Chapter 11

Even though Qin Qingman reacted quickly, she was still slower than the goose’s beak. In the blink of an eye, the goose pecked at the back of her hand.

“Ah!” Her hand quickly jerked back in pain.

Chuchu also rushed over when he heard Qin Qingman’s startled cry. The child’s face looked awful, his mind already imagining a bruise or maybe even an injury. “Sister.” Before he even saw Qin Qingman’s hand, his eyes were already filled with mist.

“I’m fine, don’t cry.”

Of course, the back of Qin Qingman’s hand had been pecked by the goose, but it was only a quick peck and caused no injury. There wasn’t even a bruise.

The cry just now had been more from the shock than the pain.

Chuchu, incredibly worried, grabbed Qin Qingman’s hand and turned it over and over to check. When he saw there was no bruise and no blood, only faint marks from the goose’s peck, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The marks weren’t deep, and it was likely they would disappear without a trace in less than half an hour.

Only then did a smile appear on the child’s face.

“Sister, the geese know you’re a good person. They know you won’t hurt them, so they didn’t really peck you.” Though still young, Chuchu had his own way of understanding things.

“Yes, they remember the favor of being saved.”

Qin Qingman reached out and pinched Chuchu’s slightly chubby cheek, relieved to see the lingering tears in his eyes fade.

Aunt Yun’s two geese were both adult geese, and for an adult goose to recognize its owner, one had to use extraordinary methods.

 Before Qin Qingman became a bookworm, she enjoyed reading miscellaneous books and knew some methods for taming birds.

She had planned to tame the geese with those methods, but she hadn’t expected these two to be so clever.

Not only did they remember the favor of being saved, but they also knew not to harm her.

“Sister, can I touch them?” Chuchu, seeing that the geese weren’t hostile toward Qin Qingman, who had never had many playmates, wanted to get closer to the geese. After saying this, he looked at them with longing in his eyes.

“Not for now, wait a little longer.”

Qin Qingman didn’t agree to let Chuchu get close to the geese yet.

She couldn’t be sure that the geese had really recognized her as their owner. If they hadn’t, they could still potentially harm someone.

Chuchu understood what Qin Qingman meant.

Reluctantly, Chuchu finally squatted back in his original spot, but his eyes shone brightly as he gazed at the geese.

“Chuchu, help me add some hot water to the basin.” Qin Qingman asked, sending the child off.

“Okay, sister.” Chuchu was very obedient to Qin Qingman, immediately standing up and walking toward the stove. The fire was strong, and the kettle on the stove was continuously emitting steam.

While Chuchu used an iron spoon to pour hot water, Qin Qingman took a deep breath and once again reached out toward the goose.

This time, she didn’t retreat. Even though the goose’s sharp eyes were focused on her hand, she did not pull back.

“Ga—”

The goose’s warning cry rang out, and the two geese nervously paced in place.

“Good, don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you. I’m just wiping you down. If you enter Old Qin Family’s door, you have to keep clean. If you’re not clean, you can’t come in.” Qin Qingman said, even dipping a cloth stick from the basin to further reassure the geese.

“Ga-ga—”

The geese didn’t understand Qin Qingman’s words. As her hand reached out again, their black bean-like eyes followed her restless hand, occasionally glancing back at Qin Qingman. Their gaze was sharp but mixed with a bit of confusion and fear.

“Good, don’t be scared. I really won’t hurt you.”

Qin Qingman smiled and tried her best to show the geese her goodwill. She believed that their sensitivity would allow them to feel her lack of intent to harm them. However, to truly win their trust, she knew she would likely need to be pecked.

Sure enough, her guess was correct.

The two geese, already in a panic, kept pecking at the hand she had extended.

But with each peck, the force lessened, and eventually, the goose’s beak tapped her hand lightly, almost like a feather.

At that moment, Qin Qingman knew the time had come.

She finally managed to pick up one of the geese. Though it struggled and cried out, it did not actually peck her, which gave her the opportunity to wipe it down completely.

The two geese were cleaned separately, and after several changes of water, they were finally spotless.

As Qin Qingman carefully washed them, the geese, not sensing any danger, ultimately chose to endure silently. Taking advantage of this, Chuchu also sneaked in to pat the backs of the two geese.

Goose feathers are naturally waterproof, so even though they had been wiped down with water, the geese’s feathers didn’t get wet.

In fact, after being cleaned, their feathers became even more shiny and slick, a clear sign that they were being well-fed at Aunt Yun’s house.

Otherwise, Qin Qingman wouldn’t have traded two of her fabric ration tickets for them.

“Sister, why aren’t they eating anything?” Chuchu, squatting not far from the geese, turned to ask Qin Qingman, who was tidying up the basin.

Qin Qingman was scrubbing the basin, which she had used to clean the geese, with a broom dipped in firewood ash.

Hearing Chuchu’s question, she replied, “They’ve just entered our home, and they were scared by Aunt Yun before. They probably don’t have an appetite. Don’t worry about it. We’ll throw some corn for them later, and they’ll eat when they’re hungry.”

“Mm.”

Chuchu, reassured by Qin Qingman’s words, looked at the two geese with even more bright-eyed admiration.

He wanted to play with the geese.

Seeing Chuchu like this, Qin Qingman sighed inwardly.

The original owner had been timid and sensitive, too embarrassed to ask for supplies that had been lent out. She had to find ways to earn work points or go into the mountains to forage. When she got busy, she became like a spinning top, hardly able to pay attention to young Chuchu.

Chuchu was still young, unable to do much work. With insufficient nutrition, he was small for his age and didn’t dare to play with the other children in the village.

He often stayed alone at home, lonely without any playmates. A child without companions longed deeply for friends.

At this moment, the two geese were the perfect playmates in his eyes.

“Ah!”

Just as Qin Qingman was thinking that she would let Chuchu go outside to play with the village children after the snow melted in the spring, Chuchu suddenly let out a surprised, short cry.

“What’s wrong?” Qin Qingman didn’t see the geese peck Chuchu or notice anything unusual, so she didn’t rush to his side immediately.

Mainly, she didn’t sense any danger in the child’s voice.

“Sister!” Chuchu, pointing at the geese’s backside, said, “Sister, the goose pooped!”

Hearing that the goose had pooped, Qin Qingman sighed in exasperation.

In the Northeast, during the heavy winter snow when the mountains were closed off, raising small animals was just like this—helpless.

The cold outside made it impossible to keep them outdoors, so the geese had to be kept inside. Geese aren’t human, so when they needed to go, they would do it without hesitation.

Standing up, Qin Qingman used the fire shovel to scoop some firewood ash and covered the goose’s recent mess. This not only helped prevent the smell from spreading but also served as a form of disinfection.

The firewood ash freshly scooped from under the stove still had some residual heat, which could quickly kill the bacteria in the droppings.

“Sister, I’ll do this next time.” Chuchu said.

Chuchu was very smart. After watching Qin Qingman do it once, he knew what to do the next time.

“Okay.” Qin Qingman smiled at Chuchu’s eagerness and didn’t want to discourage his enthusiasm. She handed him the fire shovel. Though he was still young, he could do things within his ability.

This way, the child would feel more secure.

“In a few days, we’ll build a fence around the house that’s about half a person’s height. Then the geese can roam freely.” Qin Qingman didn’t plan to keep the geese tied up all the time. Keeping them tied for too long would be bad for their wild nature. What she wanted were geese that could guard the house.

“Sister, can I help?”

Chuchu ran up to Qin Qingman, looking up at her with big, eager eyes.

“Of course, our Chuchu is so capable, you can definitely help your sister.” Qin Qingman said as she ruffled the child’s soft, yellow hair. She glanced out the window. The sky was darkening, which meant it was time to start making dinner.

Under the circumstances, Qin Qingman didn’t mind living in the same hall as the geese.

With the corn and radishes provided by Aunt Yun, the geese’s food supply was temporarily solved. The two geese settled down comfortably at the Qin household.

Thanks to Qin Qingman’s life-saving kindness and the siblings’ care, the geese recognized them as their owners in less than a week.

The two fierce geese only recognized Qin Qingman and Chuchu, refusing to acknowledge even Aunt Yun, their former owner, when she came to visit.

Having found reliable guardians for the house, the siblings could finally sleep soundly at night.

—o—o—o—

Time passed slowly, and half a month went by.

During this time, no troublemakers had come knocking, and Qin Qingman and Chuchu were in good spirits. The addition of the two geese brought laughter and joy to the household.

However, as the radishes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes in the cellar dwindled, Qin Qingman knew it was time to find new sources of food.

Her gaze then turned to the large mountains surrounding the village.

In the days leading up to the Winter Solstice, the weather was very favorable—sunny with no wind.

The old hunter had said that the next few days would offer perfect weather for mountain trips.

The village party secretary, Zheng Anguo, who had been waiting eagerly, immediately gathered everyone in the village to announce that it was time to head into the mountains.

This was going to be a large-scale hunting expedition. The strong and sturdy men would head up the mountain for the last hunting trip before the new year, and the quick-witted women would also accompany them.

This was considered the safest time for the women to go up, as the weather was calm and predictable.

On the snowy mountains in winter, there was nothing to harvest, but the women weren’t going up to gather anything or help with the hunting. Their only role would be to dig into tree hollows.

The mountains in the Northeast were vast, a true paradise for all kinds of animals. Many animals would store food to survive the winter, so if a family’s supplies in the village were running low and they couldn’t make it to spring, they would head up to dig in the tree hollows.

In these hollows, one might find hazelnuts, pine nuts, or walnuts—nuts that were rich in nutrients and oils, helping both humans and squirrels survive the harsh winter.

Qin Qingman decided to go up the mountain. 

Her household had added two geese with large appetites, and if she didn’t gather more food now, she would eventually have to dip into her and Chuchu’s own supplies. That was absolutely unacceptable.

The Northeast winters were already long, and if they didn’t stock up, an unexpected shortage could lead to trouble.

After settling Chuchu, Qin Qingman grabbed her cloth bag and joined the villagers heading up the mountain. There were quite a few people making the trip, and she spotted Aunt Yun among the crowd.

After their interaction with the geese, the two had become familiar with each other and ended up walking side by side.

—o—o—o—

Meanwhile, several kilometers away, Wei Ling, who was stationed at the Military Camp, received a letter from the capital.

Upon reading the contents of the letter, Wei Ling was extremely irritated.

As someone who had transmigrated into a strange future world, he had no desire to marry.

He didn’t believe that the women of this era could spark any intellectual connection with him.

—o—o—o—

T/N: Hmm, I doubt your words We Ling.