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

Chapter 175: A Step Closer

The aroma of the food and the sight of the Chen family leading a large group of children to move stones drew the attention of the Zhou, Lu, and Shi families who lived on the other side of the valley. They came over one after another.

Though it was already dark, the two fires lit up the area sufficiently.

Dinner at the Shen family’s home turned into a late-night feast for everyone in the valley. In reality, it was only Chen Dashan and Shen Lie who had eaten their fill, along with a few of the younger Shen family members.

Shen An and Shen Ning had no dietary restrictions and enjoyed the food, but Shen Jin and his brothers had been instructed by Sang Luo not to overeat the barbecue. They could only have a small piece of chicken each, focusing instead on the lighter fare. They enjoyed the stone-grilled tofu and cabbage, which were still a big hit. What mattered most was the lively atmosphere. The group of children gathered together, and while Shen Tie was glued to the food, the rest of Shen’s children couldn’t even stay seated at the table.

Sang Luo had prepared a lot of food—three whole chickens and plenty of wild boar meat. As Shen Ning grilled, a group of children from nearby families gathered around the stone stove, eager to taste the food. The Chen family joined in, making it the happiest day the children had experienced since moving to Yun Valley. Even Wang Yunzheng, with his usual demeanor, was drawn to the stone stove by Xu Wenbo.

Xu Wenyin was the quickest to react. While eating, she found an opportunity to approach Sang Luo and asked, “Sister Luo, where did you find these stones for grilling?”

Sang Luo smiled and replied, “You want to grill too? They’re from a stream not far from the valley. Tomorrow, you can have Shen Lie take your father or Uncle Xu to have a look.”

Xu Wenqing shouted, “I want to go! I want to go!”

This made not only Xu Wenyin happy but also all the children who heard the news. They eagerly tugged at their fathers, asking them to find stones for grilling.

With everyone agreeing, it wasn’t just the children who were eager; the adults were interested too. The lively atmosphere made it a fun event, and everyone agreed to participate.

The late-night feast lasted for over an hour before people started to leave, mainly because they had to process the wild boar meat they had acquired.

With the lunar June approaching, the weather was getting hot. Even though the cave was cooler than outside, it was better to handle the meat promptly.

The pigskin and head had been dealt with when they hunted the wild boar. The Lu and Shi families, having more people but less hunting experience compared to Shen Lie and Chen Dashan, had to take the pigskin, fearing the deep mountain winters might be colder. Now, the Shen family needed to process the remaining pork and offal.

Shen Lie and Chen Dashan handled the table and chairs, while the younger ones washed the dishes. The whole family worked together to process the wild boar meat, showing the advantage of having many hands. Even the younger kids, guided by Shen Ning and Shen An, were efficient in their tasks. The cleaning of the pig offal was mostly done by the children.

Shen Jin and Shen Yin worked diligently, understanding that these tasks would be essential for their future.

Shen Lie cut and divided the meat, while Sang Luo prepared the curing ingredients. It was simple enough: without mountain wine, she relied on ginger, which was plentiful. She prepared minced ginger in a small bowl and used Xu’s iron pot to roast Sichuan peppercorns with salt.

After dividing the meat Shen Lie had cut, they rubbed it with ginger and pepper salt, then tied it with string. They went outside to set up the smoking stove. The grilling stone had cooled down, so they moved it back to the stove room. They set up a small smoking chamber using a rack and wooden boards to allow smoke and protect from rain, adding firewood as needed.

They checked on the offal the kids had cleaned, helping to finish washing the remaining parts. They saved the pig’s stomach, heart, lungs, small intestine, and liver for a stew the next day. The rest, along with two large pieces of meat, were put into a clay pot with cold water, and spices were added to make a rich braise.

The aroma was strong, but the surrounding high mountains and dense trees absorbed most of it before it could spread far. It only tempted the families in the valley. Since everyone had meat today, each family was busy making cured meats, so no one was particularly disadvantaged.

If there was any frustration, it was likely only felt by the Lu family’s main household.

The family of Lu could only watch in envy.

There was no other way; the hunters from their family didn’t go out, and naturally, no one would take them hunting. The meat given by Shen Lie was a courtesy for the previous delivery of rice, so there was no business for them. They could only longingly smell the aroma.

The Lu family elders, Lu Erlang and his wife, and Lu Sanlang were okay with this; if there was good food, they would call the children from the main house over to taste it. As for Lu Dalang and Wang Chunniang, they had to endure. They were adults and should bear it; they couldn’t expect the same treatment as the children.

So that night, it was only Lu Dalang and Wang Chunniang who were truly tormented by the tantalizing aroma.

—

Shen Lie and Sang Luo worked with the kids until late at night and only finished cleaning up and resting when it was late. After a day of hard work, they slept soundly until dawn.

There was no need for hunting today; after the morning meal, they would just take a walk to check the traps set for mountain chickens yesterday. But out of habit, they all woke up early.

Shen Lie and Shen An got up early to rekindle the fire for smoking meat, took care of the fields, and Shen An and a group of children read aloud as usual. Shen Lie then gathered the families who wanted to look for stones and took them out.

Sang Luo prepared breakfast with Shen Ning. Today’s breakfast was simple: they used the leftover rice soup from dinner to cook a bit longer, beat two eggs, and added them to the boiling rice soup for egg drop soup. It was nourishing enough.

They made minced meat and wild amaranth dumplings, using half a bowl of flour to make thin-skinned meat buns.

The only drawback was the lack of rice wine, which meant the dough wouldn’t rise. The texture was similar to dumpling wrappers. Sang Luo considered that making some rice wine in this weather in the valley might be feasible. Since Shen Lie often hunted, having rice wine could be useful for making buns or cakes when there was an excess of meat or vegetables.

While kneading the dough, she pondered making some rice wine when she had the time.

At breakfast time, the family enjoyed the simple meal of a dozen meat buns and egg drop soup with rice. It was a satisfying meal for the whole family.

Shen Yin and Shen Tie had been recovering for two days in the valley. Although still alarmingly thin, their spirits were evidently better, and they were getting back on their feet.

However, Shen Jin appeared with dark circles under his eyes, which caught Sang Luo’s attention. She asked Shen Jin, “Didn’t you sleep well last night?”

Shen Jin hesitated but eventually shook his head.

Sang Luo didn’t say more after that. After breakfast, Shen Lie and the others went out to check the traps. By noon, when they returned, each person carried a load of firewood. Every family had caught mountain chickens in their traps, and Shen Jin had three. Adding the one from yesterday, there were already four.

The chickens were being kept with delight.

Shen Lie’s mountain chickens were still alive. Shen Jin now brought back a full basket of grass whenever he went out. Sang Luo decided to keep the mountain chickens alive for now and would only slaughter them when there was a shortage of meat.

In the afternoon, when it was time for a nap, Shen Jin slept particularly soundly. While everyone else was up, he was still deeply asleep.

At night, when Shen Lie was about to extinguish the lamp, Sang Luo stopped him, saying, “Leave the lamp on. Just move it to the lampstand by the dining table. Since there are people lying on the platform, it will be hard to see if you get up at night and you might step on someone.”

Shen Lie didn’t think much of it. With so many people sleeping on the first floor, he decided to leave the lamp on and moved it to the stone stand beside the dining table. He said to Sang Luo, “If the light is too bright for you, just close the curtain.”

Sang Luo smiled and agreed.

Shen Jin, who had already been lying down, let out a sigh of relief. No one had noticed his deep sleep.

—

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Chen Youtian and Shen Lie had finished setting up the two-layer beds, doors, and several simple racks. Shen Lie would handle the rest of the furniture like tables and cabinets on his own later.

The Shen brothers officially moved into their new home. They didn’t have many belongings—just a few sets of clothes, a bed and bedding, some ceramic bowls and chopsticks, a kitchen knife, and a bow and arrows. The rest of the items were provided by Shen Lie and Sang Luo.

According to their earlier plan, several large sacks of grain were carried by Shen Lie to the upper cave. Shen Jin, along with Shen Yin and Shen Tie, stood by, watching the grain being placed on the upper shelves. The three brothers shed tears together.

When Sang Luo arrived with Shen An and Shen Ning, carrying over twenty pieces of smoked bacon, she saw this scene.

Without saying anything, they helped set up a small wooden rack to hang the bacon and reminded Shen Jin and Shen Yin to hang the bacon out to dry when the weather was good. She then brought up a jar filled with white salt.

At this point, Shen Jin was truly crying, choking up as he thanked Sang Luo.

Sang Luo smiled and said, “Alright, take good care of Xiao Yin and Xiao Tie from now on. Time flies, and they’ll grow up quickly.”

Shen Jin wiped his tears and nodded repeatedly.

Once everything was moved in, Shen Lie was busy installing door frames and doors upstairs. Shen Jin led Shen Yin and Shen Tie down to their designated space. There was a small chicken coop for the brothers, and at this point, it already housed seven mountain chickens.

Shen Jin caught a mountain chicken and went straight to his elder brother and sister-in-law’s cave. There was no need to enter the cave; he just saw Sang Luo setting up stones to practice calligraphy. Shen Jin, holding the lively mountain chicken, said, “Sister-in-law, I’ve brought mountain chickens for everyone. This first one is for you and elder brother.”

Sang Luo’s eyebrows twitched.

She remembered she had mentioned that they didn’t need this, and indeed, they didn’t. For someone like Shen Lie, the mountain’s resources were abundant. But seeing Shen Jin waiting for her response with the struggling chicken, she understood his intention. She smiled and took the chicken from him, saying, “Alright, thank you, Xiao Jin.”

Shen Jin was very happy just to hear that she would accept it. He didn’t let go and said, “I’ll just put it in your chicken coop.”

He turned around and ran to the area enclosed with wooden barriers for chickens and ducks, placed the mountain chicken there, and then smiled at Sang Luo. He waved goodbye and led Shen Yin and Shen Tie to catch more mountain chickens, this time heading to the Xu family.

Sang Luo watched them go with a smile before turning back into the cave.

—

The trip that Shen Lie had promised to take Sang Luo out of the valley never materialized. As June began, the rainfall in the mountains increased, making travel more difficult. Even when the rain stopped occasionally, the mountain paths were slippery. During such times, Shen Lie would only go out with Chen Dashan and would not take others along, including Shen Jin.

When it rained, the main concern in the valley was drainage. Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu, and Zhou Cunzheng gathered to discuss digging additional pits in the empty space inside the valley.

The area where the children played visibly shrank even more, but if the rainwater in the pools filled up, it could be channeled into one pit after another. This would prevent flooding in the fields and prepare for dry weather, so the valley residents began digging pits when it wasn’t raining. It wasn’t a large project; those who usually stayed in the valley took on the work. Shen Lie, who frequently went out of the valley and gathered firewood, had some rare downtime.

Fortunately, Shen Lie had made several sets of cabinets and a comfortable set of tables and chairs. Shen An and Shen Ning, along with Xu family’s siblings and Ah Xu and Xiao Ya’er, had found a new place to settle in Shen Jin’s cave to read and write. The cave was higher up, noticeably brighter, and the tables and chairs were spacious and comfortable.

Shen Jin had also changed his lazy ways and actively learned. Although his progress was slower than even the youngest Ah Xu, he was indeed diligent. He valued every opportunity to learn, and being able to recognize characters and do arithmetic was already very good.

The Shen family’s cave had become emptier, which suited Shen Lie’s preferences. He mostly stayed in the cave practicing calligraphy using bamboo slips, with Sang Luo working on her own stone slab. They initially used half a table each, sitting diagonally across from each other. As Shen Lie frequently asked about characters and stroke order, after a few days, Sang Luo pointed to the long bench beside her and said, “You should sit here.”

Shen Lie’s smile was almost impossible to suppress. He moved his stone slab and sat beside Sang Luo.

Sang Luo pretended not to notice his continually uplifted and forcefully suppressed smile and continued practicing her characters, though she couldn’t help but let a bit of smile show through.

—

The intermittent rain continued until mid-June, and then finally came to an end. The several water storage pits in the valley were about seven-tenths full. Old Man Chen had already discussed with Shen Lie that if the rain continued, they would need to divert the water to the valley entrance, where drainage was possible.

Fortunately, the weather seemed to be accommodating. When the pits and ditches were nearly full, the rain stopped and the clouds cleared.

Sang Luo was delighted to see the sun and felt that her whole body could finally stretch out. The valley was again busy with drying grain and bedding.

The rain, which had continued intermittently for nearly twenty days, had made Shopkeeper Xu the most anxious. The shelter’s door was actually ajar, so it shouldn’t let in much rain, and the grain racks had been elevated, but he was still worried about moisture since it was underground.

The old lady had taught the family members to identify the medicinal herbs, and apart from her family, she had only taught Sang Luo and Shen Lie. So, this trip served the dual purpose of finding herbs and gathering mushrooms.

Sang Luo’s eyes lit up when she heard that they could leave today.

It had been over fifty days since she had last been out of the valley, and the only time she had gone out was a brief visit to the mountain stream before rushing back.

Confirming that they could indeed leave today, Sang Luo reminded Chen Dashan, “Ask Uncle Youtian or Aunt if they’re going out. After such a long period of rain, there should be plenty of mushrooms outside. I’m sure Aunt would want to go for a look.”

The old lady might also want to go out, as she, like Sang Luo, couldn’t stay idle for long, but given the deep mountains, it was probably best not to.

Chen Dashan smiled, “Alright, I’ll go ask now.”

After Chen Dashan left, Sang Luo started preparing her gear: a basket, a sharp hoe, and even took out her bow and arrows.

Seeing her with the bow and arrows, Shen Lie asked, “Why are you bringing those?”

Sang Luo smiled, “Just in case they come in handy. I trained with them back in the day.”

She didn’t mention the times she had used them for support in the trees.

Shen Lie smiled as well. Although the departure was set for three days later, he had a personal motive. He had promised Sang Luo earlier, but the rain had delayed their plans. Now, seeing Sang Luo so excited about leaving the valley, he couldn’t help but smile and began preparing as well.

As they were about to finish preparing, Shen Jin put down his brush and stood up quickly, saying, “Big Brother, take me with you. I haven’t hunted in a long time.”

Even though his big brother often brought back game every few days, Shen Jin hadn’t hunted for almost twenty days and felt uneasy.

Shen Lie, unable to relate, patted his head and said, “I’m taking your sister-in-law this time. I promised her a long time ago. I’ll take you out next time. For now, stay with Xiao An and the others and study. There’s no rush.”

He left with a smile.