net from her system storage. She spread the net open like an umbrella, then took out a box of earthworms. When she opened the worm box, she was startled to see that the earthworms inside were as long as chopsticks.
To be honest, even though she had spent two years in the countryside, she had never seen such large earthworms!
She picked up a tree branch from the ground, snapped it, and used it as chopsticks to pick up two earthworms and place them into the net. Then, she carefully placed the net into the river, hiding the pull-string between the crevices of the rocks.
Afterward, she headed back with her basket of wild vegetables. Since they lived at the foot of the mountain, it was easy to go up. She would come back tomorrow to dig more vegetables and then find an opportunity to pull up the net to see if there were actually any fish inside.
Life in the countryside was hard, and it was difficult to eat meat. If she could catch some fish, it would improve their meals.
Wen Xi carried the basket of wild vegetables home. Seeing that Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue were already busy in the house, she closed the courtyard gate and ran over eagerly. “Jiaojiao, Xiaoyue, I just heard something on the mountain that completely shattered my worldview! Do you want to hear it?”
“What happened?” Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue both crowded around, looking at Wen Xi with eyes full of curiosity, completely forgetting to ask her why she had gone to dig wild vegetables.
(End of Chapter)