Chapter 51: Up The Mountain Again (1)
This time, they went as usual to the cavern where only a sliver of the sky could be seen. The traps they had set the last time were still there. All the traps had caught something, and Mo Beihan collected them along the way. Then he went to take a look at the area surrounding the cavern.
When they reached the cavern, Mo Beihan put his things down and said to Gu Qingyao, “I’ll look around nearby. You stay around here as usual, understand?”
Gu Qingyao smiled, “I know, this is not our first time here. I’ll go over there to pick mushrooms. I won’t wander too far.”
Mo Beihan glanced at her and left.
The taste of the meat buns he had eaten that morning still lingered in his mouth. Mo Beihan was getting more and more suspicious of where Yao Yao was getting these meat buns?
They were just too similar to those he had eaten in his previous life.
They were made of pure white flour and were soft, with a thin skin. The meat filling had been seasoned with various condiments. In this era, food was scarce, and the Gu family’s living conditions were poor.
Also, the Gu family class status was too poor. They needed to maintain a low profile. Gu Ruoqing and Zhang Xiaohui were greedy and lazy. Yao Yao definitely would not make such wonderful meat buns at home. Because if she were to be discovered, the two of them would fight to get their hands on the buns, then demand for more.
That would create a lot of trouble.
In this era, fine grain was too precious. Even the wealthiest would not use such high-quality white flour to make buns.
Perhaps there had been some changes in this life, and the girl’s interspace had already appeared?
Had she managed to plant and harvest the wheat, and grind it into flour so quickly?
That could not be true either. The habits of a lifetime did not change overnight. In these times, everyone, whether rich or poor, was characterized by how much they treasured food.
Yao Yao’s actions were too extraordinary!
Instead, she was acting somewhat like him.
He had seen the prosperity of later years, and knew that he had the ability to make a good living. So he did not mind spending any amount of money on her. But Yao Yao…
Mo Beihan put his thoughts aside, and concentrated on hunting.
Meanwhile, Gu Qingyao was still in the cavern. She looked at the mushrooms from her last trip that she had left to dry on two big rocks. They were almost dry, but not completely so.
The cavern was quite well ventilated, but not very sunny.
Gu Qingyao put some of the mushrooms in her interspace, then brought them out of the cavern to sun them on the grass outside. The sun was shining brightly today. A day in the sun would cause plenty of evaporation.
The dried fish also had not dried completely, so she moved them outside to sun.
After she had finished her tasks, she took her basket and cloth bag and went to the mushroom patch in the woods.
After a few days, the mushrooms had grown quite a bit. They were growing in clumps as usual, and were everywhere. It had drizzled the night before, and the mushrooms had grown even faster.
This time, she did not put them in her cloth bag, but threw them directly into her interspace. She used both hands to pluck them, then swiftly flung them in. Very soon, there was a small mound of them in her interspace.
Although she had plenty of goods in her interspace, storing goods had become a habit. Gu Qingyao thought, Um! Don’t let it go to waste!
After a long time, she finally picked the entire patch clean. As usual, she selected the large ones and left the small ones.
Then she filled two cloth bags, and a basket, and went back.
Mo Beihan had not yet returned to the cavern, so Gu Qingyao placed the mushrooms on the grass outside to dry too.
There were many fish in the pool again. Gu Qingyao decided to catch them!
She had many frozen fish in her interspace, but only a few live ones!
Chapter 52: Up The Mountain Again (2)
She took a fishing net from her interspace and cast it. She caught five or six fish the first time.
She quickly took a large, wooden bucket from her interspace and filled it with water. She put all the fish in, then cast the net again. Then she scattered some bait into the pool to entice the fish. This bait was her special concoction!
It would definitely work.
She also scattered some over where the water was deeper. Sure enough, she soon saw fishes of various sizes swimming over in increasing numbers.
Gu Qingyao was delighted. She happily caught them and in a while, she had over a hundred good-sized fish. She released the smaller ones.
Gu Qingyao stopped after she had filled three large buckets of fish. She quickly put the wooden buckets back into her living interspace and put her net away. It was now about eleven o’clock, and it was time to make lunch.
She had packed the rice in bamboo tubes earlier. Mo Beihan had seen them already, but the rice was cold by now, so she decided to make fried rice.
Gu Qingyao had not prepared the dishes in advance. She meant to cook them on the spot.
This time, Mo Beihan had come better prepared, and had even brought along a small iron pot. In these times, iron pots were extremely rare. Most people used ceramic pots.
The Gu family only had two iron pots because her eldest uncle and second uncle were in the military and were well connected.
She started by cooking fish soup. She caught and cleaned a few small fish, added some mushrooms and wild herbs, then placed them in a ceramic jar to cook.
Then she washed a small piece of meat and some peppers.
She julienned the meat and peppers. The peppers were rather spicy, and the meat would be especially tasty and appetizing after being fried with them.
She heated the iron pot, then added some oil. Then she added onion, ginger and garlic and fried them until they were fragrant. Lastly, she added the meat strips and stir-fried them before adding the peppers. When it was cooked, she added a small spoonful of bean paste. It would be ready in a bit!
It was very fragrant and spicy, and would go perfectly with rice.
Gu Qingyao did not cook too much, just a small plateful, enough for the two of them.
She placed it by the side, then washed the pot, added oil again and made egg fried rice. She added vegetables and green onions.
She had just finished when Mo Beihan returned with a load of game. But he seemed rather unhappy.
“What’s the matter?”
“There were no wild boars!”
Gu Qingyao: “…”
“Ha….” Gu Qingyao laughed. She thought something had happened to him!
“Do you think wild boars are like cabbages? You will encounter them every time? These animals are rare. How can you possibly find them everywhere?”
As Gu Qingyao spoke, she helped him to unload the game.
Many of the animals were caught in the traps they had set the last time they were here. There was quite a lot of game – two water deer, three roe deer, thirteen wild rabbits and nine pheasants!
“You’ve caught so many things, and yet you think it’s too little. How are others going to get by?”
In these times, so much meat was a rare sight.
Mo Beihan took a wild pear from his pocket. “For you!”
Gu Qingyao’s eyes lit up. “A pear?”
Mo Beihan smiled. “I happened to see a pear tree. There were only a few left, so I picked them all. Here they are.”
As he spoke, he took a dozen or so from his pocket.
These were wild mountain pears. They were green and fairly small. Their core was rather large, but… they were wild!
Oh, the memories of her youth!
Gu Qingyao laughed and quickly washed one. She used her teeth to strip off the skin, then crunched into it.
Chapter 53: Up The Mountain Again (3)
It was so fragrant. Although it was a little astringent, it had the delicate fragrance unique to wild fruits!
The astringency was not a problem. Gu Qingyao continued to enjoy its fragrance!
She had no fruits to eat when she was young. Sometimes, her eldest and second uncle, and even her older brothers tried to get hold of some apples and pears, but these were extremely rare. Also, those they managed to obtain were usually of poor quality.
Since fruits were unavailable for purchase, everyone looked forward to finding the occasional wild fruit on the mountainside.
As she ate the wild pear, memories arose with every bite.
“I’ve finished cooking. Come over and eat.”
Mo Beihan was delighted to see the young girl eating so happily. When he heard what she said, he lowered his head and looked at the food she had prepared. His expression froze.
Egg fried rice, meat strips fried with peppers, and a portion of fish soup.
To be honest, in these times, these dishes were considered especially good.
In particular, she had added a lot of oil to the egg fried rice, and there were vegetables, green onions and eggs. It was the same for the stir-fried meat strips. She had even added bean paste.
It was true that he liked these dishes, but this made him truly realize that this Yao Yao was unlike her former self!
The Yao Yao of the past would have just added the peppers to the meat strips and made sure they were cooked. The egg fried rice would only have egg, and that would be pretty good. In these times, people were just too poor and resources were too scarce. They only cared that their bellies were full, and were not too particular.
Mo Beihan looked at the smiling girl and kept quiet. He obediently went to wash his hands and eat.
The dishes went well with the rice. These flavors were similar to Yao Yao’s cooking in her previous life, when they had traveled throughout the country.
Mo Beihan lifted his head. His deep black eyes looked at Gu Qingyao. “Yao Yao!”
“Hmm?”
“Your cooking is so good. If I continue eating like this, I will find other food unpalatable in the future.”
Gu Qingyao smiled. “Then I will cook for you more often in the future. I guarantee you will become nice and plump.”
Mo Beihan laughed. “Shouldn’t I be the one saying that to you? But I don’t need you to do so many chores. I can do them too.”
Gu Qingyao smiled but did not say anything. Her cheeks were slightly flushed.
Mo Beihan did not go out again that afternoon after their meal. Instead, they finished cleaning all the game, then caught some fish, cleaned them, and left them to dry. Then they went out and found a big bundle of firewood. They packed some of the mushrooms that Gu Qingyao had picked, before heading for home.
They did not bring many things back this time. There were no conspicuous items like wild boar, but only smaller game. They did not bring the roe deer or river deer. Last time, Mo Beihan had come back for the wild boar meat at night, and he had already sold all of it.
This time, they reached home in the evening, before the sun had set.
Everyone knew that if Mo Beihan knew how to hunt, he would always bring some game back whenever he went into the mountains.
Everyone knew that he was very skillful, and admired him for it. They were not surprised that he dared to venture into the mountains to hunt.
He had an elderly mother. His father had abandoned them, leaving two sons, then his elder brother had made the ultimate sacrifice. Life in his family was hard. Now that Mo Beihan had grown up, he only returned once or twice a year. No one dared to say anything if he brought some game back.
Mo Beihan’s uncle, was the leader of the South Lake Brigade!
Mo Beihan sent Gu Qingyao home. When they reached the courtyard, they could hear the sounds of an argument coming from the Gu family courtyard. The voices were particularly annoying.
It was the Zhang family!
Chapter 54: The Zhang Family Makes Trouble And Yao Yao Retaliates (1)
Gu Qingyao frowned and entered the house, only to see that the entire Zhang family was present – the three sons, their wives, and a few children.
The eldest Zhang brother was sitting on a stool. His leg was bandaged, and he seemed to be injured.
The eldest Zhang brother, Zhang Jianguo, was 40 years old. He was lazy and greedy and was known throughout the brigade as a troublemaker. He had been completely spoilt by his parents. But of course, the entire Zhang family was greedy and lazy. They would probably have starved to death if the Gu family had not supported them all these years.
Zhang Jianguo sat there with a self-righteous expression. “Gu Yunshen, aren’t you ungrateful? I, your elder brother, am so badly injured, but you refuse to give me something more nutritious? Has your family not spent enough time here undergoing rehabilitation?”
Gu Yunshen rolled his eyes, but could not be bothered to answer him. Anyway, it was useless to reason with him.
Two years ago, the situation had been very tense. Grandfather and Grandma had been severely persecuted, and many capitalists had suffered. Some of them had even been beaten brutally. For the sake of Grandfather and Grandma’s safety, Gu Yunshen had no choice but to smooth things over!
In these times, it was better to offend a gentleman than a villain!
This bunch from the Zhang family were classic villains. There was no need to run the risk of being reported for the sake of some food. Otherwise, it would be the Gu family that suffered.
But one must have a delicate grasp of these situations. He could not possibly let the Zhang family have their way in everything, or many other families would follow suit, and the Gu family would be unable to survive.
Fortunately, Gu Qingyao and Mo Beihan returned at this moment. The two of them stood in the courtyard and everyone saw the game that Mo Beihan was carrying.
On one end of the shoulder pole was a large bundle of firewood. Firewood also hung on the other end, but there were also two bags of mushrooms, three rabbits, two pheasants, two large fish and two small fish bundled together with it.
Mo Beihan had deliberately tied them on the outside. Everyone knew that he dared to venture into the mountains. If he always came back empty-handed, people would suspect that he had caught a lot of game and hidden it. Rather, it was better to show a little of the less conspicuous game.
The Zhang family’s eyes brightened when they saw the pheasants, rabbits and large fish!
“Meat… meat, meat, meat!” The children immediately rushed over. Their eyes glowed as they looked at the rabbit and pheasants. They rushed over to Mo Beihan, but were too short to reach the meat. They kept turning to look at their parents, hoping that they would take the meat.
When Zhang Jianguo saw the meat, he immediately stood up and rushed over to Mo Beihan. He was so quick that he did not seem like an injured person in need of nourishment.
“Ah, ah, ah! Beihan! You’ve caught so much game? Ah, ah, ah!”
Mo Beihan ignored him. He glanced at Gu Qingyao and undid a sack of mushrooms. Then he handed her a rabbit and one of the larger fish, before he turned to leave.
He only gave her a little, or the Zhang Family would certainly take some.
Gu Qingyao and Mo Beihan tacitly understood each other. In fact, Gu Qingyao was even more vicious than Mo Beihan. When she saw that Mo Beihan was about to leave, she hastily said, “Brother Beihan, stay for dinner! You helped me to carry so much firewood back and it was such a bother for you. Please stay for dinner!”
Mo Beihan was taken aback. Although he did not understand what Yao Yao was up to, he always obeyed her.
Gu Qingyao knew that the Zhang family would not leave without obtaining some advantage. She did not care about the Zhang family. They were actually simple to deal with. The person she wanted to deal with was Zhang Xiaohui.
If Zhang Xiaohui would only divorce her father, then the problem of the Zhang family would naturally be resolved.
She had vowed not to allow Zhang Xiaohui and Gu Ruoqing to have anything good to eat in this house. She would certainly keep her word.
Chapter 55: The Zhang Family Makes Trouble And Yao Yao Retaliates (2)
After Mo Beihan agreed to remain. Gu Qingyao turned to look at the Zhang family, a brilliant smile on her face. “Grandfather, Grandmother, Uncles and Aunts, we will be having dinner soon. Since you are here, please stay for dinner!”
“Beihan happened to give me some game. I will cook it to improve Eldest Uncle’s health, so that he can recover more quickly.”
Her smile was so brilliant.
She stood there, slim and erect, a young maiden of fifteen!
Everyone in these parts knew that Gu Qingyao was a beauty. But because she was born in the Gu family, she had not drawn much attention. Also, she was especially docile and seldom left the house, and so kept a low profile.
But in the end, a beautiful woman was easy on the eyes.
Her brilliant smile had an icy air, but the Zhang family did not notice.
The greedy and lazy Zhang family was delighted to hear there was good food, and that it would be cooked and set before them. They immediately smiled!
Old Master Zhang was the first to nod approvingly at Gu Qingyao. “Mhm! Qingyao is so sensible. Hurry up and cook! Work faster, or it will be pitch black by the time we go home!”
He was truly shameless.
But Gu Qingyao did not care.
The two senior Zhangs doted on Zhang Jianguo the most. The moment he heard that, he laughed. “Yao Yao, you’re so reasonable, not like your rigid father. Hurry up and cook! I’ll be waiting.”
The smile on Gu Qingyao’s face widened. “Great. Grandfather, Grandmother, please come in and have a seat. Grandma, come and help me!”
Wen Ruyu did not mind. She did not want to face this family.
When Zhang Xiaohui saw that the matter had been resolved, and since she also had a good lunch, she rolled her eyes and looked at Gu Yunshen smugly. Then she and Gu Ruoqing prepared to return to their room to rest. At that moment…
“Mother, Elder Sister, come and help too. Grandfather, Grandmother and the others need to go home tonight to rest. The road is difficult to travel by night. Come over and help so we can finish cooking quickly. We mustn’t let Grandfather and Grandmother go hungry.”
Old Madam Zhang immediately added, “Hurry up and help with the cooking. Are you trying to starve your father and I! You heartless wretch. Why did I bother to raise you?”
With that, she turned and went into the main room.
Zhang Xiaohui: “…”
Old Madam Zhang favored her sons over her daughter. Although she had three sons before giving birth to her only daughter, Zhang Xiaohui, she still treated Zhang Xiaohui as a nobody.
In her eyes, Zhang Xiaohui was a burden, so she should work for her elder brothers, serve them, and take care of them. If she had anything nice, she should bring it back to her natal home as a show of filial piety.
Gu Qingyao laughed coldly in her heart, then said to Gu Yunshen, “Father, go and clean the rabbit.”
So Gu Yunshen went to clean the rabbit, Wen Ruyu gutted the fish, Zhang Xiaohui started the fire, while Gu Ruoqing was sent to wash the mushrooms and the wild herbs.
Gu Qingyao was in charge of the cooking.
In the end, there was no quarrel in the Gu family. Passersby who had stopped to watch the show now scattered, but could not help but shake their heads and said, “Ai… the Gu family is so unlucky to be mixed up with a family like the Zhangs. I bet all the good things their sons and grandsons sent back have ended up in the Zhang family’s stomachs.”