Chapter 48

Shen Qingyun grabbed Yin Xiaoman and kissed her cheek forcefully. “Wife, you’ve worked hard.”

“It’s not hard.” she replied. How could it compare to his hard work?

Yin Xiaoman felt a little heartache as she reached up and gently stroked his face.

Although her man didn’t say anything, she had seen it with her own eyes.

She had watched him lead a group of young warriors, cutting branches, digging stones, and hauling them down in loads, then bringing up lime and cut stone slabs in other loads, building the steps one by one.

The kind of hard work he endured was something she had never even imagined before.

She touched his sunburned, reddish face and then looked at his lips, which seemed to have lost some of their color. Yin Xiaoman couldn’t suppress the heartache she felt.

She rarely pushed away his arm around her waist. Instead, in a gentle tone, she said: “You should sleep for a while. I’ll stay with you.”

After saying that, she took the initiative to guide him to the bed.

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Shen Qingyun slept very soundly during this nap. Although it was just a short afternoon rest, he felt as though something miraculous had been injected into him, and he felt much better.

After waking up, he immediately returned to the camp.

Yin Xiaoman, in fact, slept lightly. After Shen Qingyun left, she also got out of bed.

She woke up the two children and took them out with her.

Since she had promised to take them up the mountain in the afternoon, Yin Xiaoman naturally intended to keep her word. Moreover, it was better for her to take them than for them to run around aimlessly without understanding anything. At least she could keep an eye on them.

The road that Shen Qingyun was building with his military unit was a new construction. The section they were working on was from the dock where the ships stopped to the large platform of the camp.

This road was being constructed to make it easier to transport equipment and materials when the expert team arrived.

The road from the living area to the mountain had not been repaired yet. It was still the narrow path, which seemed to have been trampled by either wild animals or travelers, and could only allow one person to pass through at a time.

Yin Xiaoman let the two children walk ahead of her, while she followed behind.

Aside from Erniu, who was skipping and hopping happily with empty hands between the two, she and Da Bao both carried baskets on their backs, each holding a bamboo stick in their hands, with a sickle placed inside the baskets.

The sickle was meant for cutting bananas or any branches that might get in the way, while the bamboo stick was Yin Xiaoman’s precaution. She was worried that, just in case, a small snake might suddenly appear by the roadside, and she could use the stick to rustle the grass and scare the snake away.

Although Ren Ping’an had pounded his chest and promised her at noon that there were no venomous snakes on the mountain, the mountain was so large, and he hadn’t even circled around it. How could he be so sure?

Moreover, even if there were no venomous snakes, she was still terrified of a harmless little snake suddenly jumping out from somewhere and giving her a heart attack!

It was better to be safe than sorry.

The three of them hadn’t walked far and were still wandering around the area Yin Xiaoman had visited earlier.

Unfamiliar with the mountain, Yin Xiaoman wasn’t brave enough to wander around freely with the two children.

She had Da Bao help, and together, they picked several lemons, and also cut down a few large bunches of bananas.

Ren Ping’an had said that there was no white wine on the island, nor incense for offerings like the old times, so the bananas had to be left for a few more days. But for Yin Xiaoman, this wasn’t an issue at all!

The wine was one thing, but as for the incense used for offerings… she had no idea how many she had already plucked and thrown into her space before the beginning of spring.

Thinking of incense, Yin Xiaoman suddenly remembered something else: mosquitoes!

The climate here was humid, and the back mountain was full of plants. Even though they had only been here for a day, they had already experienced how aggressive the mosquitoes and flies were!

The night before, just before going to bed, Yin Xiaoman had specially gone to the small house to swat mosquitoes off the two children. But when she woke up in the morning, Da Bao and Erniu still had marks from mosquito bites on their faces and bodies.

The itching and discomfort were bad enough, but the real problem was that Yin Xiaoman worried whether these mosquitoes might carry some sort of disease.

In the past, the elders used to say that mosquitoes and flies carried poison, and a single bite could leave you swollen for a month. There were even worse cases where people would end up with a fever, diarrhea, or sometimes, it could even cost them their lives.

Yin Xiaoman thought to herself that she must remember to ask little Ren for some mosquito coils later, and also inquire if they had provided any medicines when they came to the island.

Not only that, but she also started planning to include medicine on the list of items to exchange with the supplies for the start of spring.

Before coming here, Yin Xiaoman had already prepared a lot of seafood and stored it in her palace’s room, just in case something delayed the weekly exchange of supplies she had planned with the start of spring.

The items in the room were still full, so she wasn’t in a rush to go fishing.

Instead, she wanted to take advantage of this gap, before the experts arrived, to explore the secrets of the mountain.

However, today she had something more important to do.

After picking enough of the things she needed, Yin Xiaoman brought the two little ones back home.

Once home, she poked the sealed stove to start a large pot of water boiling. She then grabbed a water bucket and basin, and with the bamboo basket on her back, she went with her son and daughter to the creek to wash the lemons.

By noon, after seeing the family happily drinking lemon mint water, she had already made up her mind: from today on, she would prepare refreshing drinks for the soldiers working on the mountain every day.

Even though Ren Ping’an had said that her responsibility was only to take care of the experts’ meals, and that she didn’t need to worry about anything else, seeing the soldiers working so hard in the scorching heat made Yin Xiaoman uneasy if she didn’t do something to help.

She couldn’t do the heavy labor, nor would anyone let her, so she decided to do what she could.

The creek wasn’t deep, just about covering their ankles, so even if they fell in, it wasn’t dangerous. Seeing the two children happily playing in the water, Yin Xiaoman didn’t want to spoil their fun. Instead, she assigned them to wash the lemons there.

After showing them how to clean the lemons, she carried her bamboo basket to a nearby field and cut a large bunch of mint.

She washed the mint as well, then grabbed a bucket of water, and the three of them headed back home.

They set the water to cool, sliced the lemons, and picked the mint. The three of them busied themselves with their respective tasks.

Yin Xiaoman was feeling a bit conflicted.

She really wanted to add some honey, but after thinking it over, she decided against it.

Instead, she focused on cutting the lemon slices even thinner and picking the mint leaves more carefully, hoping, as Ren Ping’an had said, that she could help them replenish some vitamins.

Once the lemon water had cooled, she took the bucket and bowl, with the two children in tow, and went to the road they were building.

When Shen Qingyun saw them, he was momentarily stunned. But before he could speak, his gaze fell on the bucket and porcelain bowl the children were carrying.

What was there to be unclear about? He immediately broke into a smile.

“Take a break, come over and have some water. Your sister-in-law made lemon water, everyone come and have a drink.”

His smile was bright and warm, and in his call, there was a hint of playful pride.

Yin Xiaoman couldn’t fail to notice his little thought.

But she merely pursed her lips and shot him a glance, not saying anything.

She handed the drinks to the soldiers from the Kitchen Unit who had come to help, and as everyone laughed and gathered to drink, no one was paying attention. Taking advantage of the moment, she quickly shoved something into Shen Qingyun’s mouth.

Shen Qingyun was startled.

Without thinking, he chewed, but quickly realized it was a salted sour plum.

Caught off guard, the sourness made his face scrunch up, as though his teeth had all fallen out!

He shot a glare at his wife, about to say something, but suddenly felt his mouth water. The mix of salty and sour was so intense that it seemed to snap his overheated brain back into focus.

He held the plum in his mouth, pretending to be angry as he looked at his wife, who was standing next to him, secretly trying to suppress her smile.

“You’re full of tricks, you almost gave me a heart attack.”

But there wasn’t a trace of reproach in his tone.

Shen Qingyun had always known that his wife liked to tinker with small snacks whenever she had nothing to do.

She would dry flowers, herbs, make squid jerky, shrimp strips, or other little treats, either for soaking in water or to help the children with teething.

They had tried offering him some, but he always turned it down.

However, Shen Qingyun didn’t know that his little wife had also pickled plums.

To be honest, if it were normally, he definitely wouldn’t eat something like that. It was too salty and sour, didn’t fill him up, and was mostly just a way to whet the appetite. Most importantly, once it hit his mouth, the sensation was incredibly intense!

It didn’t seem like something worth eating.

But now, he suddenly found himself thinking—this thing is actually interesting.

“These pickled plums are pretty good. Are there any more? If you have some, bring them out and give them to the kids.” he quietly leaned in and said to his wife.

Yin Xiaoman was a little surprised. She hadn’t expected Shen Qingyun to ask for something like that.

The salted green plums were actually something she had pickled in her previous life.

She used them as an ingredient for dishes like braised pork with plums or sweet and sour ribs.

In this life, there was no chance to make those hearty dishes. In fact, she had almost forgotten about that small jar of plums.

It was only when she was about to head out earlier that she had randomly remembered them.

She thought that since he was working outside and sweating a lot, she could give him some salt to replenish his body.

Also, the climate here didn’t suit her well, and she had been feeling stuffy and vaguely nauseous.

Though she wasn’t sure if Shen Qingyun felt the same way, it was better to be prepared.

The sour and salty taste of the pickled plums was really useful for settling the stomach and easing nausea.

She knew he didn’t like to compete with the children for snacks. If she took it out for him to eat, he would definitely refuse. Rather than explaining to him, it was easier to catch him off guard and just give him a piece.

That’s why she had shoved a piece into his mouth earlier, regardless of the risk of being seen and laughed at.

But instead of the expected scolding, he actually complimented her, which was entirely unexpected for Yin Xiaoman.

She thought for a moment and nodded honestly: “Yes, but not much left.”

“Take as much as you have.” Shen Qingyun sighed.

He knew there wouldn’t be much.

He had a clear idea of how much luggage they had brought when they arrived.

Since his wife had brought them so far, it must be something precious. Normally, he wouldn’t have asked for it.

However, from what he observed, most of the soldiers were new recruits. Many of them had never lived in tropical regions before.

There were likely several people, like him, who were struggling with the unfamiliar climate.

In such a situation, they had to jump straight into heavy physical labor without any time to adjust. Many of the young soldiers were clearly struggling.

While Shen Qingyun knew this couldn’t go on forever, he didn’t have a better solution at the moment. For now, he could only take things one step at a time.

Following the man’s request, Yin Xiaoman went home and brought out the whole jar of pickled plums.

After doing the math, she realized that even the entire jar wouldn’t be enough for so many people for three days.

But what else could she do?

She let out a soft sigh.

After taking out a third of the pickled plums, Yin Xiaoman carefully cut them into small pieces and placed them in a bowl. She then asked Da Bao to deliver them back to his father.

As for herself, she once again strapped on her bamboo basket and headed toward the back mountain.

Earlier, her husband had shared his thoughts on the pickled plums and mentioned the current situation with the soldiers at the guard camp. Hearing that made Yin Xiaoman feel somewhat uneasy.

But there were only so many plums left, and when she pickled them, she hadn’t anticipated that they would be used in this way.

However, now that the plums were gone, there were still lemons on the mountain!

Everything in the world is interconnected. Since the pickled plums had been useful, Yin Xiaoman figured she could try pickling lemons with salt.

She worked on the mountain for a long time, picking a large basket full of lemons.

As she descended the mountain, she saw from a distance that her son was standing at the door, anxiously looking toward the back mountain.

Was he waiting for her? Yin Xiaoman couldn’t help but quicken her pace.

“What are you standing at the door for?”

She called out.

Before her words had even finished, Da Bao spotted her, and with his nose twitching, he hurriedly ran toward her, looking anxious and a little wronged.

While running, he shouted: “Mom, mom, hurry! That uncle from the boat is here again! He told me to come call you. He said, said he wants to give you another son!”

By the end of his sentence, the child’s voice was tinged with a clear hint of crying.