“Mother, Second Grandpa Li and Third Grandma have helped our family a lot these past few days. Should we send them some red dates as thanks?” Tang Tian drank her porridge, occasionally picking up grains that fell on the table and eating them.
Prompted by this, Li Qiushuang replied, “We must send gifts. Every family that sent us things should receive something in return. Especially Second Grandpa Li’s household!”
Now that their household registration had been separated, they were no longer a Military Household. Although the children could study and take imperial exams in the future, that was still far off. For now, she couldn’t take on work from the military camp anymore!
Over the past few years, their family’s livelihood had depended on Li Qiushuang doing work for the military camp in exchange for coarse rice and grain husks.
She had no choice but to seek Second Grandpa Li’s help to put in a good word for her, so she could work for at least three to five more months to ease their urgent needs and survive the long winter.
After the meal, Tang Tian carried a pottery bowl to deliver red dates to each household. Every family was surprised and delighted, politely refusing at first but eventually accepting the gift.
Tang Tian took this opportunity to thoroughly familiarize herself with the entire village.
Tangjia Fort was indeed named as such because most villagers shared the surname Tang. Their origins were similar to the Tang family’s – someone in their lineage had been an official who committed a crime, implicating their descendants who were forced to become Military Households and settle here.
Being a Military Household sounded respectable, but in reality, they were just slightly freer logistical laborers.
Tangjia Fort had over a hundred mu of farmland, distributed among families to be cultivated by the men. In autumn, seventy percent of the grain had to be delivered to the nearby Jingying Beiwei Garrison, with the remaining thirty percent serving as rations for each household.
The women took on tasks from the garrison like sewing clothes, making shoes, or washing bedding, earning meager wages. Sometimes when the garrison didn’t want to pay, they would substitute with miscellaneous items.
As for the children, once they turned fifteen, most girls would marry soldiers, while boys would enter the camp as new recruits.
It could be said that the entire Tangjia Fort and the seven or eight nearby villages depended on the Jingying Garrison for survival – there were primary and secondary relationships, but they coexisted symbiotically.
Second Grandpa Li was a veteran who had retired from the Jingying Garrison, having even served as a centurion before retirement. He still had many old comrades serving in the camp. That’s why Li Qiushuang planned to ask for his help.
All four sons of the Li family had inherited their father’s bravery and were skilled hunters, making their life slightly better than others’. However, the women and elderly in their household still felt pained about the wind-dried rabbit previously sent to the Tang family.
Now that Li Qiushuang personally visited to express gratitude and brought a full bowl of red dates, Old Mrs. Li finally showed a smile. Upon hearing Li Qiushuang’s request, she urged Second Grandpa Li to go to the Jingying Garrison immediately.
Second Grandpa Li didn’t refuse either. At his age, he didn’t need to avoid suspicion and directly took Li Qiushuang to the Jingying Beiwei Garrison camp ten li to the west.
Tang Tian fetched half a bucket of water from her Space, locked the courtyard gate, left her eldest brother at home to continue making the water buffalo, and took Tang Hai into the mountains again.
This time, she brought some coarse rice soaked in spring water, planning to try luring and catching a wild chicken or similar game.
The four people in their family, having been mistreated for many years, were all in poor health and urgently needed good food for nourishment.
But regarding the “wild chicken eggs” she had previously brought home, Li Qiushuang insisted on boiling three each time and wouldn’t eat any herself!
With no other choice, Tang Tian could only think about making a pot of chicken soup. Even if her mother was reluctant, she would at least drink a bowl.
The villagers watched as the siblings left the village again, and some felt tempted to follow. If they could gather some red dates together, their families would have a little more food to fill their bellies.
But on second thought, no matter how lucky these two children were, they couldn’t keep having such good fortune. After all, the nearby mountains and forests had been thoroughly searched by everyone. Forget about wild produce—even edible bark and leaves had been stripped clean.
However, by the time the sun set in the west, everyone was drooling with regret.
Tang Hai dragged a bundle of dry firewood, with a red-feathered wild chicken tied behind it, while the thin and small Tang Tian carried a full basket of half-dried hawthorn berries on her back.
“Have these two kids made offerings to the mountain god or something? Their luck is just too good. They never come back from the mountains empty-handed!”
“Exactly! They found dates in the morning and hawthorn berries in the afternoon! And where did this wild chicken come from? It looks pretty plump!”
The villagers couldn’t help but gather around the two children, chattering and occasionally swallowing their saliva.
Tang Tian was also delighted. While the harvest was secondary, what mattered most was that her hypothesis had proven correct.
The Space Spring Water alone didn’t attract animals much, but when used to soak ingredients and enhance their quality, animals couldn’t resist it!
She had simply placed some coarse rice on a pile of dried leaves and set up a simple trap with vines. Before long, this wild chicken had darted out from somewhere and walked right into the snare.
Even though it was tightly bound, it was still pecking eagerly at the coarse rice, truly risking its life for a meal!
From now on, making occasional trips to the mountains to provide treats for the family would definitely be feasible.
Feeling reassured, she no longer hesitated to share the location of the small valley with the villagers.
Although she had picked all the chestnuts and dates in the valley, there were still some scattered in the grass under the trees. Moreover, the edible wild greens and a few elm trees that hadn’t withered could also serve as food.
The villagers were overjoyed. Despite the approaching darkness, they rushed home to fetch their baskets and headed into the mountains together.
Fortunately, the valley wasn’t far, and with so many people traveling together, there was little fear of danger…
When Li Qiushuang returned to the village with Second Grandfather from the military camp, she was immediately pulled aside by a familiar auntie, who praised her repeatedly for having such fortunate children.
Those who knew the full story of the Tang family even remarked outright that Tang Laotai and the others brought bad luck, and that Li Qiushuang had made the right decision to leave with the children—their fortunes had clearly improved since then.
Li Qiushuang was baffled by the comments and hurried home.
When Tang Laotai moved out, she hadn’t even left the door latch behind, leaving the main gate of the Tang house ajar with a gap half a person wide.
Tang Hai was munching on a few hawthorn berries, his mouth watering from the sourness, yet he refused to stop.
Tang Chuan sat nearby, slowly picking out the completely rotten hawthorn berries, a rare smile on his face.
Hearing the noise, Tang Chuan turned and saw his mother. Delighted, he held up the hawthorn berries like a treasure. “Mom, Tang Bao’er and Hai found hawthorn berries in the mountains!”
Li Qiushuang was also happy and stepped forward to examine the berries, but then she frowned and complained, “That girl is too headstrong. I told her not to go into the mountains again! She’s still so young—if she ran into a big wild beast, she wouldn’t even be enough for a single bite!”
Just then, Tang Tian walked in from outside carrying a clay pot and replied with a grin, “Don’t worry, Mom. There are lots of villagers in the mountains now—you run into someone every few steps. Even if wild beasts wanted to eat someone, they’d go for the bigger ones. They wouldn’t bother with my scrawny little body!”
Li Qiushuang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she quickly took the clay pot.
She had expected it to contain coarse rice porridge, but to her surprise, it was a whole stewed chicken, completely softened and soaked in rich broth. The surface shimmered with a layer of oil, startling her so much she nearly dropped it!
“Where did this chicken soup come from? Tang Bao’er, did your father send it?” Li Qiushuang’s face turned stern, yet a glimmer of hope flickered in her eyes.