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

Chapter 142

Seeing Shopkeeper Xu again was much more difficult than it had been a month ago.

From three and a half days out of Yun Valley, the mountains began to hide many refugees. You never knew which part of the mountain might be hiding people, so Shen Lie and his group were extremely cautious. It wasn’t until the afternoon of March 13th that they reached the newly chosen grain storage point.

The place Shen Lie chose was deep in a dense forest, with trees providing cover. At least from the distant mountains, their movements couldn’t be seen. After the group scattered to check the forest and confirmed it was empty, they found the new grain storage point and exchanged secret signals with the people hiding in the underground cave.

Since Shen Lie and Chen Dashan would be going out to meet Shopkeeper Xu, everyone else had to hide in the underground cave for another night until the two returned.

On the morning of March 15th, Shopkeeper Xu received the message from the old servant, hurriedly left the county, and entered the mountains. He met Shen Lie and Chen Dashan halfway up a mountain path near Shili Village but did not see his brother-in-law, Wei Qinghe.

He looked slightly anxious and asked, “Why did you suddenly come out? Did something happen?”

Shen Lie didn’t expect Shopkeeper Xu to misunderstand and quickly said, “Shopkeeper Xu, don’t worry. The old lady and the children are all fine. I came out because this is the last trip for transporting grain, and I have something to discuss with you. Brother Wei also came out, but since there are many refugees in the mountains now, for safety’s sake, he stayed hidden with the others at the grain storage point.”

As he spoke, he took out a small bamboo tube from his pocket and handed it over with a smile, “This is a letter from the old lady for you.”

Shen Lie had come out several times, and last month he had met Shopkeeper Xu while delivering grain. At that time, it was just Wei Qinghe conveying a verbal message. Now that they had pen and ink, the old lady decided to send a letter home to reassure the family.

The letter was brought to Sang Luo to be sealed with a small bamboo tube Shen Lie found, to prevent it from getting wet in the rain.

There were many trees in Yun Valley but no bamboo. However, asking Shen Lie to find a bamboo tube was not the main reason. Previously, when Shopkeeper Xu sent a letter, he included a small bamboo tube for the old lady, which could still be used. Moreover, Wei Qinghe was with them, and he could have taken the letter out himself.

The old lady, to avoid any suspicion, gave the letter to Sang Luo so she could read it first, ensuring there was no sensitive information about the valley.

After sending off the old lady, Sang Luo and Shen Lie exchanged a knowing smile, both admiring the meticulousness of the old lady.

Interacting with the Xu family indeed brought peace of mind.

Shopkeeper Xu, unaware of these details, pulled out the family letter from the small bamboo tube and read it with a smile, “It’s written by Wen Bo.”

The beginning was filled with greetings, which Shopkeeper Xu quickly skimmed through. The main content mentioned that they were in a beautiful and very safe place, making their home in individual caves rather than being crowded together.

The caves were smoothed out, and doors made from felled wood were installed. They helped their grandmother build a stove at the entrance of their cave. Uncle Chen helped make a bed for the grandmother and his sister to sleep on. Wen Bo and his cousin and uncle used wooden planks on the ground with dry grass and blankets to sleep on. Once the grain transport was finished, they planned to make a second bed.

“When we first entered the mountains, it was hard to adapt, but now we’ve grown used to it and even enjoy it here. The first sounds we hear in the morning are the beautiful calls of birds.

Life in the mountains is nice. Sister-in-law Aluo’s Laba porridge is particularly delicious, and she also makes a vegetarian dish called ‘vegeterian tripe.’ The pickled vegetables sent by Mrs. Chen are tasty too. We get to taste all kinds of wild vegetables, and the flavors are excellent. A few days ago, Grandmother even made chicken stew, and my sister, along with Shen’s younger sister, learned how to sprout different kinds of beans.

We have chickens and ducks and have planted vegetables. Recently, my cousin and I, along with the village children, learned how to plow fields from Grandpa Chen. There isn’t much land, so it’s not very tiring, and it’s a different kind of experience. As I write this letter, the rice seeds have already been sown.

During the day, if we have nothing to do, we read books with our friends. The children from Shili Village are all learning to read and write. We’ve recognized many Words from the Thousand Word Classic, and my cousin can already recite the Analects. I’m still behind, but Shen An is working hard to catch up with us, and I also need to work hard to catch up with my cousin.

To summarize, life in the mountains is good and very safe. Outsiders almost never find this place. Grandmother likes it here, and my sister has a few playmates, but we all miss our parents and elder brother.

Lastly, please take good care of yourselves, and we hope the family can reunite soon.”

—

The thin three-page letter didn’t contain much, and the language was simple, just sharing some daily life details.

But it was precisely these daily details that softened Shopkeeper Xu’s heart. Living in a cave—his mother and the children had never endured such hardship before. He had always been worried, but now, seeing his son’s words, he could tell that they were living well.

Really well.

Shopkeeper Xu raised his hand to bow to Shen Lie and Chen Dashan, but Shen Lie held his hand, moved. “I didn’t expect them to be living so well.”

Peaceful and calm, farming and studying, without the fear and hardship he had imagined. Everything was orderly, completely different from the panic outside.

Shen Lie smiled, “Life is tougher than outside, but it’s peaceful. Once this last grain transport is done, we will come out less often, but we can still provide some support.”

Shopkeeper Xu quickly said, “This is already very good. Once this letter is sent to Shezhou, my wife will be relieved.”

Shopkeeper Xu carefully put away the family letter and then asked about the main business. Hearing that Shen Lie had come out to teach him a new method of hiding in the forest, Shopkeeper Xu’s eyes lit up.

Qiyang County is close to the mountains, and not far from the county is the mountain. If it’s as Shen Lie said, this method would be extremely useful to him.

At this, Shen Lie and Chen Dashan didn’t delay. Considering that Shopkeeper Xu spent most of his time in the county, and the terrain inside and outside the county, they directly chose the direction near the county and snuck into the mountains.

Starting from the first step, they taught Shopkeeper Xu and his servant how to escape from the county, enter the forest, choose the terrain, and build a hidden shelter. By the early afternoon, they had created a perfect temporary shelter in the deeper parts of the mountain outside the county.

Shopkeeper Xu had forgotten how to be amazed.

If he hadn’t seen Shen Lie and Chen Dashan’s work with his own eyes and even helped himself, standing outside the shelter now, he couldn’t tell there was a cave hidden beneath that could shelter several people.

Inside, there was even a wooden structure, so there was no worry of collapse. You could calmly open the small hidden door covered by bushes to observe the outside before deciding to enter or exit. Now, the entrance was completely covered with grass, showing no signs of a door.

They had even considered the issue of ventilation.

Shopkeeper Xu stepped on top of the shelter and touched the dead tree stump hidden in the bushes.

It looked no different from other dead tree stumps in the forest, planted deeply and firmly. Who could have thought it was an empty stump from another part of the forest used as a disguise? Inside was a vent made of yellow clay, with several fist-sized natural holes on the side of the stump for ventilation.

This meant that if something happened in the county, as long as he could escape to this part of the mountain outside the county and had enough food and water, he could hide inside for one or two months without any problems.

The eyes of the old servant from the Xu family were shining. “Sir, with this, you’ll be much safer in Qiyang County.”

The old servant was more convinced than ever that it was right to send the old lady and the young ones into the deep mountains. Shen Lie and Chen Dashan were capable and trustworthy people. Seeing them risk coming out to arrange a retreat for their master proved their reliability.

Shopkeeper Xu also smiled, “Learning this method will greatly increase the chances of survival if we need to escape to another place.”

He bowed to Shen Lie and Chen Dashan, “I am deeply grateful. I, Xu Yuanchang, will remember this kindness.”

Shen Lie and Chen Da Shan both smiled. Shen Lie said, “Alright, we won’t stay long. I want to return to the village, so we should set off early to meet up with the grain transporters.”

Speaking of returning to Shili Village, Shopkeeper Xu suggested, “If you’re going back to the village, you’re probably going to see your little cousin, right?”

With such a good hiding method, it would be unreasonable to teach him but not the children.

Shen Lie nodded.

Shopkeeper Xu continued, “Then you should remind the child not to go deep into the mountains.”

He explained how Shen Jin had been setting traps for pheasants and the old servant disguised as a peddler had been collecting them.

It turned out that since Shen Jin caught his first pheasant, he had another successful catch two days later. This was fine, but the day before yesterday, he caught three pheasants at once.

The old servant from the Xu family quietly took note and followed Shen Jin into the mountains from a distance yesterday. He found that Shen Jin had gone deep into the mountains alone. After returning, he reported this to Shopkeeper Xu, and they were about to come up with a plan when Shen Lie and his group arrived today.

Hearing this, Shen Lie frowned and asked the old servant about Shen Jin’s usual times and locations in the mountains. He then thanked Shopkeeper Xu and his servant. He and Chen Dashan, one carrying a hoe and the other a curved knife, took the cloth bag they had brought with them and disappeared into the forest.

—

Shili Village.

Once again, Shen Jin found an excuse to split off from Shen Yin to inspect traps and quietly ventured deeper into the mountains.

Meanwhile, Shen Lie and Chen Dashan had long followed the approximate directions given by the old servant of the Xu family. They waited near a trap that Shen Jin had set up and where they anticipated a catch, not far behind two trees.

The two of them waited for quite some time. The captured mountain grouse struggled and flapped initially upon seeing Shen Lie and Chen Dashan appear. It struggled fiercely, but after a while, seeing that the two had not done anything to it, and with its strength waning, it struggled less and less, resigned to its fate, flapping only occasionally.

On the path leading from Shili Village towards them, Shen Jin carried his slingshot on his back, holding a bamboo stick and occasionally beating the grass on the path ahead and on both sides, cautiously making his way towards them.

Chen Dashan saw him from afar and couldn’t help but chuckle softly, “Your little brother is quite capable, fearless as he is.”

Shen Lie didn’t say anything, relieved to see that Shen Jin was being careful in his mountain foray, not recklessly charging ahead. His face relaxed slightly.

Shen Jin was unaware he was being watched. He kept a careful watch around him until he approached closer to where his trap was set. Only then did he finally divert his attention towards the trap.

As soon as he spotted movement due to the presence of someone else, the mountain grouse struggled again. Shen Jin’s eyes lit up. He wanted to quicken his pace, but he remembered his elder brother’s advice about being cautious of snakes in the mountains during spring and summer.

He increased the speed at which he beat the grass with his bamboo stick until he approached the trap. He carefully inspected the surrounding area, including the higher trees and branches, making sure there were no snakes on the ground or dangling from the trees. Satisfied, he tossed aside the bamboo stick and lunged towards the mountain grouse.

Chen Dashan, watching him, thought to himself that if Shen Jin’s grip slipped, he would need to ensure his body could pin the grouse securely.

It really resembled, too much!

Chen Dashan couldn’t help but laugh again.

Shen Lie, wordlessly, glanced at him. Just as Shen Jin was about to grab hold of the mountain grouse, he froze.

The mountain grouse was quite restless, but he hadn’t misheard; someone was laughing!

“Who?!”

“It’s me,” Shen Lie responded, slowly stepping out from behind the tree.

Upon hearing the voice, Shen Jin looked up and saw the person emerging from behind the tree. His eyes widened, and he was so startled that he momentarily lost his grip on the mountain grouse. Startled, he quickly regained his senses and pounced on it again.

“Elder brother?” The first call of “elder brother” choked him up; his nose turned sour, and his eyes reddened. He was so excited that he wanted to run towards Shen Lie, but he wouldn’t let go of the mountain grouse. Belatedly, he realized that the mountain grouse had been tightly snared by the trap’s rope. Only then did he let go and, standing up, ran towards Shen Lie.

“Elder brother! Elder brother!” Shen Lie was also walking towards him, and Shen Jin, who had come closer to Shen Lie, was already teary-eyed.

He wiped his tears with his hand, dug his hand over the grouse that was still struggling, and wiped his face into a flower, oblivious to himself. His eyelashes were wet, and he looked up at Shen Lie, his mouth flat, flatter and flatter, his throat swollen so badly that he couldn’t speak, afraid that he would cry as soon as he opened his mouth.

Shen Lie was also uncomfortable. He squatted down halfway to wipe away Shen Jin’s tears and looked at the mountain grouse that had been thrown into confusion.

“Learned well.”

Just one sentence, Shen Jin, who was holding back his tears, burst into tears. Biting his lip, tears fell, he buried his head, used his sleeve to wipe his tears, and used his arm to hide his face. After a while, he tidied up, then put down his hand and looked up at Shen Lie, his eyes red and wet, smiling broadly, “Elder brother, did you come back quietly to see me?”

While talking, he turned his head to look around, although it was deep in the mountains, he was afraid that people from the village would come to see his elder brother.

Shen Lie smiled and said, “Yes, I came back to see if you’re doing well and if you’ve learned what I taught you.”

Seeing him look around nervously, he reassured, “Don’t worry, your big mountain brother is here to watch over you.”

Shen Jin peeked and saw Chen Dashan behind him. His smile relaxed and he called out to Chen Dashan, then turned to present his treasure to Shen Lie.

“Elder brother, I managed to snare a mountain grouse.”

Pointing to the distant grouse that was no longer struggling, “Look, I caught it. It should fetch about a hundred wen!”

Shen Lie nodded, “I see. Impressive. But didn’t I say not to venture into the deep mountains unless you’re starving?”

Shen Jin’s smile froze. He lowered his head, unconsciously pulling at the hem of his clothes with both hands, “My mother is sick, very sick. I wanted to catch mountain grouse to exchange for money to help my mother see a doctor.”

His voice grew quieter.

Elder brother disliked his father and mother, and now he had to use the skills taught by his elder brother to save his mother.

Shen Jin subconsciously felt guilty and dared not look up at Shen Lie.