Chapter Thirty-Four Encounter

  One clear morning, Zhi Xiao was woken up again by the chirping of birds outside. The weather in May started to warm up, and it seemed that there were more birds on the mountain. Every day at this time, they would disturb people's dreams. Zhi Xiao turned over, buried her head in the quilt, and continued to sleep soundly.

  Now she has a father and mother, doesn't need to worry about anything herself, just eat and grow fat.

  When I came to know and woke up, it was already three poles of the sun.

  Erni sat in the outer room, in a bright and spacious hall. The warmth outside flowed slowly into the house, bringing with it the songs of birds and the fragrance of flowers from the woods, which mixed with the fresh air to create a pleasant scent.

  Upon hearing the rustling sound behind her, she turned around and said, "Zhi Xiao is awake, let's eat quickly, Eldest Aunt and Eldest Uncle have already gone down the mountain to sell pork."

  Put down the work in your hands and bring over the warm water for washing from the stove.

  She let out a sigh of resignation, unaware of when it started, but this girl was particularly unwilling to let her enter the city alone, always finding various excuses to avoid it or making up lies. Upon careful thought, it seemed that there were only a few instances where she had entered the city to buy calabazas, and nothing more than that.

  "I'll do it myself, you don't have to keep doing embroidery all the time." Zhi Xiao rushed over and poured water into the wooden basin, washing while leaning in to take a look, furrowing her brow as she asked, "How many handkerchiefs is this now?"

  Erni just smiled, picked up the handkerchief that knew how to measure: "It's not a waste of time, it's boring to stay still, and Big Lady exempted our living expenses, but usually we have to save some ourselves, accumulating little by little is also good."

  After washing up neatly, she sat down properly, picked up her chopsticks and quickly shoveled the rice porridge into her mouth with a savory dish, and the steamed buns were great to eat with.

  She didn't express her opinion, but after having the pumpkin income since the beginning of the year, Lan Niang exempted them from living expenses. Although it was just a small amount, it was still a gesture, and sometimes the two of them would quietly help with many chores.

  She silently noticed these things, she wasn't an unfeeling person, just a bit more cautious, nothing wrong with that, just thinking of learning self-protection, after several months of getting along and grinding, also unknowingly accepted them.

  It was almost noon, so I fed the three little pigs some mixed feed and took a walk around the mountain, but still didn't see that piece of wood that had gone who-knows-where. When I came back, Zhi Xiao, who had been waiting at the door for half a day, looked a bit listless. Seeing that my parents hadn't returned yet, I got used to starting dinner with Er Ni first. We had stored quite a lot of pork from yesterday's pig in the house - some was pickled, some was smoked, and some was made into sausages, which were cooling outside.

  On the top of the cabinet in the house, there was a pig intestine that had been cleaned with great effort yesterday. Suddenly remembering the sauerkraut stir-fry from her past life, the glutinous rice filling, the dry stir-fry, and the braised flavor, all sorts of flavors seemed to be what she loved to eat, so she started cooking on impulse.

  After rummaging through the cupboard to find seasonings, the flavor is complete and can be savory and delicious. However, stir-fry doesn't have Sichuan pepper or star anise, braising doesn't have eight horns, cinnamon, or fennel, and glutinous rice is also unavailable, but pickled vegetables are well-stocked.

  She turned around and handed over the copper coins in the urn, preparing to take advantage of the rare opportunity to go down the mountain to the village entrance grocery store.

  "Knowing whether it's downhill or not, I'll go and make it happen." Erni only saw her take the money and rush out without saying anything unclear, and in the blink of an eye she had already run out of the door, hurrying to catch up.

  But when she chased out the door, Zhi Xiao was standing at the entrance, not having run far. He stared blankly at the stranger who had suddenly appeared in front of him. The stunned youth's face was slightly flushed, and Zhi Xiao thought to herself that maybe she had misseen things.

  But since she moved up the mountain, no one has come up here, let alone visit her.

  Looking at the unfamiliar face, with a smile and lowering his head, he still can't help but lift that shy face to meet this gaze.

  He kicked the stone at his feet and said, "Who are you? What brings you here?" His tone was unfriendly and interrogative. Could he be a thief? It's broad daylight, and judging by his foolish appearance, it's unlikely that he would make a good thief. He should remind his father to build a fence around the house to prevent strangers from coming in.

  Erniang walked around Zhi Xiao and said to the stunned man, "Aren't you Liu Yu from the village chief's family? Does Zhi Xiao remember?"

  Erni is just like Lan Niang, grasping at any possibility that could remind him of the past.

  But she will be disappointed again, Zhi Xiao slightly shook her head, without any impression, because it's simply not the same person.

  Actually, Liu Yu himself wasn't very clear about it. Yesterday, he heard his grandfather say that they had caught a wild boar, and he was both curious and admiring. This morning, when the teacher was teaching, he didn't listen to a single word, and during the break, for some unknown reason, he ran up the mountain by himself. Now that he's being asked about it, he really can't come up with an explanation.

  Liu Yu's voice was hoarse and unclear, his face flushed with anxiety.

  "I was reading at home and got tired, so I thought of going up the mountain to clear my mind. Yesterday, I heard that you caught a big wild boar on the mountain, so I thought I'd drop by to take a look." He finally managed to say this not-so-fluent sentence with a sincere and eager expression, looking straight at Zhi Xiao.

  "Didn't we send a leg of pork to your house? That pig was killed long ago, you didn't know?" Zhi Xiao Qi's expression changed, her eyebrows furrowed deeply, and she muttered in a clear voice.

  Zhixiao thought to himself, his family wouldn't be so petty as to send him again just because they were dissatisfied with the amount given, and Zhixiao was overthinking things.

  "Haha……" Liu Yu rubbed his head and smiled foolishly, actually he came to see Zhi Xiao. Last night, after hearing that they caught a wild boar at their home, he was so excited that he didn't sleep until very late, and this morning he overslept and got scolded by Mr.

  "What's with the silly smile? Speak up!"

  As for the village head, Shan Xiaotou, she knew him very well and had a particularly deep impression of him. Her mother was full of disgust towards this family, especially towards the village head who forced her to move up the mountain, and there was even some resentment in her heart. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been angry when she heard that Liu Jian wanted to send gifts to the village head's house.

  Seemingly recalling that she had heard this name from Ling Nuan before, she suddenly pieced together the past and present, only to realize that her family had a grudge against this guy all along. Upon realizing this, her expression turned cold, and she glared at him with no kindness in her eyes.

  Erni watched the two sides at a stalemate, getting anxious, don't let Zhixiao accidentally offend the village head's precious grandson, Zhixiao is fierce when he gets angry, just afraid that this Liu Yu will go back and report to his parents, dragging both families into it.

  Erni quickly pulled the confused and forgetful Zhi Xiao to one side, quietly telling her about some past entanglements between Liu Yu and herself.

  It's rare to see someone like him in the village, and he's also the grandson of the village head.

  In the few months she had been here, occasionally sneaking out a few times to experience the rare encounters with villagers, everyone would either avoid her or look at her with that annoying gaze, so she wasn't too enthusiastic about staying in the mountains. When she went down to the village, it was only to buy some snacks at the general store on the outskirts of the village, and then ran back to hide from Lan Niang's sight for a day or half a day, avoiding Lan Niang's relentless pursuit of her learning needlework.

  This is already the closest she has been to the village boundary, any further and there will be none.

  She also knew that she had never been seen in the village, so she was not too willing to have much contact with them.

  But now, suddenly there's this person who comes running over, and she's a bit of an oddball, being controlled by her mother and all that. She can't quite accept it, what's going on here? There are actually people like this around? Should I say that the one called Liu Yu is the weirdo, or... or is it the charm of knowing him before that attracted such a special person? He just loves people who aren't like everyone else.

  I'm really getting a headache now.

  ……