Chapter Fifteen: Preaching

  Here comes the second update!

  Hutou added firewood while watching Zhen'er by the river and couldn't help but laugh.

  Qī Zhēn ér turned her head and saw Hǔ Zǐ's silly smile, shaking her head in exasperation. Last night she heard a noise and looked into the cave, excitedly calling out.

  That was a wild chicken! I don't know how it fell into the pit, one wing was pierced by a sharp stick, and it was struggling in pain. Qizhen heard the sound.

  She picked up the wild chicken, and Qizhen'er turned her head to see that Tiger had also woken up, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he stared at her. When he saw the wild chicken in her hand, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

  Neither of them could sleep for the rest of the night, and they couldn't help but laugh as they looked at the wild chicken. Fortunately, dawn broke soon after. Qizhen ordered Huzi to boil water, and she washed the wild vegetables and mushrooms.

  Scalded the pheasant with hot water, Qizhen'er looked at it and thought it was ready to be plucked.

  "Hu zi, bring over the axe." After shouting at Hu zi, Qi Zhen'er found a clean stone and started wiping it with the grass beside her.

  Hutou heard the cry and ran over with an axe in hand.

  Staring at Zhen's busy hands, Ba Ba said: "Sister, can we really eat this wild chicken?"

  At home, there's always delicious food that never has a share for his siblings, so now when Hu Zi sees wild chicken, he gets very excited but also worried that he can't eat it.

  Qī Zhēn ér felt a pang in her heart, she wrapped Hǔ Zǐ in her arms and firmly said: "You can eat, as long as it's not stolen or robbed. From now on, whenever there's good food, you'll be able to eat."

  Hutou was overjoyed when he heard his sister say that, and he excitedly hugged Qi Zhen'er. Qi Zhen'er was caught off guard by Hutou's sudden movement and almost fell into the river, which made Hutou burst out laughing.

  Qī Zhēnér glared at him with a bad temper and then continued to pluck the wild chicken's feathers. Hǔ Zǐ happily assisted her on the side.

  They made a chicken soup with half of the wild chicken, and Tuzi and Qizhen drank their fill, feeling full and refreshed. The remaining wild chicken was salted by Qizhen, and after packing up, Qizhen and her brother set off on their journey.

  As she walked to the pit where she picked up the wild chicken, Qizhen'er took a special look and didn't expect that the pit she had dug to prevent wild beasts would unexpectedly bring her a wild chicken. What a wonderful surprise! Just as she was about to leave, Qizhen'er's sharp eyes spotted that the grass near the pit seemed to have been trampled by something.

  She took a closer look and was startled, it seemed like the trail of a giant python! Fortunately, she had scattered cinnabar nearby, otherwise her brother and sister would have encountered misfortune last night.

  Pulling over the tiger cub, Qi Zhen'er said she didn't dare to stay here anymore, fearing that the giant python was still lurking nearby. Not only that, but Qi Zhen'er also wanted to hurry down the mountain, as there were too many uncertain factors on this mountain. She hadn't been blinded by the unexpectedly obtained wild chicken.

  After some thought, Qizhen still followed the path pointed out by her father-in-law to find Maoshan Village. Since the hunters were collecting mountain goods, they would definitely know the way out of the mountains. After these few days, Zhen believed that they had already left Qijiazhuang far behind, and Dabo's family was also unlikely to have time to look for them, so they should be safe now.

  They got up early, finished breakfast, and the sun had just shone into the forest. Zhen'er and Hu'zi walked slowly in the forest, occasionally picking some mushrooms.

  After crossing a small hill, what came into view was a slightly larger village, which should have had more than a dozen households. Qizhen'er looked at the village and suddenly felt like crying.

  Yesterday, Grandpa didn't say anything wrong. This village is not far from where they live, and if they walk quickly, they should be able to arrive by noon. And since Qizhen and her brother are young and slow-walking, they should be able to catch up around lunchtime. However, yesterday morning, the siblings weren't in great shape, so she thought they had fallen behind a lot and gave up when she didn't see the village at 4 pm, not realizing that if they walked for another hour, they would have arrived.

  She's really bold, just the two of them, small kids, dared to camp in the deep mountains. If it were a big wild beast that came last night instead of a wild chicken, she wouldn't even have a place to cry.

  The little tiger looked at his sister, sometimes laughing and sometimes crying. Zhang Er, the monk, couldn't figure out what was going on. "Sister, what's wrong with you?"

  Qizhen'er wiped away her tears and said, "Sister is fine, it's just that the wind blew up some dust and got into my eyes." After finishing, she squatted down and stared seriously at Huzi's eyes, saying: "Huzi, remember, don't give up easily before you've made your greatest effort. Many times, if you just persist a bit longer, you can succeed - the journey of a hundred miles begins with ninety!" This sentence was something Qizhen'er had learned from her books, and she hadn't understood its meaning before, but now she had experienced it personally.

  Although Hu Zi didn't know what his sister meant, he nodded firmly and remembered her words.

  In the distance, village smoke wafted gently, amidst the sounds of chickens clucking and dogs barking, mingled with adults calling children back home for dinner. In this lively rural scene, Hu Zi's eyes reddened, he hadn't felt such warmth in a long time. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on Zhen Er's hand, Zhen Er turned around and smiled at him, he also returned a sweet smile. The two walked into the village hand in hand.

  Upon inquiring in the village, Qizhen only then learned that it would take four hours to leave the mountain from here, and that was at an adult's pace. The villagers, seeing that they were just two young children and hearing Zhen's words about going to find her uncle, warmly invited the siblings to rest in the village for a few days and then follow the hunters who sold mountain delicacies into the city after two days.

  The mountain people's homes are simple and beautiful. Whether they know each other or not, they all have good intentions. Qizhen likes this kind of atmosphere very much.

  Qizhen'er declined the good intentions of that person. She thought that if they walked quickly, they should be able to get down the mountain before dark, as long as they weren't on the mountain, she would feel much more at ease. And most importantly, when she and Huozi entered the village, there were two sloppy-looking men staring at them for half a day, their gaze made people feel disgusted. She felt that it was better to have fewer things happen, so it's best to get down the mountain as soon as possible.

  When they heard the road down the mountain, Zhen'er and her brother became even more excited. As they walked along the road, seeing people passing by from time to time, Qizhen'er thought that person really didn't cheat them, and the siblings met good people all the way.

  This road is probably the main thoroughfare, and people from the village next door will take this road when they go down the mountain. Today is a market day again, and many people have gone to the market to buy and sell things. From time to time, someone passes by, and Zhen'er's younger brother is not afraid that those people will come to make trouble.

  Far away, she saw two people walking towards a fork in the road, looking like a mother and daughter. Qi Zhen'er secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Most of the people on this road were returning from the market, and Qi Zhen'er still hoped that someone could travel with her siblings.

  Qizhen'er pulled Huizi and ran quickly for a few steps, not far or near from the mother-daughter pair, vaguely hearing their conversation before stopping, and continued walking forward with them at the same pace.

  "This time when you go to your uncle's house, listen and behave yourself, say some good things, don't provoke your aunt into anger. You're already so big, do you still want to stay in these mountains like your mother for the rest of your life?"

  "Mom, it's not that I'm disobedient, it's just that Aunt always finds fault with me. You haven't even seen her look at me properly. Lotus cousin also always uses words to be sarcastic towards me."

  "Alas, aren't we still stuck in the mountains? They look down on mountain people, don't you know that? Mother just didn't want you to be looked down upon, so she tried every means to marry you out of the mountains."

  "What did you say, girl?"

  "What's wrong with that, you're already seventeen this year. In the mountains, it doesn't count for much, but outside, you'd be considered an old maid. Your aunt is a city girl, she has good eyesight, and this time, no matter what, she'll help you find a good family in the county town."

  "There's a good family she wouldn't even think of me, and also Lotus sister."

  "Your lotus flower sister-in-law has already agreed."

  "What? When did this happen? Whose family are you talking about?"

  "Ah, it's really a case of 'a woman is not allowed to stay at home after marriage'! Your cousin, the lotus flower, has been fancied by a young master from a wealthy family in town and is going to be his concubine. She'll be entering their household in just two days, and we're also going there to offer our congratulations. There's a sedan chair rented by your uncle waiting for us at the foot of the mountain. When we arrive at their house, don't speak out of turn!"

  "Hey, Aunt always says that Lotus Flower Sister is destined to be a rich lady, but even as a concubine she still wants to be a rich lady?"

  "This is just between you and me, but when we're at your aunt's house, make sure to behave yourself."

  "Got it, mom."

  The mother and daughter looked weak, but their pace in the mountains was still much faster than Zhen's siblings. As they saw their figures getting farther and farther away, Zhen pulled Hu Zi to a stop.