Chapter 169: Chapter 94: Going up the Mountain (Part 2)

Qingmu’s face darkened, and his eyes widened. “You want to go? The mountains are full of wolves. They’ve been starving all winter and are just now coming out to find food. A soft, tender kid like you would make the perfect lunch for them. Your sister Juhua and I are older and faster. What if we have to leave you behind for the wolves?”

Juhua ignored him, speaking gently to Laishou, “You be a good boy and stay home, sweetie. Big Sister is going up the mountain to catch rabbits. I’ll bring one back and cook it for you, okay?”

Laishou giggled and waved his hands. “Catch bunnies! Baby go!”

Juhua coaxed him, “Bunnies bite. Wait for Big Sister to catch one, and then you can play with it. I’ll be back home soon.” With that, she took him to the kitchen and handed him to her grandmother.

Laishou did as Juhua had taught him and waved at her enthusiastically. Juhua couldn’t help but smile and waved back.

’See, what a good boy. He doesn’t even try to follow.’ Meanwhile, Laicai hadn’t given up yet and was muttering about wanting to go too. But he was afraid of Qingmu and Juhua, so he didn’t dare make a fuss.

Juhua wanted to laugh just thinking about it. ’Disciplining someone can be addictive.’ She had ended up spanking Laicai two more times after the first. Whenever she saw him acting up and being completely unruly, her hand would itch to smack his bottom. She finally understood why Meizi was always grabbing Gou Dan’s ear.

As for Laicai, he saw that when she said she would hit him, she did it without hesitation or mercy. He was growing more and more afraid of her. But he was even more afraid of Qingmu. Although Qingmu had never hit him, Laicai had sized up his height and the size of his hands, thinking that a slap from him would definitely hurt. So, whenever Qingmu’s face darkened, Laicai would bolt faster than a rabbit!

Once the two of them were ready, they waited for Zhang Huai and Yangzi to arrive, and then they all headed up the mountain together. The Yang matriarch even ran out of her kitchen, shouting after them to be careful.

The weather that day wasn’t sunny, but at least there was no biting wind. It wasn’t one of those dreary, gloomy days that sent a chill right through you just by looking at it.

Juhua asked Yangzi, “Yangzi, how come you were willing to put down your books and come out to play today?”

Zhang Yang smiled like a little adult. “I need a break too. Mr. Zhou says it’s not good to read all the time. You have to get up and move around, do things. He even said that during the spring plowing, we should go out to the fields and watch the villagers.” He admired his teacher more and more.

Hearing this, Juhua couldn’t help but see this Mr. Zhou in a new light. ’Could he be a transmigrator too? Didn’t the ancients preach about never letting a book out of your hands? He certainly has his own unique ideas and teaching methods.’

Zhang Huai explained to Juhua, “Mr. Zhou says that the things in books also come from the people and events around us. If you can’t immerse yourself and truly understand them, then your learning is useless—you’ll just become a pedantic scholar. That’s why there’s the saying, ’Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles.’”

He was afraid Juhua wouldn’t understand, so he took great care to explain the meaning of “read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles” to her.

Qingmu just smiled when he heard this, thinking to himself, ’Our little sister probably understands it better than you do. And here you are, trying to show off in front of her.’

Chatting and laughing, the group climbed the hill behind Juhua’s house. The view was filled with withered yellow branches, with the occasional vibrant green pine tree mixed in. Among the dead grass at their feet, just as Qingmu had said, tiny shoots of new green were poking through.

By the time they reached the top of this hill, Juhua was panting, and her legs felt like jelly. She was always busy with chores at home, but that was nothing compared to climbing a mountain.

Seeing how exhausted she was, Qingmu hurried over to take her hand. “We still have a long way to go,” he said. “I dug a couple of traps in the hollow of that mountain up ahead. It’s still early, so we can take our time.”

Zhang Huai saw Juhua’s slumped shoulders and dragging feet and wished he could carry her on his back—he used to carry her often when they were children. He agreed out loud, and the group slowed their pace.

At the summit, the woods thinned out a bit, offering a clear view of the rolling hills and distant mountains. Juhua saw that this area had pine trees, oak trees, and some others she couldn’t name. She asked Qingmu, “How come there are so few oak trees over here? It would be great if this whole mountain was covered in them.”

Qingmu said, “Who knows? They all grew on their own; no one tends to them. The village head said we should find some free time to plant more oaks, starting this year. Seedlings this small are easy to dig up and transplant, and they’ll likely survive.” He pointed to a small oak sapling at his feet.

This sapling had sprouted from a fallen acorn, but the large trees overhead blocked it from the sun and rain. It wouldn’t be able to grow big in an environment like this. If it were transplanted, its chances of growing to maturity would increase.

Juhua thought about some of Li Gengtian’s plans. She was more inclined to believe that these ideas were the result of generations of villagers learning to live with nature—like the rule against catching small fish and the practice of digging up pond silt—rather than his personal insight. After all, he had only read a few books.

Of course, Li Gengtian himself was very capable; he was a competent village head. If the oak trees were consciously managed by him and their range expanded, instead of just growing wild as they had before, then Little Qing Mountain’s economic value would be much greater in the future.

The others were all youths who had grown up in the mountain village. In these woods, they were as comfortable as fish in water. If Juhua weren’t holding them back, even Zhang Yang would probably be running wild.

Juhua found him a bit amusing. A moment ago, he had been putting on a refined act, trying his best to imitate his teacher’s scholarly demeanor. But now, his true nature had won out, and he was back to being a lively village boy, hopping and skipping all over the place.

As he walked, he said to the others, “Last time I came up here with my dad, I found a nest of wild chicken eggs right in that patch of woods up ahead. I wanted to find the hen, but Dad was in a hurry and insisted on leaving. Otherwise, I definitely would’ve gotten it. I even brought my slingshot that day.”

Zhang Huai laughed when he heard that. “Oh, sure. The hen was probably just standing there waiting for you to shoot it. Since it already gave you its eggs, it might as well have come along with you for a nice family reunion, right?”

Qingmu and Juhua couldn’t help but laugh.

Zhang Yang said indignantly, “You guys just don’t believe me! I’m not just bragging. If I hid off to the side and ambushed it when it came back, wouldn’t that be super easy?”

Qingmu chuckled. “Yangzi, wild chickens are really clever. They might not look like they run fast, but they’re actually very hard to hunt—much harder than rabbits. Rabbits are sometimes dazed. You can shout at them, and they won’t move, like they’re deaf. They only bolt when you startle them.”

Juhua knew about this habit of rabbits he was describing. She had encountered it in her previous life. A few kids had surrounded a rabbit, shouting and screaming, but it just sat there as if it couldn’t hear them. It was only when they lunged to pounce on it that the rabbit was startled and ran away.

Joking and talking, the group arrived at the mountain hollow. Zhang Huai led the way through the thickets, with Zhang Yang following behind him. Qingmu brought up the rear, holding Juhua’s hand.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep