From now on, she would have to prepare food for the chickens and ducks. Only if they ate well would they grow strong and healthy.
After a while, the reed shoots and rice bran would run out. She needed to figure out what to feed them next.
Wild grass could work, but it was too monotonous.
Suddenly, Xia Qingyue thought of the stream lined with willows. There should be fish and shrimp in it, which she could eat, and so could the chickens and ducks.
In the storeroom, there was a fish trap woven by the original owner’s father.
Besides fish and shrimp, they also needed grains. After a few days of sweet potatoes and Chinese yam, Xia Qingyue found herself craving the taste of rice.
“It looks like I need to hurry and gather more medicinal herbs to dry and bring down the mountain. Oh, I can also sell wild chicken and duck eggs while I’m at it!”
On a rare trip down the mountain, she naturally needed to bring enough goods to make good money.
Likewise, it was best to buy all the living supplies she needed at once while in town before returning to the mountain.
She started preparing the fire for cooking. At the back stove, she heated a large pot of water for bathing.
“Sigh, I wonder what the situation is like outside now.”
This place was in Xiangzhou, under the Dawan Kingdom. The original family had lived in Xiushui Village at the foot of the mountains.
Two years ago, natural disasters struck many areas of Dawan, leaving people homeless and starving. Relief supplies from the court never arrived on time, which sparked rebellions.
The deposed crown prince, the fourth prince, took this opportunity to recruit soldiers, ally with old forces, and in just three months capture Yuezhou, Qiongzhou, and Fuzhou.
At this time, the old emperor, obsessed with immortality and neglectful of state affairs, was increasingly frail. The princes in the capital each had their own ambitions. When the fourth prince seized the southern three provinces, the others panicked.
A few days later, the old emperor passed away, leaving a decree for the sixth prince to ascend the throne.
However, the other princes were not idle and kept their own plans. On the third day of the sixth prince’s reign, the fifth prince marched south with troops to occupy Xiangzhou and Qianzhou.
At the same time, the seventh prince seized Yunzhou and Shuzhou, while the eighth prince took Huizhou and Suzhou.
Each prince ruled a territory like a king. Repeated provocations from border states led to frequent wars.
After taking control of Xiangzhou, the fifth prince declared himself the Xiang King and formed an alliance with the seventh prince, the self-proclaimed Yun King.
They introduced new laws and increased taxes, piling more hardship onto the already struggling people.
That year, before autumn, the original family’s village of Xiushui was forced to pay taxes by soldiers, who almost took all the household grain. Those without grain had to pay money, otherwise the men of the household were conscripted for labor.
Luckily, Xiushui Village was in the mountains, which were vast and full of wild vegetables. The villagers foraged daily, surviving through the winter.
With so many people and so few vegetables, the original owner’s father suggested moving further up the mountain to avoid the war. The family agreed and relocated in the spring.
Xia Qingyue worried that fighting might break out again. She was alone with only a dog.
Thinking of this, she ate dinner in a heavy mood, bathed, and lay down. Tossing and turning, exhaustion soon took over, and she fell into a deep sleep.
In the early morning, sunlight slowly rose over the horizon, spreading rosy light across everything.
Xia Qingyue sowed the sprouted grains evenly in the plot she had prepared yesterday, covering them with a layer of moist soil, and also turned over the sweet potato field.
Even though her stomach grumbled from hunger, she first prepared reed shoots mixed with rice bran for the chickens and ducks, giving them food and water before attending to breakfast for herself and Heihei.
For breakfast, she made four steamed eggs, a bowl of cleaned raspberries, some yam, and steamed two duck eggs. Using leftover chicken fat from yesterday, she stir-fried a dish of shepherd’s purse.
After eating, Xia Qingyue took two large fish traps to the stream. She dug up some worms, mixed them with bits of reed shoots as bait, and placed the traps in two good spots, securing them with stones to prevent drifting.
She wouldn’t return for lunch today. The midday meal would be duck eggs, yam, and raspberries. The traps would be checked later.
These past few days, she wanted to work harder—gathering herbs, chicken eggs, and duck eggs.
Xia Qingyue traveled far and found six plants of Polygonatum to tonify qi and yin, strengthen the spleen, and moisten the lungs.
She found fifteen plants of Astragalus, twenty of notoginseng plants, thirteen of Chinese Angelica plants , ten of Bletilla, five of Sanguisorba, and a full basket of Dijiancao, side cypress leaves, and mugwort.
These herbs were either blood-tonifying or useful for treating external injuries. Judging by current conditions, she thought these would sell well.
She recognized so many herbs because, as a child, her family was poor, and she used to go to the mountains with her grandmother to collect herbs to sell.
Today luck was on her side. Following the scent of flowers, she found two honeysuckle plants blooming with white flowers.
So many flowers dazzled her eyes. She wished she had more hands to pick faster.
By noon, she hadn’t even had time for lunch. Only after filling a full sack did she stop, exhausted. She popped some raspberries into her mouth to quench her thirst and shared some with Hei Hei.
After eating raspberries, she had yam and finally the duck eggs.
As a child, she had choked on the yolk many times while eating boiled eggs, leaving a deep impression.
Being careful not to choke, she ate the duck eggs slowly today. Fortunately, nothing happened.
After eating, she continued picking honeysuckle, taking only what she could carry.
One full sack went into her basket, and she carried another in her hands, an acceptable weight.
In the afternoon, it was too late to go far for herbs. Xia Qingyue returned to the reed marsh with Hei Hei. She followed Heihei while searching for eggs, essentially using him as a detector.
Heihei was remarkably skilled. Wherever he searched, he found something.
After two hours of darting through the reeds, tangled hair and sweat covering her, Xia Qingyue had found fifteen duck eggs and thirteen chicken eggs.
On the way back to the cave, passing the stream, Heihei barked twice, reminding her she had almost forgotten the fish traps.
She rolled up her pants and waded in, pulling both traps ashore.
Peering through the small holes, she saw movement inside.
Opening them, she found finger-long fish, chopstick-long fish, and river shrimp.
Delighted, Xia Qingyue carried the vegetable basket and lifted the traps. “Let’s go home!”
Back at home, she emptied the traps into a wooden basin. One trap yielded half a basin, and the two traps together filled a full basin.
The fish were still alive, jumping everywhere.
She picked out the larger fish and shrimp. The smaller ones were split in half—one half for Hei Hei, the other mixed with reed shoot grains for the chickens and ducks.
The chickens and ducks, previously hesitant in their new environment, immediately scrambled over when the fishy smell spread, afraid they would miss out.
Watching this from outside the pen, Xia Qingyue felt thoughtful.