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

Chapter 144: Mountain Rats

Mrs. Li’s will to survive finally rose, and she forced herself to sell clothes and bedding.

In early March, when the weather was still cold after a warm spell, Shen San finished his farm work and returned home, wanting to lie down in bed, only to find that all the bedding had been changed…

Meanwhile, deep in the forest, Shen Lie and his group had their bows drawn tight, their faces stern as they aimed their arrows at a group of refugees who had fallen behind them.

There were over twenty young men among them, unlike the northern refugees in appearance and condition. They seemed better off, likely original residents from around Qiyang County who had sought refuge in the mountains.

Several of the leaders among them were already hit by arrows, crying out in pain. The arrows were bamboo, but due to the archer’s strength, they pierced deeply into the flesh through their clothes.

Four were wounded: two in the shoulders and two in the thighs, evenly distributed on both sides.

By now, Shen Lie had switched to military-forged arrows on his bowstring.

“Next arrow, left chest. Who wants to test the accuracy of my shot?”

The tension in his tightened bowstring made those aimed at step back again and again.

Although several dozen stones of grain were tempting, faced with a dozen men on the opposite side with fully drawn bows, especially considering the two young men and one young woman among them whose hands or legs were already crippled, they were so scared that they swallowed.

Even bamboo arrows could penetrate so deeply into the flesh. If replaced with iron arrows, one arrow to the chest… Everyone shivered in unison.

“Don’t, don’t, let’s go, let’s go now.”

They wouldn’t risk their lives for this food.

One person spoke up, and the others turned and ran. The injured were also quickly dragged away by their companions.

After the group of refugees had fled far away, several young men following Shen Lie and his group felt a little weak in their hands, especially Wei Qing and others, whose bows were even leftovers from Chen Youtian. They were only for show, with no strength or accuracy.

Zhou Dalang and the others also sighed in relief, feeling their legs trembling. “It’s not safe in these mountains anymore.”

When they left, they were fine. They had a large group with them and empty baskets on their shoulders, so they didn’t bump into anyone. However, the return journey was different. They carried all the remaining grain with them, which made them stand out.

Fortunately, Shen Lie and Chen Dashan were really tough, Lu Er could also hold the scene, otherwise today they wouldn’t be able to keep the food safe, let alone know if they could safely return.

The four who returned from the north had seen this scene before. After discussing it, Shi Dalang and Lu Er were at the forefront, while Shen Lie and Chen Dashan were behind, paying attention to whether anyone else had fallen behind, and the group continued to move deeper into the mountains.

From Shili Village to the new grain storage point, and then to the road towards Yun Valley, they had to detour to avoid people, and carefully explored front and back. The first four days they walked quickly, but it took more than four days to walk out of the distance of the previous three days. Until the fifth day, because of the frequent appearances of wild beasts in the deep forests, they rarely encountered people in the mountains.

Afterwards, they encountered a group of wild boars once. Fortunately, it was at night. In order to hide easily and avoid being tracked, they spent more time digging a shelter on a mountain side near dusk, and all the people and grain were packed into it.

Late at night, they heard movement, and the group held their breath and dared not move. Shen Lie and Chen Dashan quietly opened the crude wooden door, and with a little moonlight pouring into the woods, they saw what was outside.

Fifteen or sixteen wild boars, large and small. Did they stumble upon a wild boar’s nest?

Can’t afford to provoke, just stay quiet in the shelter.

Starting from the tenth of March when they left Yun Valley, they finally returned on the evening of the twenty-second of March, arriving near Yun Valley. Several people rested in a cave, split up to investigate, confirmed that no one was following, and waited until it was dark before rushing back to the valley.

Because they had already explained that they would return late, no one was waiting at the valley mouth this time. Shen Lie and his group brought all the grain into the valley, hid the baskets, sealed the entrance, and only when they delivered the grain to the large cave did the Xu family nearby faintly hear the movement.

And when Shen Lie and his group entered the valley and lit the torches, at this moment, looking at the situation in the large cave, everyone was stunned.

The previous shelves and grain bags were gone, replaced by neatly stacked firewood.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion: “What’s going on? Wasn’t the grain piled up here?”

Mrs. Xu had already come out ahead, accompanied by Xu Wenbo and Wang Yunzheng, as for Xu Wenyin, went to inform the other several families.

Shen Lie and his group asked Mrs. Xu before they learned that there were too many grains hidden in the big cave, causing mountain rats to riot. Many grain bags were bitten and not a lot of grain was wasted. This was the lifeblood of everyone, so for the convenience of inspection, some mountain rats could be found in time and they had moved all their grain and things temporarily stored here back. The big cave was also used to stack dry firewood previously dried.

“Alright, we don’t need to haul grain into the big mountain cave anymore; we’ll move everything to the Xu family, because this batch behind us consists of Xu family’s grain and things like salt.”

When Sang Luo received news from Xu Wenyin that the grain transporters had returned, she went out with Shen An and Shen Ning to meet them, just in time to see Shen Lie carrying a large bag of grain to the entrance of Xu’s mountain cave.

As they met, Shen An and Shen Ning had many questions because they knew their elder brother would secretly return to the village to see Xiao Jin.

Sang Luo also wanted to know about the situation outside, but with so many people and still moving grain, she had to hold back for now.

The wooden frames in the big mountain cave had been divided among the families. Naturally, Xu’s family also got two. After calculating how much grain her family had, Chen Youtian in Yun Valley had also helped to make two extra racks. So now there was space to store the grain, but the already small cave seemed even more crowded.

After all the grain was moved, it was time for each family to talk. At this time, people from the Chen family, Zhou Chunzheng, Lu family, and Shi family also arrived. Since there was no room to move, they gathered at the entrance of Xu’s mountain cave, mainly asking Shen Lie and Chen Dashan about the situation outside.

They heard that the county and various villages were temporarily stable, but more people had fled into the mountains. For example, in Shili Village, two more households had sought refuge.

However, there were also more refugees in the mountains. Zhou Dalang mentioned the incident where more than twenty refugees had robbed the grain from them on their way back. Hearing this, everyone’s faces sank.

Zhou Cunzheng anxiously asked, “What happened next? How did you get away?”

“Alie, Dashan, and Uncle Lu shot and injured several people there first, which scared them off and made them retreat.”

The elders all looked worried. Shen Lie continued, “But there’s no need to worry too much. The further inward you go, the easier it is to encounter jackals, wild boars, and the like. So for the next two or three days, the road should be relatively safe. Without crossing the outer perimeter, not many people will come this way for a while. However, we need to be careful when going in and out later. In the next few days, we should set up some concealment outside and find a secure place to store those baskets that can’t be brought in.”

However, Shen Lie knew in his heart that this calmness was only temporary. Initially, when they were looking for a place to settle, because they dared not stay away from the village for too long and had to rush back, they had discussed with Chen Dashan to explore a seven-day journey inward before turning back. Later, on the sixth day, they coincidentally discovered this valley. It was chosen because it was well concealed. Only the two of them accelerated their journey, which was a five-and-a-half-day journey.

Talking deeply, it was deep enough at this moment, but if there were really wars and chaos in the future, in order to avoid disaster, there would still be brave people pouring in.

After all, both military disasters and bandit disasters were more dangerous than wild animals in the mountains.

Therefore, when chaos breaks out outside, there will also be refugees outside the valley. However, this is also inevitable. Soldiers block the water and earth, and people can only hide.

Shen Lie said, “As for what mountain products to prepare or what to find in the valley, we also have some leisure time lately. We can go out and explore. If chaos breaks out outside, people will definitely come inward. By then, going in and out will be more troublesome. Later, if we go out again, we have to be careful. The things that cannot be brought in should also be stored in a secure place.”

What is lacking? What each family lacks is actually food. After all, no one knows how long they will hide in these mountains, the more food stored, the longer they can hide behind.

However, it is late spring now, nearly ten days before summer arrives. The food in the mountains is not as abundant as in autumn. Wild vegetables are mostly found in the mountains. Wild vegetables are not necessary when vegetables can be grown in the mountains.

Then there is meat. This can be stored, but hunting requires skill. Shen Lie and Chen Dashan took refuge in the mountains, but hunting requires skills, so whoever hunts, returns to him. So if you have the ability to go out, if you don’t have the ability, you can’t go out, that is, each family is not thinking of it.

Willingness to go out slowly and practice your hands, and some people harvest.

Everyone nodded and knew that they were tired after more than ten days outside, so that they would rest early and return to their homes.

The people of the Shen family and the Chen family were late and told the family of the two to see the situation of the Xu treasurer. Mrs. Xu was so grateful that she could not stand up, and Shen Lie and Chen Dashan were not afraid of avoiding, and they left.

I didn’t take a few steps. It was a cave on the mountain of the Shen family. I walked closer and found that the door board of the cave was sealed.

Shen Lie was stunned and then reacted, and Sang Luo was afraid of the snake.

Sure enough, Sang Luo laughed: “People are not afraid that the snake will enter the door and go out.”

Yes, mountain rat.

He took off the door board and asked Sang Luo: “How much trouble do you have in the family?”

Sang Luo silent and silent, “It’s okay. I broke four bags, Tian’s uncle prepared to make a grain store, found it in time, and less is not a lot.”

Shen Lie didn’t notice what was wrong at first, just feel that Sang Luo’s tone seems to be somewhat wrong, not to think about it, just listen to Shen An dull road: “The mouse is quite picky, our family things are only down under the guillotine.”

There is some sorrow in the words.

At this time, Shen Lie, where to listen to the wrong, he subconsciously looked at Sang Luo: “What’s going on?”

Sang Luo took her chin and nodded to: “Come on, let’s talk to.”

Also let Shen An and Shen Ning’s room with a clean fuel to hear the burning and the water, Shen Lie is one, and also for him to eat.

Shen An knew that his sister-in-law was unhappy because there was no evidence and she didn’t know who did it, so she didn’t want him and his sister to hear it, and she pulled Shen Ning out.

Sang Luo and Shen Lie entered the cave and walked a few steps inside before Shen Lie whispered, “Someone stole the grain?”

Sang Luo glanced outside and whispered back, “There’s no evidence. There are indeed mountain rats; the bags have marks where they chewed. There’s scattered grain on the ground and half-eaten beans. But it’s not everywhere. Among the four bags we had torn, two of them look different from the other two. Maybe I’m just overthinking.”

“What about other families? Do they have this situation?”

“It’s not something we can openly ask about. Xu’s family doesn’t have needles and thread. They came to borrow some from us. The old lady’s eyesight isn’t great, so I offered to help with sewing and noticed that three of their torn bags seemed more neatly cut. I made excuses to visit other families, but didn’t see this situation.”

So they’re only targeting our family and Xu’s family?

Shen Lie frowned. He trusted Sang Luo’s judgment; she wouldn’t say this unless she was fairly certain.

Feeling somewhat troubled, not only did they need to guard against refugees and wild animals outside, now there was this issue in the valley. He suppressed his irritation and asked Sang Luo, “Do you have any suspicions?”

They had been cooperating for so long that everyone had a basic understanding of each other’s character.

It had been a few days since the incident, and Sang Luo seemed relatively calm. Meeting his gaze, she just smiled faintly, “I won’t guess blindly without evidence and accuse anyone wrongly. We still need to guard against mountain rats and make sure everything brought back to the cave is secure. We should be more vigilant going forward. As we discussed before, we should tighten security for those going in and out, at least during our stay here, to avoid any mishaps.”

After all, except for Shen Lie and Chen Dashan, everyone else in the valley, even if it was Lu Er and Shi Dalang, wanted to go out alone and had to keep their hearts.

Meeting Sang Luo’s gaze, Shen Lie didn’t ask any further questions, but he had a vague suspicion in his heart. He tightened his jaw, suppressed his anger, and said, “Alright, I understand.”

Hunting and such weren’t talents everyone possessed. Since even thinking about a meal or two could make one so upset, they should continue to be cautious.