More than twenty women and children made their way toward Hushan in a large group. They chattered noisily the entire way, making Shen Meng’s head ache.
“That’s your grandaunt’s daughter. Her name is Shen Yinxing.”
Bai Jinxin walked beside Shen Meng, holding the donkey’s reins as she quietly introduced everyone to her.
“She’s the one who took my arm when we opened the door. Her mother was your grandfather’s younger sister.”
“Your grandfather had a big family. He had four younger brothers and three younger sisters. Your grandfather was the eldest. His second brother, Shen Manchuan, never married and passed away three years ago. His third sister, Shen Chun, married the grandson of the former village head of Shenjiazhuang. Shen Chun had three sons and two daughters. Shen Yinxing is her eldest daughter, the third child in the family.”
“Your grandfather’s third younger brother, Shen Manhai, had a son and a daughter. His fourth sister, Shen Erchun, and seventh sister, Shen Yu, both married men from town. His fifth younger brother, Shen Manjiang, is the current village head of Shenjiazhuang. He has two sons and two daughters. His sixth younger brother, Shen Mancai, has three daughters and one son.”
There were so many people and relationships that Shen Meng’s head was spinning. There was no way she could remember who was.
“Our family has a lot of relatives, and most of the people in Shenjiazhuang are related to us somehow. I’ll introduce them to you little by little,” Bai Jinxin said. “But ever since your father passed away, Shen Yinxing is the only one who’s kept in close contact with the two of us. You just need to remember her.”
“The girl beside Yinxing is Luo Tiantian, her eldest daughter. She’s seventeen this year. She also has a son named Luo Yu, who’s fourteen. He studies at the same school as your little uncle.”
“Oh, right. Yinxing’s husband is from outside the village. His name is Luo Yunzhou. He’s the teacher at the village school—the same teacher who teaches your little uncle.”
Shen Meng nodded. “Shen Yinxing, Luo Yunzhou, Luo Tiantian, and Luo Yu. I’ve got it!”
The group had three donkey carts with them. One belonged to Shen Meng’s family, one belonged to Shen Yinxing’s family, and the other belonged to Chang Guangying’s family, a family of hunters who had come down from Hushan.
Everyone else carried a basket on their backs.
Yet there seemed to be an unspoken understanding among them. The adults walked, while the children automatically climbed onto the donkey carts belonging to Shen Yinxing and Chang Guangying.
No one sat on Shen Meng’s family’s cart.
At first, Shen Meng thought it was because those people weren’t familiar with her and felt too embarrassed to ride with them. Later, she learned the real reason.
It was about three li of flat ground from the village entrance to the foot of Hushan. After that, the road led into the mountains.
Although the mountain path was rugged, it wasn’t particularly difficult to walk because people traveled it frequently. For Shen Meng, who had spent nearly ten years practicing martial arts at Shang Hong’s home, it was even less of a challenge.
After walking for roughly another half hour, they reached a fairly large, flat clearing and stopped there.
Shen Yinxing called out to everyone, “Let’s drink some water and rest our feet here first. Then we’ll get to work.”
The women took dry rations and water from their baskets and gave the children something to eat and drink.
Shen Yinxing and Chang Guangying led their donkeys to the edge of the clearing and let them graze on their own. Bai Jinxin also drove their donkey over.
After settling the donkey, Shen Meng followed Bai Jinxin and sat down on a rock. Bai Jinxin handed her a water gourd.
“This is the one you used before, Meng’er. I washed it clean, so use it for now. Once the gourds grow this year, we’ll go into town and buy you another one.”
“You don’t have to. This one is fine.”
Shen Meng took the gourd and drank a large mouthful of water.
“All right.” Bai Jinxin unscrewed her own gourd and took a sip.
After resting for a while, everyone spread out from the clearing and went into the nearby woods to chop firewood.
Bai Jinxin took the basket down from the donkey cart. Inside were dry rations, water gourds, and two woodcutting knives. Shen Meng reached out to take it, but Bai Jinxin pushed her hand away and put it on her own back.
“When you’re gathering firewood, you need to cut these shorter plants,” Bai Jinxin said as they walked.
Shen Meng looked at the plants, which were about waist-high, and figured they were probably shrubs.
It was early spring. Judging from the condition of the grass and trees in the forest, Shen Meng guessed that the climate here was similar to the area around the Yangtze River, somewhere between northern and southern China.
“These are good firewood too, but they’re easy to burn and don’t last very long. They’re best mixed with these.” Bai Jinxin pointed to a clump of yellowed grass about half a person’s height, then pointed to the shrubs.
“And these.” Bai Jinxin pointed to a tall tree. Shen Meng couldn’t tell what kind of tree it was, but its leaves hadn’t fallen, and they were a beautiful golden yellow. “The government doesn’t allow people to cut these down, but you can cut off the smaller branches and use those.”
“Environmental protection?” Shen Meng muttered under her breath.
“What?”
“I said I understand. I’ll do the cutting. You just tie everything up.”
As she spoke, Shen Meng took a woodcutting knife from the basket and walked toward the shrubs.
“Be careful. Some of the stems have thorns, and there might be snakes,” Bai Jinxin repeatedly warned her, still worried.
“I know. I’ll be careful.”
In her original world, Shen Meng had also spent several years living in the countryside. She hadn’t done much farm work herself, but she’d picked up some experience simply from being around it. With Bai Jinxin’s guidance as well, she quickly got the hang of things.
After cutting for a while, Shen Meng suggested that she and Bai Jinxin divide the work. Shen Meng would chop the firewood, while Bai Jinxin would cut it into smaller pieces and tie them into bundles with thin rope.
Bai Jinxin readily agreed.
The two worked together seamlessly. By late morning, they had already chopped ten bundles of shrub wood and ten bundles of dried grass.
Shen Meng chopped another pile of shrubs, then stopped to help Bai Jinxin cut the branches into smaller pieces and tie them into bundles.
“It’s almost noon. Let’s take a break and eat something before we get back to work,” Bai Jinxin said.
“All right.”
Shen Meng wasn’t tired at all, but they still had to eat, and Bai Jinxin needed the rest.
Bai Jinxin took out a vegetable-filled cornbread bun wrapped in oiled paper. She used the paper as a barrier and broke it cleanly in half. She kept one half and held the other out to Shen Meng.
There was no water around to wash their hands in the middle of the wilderness. Shen Meng dusted off her hands before accepting it.
“You didn’t actually eat any cornbread buns last night, did you?” Shen Meng asked as she looked at the half bun in the oiled paper. “If I hadn’t brought food back, were you planning to go hungry and give the other bun to me?”
“Of course not. I hid four cornbread buns,” Bai Jinxin said.
Shen Meng looked at Bai Jinxin, unable to tell whether she was telling the truth.
“Auntie, Sister, my mother asked me to call you over to eat with us.”
Luo Tiantian came over, took Shen Meng and Bai Jinxin by the hand, and pulled them along.
Shen Yinxing was placing a large basket of cornbread buns, a bowl of scrambled eggs, and a bowl of stir-fried dried radish on a large, flat rock.
“Sister-in-law, come over quickly. Let’s eat together.”
Seeing the two of them approach, Shen Yinxing stood up and warmly welcomed them.
“I brought chopsticks for you too.”
She opened a package wrapped in oiled paper. Inside were four pairs of chopsticks.
“All right. Then the two of us won’t stand on ceremony.”
Bai Jinxin took two pairs of chopsticks and handed one pair to Shen Meng.
Shen Meng had expected Bai Jinxin to politely refuse, but she hadn’t expected her to agree so readily.
The few of them didn’t bother with much more small talk. They each found a rock to sit on and gathered around the large stone.
Shen Yinxing left two spots open. Before long, Chang Guangying arrived with her daughter, Liu Huiqiao. She had brought a packet of dried meat.
Although Liu Huiqiao was only nine years old, she looked just as capable and straightforward as her mother.
Bai Jinxin hadn’t brought anything herself, but she ate with complete ease and without holding back. Shen Meng didn’t understand what was going on, so she could only quietly eat along with everyone else. However, she didn’t dare reach for the dried meat or the vegetables very often, and Bai Jinxin frequently picked some up for her with her chopsticks.
Chang Guangying’s family were hunters who had come down from Hushan. Although they had moved down the mountain to live, they had kept their old habit of hunting in the mountains. They were the only family in Shenjiazhuang who did not make their living by fishing at sea.
All the able-bodied men in her family had gone deep into the mountains to hunt and wouldn’t be back for another two or three days. Only she, her daughter, her sister-in-law, and her nephew had remained in Shenjiazhuang.
They had also brought along one of their own trained hunting dogs.
The hunting dog’s name was Guihua. She was a three-year-old female dog who had caught a wild rabbit herself and was happily gnawing on it nearby.