Chapter 12

Wei Ling had been the heir to the title of Duke in his previous life. Forget about the issues with his perspective; just the fact that he had transmigrated into another body was something that took him a long time to accept.

Over the past year, he had actively learned and absorbed various pieces of knowledge from the future, keeping silent and low-profile to avoid revealing any clues.

However, if he were to marry a wife, he wasn’t sure if he could keep his secret safe.

He had requested a posting to the borderlands to avoid the family of this body he inhabited.

Family members were always the most familiar with each other, so after receiving the original owner’s memories, he fled.

He had been on the run for a year, and just as his life started to become more comfortable, his family arranged a marriage meeting for him.

A young woman from the capital who had come to the border as part of the youth work program.

Although before he had transmigrated, his marriage would likely have been arranged by his family, the influence of the new ideas he had adopted over the past year made Wei Ling adamant about not following his parents’ orders.

He didn’t want to expose his secret, nor did he want to marry a stranger.

If he was really going to marry, he wanted to marry someone he liked.

But did he have someone he liked in this era?

As he asked himself this question, a face flashed through Wei Ling’s mind.

It was a face that showed fragility mixed with strength—the girl he had met last time at the State-Owned Restaurant in the town.

She wasn’t the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, but she was the most unforgettable one.

With his sharp intuition, he felt there was a secret within her, a secret that deeply attracted him.

Thinking about it, Wei Ling eventually left the Military Camp and rode up the mountain.

The biting cold air in the mountains cleared his mind, and the heavy snow on the trees lightened his mood.

This was the future after his transmigration, not the feudal dynasty of the past. While this era still valued filial piety, marriage was more free, and as long as he disagreed, even his family could not force him into marriage.

He could always live his whole life away from the capital.

Wei Ling recalled the capital, which had changed so much due to the passage of time, and his heart became calm.

With his mood improved, he found that the surrounding scenery was more pleasant to the eye.

Since he was out of the camp, he thought it would be a good idea to hunt a few animals to bring back for extra food at the mess hall.

Although their unit was self-sufficient and raised pigs, there were many soldiers in the camp, and they couldn’t always have meat at every meal.

In his previous life, the highly skilled General Wei Ling began to discern the tracks in the snow.

He planned to hunt a wild boar to bring back…

—o—o—o—

Meanwhile, Qin Qingman was also struggling to keep up with the team. This was her first time venturing into the mountains in the snow.

It wasn’t windy, the sunlight was good, and it wasn’t too cold, but the path underfoot was extremely difficult.

The thick snow on the mountain could reach up to her calves with a single step.

For someone a bit shorter, one step could submerge them up to their thighs. This was also the reason they hadn’t brought children on this trip.

Qin Qingman tried her best to walk on the footprints left by the people ahead, which made the path much easier.

They had set off from the village at 7:30 in the morning, and it wasn’t until almost 10 o’clock that the front of the group finally stopped.

Zheng Anguo, the team leader, spoke, “Comrades, we are not far from our mountain village. There are plenty of oak trees and hazelnut trees around here. If you dig tree holes nearby, you’re sure to find something, and it’ll also make it easier for you to head back down the mountain sooner.”

“Got it, Secretary. You all can go ahead and don’t worry about us!”

Aunt Ah Yun and the other women waved goodbye to Zheng Anguo and the group of male comrades.

Hunting was different from digging tree holes. Hunting required searching for tracks, traces, and following the prey.

A big hunt couldn’t be finished in one day; they might stay on the mountain for three or four days and then return after a successful hunt.

For Qin Qingman and the others, who were digging tree holes, it was different.

As long as they found a large area of pine trees, oak trees, hazelnut trees, or walnut trees, they would find tree holes. If there were tree holes, it meant there was something to be gathered, so they only needed to dig a few hours of tree holes before heading back down the mountain to go home.

“Zheng Guihua Comrade, you are the women’s leader , so take good care of the other female comrades and be cautious.” Zheng Anguo solemnly reminded the leader of the women’s group.

“Comrade Anguo, don’t worry. I’ll make sure everyone stays safe and I’ll bring them back safely.” Zheng Guihua assured him. The village held this type of mountain excursion every year, and she had plenty of experience.

“Secretary, let’s go. We’re not far from the mountain village, and large game generally won’t come near. Also, the tree holes around here are familiar to the comrades, so there shouldn’t be any danger. Let’s head deeper into the mountains. Everyone is hoping to get more meat before the New Year.” said Li Yang, the leader of the production team, as he glanced at the sun in the sky.

Zheng Anguo nodded, waved goodbye to the women’s group again, and led the hunting team away. As they left, the hunting dogs at the front of the group excitedly ran ahead, softly barking.

After seeing the hunting team off, Zheng Guihua also reminded the female comrades, “There are plenty of tree holes in this forest. Let’s get to work quickly. Don’t stray too far. I’ll blow the whistle to gather you all at two o’clock. No matter how many holes we’ve dug by then, we’ll need to head back. If we’re late, we won’t make it home before dark.”

“Understood, Director.”

Since this was an annual event, everyone understood the importance and took Zheng Guihua’s words seriously.

In this kind of weather, safety was guaranteed only if everyone stuck together.

“Let’s get moving.” Seeing that everyone had taken her words to heart, Zheng Guihua waved her hand, signaling them to scatter and quickly start digging the tree holes that had been marked last year.

She wondered if the squirrels and chipmunks had moved out.

Just like Zheng Guihua, many others shared the same mindset. No one teamed up; instead, everyone acted alone. After all, it was about personal gain, and the things found in the tree holes couldn’t be equally shared, so it was better to go off on their own.

Aunt Ah Yun greeted Qin Qingman before turning and disappearing into the forest.

In winter, many of the trees had shed their leaves, leaving the forest less dense and dark than in the summer. The sunlight and snow combined to create a bright atmosphere, making it much easier to spot the fellow villagers scattered throughout the forest.

Qin Qingman glanced at the figures of several aunts before choosing a direction and heading off.

Having the original owner’s memories, she naturally knew how to dig tree holes and recalled which areas of the forest had tree holes, and which ones had yielded abundant supplies the previous year.

She rubbed her hands, which were covered by deer skin gloves, and adjusted the scarf around her neck, making sure her ears were covered. Then, she took bigger strides. The original owner had found a good spot last year, so she intended to check if the stockpile was full.

Following the memories in her mind, she walked farther and farther.

After about twenty minutes, Qin Qingman stopped. In front of her stood a very large pine tree, and more than a meter above the ground, several tree holes were clearly visible. The edges of the holes were smooth, showing signs of frequent use by small animals.

Qin Qingman carefully observed the tree holes. Instead of climbing the tree, she crouched down and started digging through the snow.

As she cleared away the snow, thick, withered yellow leaves appeared beneath it.

Digging through the leaves, a dark tree hole appeared before Qin Qingman’s eyes.

At the same time, a large number of nuts inside the hole were revealed. Qin Qingman smiled and quickly took out her cloth bag to start picking hazelnuts, pine nuts, and walnuts, the edible ones.

As she filled her bag, she couldn’t help but inwardly marvel.

It was said that cunning rabbits had three burrows, but she hadn’t expected that squirrels and chipmunks in the forest had learned to outwit humans as well. Although there were several tree holes on the tree, the supplies inside were very limited. This was something the original owner had discovered by chance the previous year.

After taking about a third of the nuts from the hole, Qin Qingman carefully restored the hole to its original state.

Although the snow was freshly fallen, when the next snowstorm came, the traces of human activity would disappear without a trace, and the stockpile would wait for its true master.

Mission accomplished, Qin Qingman smiled with satisfaction, then headed toward the next tree hole.

Of course, she was drifting farther off course.

The original owner had been timid and shy, unable to compete with other villagers, so she would usually avoid people and search on her own. Today, Qin Qingman was no different; she didn’t want to compete with the troublesome ones or risk having her nuts stolen by Aunt Zhu Hongxia and the other ill-intentioned women.

But what she feared most came to pass. After walking less than a hundred meters, Qin Qingman heard the voices of Zhu Hongxia and the others.

“I’ve been paying attention. That girl Qingman is definitely heading in this direction. Look, there are footprints on the ground. Let’s follow them.”

Zhu Hongxia confidently led the group.

“I didn’t expect that so many tree holes this year are empty. What bad luck.” came the voice of Qin Qingman’s third aunt, Li Meina.

“If you ask me, it’s because everyone dug too greedily. Last year, some families were badly short on grain, so they didn’t follow the rules when digging tree holes. Some even emptied several of them. This kind of behavior has consequences. The squirrels and chipmunks have all run away, and there’s no grain left to dig for.” Fourth Aunt Yao Chunying said, her anger evident.

She was holding a nearly empty cloth bag, which only added to her frustration.

Listening to the complaints from her three aunts, Qin Xiang’s face also turned sour. She had just dug several tree holes herself, only to find them empty, and had no harvest to show for it.

“I see that other people in the village aren’t finding much either. Everyone has paired up and gone further afield. Let’s follow that Qingman girl. She had a good haul last year, so maybe she’s in luck again this year.” Zhu Hongxia said, plotting something.

Qin Xiang’s eyes glinted as she agreed with Zhu Hongxia. “Qingman always avoids everyone and goes to the more remote places. She’s so timid; she must strictly follow the rules when digging. The tree holes she dug last year, the squirrels definitely haven’t moved out.”

“Let’s go, hurry up and catch up with her.” Zhu Hongxia urged.

Having already wasted most of the morning with little success, Zhu Hongxia and the others became more urgent in following the footprints.

In the snow, without another snowstorm to cover them, the footprints couldn’t be hidden.

Though she had already heard the voices of the aunts, Qin Qingman didn’t hurry to leave. Leaving wouldn’t solve anything.

If she did, she might end up doing the hard work for others, and with four against one, she couldn’t win in terms of physical strength.

“Wait, Qingman’s been here.” Zhu Hongxia called out, halting as they arrived at the spot where Qin Qingman had dug for nuts.

“On the ground?” Qin Xiang’s voice was filled with surprise.

“Of course there are tree holes under the tree. Let’s dig and see.” Zhu Hongxia greedily crouched down and started scraping away the snow, with the others quickly joining in.

Within a minute, the tree hole Qin Qingman had covered was exposed to Zhu Hongxia and the others.

Seeing the abundance of nuts inside, Zhu Hongxia and her group burst into laughter.

They laughed while greedily filling their cloth bags with all the nuts from the hole. At least they knew to divide the loot, though they didn’t leave a single nut for the original owner of the stash.

Finishing with the nuts in the tree hole, Zhu Hongxia’s gaze shifted to the tree itself.

There were a few more tree holes on the tree.

Watching Zhu Hongxia and her group over-harvest, Qin Qingman’s face darkened.

She glanced at her own cloth bag, then looked carefully at the traces on the ground as they gradually faded. Meanwhile, she grasped a handful of nuts in her hand.

She was planning to teach Zhu Hongxia and the others a lesson for being so greedy.