Chapter 9 – Up the Mountain

Xia Tian had everything ready, and Sister Yao came over to call for her.

The two of them chatted and laughed as they made their way up the mountain.

Xia Tian’s home was at the end of the village, and going up the mountain was quite convenient—about half an hour to get there.

However, if they wanted to go to the town or the county, they would have to pass through the whole village and take the main road at the village’s entrance.

Alternatively, they could bypass the village by going around the bottom of the mountain, but that would be a much longer detour.

On the way, they met some villagers, and Sister Yao enthusiastically introduced Xia Tian to them. Xia Tian, in return, greeted the villagers she met with smiles, calling them “Uncle,” “Aunt,” or “Big Aunt.”

Everyone who had met her thought the little daughter-in-law of the Shen family was quite nice. She didn’t seem too young and appeared to be friendly and considerate.

As they walked along, more people joined Xia Tian and Sister Yao on the way up the mountain. They chatted about family matters, and before long, they reached the spot where they usually collected firewood and foraged for wild vegetables.

The mountain here was part of the same mountain range as Xia Tian’s home village. She didn’t know its name, but it was quite high.

The mountain was lush with trees, and wild animals like pheasants and rabbits could often be found. In deeper areas of the mountain, there were even tigers and wild boars.

The deeper parts of the mountain were dangerous, and only hunters would venture into them, though even they didn’t go too deep.

The area where the villagers collected firewood and wild vegetables was near the outer edge of the mountain. Because there were often people coming and going, even wild chickens and rabbits were becoming rare to encounter.

Once they reached the foot of the mountain, everyone scattered to find their own spots and began their work.

Besides the basket she was carrying, Xia Tian also brought along a small bag to see if she could find any mushrooms.

Sister Yao reminded her not to go too deep into the mountain. Xia Tian nodded and found a quieter spot to begin picking wild vegetables.

It was spring, and wild vegetables were in their prime, tender and fresh. Xia Tian wandered a bit and soon came across a patch of wild garlic and bitter herbs.

She quickly took out her small shovel and crouched down to start digging.

Wild garlic was delicious when stir-fried with eggs or meat. If there was any left over, the garlic bulbs could be cut off and pickled, which went wonderfully with porridge.

This patch was all wild garlic, and without moving much, Xia Tian had already filled half her basket.

After eating pickled vegetables all winter, seeing fresh wild greens made everyone excited. Finally, they could eat something green again.

Moreover, it was a time when food was scarce, so mixing wild vegetables with grains could make a meal last a bit longer.

The mountain was full of wild vegetables at this time—shepherd’s purse, purslane, dandelion, and others—especially tender ones.

Xia Tian moved on to dig up some bitter herbs.

In her childhood, the whole mountain was full of these bitter herbs. Her mother would usually gather a basketful every day to blanch and make cold dishes.

Bitter herbs were great for cooling the body, and they could also be brewed into tea to help with coughing.

Xia Tian thought it would be perfect for Shen Nian, who always had a cough. She wondered if it would help him.

If there were leftovers, they could be dried and stored for the winter. They would still work well for tea.

However, the bitter herbs shrank quickly after blanching, so a basketful only made a small bowl. Xia Tian decided to pick a bit more.

After digging for a while, she stopped when she saw the basket was nearly full.

After finishing with the bitter herbs, Xia Tian stood up, stretched, and walked a little further. To her surprise, she found a Chinese toon tree.

The tree wasn’t very tall, so Xia Tian stood on her tiptoes, took the axe from her bag, and hooked down a few branches. She picked the edible parts from the branches and ended up with just a small handful—enough for a meal.

Chinese toon was a delicacy. In modern times, it could sell for quite a bit, though it seemed people here didn’t eat it much because of its peculiar smell. Some didn’t like the taste.

That worked out well for Xia Tian, though. With this small handful, she could stir-fry it with eggs for a nice dish.

Xia Tian didn’t pick any other wild vegetables. Since the mountain was full of them, she could come back another time to pick more, just for a fresh meal.

She saw that Sister Yao and the others were still busy collecting wild vegetables, so she glanced at the sun. It probably wasn’t yet noon, and she remembered that they had mainly come for firewood today. She quickly went to find a spot to gather it.

The past few days hadn’t seen any rain, so the firewood was quite dry. Xia Tian picked a large bundle of sticks about the thickness of her wrist, tied them with some rope, and lifted them. It seemed light enough to carry, so she decided not to gather more—she couldn’t carry too much back.

Seeing that it was still early, and Sister Yao and the others didn’t seem like they were planning to leave soon, Xia Tian decided to wander around the area and see what else the mountain had to offer.

Although she frequently went up the mountain, it was her first time exploring after growing up. Everything seemed fresh and new. It had to be said—the air in ancient times was really good.

The environment hadn’t been damaged yet, and the vegetation on the mountain was still in its original state.

She walked around a bit, but the trees blocked her view.

Nearby, there was a crooked tree, so Xia Tian quickly climbed up to a higher branch and looked around.

Hmm? There seemed to be a bamboo forest on the mountain ahead. From this vantage point, it looked like the bamboo forest was quite large.

She hadn’t seen it from under the tree earlier, but from up here, it didn’t seem that far away.

She thought it might have spring bamboo shoots.

From her memories, the people here didn’t often eat bamboo shoots, as they were said to be bitter and not as tasty as other wild vegetables.

That made sense. In the village, cooking usually meant boiling food in water. If it tasted salty, that was considered a good dish.

Without oil or salt, how could anything taste good?

Since she was with Sister Yao today, it wouldn’t be appropriate to go off on her own. The bamboo forest seemed far, and walking there would take time.

Xia Tian didn’t go over. She made a mental note of the location and decided she could come back on her own sometime.

She was also familiar with the mountain, as she had been here often in her childhood. As long as she didn’t venture too deep into the woods, she was generally safe.

Xia Tian picked up a branch and bent down, carefully searching the grass for mushrooms.

Common mushrooms on the mountain included chicken of the woods, bamboo mushrooms, beefsteak mushrooms, morels, and ghost mushrooms.

Xia Tian loved fresh wild mushrooms. Whether stir-fried or stewed in soup, they always tasted amazing.

After a while, she found only a few ghost mushrooms. None of the other mushrooms seemed to have sprouted yet.

It was probably because the weather had been so nice lately, and there hadn’t been much rain, so the mushrooms hadn’t grown.

Xia Tian didn’t give up and continued searching.

Suddenly, a sharp scream echoed through the air, startling Xia Tian and causing her to stumble. The branch in her hand snapped with a loud “crack.”