Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside
Chapter 71 - 071: First Entry into Dafeng Mountain

Chapter 71: Chapter 071: First Entry into Dafeng Mountain

Gu Dashan, after fixing the roof, did not rest. He followed Third Grandpa to call the men from several families, and together they went to clean the silt from the old well.

This old well was used by several families. When the men heard Gu Dashan calling, they grabbed their tools and came out, gathering beside the old well.

Elder Qin took out the thick rope he always carried, secured it around Gu Dashan, and together with Father Luo, they lowered Gu Dashan into the well.

A little over fifteen minutes later, Gu Dashan reached the bottom of the well and shouted up to them, "The walls of this old well are built with green bricks, very sturdy, no problems, it won’t collapse! Lower the buckets and shovels, we can start clearing the silt now!"

Hearing his words, everyone started to lower the buckets, shovels, and the people who would clear the silt down the well.

The adults from several families were busy cleaning the silt.

Meanwhile, Gu Jinli was thinking about Dafeng Mountain.

Da Feng Village is backed by Dafeng Mountain, and takes its name from it. Spanning hundreds of miles and covering half of Qingfu Town, it is a large mountain range, surely rich in resources.

Gu Jinli strapped a hemp bag to himself, took a shovel and a dagger, and told Third Grandma and his mother, "Third Grandma, Mom, we’re heading to the mountain. We’ll be back in the afternoon, don’t worry."

Mrs. Cui was hoeing the ground, planning to till the soil a bit more for spring planting. Hearing Gu Jinli’s words, she hurriedly dropped her hoe and ran over, pulling on him: "Xiao Yu, are you really going into the mountain?"

Last night, after discussing Good Brother An’s study plans, Xiao Yu talked about going to the mountain to gather herbs and selling them to make money. He assured them he’d go with Hui Niang and her siblings and Brother Qin, telling them not to worry.

But she was still worried; it was an unfamiliar place and the mountain could be dangerous.

Gu Jinxiu, sitting beside Third Grandma, who was making straw shoes with Brother Cheng, heard this and looked worriedly at Gu Jinli with Brother Cheng.

Gu Jinli smiled and said, "Mom, didn’t we agree on this last night? Dad and Third Grandpa already agreed, you can’t go back on your word." He assured further: "We won’t go deep into the mountain, just around the perimeter. With Brother Luo Wu, Sister Hui Niang, and Brother Qin there, what’s there to worry about?"

The Luo Family siblings were skilled in martial arts, and San Lang’s skills were also outstanding. Even though she was limited by her currently weak body, unable to exert even a third of her old strength, she could still ensure her safety.

Third Grandma spoke up for Gu Jinli, "Let them go, there are so many of them, nothing will go wrong."

All the children had fled dangers together before; what significant threat could a trip into the mountains pose?

As soon as she finished speaking, Luo Huiniang’s voice came: "Xiao Yu, we’re ready, let’s hurry or it will be too late."

Luo Huiniang, dressed in an old blue cotton garment with a cloth bag slung around her waist and a machete in hand, stood next to Tian Xiaohua who was carrying a basket.

Mrs. Cui, having no choice, cautioned her, "Be careful, don’t take risks, and come back early."

Brother Cheng also told Gu Jinli in a cooing voice, "Be careful, Second Sister, come back early."

"Yeah." Gu Jinli smiled, and had already run out of the courtyard, joining Luo Huiniang and Tian Xiaohua, running towards the small path behind the Qin’s house.

On the path, San Lang, Luo Wu, and Tian Erqiang were waiting; seeing them arrive, they turned and ran toward Dafeng Mountain.

They walked a fairly long trail and after making a big turn, they began to enter the territory of Dafeng Mountain.

As soon as they entered the mountain, Tian Xiaohua and Tian Erqiang started looking at the ground, hoping to find some edible wild vegetables, but it was deep winter and the wild vegetables were long rotten. After walking for two hours, the siblings couldn’t find a single wild vegetable.

Perhaps feeling disheartened, Tian Xiaohua started crying: "If we can’t find food, our family won’t be able to get by."

Yesterday, before moving, Third Grandma distributed the grains bought collectively by a few families among them, but after distribution, each family didn’t receive much. Her family was poor and still owed Silver Coin to Grandpa Qin’s Family. After finishing that bit of grain, they had no money to buy more.

Last night, her mother was crying, saying life was becoming unliveable.

Gu Jinli knew about Tian Family’s difficulties. While searching the ground for burrows, she comforted Tian Xiaohua: "Don’t cry. If there are no wild vegetables, we can look for other things to sell. With the money from the sale, we can buy grains, and life can still go on."

She was anxious to enter the mountain because she knew the adults had discussed going to Qingfu Town tomorrow to buy necessities for living, so she wanted to collect more medicinal materials today to sell at the pharmacy in town tomorrow.

Upon hearing her words, Tian Xiaohua wiped her tears and asked, "Sister Xiao Yu, what things can be sold for money?"

"Medicinal materials," said Gu Jinli. Suddenly, she spotted a small hole about three fingers wide in a patch of decaying grass and she immediately stopped: "There’s a hole, I wonder if it’s a snake or a mountain vole? Let’s dig it out. If we can find a snake, we can sell it for money." Both snake gall and snake slough are medicinal materials.

Luo Huiniang, frightened, stepped back a few steps: "Xiao Yu, what grudge do you have with snakes?" Along the way, she was either catching snakes or looking for them, and as soon as they settled down, she began looking for snakes again. Is it that she has a feud with snakes?

This task was quite dangerous. Qin San Lang said, "Xiao Yu, step back, let me do it."

After Gu Jinli moved back, he and Luo Wu started digging about half a meter behind the hole using shovels and hoes. After digging half a meter deep, they indeed saw a snake nest with dozens of snakes, big and small, moving within.

It was deep winter, and snakes were in hibernation. Even if disturbed and they moved slightly, they could not, like in summer, quickly raise their bodies to attack people.

Qin San Lang found two small branches and deftly caught the snakes one by one into a sack.

Qin San Lang counted them and said, "There are eleven." Quite good.

Having made a haul, the group began looking in the mountain for mouse holes or sparrow holes. Snakes do not dig holes but occupy the nests of small animals, which often contain snakes.

They were busy for most of the day, and by afternoon, they had caught over forty snakes, a dozen pairs of snake slough, several mountain voles weighing about half a jin, even shot three wild chickens weighing more than two jins, and dug up more than twenty wild sweet potatoes, making it quite a fruitful harvest.

"Ha ha, we are amazing, we found so much food, and all of it is meat," Luo Huiniang stared at the wild chickens with eyes glowing green. Meat, it’s chicken, she hadn’t eaten chicken in over a year.

Seeing her eager look, Gu Jinli teased her: "Wipe off your drool, it’s about to drip down."

Hehe, Luo Huiniang laughed twice and made a face at her: "I just crave meat, what about it?"

"Nothing wrong with that, I crave meat myself," Gu Jinli had never thought she would crave meat, but since being reborn, not to mention meat, she hadn’t had a full meal of plain white rice. Now her stomach was very bland, without a trace of grease.

Gu Jinli looked at the sky and said, "Let’s go back, if we return late, we’ll get scolded."

This was their first time entering the mountain, and they needed to leave a good impression of being well-behaved on the adults at home. If they dared to return late on their very first mountain outing, they shouldn’t think about coming again.