Chapter 10:
The mother and daughter kept beating along the way as they headed toward the mountain peak.
Along the way, they saw some purplish-pink wild azaleas blooming vibrantly and picked two…
And stuck them on Miaomiao’s little hair buns…
But Miaomiao pouted her little mouth, a bit unable to climb anymore, hanging her head, “Mother…” looking like she was deeply afraid of Zhi’er scolding her.
She set down the bamboo basket and propped it open. “Here, our little pitiful one, come on in!”
She put her in the bamboo basket and carried her on her back…
Forest, birdsong, insect chirps, blue sky and white clouds, Miaomiao holding onto the bamboo basket’s edge, chattering away, so happy.
Accompanied by the summer singer cicadas’ chirping, she also hummed a little tune, “In this world, only Mother is good, a child with a mother is a treasure…”
Miaomiao felt in the bamboo basket that her mother was really different this time, and being out alone with her mother felt so happy!
Walking along the lush shady path, behind the green leaves, the cicadas were chirping loudly in this area, so their position should be concealed.
This mountain belonged to the east side of the village, called Village Package.
They were on that package in the middle of Niuwei, and seeing it was hidden here, she found a flat piece of ground.
She put Miaomiao down, and Zhi’er stood in high places overlooking.
The entire Zhao Li Village was in view, Zhao Li Village shaped like a crescent moon, like a cow’s stomach.
Zhao Li Village was the largest village within dozens of li around, mostly surnamed Li or Zhao, with some from other surnames, all having moved here gradually.
Lots of people, and the poorest.
Some houses already had wisps of cooking smoke rising from their roofs…
And a dozen or so people were busy in a slightly flat area, seemingly building a house…
Zhi’er glanced, closed her eyes and took a big breath of the fresh air here, feeling refreshed… “Wow, so comfortable!”
She used the sickle to chop around the flat ground, picked up some firewood, took out the flint and lit a fire!
“Mother, what are you doing?”
“Miaomiao, are you hungry? Let’s eat something before climbing more!”
After climbing so long, she worried Miaomiao didn’t have enough energy, this girl was skinny with just a frame of bones.
Her own body was also a bit weak…
Breathing heavily, it seemed weight loss couldn’t wait…
Zhi’er took out wild eggs from the bamboo basket, found some larger leaves and wrapped them up one by one, buried them in the fire, and roasted them…
Then threw in sweet potatoes too…
While waiting for the food, she wandered around the area, observing.
She had noticed earlier that some acorns were growing on these branches.
Some could be reached with a pull.
So she pulled down branches and started picking, and Miaomiao ran over to help…
After picking a while, they heard bangs from the fire as a few exploded, then she took Miaomiao over and dug out all the eggs…
She peeled a smooth wild egg and gave it to Miaomiao, and peeled one for herself too.
The two dipped a bit of salt and started eating.
Drinking some water and eating roasted sweet potatoes was pretty good…
At least her mood was relaxed and pleasant, with no one watching their every move…
“Mother, this egg is so tasty, yesterday’s snake soup was tasty too!”
Miaomiao said.
At this, Zhi’er reminded, “Miaomiao, remember to stay behind Mother later, be careful of snakes…”
It was summer now, just when snakes come out… getting bitten could be fatal!
“Got it, Mother!”
After eating, they rested a bit, buried the fire, saw no issues, and started picking acorns again…
She looked up at the dappled sky through the tree shade, and boldly led Miaomiao deeper into the forest toward the mountain peak while picking, unknowingly arriving at a large Chinese hornbeam tree forest…
The acorns on the treetops were big and round, though some trees grew quite tall.
But plenty had fallen on the ground, and Miaomiao this girl was quick with her hands and feet, soon digging through leaves and picking them up from the ground…
She picked those she could reach on the trees.
“Mother, can we eat these fruits we’re picking? They’re hard…”
“Yes, these acorns can be ground into powder, very nutritious inside, Mother will make some for you later!”
“Yay!”
Miaomiao was very happy, whatever her mother did, she followed along.
The things Mom made were indeed delicious and felt novel. Why hadn’t she made them for her to eat before?
The young maid forgot about it after just a little while…
As for this acorn fruit, it contains rich protein, starch, amino acids… Its nutritional value is slightly lower than rice…
It’s still great for filling the stomach when there’s a food shortage!
Unfortunately, the people here don’t take them seriously!
Because during famines, they’ve tasted them—they’re bitter and astringent, hard to swallow…
Naturally, that’s because the method was incorrect!
While the two picked acorns, they also found quite a few wild mushrooms in the tree roots and grass.
Luo Zhi’er taught Miaomiao to recognize mushrooms, and the two picked some edible ones.
Red mushroom, matsutake mushroom, termite mushroom, green oak mushroom, chicken feces yellow mushroom…
She knew that in summer, the mountain was exactly when wild plants grew lushly…
Not long after walking, they found some locust trees, with dense wild wood ear mushrooms growing on them. Since it had just rained, they were quite large, one big clump after another…
She went up and smelled them, naturally not letting them go…
In no time, the bamboo basket was more than half full!
It was noon, the sun blazing hot. They hadn’t felt it while shuttling through the forest earlier, but now as soon as they came out, they were drenched in sweat…
The two had roughly spent more than an hour. Seeing they were about to reach the mountain peak, they found a shady spot under a tree to sit down and rest, drinking some water to replenish moisture.
Seeing big drops of sweat rolling down Miaomiao’s face, Luo Zhi’er pulled a thin branch and wove a round sun hat for her to wear.
Looking around, she saw a cliff face protruding very high not far away.
With a curious mood, she walked closer to take a look. Below the cliff face was a bottomless abyss…
She kicked a small stone down with her foot, and after a long while, no sound was heard…
Many pine trees grew at the cliff bottom, dark green trees that looked pitch black from afar because they were too distant…
This must be part of Big Black Mountain region.
Looking up, something seemed to flutter and fly away on the cliff peak side wall.
Luo Zhi’er walked a bit closer, peered and lingered below, suddenly feeling delighted inside.
Hehe, so it’s that. It’s rare for this place to have such a thing?
In the rock crevices were milky white small nests in a web-like shape—they were bird’s nests…
But the nesting spot was too hidden and dangerous; if not looked at carefully, it couldn’t be seen. Normally, no one would notice or come to harvest.
This was a good item, very beneficial for her body, highly nourishing. She quickly put down the bamboo basket,
“Miaomiao, don’t run around. Watch the bamboo basket and stay far away from this cliff face—don’t get close. Mom will go up to pick some things and come right down.”
After saying that, she picked up the snake skin bag, stepped on stones to climb up, preparing to harvest them…
Looking at the broken stones falling from under her feet made her scalp tingle. After all, her weight was too heavy. But wasn’t there a saying: fortune is sought in danger. To earn silver, she had to take risks…
She wedged her toes into sturdy small rock crevices, tested by stepping firmly to probe the way, holding thick vines and branches in hand, finally reaching the crevice she had seen…
She finally harvested one piece.
Then, on to the second piece…
Miaomiao below watched with her heart pounding in fear!
“Mom, make sure to step firmly!”
“Hehe, don’t worry, Miaomiao. Mom knows. Take good care of yourself.”
Luo Zhi’er leaned against the cliff face, feeling a bit dizzy, afraid of heights.
With Miaomiao’s heartfelt concern, she gained great motivation and was no longer afraid…
She carefully searched the nearby area until she had picked every last one.
