Chapter 18: Chapter 17: Wild Rabbit

Xue Xingzhou suddenly had an epiphany. It was time to pull himself together and live life to the fullest.

He didn’t want to have any more regrets in this life.

Since Xue Yue wasn’t heading back until the afternoon, the siblings decided to go up the mountain. Xue Yue even brought a basket, thinking that if she was lucky, she could pick some mushrooms to help her brother eat a little better.

“Big Brother, we should hurry and gather more firewood these next few days. It’s about to get cold, and once it snows, we won’t be able to come up the mountain.”

In this era, there was a lot of undeveloped land, so almost every village had a mountain nearby, big or small, covered in trees.

“He Lang and I came up the mountain yesterday, Big Brother. You won’t believe it, but I found a clutch of wild eggs—more than a dozen of them.”

“Really?”

Xue Yue nodded. “Mhm, I found them halfway up. It’s a bit of a shame I didn’t see the hen, though.”

Xue Xingzhou had only been chopping firewood at the foot of the mountain for the past two days and hadn’t gone any higher. Hearing Xue Yue’s words, he suddenly felt a surge of excitement.

“Let’s go up and take a look then.”

“Okay.”

The siblings stopped once they reached the halfway point and didn’t go any further up. Deeper in, they might run into large wild animals.

Along the way, Xue Xingzhou snapped off a few branches and used his firewood hatchet to sharpen the ends into points.

Xue Xingzhou chopped firewood while Xue Yue gathered the pieces and stacked them together.

Suddenly, Xue Xingzhou gestured for Xue Yue to stop moving.

Seeing this, Xue Yue froze and looked in the direction her brother was staring.

There was a warren of wild rabbits.

Two adults and five little ones.

Holding the sharpened branches, Xue Xingzhou slowly approached. With one branch in each hand, he struck swiftly. After a few short SQUEALS, the two adult rabbits lay motionless.

The little ones huddled together, trembling.

Xue Yue walked over and saw that a branch was stuck in each of the rabbits’ heads.

“Wow, Big Brother, when did you get so skilled? That’s amazing! You didn’t even damage the fur.”

Xue Xingzhou smiled and picked up the two rabbits. “There’s still a lot you don’t know!”

“Brother, what about these little ones? Should we take them back to raise?”

Xue Xingzhou shook his head. “Let them go. They’re too small, not much meat on them. Besides, the heavy snow will seal off the mountain this winter, so we wouldn’t be able to feed them.”

“Alright.”

The two of them chopped two bundles of firewood on the mountain.

They each carried a bundle on their backs. Xue Xingzhou also carried the basket, which held the wild rabbits hidden under a layer of wild vegetables.

After returning home, Xue Xingzhou took out the rabbits and sat in front of the stove to boil some water.

Meanwhile, Xue Yue went to the production team leader’s house.

“Aunt Cuihua~”

“Oh, coming!”

Zhang Cuihua opened the door and saw Xue Yue. She smiled and said, “It’s Yue’er! Come in, come in. How have you been settling in with your in-laws?”

Xue Yue smiled back. “I’m doing well, Auntie. I came to ask if anyone in the village has a lot of radishes and cabbage from their private plot this year. I’d like to buy some.”

“Why buy any? We have plenty, Auntie. Besides, that stuff isn’t worth much. It’s all in the cellar. I’ll have your uncle go down and bring some up for you.”

Xue Yue waved her hands. “I couldn’t do that. If you won’t take my money, Auntie, I’ll just have to buy from someone else.”

“Alright, have it your way. I’ll tell your uncle to go get them.”

Xue Yue paid two yuan and bought two hundred pounds of radishes and cabbage.

She used the team leader’s pushcart to wheel them back.

“Why did you buy so many radishes and cabbages?”

Xue Xingzhou was a little surprised to see Xue Yue pushing back such a large quantity of vegetables.

“Big Brother, you can’t just eat potatoes and corn every day. You need some variety. Don’t be fooled, this might look like a lot, but it’s really not. We have to hole up for several months this winter. In a few days, I’ll come over and pickle some vegetables for you. We need to dig a root cellar as soon as possible. It’s not just for the vegetables; we can’t let the grain in the house get warm either.”

Xue Xingzhou nodded. “Alright. I’ll start digging tomorrow.”

Xue Yue returned the pushcart. By the time she got back, her brother had already skinned and prepared the two rabbits.

“We’ll cook one for lunch. You can take the other one back with you.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Just listen.”

Seeing her brother’s firm attitude, Xue Yue could only nod in agreement.

He cut one rabbit in half, braising one part and stir-frying the other. He also stir-fried some wild vegetables.

While they were eating, Xue Yue mentioned that the He Family had split their household.

“That’s good. It’s more convenient for the two of you to be separate.”

Xue Yue nodded. “It is good. There’s just one downside: whatever one household is eating, all the others know about it instantly.”

“Once you have the money, you can just build your own house. The room you and He Lang are living in now isn’t very big. It definitely won’t be enough if you have children later. You’ll have to build a house sooner or later.”

When the topic of children came up, Xue Yue fell silent. She was too embarrassed to tell her brother that she and He Lang hadn’t yet reached that stage of their relationship.

When Xue Yue went back in the afternoon, He Lang hadn’t returned yet.

Xue Yue washed a few articles of clothing and had a simple bite for dinner.

Xue Yue waited for He Lang for a while, but when it grew pitch black outside, she went to bed.

The next morning, when Xue Yue woke up, she glanced over at He Lang’s side and saw him sleeping soundly.

She had no idea what time he’d gotten back last night.

After getting up, Xue Yue saw a snakeskin bag on the floor.

’He went to the black market again, just as I thought.’

This time, however, he had clearly brought back a lot more. The snakeskin bag was stuffed full.

Xue Yue opened the door and went out to make breakfast.

There were five buns left from yesterday. Xue Yue made some cornmeal porridge and heated up the buns.

While she was washing up, He Lang came out.

He looked dazed, his face clouded with sleepiness. It was obvious he hadn’t slept well; He Lang had only returned just before dawn.

If he hadn’t been woken by unbearable hunger, He Lang would still be asleep.

“Is breakfast ready?”

Xue Yue nodded. “It’s ready.”

Xue Yue ladled a bowl of cornmeal porridge for He Lang and brought out the buns.

He Lang devoured three buns in one go, gulped down his porridge in a few mouthfuls, and then went back inside to catch up on sleep.

After she finished eating, Xue Yue grabbed her basket and some rope and headed up the mountain.

She ran into several other villagers at the foot of the mountain today. They were probably all there to chop wood. Xue Yue didn’t recognize them, so she just started gathering firewood as she walked.

She gathered a pile of firewood and also discovered a patch of wood ear mushrooms on a decaying tree trunk. There were so many that she filled her entire basket and still hadn’t picked them all.

Xue Yue tied the firewood she’d gathered into a bundle with the rope, hoisted it onto her back, and headed down the mountain with the basket in hand.

Once she was back, Xue Yue went to ask Mrs. He for a sheet of newspaper. She spread the paper out in the courtyard and poured the wood ear mushrooms onto it to dry.

Guo Jinfeng came out of her room just in time to see Xue Yue pouring out the mushrooms, and her eyes lit up.

“Xue Yue, where did you find so many wood ear mushrooms?”

Xue Yue glanced at Guo Jinfeng. “On the mountain. I stumbled upon them while gathering firewood.”

“Are you going back?”

Xue Yue nodded. She had been thinking of going back for the rest.

Guo Jinfeng looked at Xue Yue and said, “I’ll go too. Wait for me, I’ll go grab a basket.”

With that, she turned and went back inside to get her basket.

’Whatever,’ Xue Yue thought. ’I’ve already gathered plenty. If she wants to come, let her.’

Xue Yue led Guo Jinfeng to the spot from before. They each picked about half a basketful, and then there were no more.

Even so, Guo Jinfeng still seemed very pleased.

Xue Yue put down her basket and started gathering firewood again.

Guo Jinfeng said, “Xue Yue, why don’t you make the third son come up here to chop wood? This is men’s work.”

“It’s fine. It doesn’t matter who gathers it. I’m not busy anyway, and I’d rather gather a bit more now so I don’t have to come up when it gets cold.”

They quickly gathered another bundle, and the two of them started walking back.

When they got back, they saw He Lang squatting in the courtyard, washing his face.

“You went up the mountain again? Did you pick those?” He Lang asked, pointing to the wood ear mushrooms drying in the courtyard.

Xue Yue nodded.

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