The Daily Life of Farming and Raising Children in Ancient Mountain Residences

Chapter 136: Shen Lie

When Sang Luo returned to the cave, she pinched her slightly stiffened face a few times before stepping in.

She swore to herself that she wouldn’t do such foolish things again in the future.

Considering their current circumstances, with only this small cave as their living space for the family of four, there was no need to complicate things unnecessarily.

Take hanging clothes for example. Previously, she could hang her clothes in the backyard without worry because she had made close-fitting undergarments and didn’t want Shen Lie to see them. She could lock the door and be done with it, knowing that Shen Lie would naturally hang his own clothes outside the yard. Can she still do that now?

Of course not. There was no longer a backyard or front yard; they only had this limited space.

So, she needed to be more bold.

…

On the nineteenth night since they fled, Sang Luo finally slept in the long-awaited bed without the constant worry of encountering a snake while going to the bathroom.

She finally felt a sense of stability. Exhausted from the day’s activities, she closed her eyes and quickly fell into a deep sleep. The minor embarrassment from the previous night was completely forgotten when she woke up the next day. Well, she didn’t have time to dwell on it because she was busy!

They hadn’t finished transporting the grain yet. Shen Lie and the other able-bodied men had only stayed in the valley for five days. They spent one day logging trees, tidying up the cave, and making furniture. Next, they planned to haul soil into the valley, transform the land into fields, convert the mountainside into terraced vegetable plots, and transplant suitable trees into the rice fields.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Sang Luo joined Shen Lie and the others as they ventured out of the valley. It wasn’t just her; Qin Fangniang, Shi Erlang’s wife, Feng Liuniang, and the eldest daughter-in-law from the Zhou family all followed suit. Their objective wasn’t just to forage or harvest but also to ensure the safe gathering of resources. In the valley, with the land cleared, there were few wild vegetables available for daily consumption. Aside from some previously dried and stored vegetables and wild plants, they relied on beans and bean sprouts.

With abundant resources in the mountains and the added security of Shen Lie and the other men’s presence, they ventured into the mountains to gather food or transplant crops.

Even Mrs. Chen, at her advanced age, insisted on joining the expedition. Her goal wasn’t to forage for wild vegetables but rather to find herbs that could ward off snakes and insects. With snakes and insects becoming more active from March to April and multiplying into summer, precautions were necessary in these deep mountain forests.

This was a task no one else could do for her. Others wouldn’t recognize the plants she sought, and she couldn’t describe them well either. So, Mrs. Chen had to venture out herself to search and identify them. Once she found suitable herbs, Shen Lie and the other frequent travelers marked their locations. They would dig them up later to transplant near the cave entrance.

Soil was transported back to the valley entrance in basket loads. Apart from the fields growing thicker, Sang Luo and the others spent several days outside harvesting a substantial amount of seasonal wild vegetables. Besides that, they found herbs like mint and perilla, dug up plenty, and transplanted some into the filled mountain walls. The surplus was distributed among those who hadn’t ventured out, like Mrs. Xu.

Mrs. Xu rewarded Sang Luo with a few pieces of ginger in return for her assistance. It was one of the seeds that Mr. Xu had sent with the grain.

Sang Luo’s eyes brightened upon seeing the ginger. It was something she had longed for, but it was rarely available outside. Most of the time, she could only find dried ginger in pharmacies. Shen Lie brought back sandy soil from outside and carefully planted the ginger as if it were a treasure.

Mrs. Chen managed to find five or six types of snake-repelling plants she had been looking for. Although the harvest wasn’t abundant, each family received some to plant one or two near the cave entrance.

Sang Luo couldn’t identify these herbs or shrubs herself. However, considering Mrs. Chen’s snake repellent powder and her family’s generations of hunting experience, Sang Luo knew they were reliable. They planted one of each species around the cave entrance.

As Shen Lie and his group continued to bring back more supplies, Sang Luo planted anything that could be filled with soil near the cave entrance to ensure any potential paths snakes might take into their home were quickly blocked off. She even planted snake-repelling plants along both sides of the cave, including a lampstand carved into the middle of the cave after consulting Sang Luo’s opinion.

They hollowed out a small space in the stone wall where the oil lamp could be placed during normal times, providing light to the cave and keeping the fire starter nearby.

The same was done in the purification room, where they leveled the stone wall and created a place for an oil lamp.

“When cooking in the future, you don’t have to close the door, but at night, you should close it and avoid leaving the fire near the stove. It’s not safe in an enclosed space with a burning fire. When I return next time, I’ll look for some clay on the way back and bring some to properly build the stove and create a smoke channel to vent outside.”

Upon hearing about building the smoke channel, Sang Luo immediately thought about snakes crawling in through it. However, considering the snake-repelling plants planted around the cave, she felt somewhat reassured. Nonetheless, she still suggested, “Can we make it something that can be sealed when not in use?”

Shen Lie paused for a moment, then suddenly smiled, “Sure.”

After discussing household matters, they moved on to farming tasks. Particularly strenuous and labor-intensive tasks were completed while Shen Lie and the other able-bodied men were home. Next was digging channels to divert water. Since there was little land in the valley, Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu, Zhou Cunzheng, and Chen Youtian, who remained behind, could handle this work well. Sang Luo and the others could only lend a hand when they had free time.

The most challenging task was plowing the fields.

“Mrs. Chen will help us handle the grain that needs to be soaked this year. They’ve already picked out the seeds last year, and since they don’t have much land, they decided to bring them out together with us and the Xu Family. We’ll return the appropriate amount of grain later. However, I might not make it back in time for spring planting. It’s dirty and exhausting work, but since everyone has limited land, it’s not that difficult. I’ve asked Uncle Youtian to help make a wooden plow, and I’ll take Xiao An to teach him about farming.”

At the age of ten, it was time for him to learn these things in the countryside.

Shen Lie couldn’t imagine the scene of Sang Luo rolling up her pants and wading into the rice fields barefoot.

Before she came to their home, except for the time she fled, she probably hadn’t experienced so much hardship. Initially, she nearly starved because of her upbringing. Although she could have caught fish in the stream, she was constrained by etiquette and refused to take off her shoes and socks to wade into the water.

A delicate young woman like her, falling into a poor family like theirs, was already worse than living in a grass nest. When no one was around, she didn’t want to remove her shoes and socks and wade into the water, let alone walk bare-legged in the fields.

Therefore, Shen Lie hadn’t even considered asking Sang Luo to plow the fields. He had planned this days in advance.

Sang Luo hadn’t expected Shen Lie to know about the things she said to dispel Shen An’s doubts, and he had remembered them all this time. However, she really wasn’t good at plowing the fields.

Before living in the mountains, she had only grown vegetables and raised chickens. She had never farmed because she was actually quite afraid of leeches. Having grown up in an orphanage, she didn’t understand these things. During her first year in the mountains, she had seen someone come up from the field with several leeches on their legs.

After that, she completely gave up on farming.

She was content with growing some vegetables and raising chickens. Her health wasn’t good, and she couldn’t endure such hardships. Therefore, in those years, she bought rice from the locals in the mountains, which wasn’t expensive and didn’t cost much in a year. It was also the same as pure natural green food.

When Shen Lie said that Sang Luo didn’t need to go farming and that Shen An would handle it instead, Sang Luo felt a wave of relief. Considering the size of their family’s plot, it wasn’t large at all. She turned to look at Shen An.

Seeing his sister-in-law look over, Shen An nodded quickly. “Yes, Sister-in-law, you don’t need to go to the fields. I’ll take care of the farming. It’s such a small piece of land, and Uncle Youtian can teach me easily. Big brother talked to me about this a couple of days ago. Besides, Tiger and the others are starting to learn farming this year too.”

Sang Luo smiled. “Good, I’m afraid of going to the fields.”

The three siblings burst into laughter. Sang Luo was indeed capable, but her expertise lay more in knowledge, intelligence, and culinary skills. In reality, when it came to working in the fields, she feared the smell of manure and, well, insects and snakes. Everyone in the household knew this.

Shen Lie chuckled too but then glanced at the dawn outside. “I have to leave now. It’ll take me a round trip, and then I’ll check if Mr. Xu has left a message. It might take about ten days for me to come back.”

He sounded reluctant.

Sang Luo was prepared, knowing he would leave early today. She had packed dry rations and water ahead of time, and after a quick tidy-up, her instructions were much like before, mostly about safety.

Not seeing any evident reluctance in Sang Luo’s eyes, Shen Lie felt a bit disappointed but quickly covered it up with a smile.

Sang Luo didn’t notice his subtle change in mood. Together with Shen An and Shen Ning, she saw Shen Lie off.

At this time, each family was seeing off their members, all the way to the entrance of the gorge. They couldn’t help but remind them to stay safe on the road. Shen Lie moved the stones blocking the passage, and the group walked out. Once again, Shen Lie carefully sealed both ends of the passage.

With fewer people around, the valley became much quieter. Of course, there was no idle time. They dug channels for water storage, planted seedlings, and carefully allocated water resources.

Fresh water from the mountains was diverted for drinking from the small waterfall, while the pond water was used for the rice fields and stored for laundry. For wastewater, they had to find another location.

Old Man Chen and his group walked around the valley a few times. They found several small mountain springs and chose a spot near the manure pit to dig a small pond for water storage. In the future, they would use it for washing dirty things.

The valley wasn’t large, and maintaining a good living environment depended on everyone’s efforts, so there was no shortage of meticulous work.

Chen Youtian was making wooden plows for each family, and these tasks fell on Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu, and Zhou Cunzheng. Dozens of half-grown children from each family were called by Zhou Cunzheng to help.

Girls like Shen Ning, Chen Xiaoya, Shi Qiaoer, and Xu Wenyin were left to play by themselves.

Several girls went together to the cave of the Xu family, while Sang Luo returned to her own cave.

Shen Lie’s sleeping mat was still on the ground, neatly folded. Sang Luo looked at the tidy mat, feeling a delayed surge of reluctance towards Shen Lie.

Or perhaps it was more than just reluctance; it was a complex mix of emotions.

In the past five days, he had been so busy that he hadn’t stopped for a moment. He had arranged many things, even planning out the next dozen days or so for her. However, he hadn’t had time to set up his own bed.

Sang Luo gazed at the sleeping mat for a while, then smiled slightly. This smile softened her eyes and lips.

“Shen Lie.”

She murmured his name in her heart, smiled, and turned around to pick a spot to set up a drying rack. She moved Shen Lie’s bedding and pillow onto her bed, while the mattress and a few pieces of wolf hide were aired out.

“When he comes back, I’ll have the bed ready, and I’ll wash the mattress and blankets then.”