“By the way, Brother Nangong,” Lin Hai asked after swallowing the last bite of meat, looking at Nangong An, “how much Chinese yam is still on the mountain? Since it’s something that can really fill our stomachs, I’m thinking we shouldn’t rush on the road for now. I want to dig up some yams and store them, so we won’t go hungry while traveling later.”
Nangong An thought for a moment, then replied, “From what I saw, there’s a large area. There’s quite a lot. It would probably take several days to finish digging them all.”
If it would take several days, then they could rest here for a few days, recuperate, and prepare themselves for the days ahead.
Lin Hai looked around the area. Although it was desolate and uninhabited, this place was actually quite nice. There were ready-made thatched huts, and it was quiet and comfortable—indeed suitable for living.
If possible, settling down here wouldn’t be a bad choice.
There were houses, water, and food. Life here would be much better than enduring hardship on the refugee road.
After thinking it over, he felt the idea was very good.
Considering that if they could settle down here, it would be nice. This place wasn’t far from the official road, and it was less than two days’ journey from Nanling City. Instead of rushing onward, settling down here seemed like a decent option.
He voiced this idea aloud. After hearing it, everyone also felt it was good. Over the past few months, they had endured countless hardships. Along the way, more than ten people had died unexpectedly. Now, fewer than fifty people remained in their group.
However, if they were to build houses, they would need to choose higher ground to prepare for the future, so that flooding wouldn’t damage their homes.
Lin Hai had been leading the group the entire way. He spoke with authority, and everyone trusted him. No matter what, they followed his arrangements.
Seeing the expectant looks in their eyes, Nangong An didn’t want to dampen their enthusiasm, but he still had to remind them, “There’s one important thing. Before building houses, you’ll need to report it to the authorities. So you still have to make a trip to Nanling City. But there’s no rush—you can do that after you settle down.”
When everyone heard that they didn’t have to hurry on the road and could settle down, they were especially happy.
They had been traveling for several months already. Being able to settle down was truly wonderful.
“Wait—Brother Nangong,” Lin Hai suddenly asked, “aren’t you planning to stay as well?”
“No. My wife prefers life in the north, so we plan to head north all the way.”
Hearing this, Lin Hai felt a bit disappointed. It would naturally be best if they could stay, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Pulling himself together, Lin Hai looked at everyone’s excited expressions and knew they really liked this place. He continued, “Today, we won’t dig yams for now. Since we’ve decided to settle down, we need to build houses first. Today, the men will cut trees, and the women and children will cut thatch.”
Looking around, Yunxi also felt that this place was very good. With mountains and water, once they settled down, they could reclaim land and grow crops. It was a good place to live.
Moreover, there weren’t many of them—only forty or fifty people. In the wilderness, the scariest thing was wild animals, so the houses had to be sturdy, preferably with some kind of wall for safety.
“Well, Brother Lin, I have a suggestion. I don’t know if it’s appropriate to say,” Yunxi spoke up.
Lin Hai looked at Yunxi. Knowing that educated people often had ideas, he said politely, “Please go ahead, Nangong’s wife.”
Yunxi thought of the mud houses she had lived in at her grandmother’s home as a child—warm in winter and cool in summer, very comfortable. Yesterday, she had noticed that the mountains here were full of yellow earth. Using this yellow soil to build houses would be good—it was sticky and durable, a very solid choice.
So she said, “Houses built with wood aren’t very durable. You can use earth to build houses.”
“Earth? You can build houses with earth?” Lin Hai asked in surprise. It was his first time hearing this. In their village, houses were built with wood or bamboo—how could earth be used to build houses?
“In our area, we all build wooden houses or bamboo houses. No one uses earth.”
Yunxi immediately understood. It wasn’t strange that they didn’t know—earthen houses only became common much later.
“Earth can definitely be used to build houses. They’re very sturdy, and they’re warm in winter and cool in summer.”
Lin Hai was instantly tempted. Thinking of their wooden houses—hot in summer and cold in winter—he felt they really weren’t good at all.
If earthen houses were really as good as Nangong’s wife said, then no matter how hard it was, they would build them.
“Nangong’s wife, how do you build an earthen house? What materials do we need?”
Seeing Lin Hai’s expression, Yunxi knew he was interested.
“Brother Lin, for earthen houses, you only need yellow soil and thatch.” She remembered that her grandmother’s mud-brick house used straw, but there was no rice here, so no straw—only mountain thatch could be used.
“Just those two things? No silver needed?” Lin Hai asked in disbelief.
Yunxi replied with a smile, “No need. Just manpower.”
“Good, good. We have plenty of strength.” He then gave orders again. “We’ll split into three groups. One group cuts trees, one group digs yellow soil, and the women and children cut thatch.”
After speaking, everyone picked up their tools and headed toward the mountains.
“Yunxi, now that they’re settling down, what do you think? Should we stay with them, or continue north?” Nangong An always felt a mysterious force pulling him northward, so he asked Yunxi.
Yunxi looked around and said, “This place is nice, but it’s not my dream place. Let’s leave after they learn how to build earthen houses.”
Just then, Yunxi saw an aunt carrying a pig’s head to the river.
She set down the basin and was about to dump the pig’s head into the river.
Yunxi hurriedly stopped her. “Hey! Auntie, wait! This can be eaten—it’s very delicious. Why are you throwing it away?”
“Nangong’s wife, this can’t be eaten. The skin is too tough. How could anyone eat it?” the woman said, preparing to dump it anyway.
“Oh come on, I’m telling you it can be eaten. Help clean the pig’s head and split it in half. I’ll make something different for you.”
“Oh, and don’t throw away these organs either. Wash them clean—we’ll braise them together later.”
The aunt reluctantly squatted by the river to wash the pig’s head and the pig’s organs.
These things—they wouldn’t eat them even if they were poor, because they smelled terrible.
Even when cooked, they couldn’t bring themselves to eat them, but…
Sigh.
Yunxi grabbed a handful of plant ash from the stove and sprinkled it over the pig intestines.
Then she carried the intestines downstream. She originally wanted to wash them with flour, but that would be too wasteful, so she used plant ash instead. At worst, she could just wash them a few more times.
She secretly took out a pair of transparent disposable gloves from her supermarket space and put them on.
Then she vigorously rubbed and kneaded the intestines in the basin.
Nangong An, who had followed her over, watched Yunxi rubbing the pig intestines and couldn’t help frowning.
“Yunxi, why are you messing with something so smelly? Even dogs wouldn’t eat it if you threw it away.”