The next day, Su Mian got up early, carried a bamboo basket on her back and a bow and arrow for hunting. She went up the mountain to pick up bamboo shoots and wild vegetables. Then she surveyed the surrounding environment of Hantan.
Every family in the village had bows and arrows. In the early years, the roads in the mountain were not built. The village was isolated from the rest of the world, so the villagers relied on hunting to eat meat.
Hantan was on the back mountain, about four kilometers away from the village.
Su Mian walked through a large area of wild bamboo forest and threw the shoots into the bamboo basket. After walking for about half an hour, when the bamboo basket was full of shoots, she could see the cold pool at the end of the forest in front of her.
The cold pool was backed by the mountains. Because it was in the shade, there was no sunshine all year round. The pool water looked more deep and cold. In March, the lake was covered with thick ice.
Several wild pheasants with colorful tails were looking for food beside the cold pool. She held her breath, put down the basket on her back, carefully drew out the bow and arrow, and aimed at one of the most beautiful and fat pheasants.
Su Mian found that her vision was surprisingly good, and she could clearly see the feather pattern of the wild pheasant, as if she had an eight-fold mirror. When she shot the first arrow steadily, it hit right in its heart.
As soon as Su Mian’s eyes brightened, she took the bamboo basket and picked up the wild pheasant she shot and threw it into the bamboo basket. Then she went through the frozen Millennium cold pool and surveyed the place.
The Hantan covered an area of ten acres, and had an area of about a football field. Only in the summer would the ice melt.
Su Mian took out her phone and took a few sets of photos. She looked at the location of the cold pool near the mountain. There were some natural caves that were concave inward, but they needed to be dug deeper and polished to build stone houses.
The stone house wouldn’t ignite, and it would be warm in winter and cool in summer. In addition, the massive mountain could effectively insulate the heat. In front of the house, there would be a cold pool to cool down the heat. This place was ideal for the apocalypse days.
After surveying the terrain, Su Mian went around the mountain, and when she returned to Hantan Village, she was already carrying a bamboo basket full of spring bamboo shoots, wild vegetables, three wild pheasants and a fat hare.
Grandma Su was making breakfast, making dumplings, steaming a pot of sweet potatoes, and using fresh wild vegetables in the mountains to stir fry small dishes, accompanied by her own pickled refreshing radish, which was extremely rich in flavor.
“Xiao Mian, why did you go up the mountain to hunt? The village head said that the animals in the mountain have been running away recently. Let’s not go up the mountain. It’s easy to encounter wolves and tigers,” when Grandma Su saw the three wild pheasants and a fat hare, she told her anxiously.
“Well, I went around the back mountain. I didn’t dare to go to the old deep forest in the back.” Su Mian put down the bamboo basket, wiped the sweat on her forehead, and smiled, “I’ll send a pheasant to the village head Grandpa, and I’ll go to the county with him later.
“Alright,” Granny Su smiled back.
Su Mian took the biggest wild pheasant and went to Li Dali’s house. When she reached his house, she didn’t find him there. So she hung the pheasant under the tree in the yard and went home for breakfast.
Village chief Li Dali was a native of Hantan Village. In his early fifties, his wife died. He had only one son, Li Changsheng.
Li Changsheng was also regarded as a promising student. After finishing junior high school, he was admitted to a secondary school, went to a coastal city, and started a business after graduation. The business grew bigger, and he married in the city.
But Li Changsheng’s daughter-in-law despised her father-in-law who came from the countryside. The relationship between the father-in-law and the daughter-in-law wasn’t good.
Li Dali was also a grumpy man. After living in his son’s house for three months, he went back to Hantan village with his things and said he would rather die there.
Li Changsheng listened to his wife wholeheartedly and sent some money to his old man every year. He didn’t return to Hantan Village for several years. The father and son relationship was also very bad.
After Su Mian had breakfast, she saw the village chief Li carrying the wild pheasant back. He said with a smile, “Xiao Mian, I will take you to the county after dinner. This wild pheasant was brought by you. I still have meat at home. You can eat it with your grandma. “
“We still have more at home. Xiao Mian went to the mountain to hunt this morning,” Grandma Su said.
Su Mian smiled and listened to them. She went into the house and carried a backpack. She said with a smile, “Grandma, I’m going to the county with the village chief grandpa.”
Finally, Li Dali happily carried the wild pheasant back to the county with Su Mian in his tricycle.