CH 5

But none of it was very important.  In Xu Qing’s eyes, there are only raised rabbits, dry pot rabbits, spicy rabbits, and other delicious rabbit dishes.  He has already begun to think of all kinds of tasty food he could make, and couldn’t help but swallow.

“Rabbit braised in brown sauce!” 

Xu Qing quietly pulled the bow and arrow, which was used by father Xu when he was still alive, and aimed at the head of the big white rabbit that was busy stuffing some leaves in his mouth.  A direct hit.  Xu Qing leapt forward happily, lifted the dead rabbit from the ground, and shook it with satisfaction.  My gosh, it is at least 4 kg. Well, it just so happens that half of it can be given to Aunt Xie later, and he can eat the rest tonight.

Xu Qing threw the rabbit into the space in a good mood, and did not rush to go home.  He squatted down and looked at the stuff the rabbit was eating.  He thought it smelled familiar, “Yes, this is sun ginseng.”  Thanks to the biology class he took while he was in the university. Otherwise, you’d lose such a treasure.

It didn’t take long for him to dug out the sun ginseng whose leaves were chewed by the rabbit.  This ginseng grew in the wild is a kind of precious Chinese medicinal herb with high value. It is also called bangchu or goblin (T/N: Not sure if ginseng is really called these names.  It was written like that in the raws). It should be less than 50 years old, but it is still very valuable.

Xu Qing carefully wrapped the wild ginseng with large leaves before putting it in the space.  This is money. He must be careful. He then picked up the bow and arrows from the ground and continued to move forward happily.

It seems that even Father Xu didn’t come this far into the mountain before although it was still the outskirts of the mountain.  The more he moves forward, the older the trees are and the more the variety there are. 

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Lots of weeds on the ground that grow up to his waist.  It shows that not many people have entered the mountains this far over the years. He could only draw the knife and chopped the branches along the way to remember the path.

“Hmmm, What’s the smell?”

Xu Qing stopped and sniffed the strange numbing smell in the air.  He really didn’t know what it was at the moment so, he followed the scent and found a tree. It’s a Pepper tree.  He was caught off guard by the tree full of small round things in front of him. God knows how uncomfortable it is for a person with a strong palate to eat dishes made only with salt every day.

Pepper is a good thing for cooking. He was so excited that he didn’t know where to put his hands or feet. He bounced around the pepper tree.  How can this tree be taken away? Can he dig it up?

After thinking about it, he decided against it. This tree is a few years old. He was full of regrets.  At that time, he felt like something had scratched the corner of his clothes, “Hey, are these pepper seedlings?

He noticed a number of pepper saplings that were considerably smaller than the large pepper tree.  One of the seedlings was barely taller than his thigh.  Xu Qing was grinning cheerfully. First, he picked up all the peppercorns from the big tree and the seeds from the prickly ash trees nearby and threw them into the space. He then carefully uprooted the small pepper seedlings and put them into the space with satisfaction. When he was done, it was already getting dark. There is the piglet waiting to be fed at home and he, who felt very satisfied with a good harvest today, happily returned home.

When he reached the edge of the mountain, he took out the basket and the sickle from the space. He wanted to cut some hogweed on the way down the mountain to feed the piglet. If the piglet is not fed well and stays hungry, it will lose weight and become thin.  And a thin pig means he will not have a fat Chinese New Year pig at the end of the next winter. This is very serious.

When he got home, he fed the piglet who was protesting because of hunger.  After he walked out of the pigpen, it was already around 7 o’clock in the evening, he still wanted to send the rabbit to Aunty Xie.

Xu Qing took the big white rabbit out of the space, skillfully skinned it, and handled the internal organs. In his last life, during the end of days, when his space ability was not awakened yet, he basically did all the laundry and cooking in the team. Also, if it wasn’t for his good cooking skills, the team wouldn’t have kept him.

After 10 minutes, Xu Qing finished dealing with the rabbit.  He packed half of it in a vegetable basket, covered with a straw lid, locked the courtyard door, and walked towards the village.

It was already getting late, and the people doing farm work had already gone home. In addition, the men who served in the military came back today so, there was no one on the road. This solved a lot of his troubles.

Knock, knock, knock!

“Aunty Xie, are you home? It’s brother Qing.”  After knocking the door, Xu Qing placed his hands in front of the mouth, and warmed them up with his hot breath. Even though it was the end of winter, the evenings were still chilly.

“Coming!” The door opened right after the sound.

“Brother Qing, quickly come in. Be careful not to catch the cold. The days have’t been fully warmed up yet.”  As soon as Aunty Xie opened the door, he looked at brother Qing’s thin body, carrying a basket on his back, holding his hands together and shivering.

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“No, no, it’s OK.  I’m here to give you something and I will leave after that,” Xu Qing stuffed the basket in Aunty Xie‘s hand and didn’t wait for the other’s response before sprinting away immediately with his thin short legs. 

“This kid,” Aunty Xie almost laughed out loud by Brother Qing’s actions.  He turned around to close the courtyard door. He and Uncle Xie were cooking.  He came out hurriedly after hearing Brother Qing’s voice.

“Where is Brother Qing?”  Uncle Xie watched his wife coming in with a vegetable basket that was obviously not his own.

“The child said he came to give us something.  Then he squeezed it into my hands and run away. He was like a slippery little fish.”

Uncle Xie took the basket handed over by the wife. He smelled raw meat even before opening the straw cover. He was surprised, “Ah, this kid.  It’s rabbit meat.”

Aunty Xie, who was cleaning the vegetables, hurriedly leaned over to take a look. He saw the rabbit meat carefully laid inside the basket, “My gosh, where did this kid even get it?” Aunty Xie swiftly took the basket and he was full of worry, “No, I have to go and ask him.” Aunty Xie was anxious to go after Xu Qing.

“I say, it is getting really late. If you want to go, you can go tomorrow morning.” Uncle Xie grabbed his wife’s hand and said, “Since Brother Qing brought it, it means that he’s OK. Don’t think about going now. It is already late. Brother Qing is still an unmarried orphan. Don’t do anything that will invite people to gossip.”

“But, what shall I do then?” Aunty Xie was still very worried.

“I will leave this rabbit meat by the well and let it stay cold for the whole night. Tomorrow morning, I will go to Brother Qing to ask clearly about this rabbit. It obviously died from being shot by an arrow. Father Xu also knew how to use bows and arrows like this back then.”  Uncle Xie nodded, “Okay, then I’ll go put the meat away.  You continue cleaning the vegetables.”

Xu Qing, on the other side, ate the roasted rabbit seasoned with salt and pepper.  “This is life,” he sighed with emotion when he patted his protruding belly.

After resting for a while, Xu Qing put away the dishes and utensils. He poured all the peppers he picked today into a large pan spreading them around. They had to be dried with water vapor, and then place them on the stove or under the sun to dry. It can be used for a long time after it is grounded into powder.

As for the prickly ash seedlings, it was already too late, and they shouldn’t be seen by others so, they were temporarily placed in the space.

After taking a nice warm bath, Xu Qing aired the laundry, and washed his face with spring water mixed with warm water.  There is no more tingling or itchy feeling from previous few days at all. It seems that the toxins are all cleared up. He believes that the remaining bumps will be healed soon too.

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Xu Qing, who was very satisfied, got in the bed. He wrapped himself with the quilt, and after a while, there was a quiet sweet snoring sound in the bedroom.

Aunty Xie didn’t sleep well at all last night so, he got up early in the morning, made breakfast, and woke up the still sleeping husband.

“The meal is ready. I’ll go to bother Qing’s house first.  Get up to eat or food will be cold.”  After that, he ignored the still-drowsy Uncle Xie, walked out of the house and picked up the bucket by the well that was placed there last night. After thinking about it, he was afraid that brother Qing hasn’t eaten breakfast yet so, he took a few corn buns from the table, and left for brother Qing’s place.

At this time, Xu Qing was still sleeping soundly under the quilt, completely unaware that Aunty Xie was coming. 

Knock, knock, knock!

“Brother Qing, are you up?”

Knock, knock, knock!

“Huh…!” Someone is knocking on the door?  Xu Qing’s sleepy eyes were dumbfounded hearing someone calling him so early in the morning.

“Brother Qing?” Aunty Xie kept calling without giving up. He didn’t care if brother Qing was still sleeping.  Until he figured out the source of the rabbit meat, he would not feel at ease.

“Brother Qing, wake up!”