Xia Tian had just finished getting ready when Sister-in-law Yao came over to call for her.
The two of them chatted and laughed as they walked toward the mountain.
Her home was at the end of the village, so going up the mountain was quite convenient, taking only about half an hour.
However, if she wanted to go to the town or the county seat, she had to pass through the entire village and take the main road at the village entrance.
It was also possible to avoid going through the village by taking a detour around the base of the mountain, but that was a much longer route.
When they ran into villagers along the way, Sister-in-law Yao would enthusiastically introduce Xia Tian, who generously greeted the villagers she met with smiles, calling them "Uncle," "Auntie," and "Granny."
Everyone who met her felt that the Shen family's young daughter-in-law was quite nice. Though she looked young, she was generous and considerate.
Along the way, a few more people joined Xia Tian and the others to go up the mountain. They chatted about daily trifles, and soon, they arrived at the place where they usually gathered firewood and dug for wild vegetables.
The mountain here was part of the same range as the one in Xia Family Village. No one knew its name, but it was quite tall.
The mountain was lush with trees, and wild pheasants and rabbits were common. Deeper in, there were even tigers and wild boars.
The deep mountain was dangerous. Only hunters would venture further in to hunt, and even they didn't dare go too deep.
The areas where villagers usually gathered firewood and dug for wild vegetables were basically on the outskirts of the mountain. Because people came here so often, it was now hard to even encounter a wild pheasant or rabbit.
At the foot of the mountain, everyone dispersed, each finding a spot to get busy.
Besides the basket on her back, Xia Tian had also brought a small bag today, hoping to see if she could find any mushrooms.
Sister-in-law Yao reminded Xia Tian not to go too deep, and Xia Tian agreed before finding a less crowded spot to start digging for wild vegetables.
It was spring, the perfect time when wild vegetables were plump and tender. Xia Tian walked a little way in and saw a large patch of Little Garlic and Ku Cai.
She quickly took out her small shovel, squatted down, and began to dig.
Little Garlic was delicious whether stir-fried with eggs or meat. Any leftovers could be pickled by cutting off the bulbous ends, which would be perfect for eating with congee.
The patch where Xia Tian was squatting was full of Little Garlic. She barely had to move to dig half a basketful.
After eating pickled vegetables all winter, everyone was delighted to see wild vegetables. They could finally eat some green leafy vegetables.
Furthermore, it was the lean season between harvests. Digging up more wild vegetables to mix with their grains could help them feel half-full.
There were actually quite a lot of wild vegetables on the mountain at this time, such as Jicai, Ma Chi Xian, and Popoding, all at their most tender stage.
Xia Tian moved to a different spot and started digging for Ku Cai.
In her past life, these Ku Cai had grown all over the mountains during her childhood. Her mother would dig a basketful almost every day, bring it home, blanch it, and serve it as a cold salad.
Ku Cai was good whether served as a cold salad or steeped in water to drink. It could reduce internal heat and also relieve coughs.
It just so happened that Shen Nian was also coughing constantly. She wondered if eating it in a dish would help.
Any leftovers could be dried and stored to be steeped in water during the winter.
However, Ku Cai shrank a lot once blanched. A whole basket would only yield a single plateful, so Xia Tian dug a bit more.
After digging for a while, she stopped when she saw her basket was almost full.
After digging the Ku Cai, Xia Tian stood up, stretched her back, and walked forward a bit, unexpectedly discovering a Xiangchun tree.
The tree wasn't tall. Xia Tian stood on her tiptoes and used the wood-cutting knife in her hand to hook a branch down. She broke off the edible parts at the tips. After breaking off all she could, it was just a small handful, barely enough for one meal.
Xiangchun was a real treasure. In modern times, a single catty sold for dozens of yuan. However, the people here didn't seem to eat it much because Xiangchun had a strange aroma that some people disliked.
Perfect, that was to her advantage. This handful could be stir-fried with eggs to make a dish.
Xia Tian didn't pick any other wild vegetables. They didn't keep well, and since there were plenty on the mountain, she could just come back to dig more when she wanted to eat them fresh.
Xia Tian saw that Sister-in-law Yao and the others were still digging for vegetables. She looked up at the sun and estimated it wasn't even noon yet. Remembering that her main purpose today was to gather firewood, she quickly went to find a place to collect some.
It hadn't rained in the past few days, so the firewood was relatively dry. Xia Tian picked out a large bundle of branches as thick as her wrist, tied it with a rope, and gave it a lift. It seemed she could carry it, so she didn't gather any more. She wouldn't be able to carry it back if she gathered too much.
Seeing that it was still early and Sister-in-law Yao and the others showed no signs of heading back, Xia Tian wandered around to see what else was on the mountain.
Although the original owner of her body had often come up the mountain, this was Xia Tian's first time here since growing up. Everything seemed new and interesting. It had to be said, the air in ancient times was truly good.
The environment had not yet been destroyed, and the vegetation on the mountain was in its most primitive state.
She walked around, but the trees blocked her view, so she couldn't see very far.
There happened to be a crooked-neck tree nearby. Using both her hands and feet, Xia Tian scrambled up to a higher branch in a few steps and looked out into the distance.
Huh? On the mountain peak straight ahead, there seemed to be a patch of bamboo forest. Judging by the area, the bamboo forest was probably quite large.
Xia Tian hadn't seen it from under the tree just now. From her vantage point in the tree, the bamboo forest didn't seem too far away.
She thought there should be spring bamboo shoots.
She searched the original owner's memories and found that people here rarely ate bamboo shoots. It was said that bamboo shoots tasted bitter and weren't as good as other wild vegetables.
That made sense. The villagers basically just boiled their food. It was considered good if you could even taste the salt.
Without oil or salt, how could anything taste good?
She had come out with Sister-in-law Yao today, so it wasn't appropriate to act alone. Judging by the distance, it would probably take some time to walk over.
So, Xia Tian didn't go. She just made a mental note of the location so she could go check it out tomorrow when she was by herself.
The original owner was someone who often went up the mountain and was quite familiar with the conditions there. As long as one didn't venture too deep, there was basically no danger.
Xia Tian picked up a branch and bent over, poking through the undergrowth to look for mushrooms.
The more common mushrooms on the mountain at this time were Jizongjun, Zhusun, Niugan Jun, Yangdu Jun, and Guisan.
Xia Tian loved fresh wild mushrooms the most. Whether stir-fried directly or stewed in a soup, they were incredibly delicious.
After searching for a while, she only picked a few Guisan. She didn't see any other types of mushrooms.
It was probably because the weather had been good for the past few days with little rain, so the mushrooms hadn't grown out yet.
Unwilling to give up, Xia Tian continued to poke around and search.
"Ah—" A sudden scream made Xia Tian stumble in fright. The branch in her hand jabbed down hard and snapped in two with a crack.