Joe's Farming

After dinner, Qiao Yu asked the children to be taken care of by Aunt Shi, and went up the mountain with Wen Ge'er and Gu Feng.

Autumn is the season when chestnuts ripen in the mountains. The chestnuts outside the village have been picked up almost completely, so Wen Geer asked Qiao Yu to go with him this time. People from the village usually don't come to the area behind the mountain where Qiao Yu and his friends live, and with Gu Feng, a hunter, he can be their guide and bodyguard.

After the three of them climbed a section of the mountain, the vegetation around them began to change. There were no longer pine trees but some shorter canopies and tall trees. The grass was very high, and if you were not familiar with this place, it would be very easy to get lost.

Gu Feng brought Qiao Yu and Wen Ge'er to the chestnut tree he had found before, gave Qiao Yu a bamboo whistle, and told him not to run around. If anything happened, he should blow the whistle and he would come as soon as possible. Then he went hunting. He had no harvest in the place where he usually set traps in the past few days, so he had to change places. Because he had been staying at home with his husband recently, Gu Feng could only set traps and other things, unlike before when he would pick big prey to hunt. Because that was not only time-consuming but also dangerous.

Qiao Yu looked at the chestnut tree that was two people tall, not knowing how to start. The kernel of the wild chestnut was not big, and the surface was covered with a thick layer of burrs. Wen Ge'er was more prepared, bringing two wide wooden clamps, and handed one to Qiao Yu. The two of them knocked the chestnuts down from the tree, then picked them up while holding the burrs with the clamps, stepped on the other end with their feet, and then peeled the chestnuts with their hands. Because the burrs of the chestnuts were almost ripe and opened, it was easy to peel, but it hurt to bend over.

Qiao Yu took a break after picking for a while, and he didn't pick as much as Wen Ge'er did all the time. But Qiao Yu didn't care, he enjoyed the process of harvesting food more. After an hour, Wen Ge'er had picked up a full basket, and Qiao Yu had picked up two-thirds of the basket.

Because they were not familiar with the surrounding terrain and did not dare to run around, they sat under the chestnut tree and started to peel chestnuts. Chestnuts are crispy and sweet when eaten raw, and have a nutty aroma. However, there is a layer of hairy skin inside the raw chestnuts that is difficult to peel, so Qiao Yu would bite the skin with his teeth first, spit it out, and then eat it in one bite.

Raw chestnuts are very filling, and after eating a dozen of them, Qiao Yu felt that she couldn't eat anymore, so she started looking for wild vegetables around. She found some relatively large shepherd's purse, which was not as tender as in spring, but chopped and fried with eggs was also delicious.

Finally, we found some autumn fungus on some tall tree trunks. Autumn fungus is a good thing. It is rich in colloid and is good for the human digestive system. Wen Geer said that autumn fungus is rare and can be sold at a good price in the town and can also be sold to drugstores. Qiao Yu picked more happily.

Qiao Yu: It is indeed reliable to live off the land. It turns out that there are so many good things in the mountains. I wish I had learned more about edible or medicinal plants before.

The three of them climbed the mountain around noon, and before they knew it, they had been in the mountain for two and a half hours. At this time, they could clearly feel that the temperature in the mountain was lower than that at the foot of the mountain.

From time to time, Qiao Yu looked in the direction where Gu Feng had left. The longer she waited, the more anxious she became. Finally, when the sun was about to set, she heard a rustling sound.

Qiao Yu probed: "Brother Gu?"

Gu Feng: "It's me."

Qiao Yu quickly rushed towards the person and hugged him: "It's so scary, the sun is about to set." It was really terrifying to not have a mobile phone and not be able to confirm the other person's status in real time.

Wen Geer looked up at the sky in embarrassment. Gu Feng gently patted her husband's back.

Gu Feng: "The sun is about to set, let's go down the mountain."

Qiao Yu then noticed that Gu Feng was carrying a sack this time. Seeing his curiosity, Gu Feng put his backpack on his back with one hand, held his husband's hand, and continued to hold the bag with one hand and said, "The bag was put in the mountains before. I just hunted a fox. I also caught three pheasants in the trap. Let's go to town together to sell them tomorrow."

When Wen Geer heard that Gu Feng had hunted a fox, he praised: "Brother Gu is amazing. I heard that foxes are very cunning and difficult to hunt."

Gu Feng said calmly: "I'm lucky today."

Qiao Yu laughed: "It must be because we went up the mountain together today that we were able to catch so many prey. Can I go hunting with you in the future? I also want to hunt foxes."

Gu Feng laughed softly, "Foxes are hard to hunt, so I'll take you hunting pheasants and rabbits. Rabbits are good, especially on snowy days. If you find the hole, you can smoke them out with smoke."

Qiao Yu: "Really? That's great. I like snowy days. The mountains will be covered in snow and will be very beautiful." Qiao Yu paused, "But it's also very cold on snowy days."

Wen Ge'er also said: "I don't like winter. It's too cold. Last winter, someone froze to death. It was so tragic."

Qiao Yu was silent. After he traveled through time, thanks to Gu Feng's ability, he basically had a life without worries about food and clothing. Except for the worse living environment, he lived more comfortably than in his previous life. He almost forgot that this was an era where the whole nation had not yet solved the problem of food and clothing.

Seeing that her husband was silent, Gu Feng began to comfort him, "The harvest is good this year, so something like that won't happen again."

Qiao Yu: "Yeah." The thatched house at home must be hard to live in during the winter. Since I still have money, I can find someone to build a house when the stewed food business really makes money.

After going down the mountain, Qiao Yu invited Wen Ge'er to have dinner with him, but Wen Ge'er insisted on going home early because his parents were still waiting for him. They would come to see him the day after tomorrow and bring the necessary dishes with them.

Qiao Yu: "You can come the day after tomorrow afternoon. I have to go to town to do some shopping in the morning."

Wen Ge'er: "Okay, I'll come later."

On the way to send Wen Ge'er home, Qiao Yu picked up the children and put the dried radishes that had been dried in the sun for the whole afternoon into the kitchen. She was a little tired today so she didn't make the dried radishes and would make them the next day.

While Qiao Yu was cooking, Gu Feng went to the nearby area to chop some firewood.

There were some pumpkin pie and chicken soup left from lunch, so Qiao Yu cooked some multi-grain porridge with rice, millet and corn crumbs, and then blanched some shepherd's purse and served it cold.

Gu Feng and his two children are not picky eaters and think that eating dinner this way is fine and does not waste food.

When she lay down on the bed at night, Qiao Yu told Gu Feng about her plan and her desire to build a house.

Qiao Yu was initially worried that Gu Feng would think she was a spendthrift, but Gu Feng hugged her husband's waist and said, "Why don't we buy some land? Let's buy all the wasteland around our house."

Qiao Yu: ... Turns out there are people who are more wasteful than me.

Qiao Yu: "But I heard that one mu of land costs a lot of money. Do we have money left to buy land after we build a house?"

Gu Feng: "Building a house costs at most 40 taels. There is wasteland near our house, and we need to reclaim it. In addition, we are exempt from taxes for the first three years, so one mu of land only costs 3 taels."

Qiao Yu: "Three taels? So cheap? Why didn't you buy the land before?"

Gu Feng smiled, and his shaking chest brought it to Qiao Yu, "I thought hunting could make a lot of money before, and I didn't want to buy land without a husband. It's different with a husband. I feel more at ease with the land."

Qiao Yu also smiled: "It would be great to have land. If we can't farm enough, we can hire someone to farm and we can just wait for the harvest. Besides, we need to buy a lot of food at home now, and I'm worried."

Gu Feng: "It's my husband's fault. I will go to the village chief tomorrow."

Qiao Yu: "Don't worry, we still have time. I want to wait until the stewed food has been sold for a while before seeing it."

Gu Feng: "I'll listen to you."