Xie Zhao thought to himself that if he managed to catch a wild chicken and bring it home, Jiang He would probably be overjoyed.
But after walking around for quite a while, they didn’t see a single wild chicken or rabbit.
Curious, Xie Zhao asked about it.
Lu Changgeng explained, “There aren’t many around here. You can’t just run into them by chance. If you really want to hunt, you’ll have to go deeper into the mountains.”
He pointed toward the distant mountain range.
“There’s a lot more game over there.”
Xie Zhao had already been away from home for quite some time. He was also worried that the fish they’d caught would spoil if they stayed out too long, so he didn’t mention going deeper into the mountains.
Forget it.
I’ll wait until autumn.
Some instinct deep inside him told him that game was at its fattest in autumn.
…
Jiang He hadn’t done a thing all day, yet she was still unbearably hot.
She kept fanning herself without stopping.
The heat wasn’t even the worst part.
The mosquitoes were relentless.
She felt as though she were suffering terribly.
Suddenly, she heard the front door open.
Startled, Jiang He sprang up from the reclining chair and hurriedly grabbed her clothes, throwing them on in a panic.
Thinking no one was home, she’d stripped down to only her dudou and underpants.
By modern standards, it was little different from wearing a camisole and shorts.
But in ancient times…
That was completely unacceptable.
Unfortunately, Xie Zhao walked much faster than she’d expected.
By the time he strode into the courtyard, he saw Jiang He with her back to him, frantically dressing herself.
Her flustered movements…
His expression changed immediately.
His first instinct was to look around.
After confirming that she was alone and that no strangers appeared to have entered the house, he finally relaxed.
“I picked some wild kiwis.”
“And I caught some fish.”
Jiang He’s clothes were still crooked from how hurriedly she’d put them on.
Turning around, she smiled awkwardly.
“It was just too hot…”
“So I loosened my clothes.”
“Oh.”
“So that’s what happened.”
“So many wild fruits?”
He looked at the cloth bag he’d brought back.
It was completely full.
“Yeah.”
“There are lots of wild kiwis in the mountains this season.”
“Wild kiwis?”
Jiang He opened the bag.
Inside were dozens of tiny kiwifruits.
So these are wild kiwis.
“Wow!”
“I love these!”
Xie Zhao smiled faintly.
“I knew you’d like them.”
“Here.”
“They’re all yours.”
“I can’t possibly finish this many.”
“They’ll spoil in a few days.”
“You should eat some too.”
“Lu Changgeng said that if we can’t finish them, we can dry them into fruit.”
Jiang He looked up.
“You know how to do that?”
Xie Zhao shook his head.
“I don’t.”
“But Lu Changgeng is coming over tomorrow to help us clean up the courtyard.”
“He’ll make the dried fruit while he’s here.”
“He’s helping us clean the courtyard too?”
“Yeah.”
“I told him we wanted to grow vegetables.”
“He said this isn’t the right season to plant anything.”
“First we need to clear the weeds.”
“Then… turn over the soil or something.”
“Anyway, he knows what he’s doing.”
Jiang He thought for a moment.
“Lu Changgeng is really impressive.”
The two of them cooked the fish for dinner.
As for cooking…
Neither of them really knew what they were doing.
Xie Zhao certainly didn’t.
Jiang He was even worse.
Back in the modern world, she had never stepped into a kitchen.
The food they managed to make was barely edible.
At least it wouldn’t poison anyone.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been living on rice porridge, pickled vegetables, and the occasional steamed bun.
Their so-called fish stew consisted of tossing the fish into a pot with a little salt.
After taking a bite, Jiang He blinked in surprise.
It wasn’t fishy at all.
The meat was actually quite tender.
She had no idea what kind of fish it was.
She’d never seen one before.
Early the next morning, Lu Changgeng arrived.
Jiang He had only just gotten out of bed, while Xie Zhao was in the kitchen cooking porridge.
Porridge was about the only thing he knew how to make.
Still…
That was more than Jiang He could manage.
She had only recently learned how to light the stove.
Seeing Jiang He rubbing her sleepy eyes, Lu Changgeng felt awkward.
Had he known she liked to sleep in, he would’ve come later.
He quickly explained himself.
“The sun rises early these days.”
“I was afraid it’d get too hot once the sun was up.”
“So I came early.”
Jiang He smiled apologetically.
“It was unbearably hot last night.”
“I couldn’t fall asleep until after midnight when it finally cooled down.”
“So I got up late.”
“I understand.”
“I understand.”
From the kitchen, Xie Zhao called out loudly,
“Brother Lu, is that you?”
“Yes.”
“Brother Xie seems busy.”
“The porridge will be ready soon.”
“Just take a seat.”
Once breakfast was ready, they invited Lu Changgeng to eat.
He insisted he’d already eaten before coming.
But the two of them were so persistent that he ended up eating another bowl anyway.
After breakfast, he immediately got to work pulling weeds.
Fortunately, the family still had hoes.
Unfortunately, they were covered in rust.
Before doing anything else, Lu Changgeng sharpened every rusty hoe and sickle they owned.
Only then did he begin working.
Xie Zhao joined him.
He learned quickly.
Meanwhile, Jiang He busied herself bringing them tea and water.
It wasn’t that she refused to help.
She genuinely couldn’t.
After pulling only a few handfuls of weeds, her arms were covered in itchy welts.
The more she scratched, the more bloody scratch marks appeared.
She felt terribly embarrassed.
Xie Zhao, however, became worried that Lu Changgeng might think poorly of her.
So he quickly explained,
“She never had to do this kind of work growing up.”
“She’ll get used to it if she practices.”
Unexpectedly, Lu Changgeng didn’t look down on her at all.
Instead, he smiled.
“Miss Jiang He grew up in the city.”
“She doesn’t need to do this sort of rough work.”
“These kinds of jobs…”
“…should be left to the men.”
Xie Zhao looked thoroughly pleased.
He hadn’t expected his friend to be so perceptive.
Laughing, he patted Lu Changgeng on the shoulder.
“Well said!”
“If women have to do this kind of heavy work, then men are truly useless.”
Lu Changgeng laughed awkwardly in agreement.
Jiang He carried over another tray of water.
“Brother Lu.”
“You must be thirsty.”
“Here, have some water.”
“Ah…”
“Thank you, Miss Jiang He.”
As Lu Changgeng accepted the bowl, his eyes lingered on her for just a moment longer than usual.
A faint blush quietly spread to the tips of his ears.
Feeling shy herself, Jiang He hurriedly looked away.
She stuffed another bowl of water rather roughly into Xie Zhao’s hands before running straight back into the house.
Xie Zhao: “…”
Brother Lu gets a polite “Brother Lu, have some water”…
But I just get a bowl shoved into my hands?
Watching the two of them interact made him feel strangely uncomfortable.
He didn’t think much of it, though.
He assumed the discomfort came simply from Jiang He treating him differently.
By the end of the day, Lu Changgeng had not only cleared every weed from both the front and back courtyards…
He had also loosened all the soil.
He even turned yesterday’s wild kiwis into dried fruit.
On top of that…
He cooked every meal.
Jiang He had bought two jin of pork.
Lu Changgeng divided it into two portions.
One portion they ate that day.
The other he cooked first before instructing Jiang He to lower it into the well to keep it fresh.
Even the seasonings for the braised pork had been brought from his own home.
He said they were wild spices he’d gathered in the mountains.
Whatever they were…
They made the meat taste wonderful.
While cooking, Lu Changgeng found an old clay jar the Jiang family wasn’t using.
He taught them how to place burned wood inside and make charcoal.
“When winter comes, you’ll have charcoal for heating.”
“You won’t have to spend money buying it.”
That afternoon, he also used the reed leaves he’d harvested to weave two hand fans.
“I noticed both of your fans were falling apart.”
“You can use these from now on.”
Jiang He and Xie Zhao were both stunned.
How could one person know how to do everything?
Even the weeds he’d cut were spread neatly across the courtyard to dry.
Before leaving, Lu Changgeng reminded them,
“Tomorrow, remember to turn the grass over.”
“After another day of drying, it’ll be ready to burn.”
“This kind of soft grass makes the best fire starter.”
“Alright.”
“I’ll remember.”
After Lu Changgeng left, Xie Zhao and Jiang He sat facing each other, staring in silence.
Finally, Xie Zhao spoke.
“I think…”
“For the sake of our future…”
“We need to have a serious talk.”