In fact, when Jiang Zhi was descending the mountain with Xu Errui, she had already spotted some birds that had been killed by the wildfire.
Although bird meat is scarce, even a mosquito's flesh counts as meat. However, they had been in a hurry and hadn't had time to attend to them.
When Xu Errui heard his mother wanted to collect those burned birds, his face instantly turned green.
He recalled Zhao Li's father's scorched face at the foot of the mountain and couldn't help but feel nauseous again.
Jiang Zhi glared at him: "Don't you want your wife to have more meat to eat? Don't you think about your old mother wanting meat too? If you don't go, I'll go alone, you unfilial son!"
This boy better not say anything disgusting.
Seeing his mother glaring at him again, Xu Errui instinctively shrank his neck and obediently complied: "I'll go with you to collect the meat!"
The roof was burned, and there was nothing to repair it with for now. Finding food was more important.
To collect the meat, they naturally had to call Xiao Man. Qiaoyun also brought Cyclobalanopsis acorns to Xiao Man's house, not daring to stay home alone again.
Xiao Man was busy collecting the unburned Green Fruits. Upon hearing they were going to search for burned wild animals, he immediately came over briskly.
The three of them first searched the forest near their home. The trees here were tall, and the dry grass on the ground had been cleared in advance, so it hadn't caught fire.
Some birds had been resting in the trees when thick smoke swept through in the darkness, suffocating them and causing them to fall.
Birds are social animals. After combing through the nearby forest, the three collected thirty to forty birds.
However, the birds were small and didn't yield much meat. After removing the feathers and internal organs, the usable meat was only a mouthful per bird. Even dozens of them wouldn't be enough to eat.
Jiang Zhi's goal wasn't just dead birds; she was also looking for rabbit burrows.
Compared to birds, finding just one rabbit would be enough for a good meal.
Moreover, rabbits hiding in their burrows couldn't escape the threat of the wildfire.
For ease of escape, rabbits usually have several interconnected burrow entrances, allowing air circulation inside.
With multiple entrances, as long as smoke entered one, the burrow would fill with fumes.
The rabbits had to flee; otherwise, they would suffocate inside.
Furthermore, with fire outside, they were unlikely to escape far.
Sure enough, the search for rabbits yielded much greater results. One rabbit had escaped and hidden in a crevice, its fur burned off.
More rabbits had suffocated in their burrows. Digging open the entrances with a hoe revealed entire nests, large and small, some even hairless baby rabbits.
As the search area expanded, the prey increased. They filled a basket to the brim: pheasants that hadn't escaped in time, badgers, and some small animals Jiang Zhi couldn't even recognize.
Some were burned to death, others injured but still alive.
Xiao Man held a pair of newborn rabbits, each only half a palm long, and said to Jiang Zhi with a grin: "Aunt Jiang, can I have this pair of rabbits? Nini complains every day that there's nothing fun to do. These rabbits are for her."
Jiang Zhi nodded: "Sure, but do you have a way to feed them?"
With no green grass available now, raising rabbits would be difficult.
Xiao Man still grinned: "As long as they can make Nini happy for a few days!"
Nini's mother had left home, her father was in that state, and her great-grandparents couldn't smile all day. Only this little uncle still thought of cheering the child up. No matter what, the family still cared for each other.
Late at night, the two families gathered to process the day's harvest.
Xiaoman's Grandmother was very experienced in managing the stove. She quickly scraped and cleaned the pile of charred items.
According to Xiaoman's Grandmother's intention, since everyone had eaten a chicken during the day today, this meat should be smoked and dried for storage to be eaten later.
In the past, villagers occasionally hunted game but couldn't bear to eat it, usually entrusting someone to exchange it for money.
Saving at all times, storing grain for money, to arrange marriages for sons and grandsons—this was their life experience. In Xiaoman's family, there was an additional reason: saving money to buy medicine.
Jiang Zhi said, "Aunt, we already have little salt at home. We can always find meat in the mountains, but salt is hard to come by. If the meat spoils, it would be even more wasteful."
Xiaoman's grandfather also said, "Let the children eat it! They've been exhausted these days. You need to know when the ox is tired—don't be as stingy and reluctant as before."
He knew that eating all the meat in one meal was wasteful, but if they didn't eat it, it would have to be discarded. Eating it was still better than throwing it away.
Xiaoman's Grandmother felt heartache but had no choice. She could only comply. Thus, half a basket of meat was stewed in the pot, while the other half was air-dried to make jerky.
Qiaoyun had also ground Qinggang Powder today and made thin pancakes that were chewy and refreshing to eat.
And so, after having chicken soup, the two families began solidly feasting on stewed meat to their fill.
Each person held a pancake and a large bowl of steaming, tender wild game soup.
There were no seasonings in the mountains—not even scallions were grown. Following rural customs, Xiaoman's Grandmother used pickled ginger and chili peppers to remove the gaminess. A savory meat aroma filled the simple shack.
Xiaoman and Xu Errui ate as if a whirlwind had swept through—both were under twenty, at an age where they never seemed to feel full.
Usually in the village, they could only drink porridge to stave off hunger. When had they ever had a day like this where they could eat meat to their heart's content?
Qiaoyun also ate with a beaming smile—she was now enjoying good food.
At home, any food was given priority to her. While others grew thinner fleeing from disaster, she, being pregnant, had actually started gaining weight.
Jiang Zhi skewered some rabbit meat on thin branches and grilled it over charcoal. Without seasonings, she sprinkled it with fine salt.
The rabbit meat was roasted until golden brown and fragrant, but wild game was too tough, and without the step of brushing it with oil, it was dry. Taking a bite required chewing with a twisted mouth.
Nini held a bird leg with her hand, using her tiny millet teeth to tear off the thin layer of meat. The smooth shreds were even more delicious than chicken, making her squint with happiness.
There was plenty of meat this time. Besides drinking soup, Xu Dazhu also ate meat and Qinggang thin pancakes—one meal equivalent to several days' worth for him.
His frail body nourished by the grease, after just one full meal, his complexion looked much better.
This meal left both families with glossy, satisfied faces.
Er Rui touched his bulging stomach and couldn't help sighing: "In all my grown years, this is the first time I've eaten meat until I feel sick!"
Jiang Zhi glanced at him: This silly son better not say anymore! She herself had also eaten until she felt somewhat nauseous.
Xiaoman had already loosened his belt several times. Still not satisfied, he drank the last spoonful of soup from the pot and said firmly, "Aunt Jiang, I'll go earlier tomorrow so other wild animals don't take the meat!"
He was now Jiang Zhi's follower, feeling that Aunt Jiang's methods were truly effective—like avoiding the mountain fire earlier and now collecting meat.
Jiang Zhi said with a smile, "Alright, you can go collect more tomorrow. I have other things to do. Just be careful not to wander into the fire zone."
After walking through the mountains during the day, she had clearly seen the state and scale of the mountain fire.
This wildfire seemed like one incident but actually had two sources: from the village and from the shacks at the mountain's base.
The fire in the village had consumed another mountain peak, which was why the fire was discovered early but no smoke was smelled.
What had directly swept toward their area was the blaze ignited later by the roving bandits as they killed and set fires.
With strong winds and a short straight-line distance, the fire had climbed straight to the top, and by sheer coincidence, Jiang Zhi and Xiao Man's homes were right in the path of the flames.
At the time, it was pitch dark, and thick smoke billowed so heavily that even the roads were impossible to find. They dared not run blindly, which was why they felt so helpless. If it had been daytime, they could have found the right direction to escape.
Apart from this two-hundred-meter-wide burned area, the rest of the forest remained unaffected. The only worry was that the still-burning fire on the other mountain peak might spread over time if it continued to burn.
Tomorrow, Xiao Man and the others still wanted to dig a few more rabbit holes, and Jiang Zhi let them go ahead.
Although the shed had been burned and needed urgent repairs, the window for scavenging meat was only a day or two. If left too long, the animals killed by the fire would rot, so filling their stomachs took priority.