Chiang Xiao watched with enthusiasm as Xu Linjiang stir-fried a dish of wild boar with fresh wild vegetables using a makeshift frying pan fashioned from a lunch box lid! The aroma instantly rushed into her nostrils, making her stomach grumble hungrily.
The rice in the aluminum lunch box perched atop the clay stove was also ready, carrying the unique fragrance of wood-fired rice, so aromatic that it made Chiang Xiao’s mouth water.
Many of the children in the mountain village had experience cooking on the mountain, but this was the first time for Chiang Xiao.
She found it fascinating and also thought that this rice was even more delicious than the rice cooked with an electric rice cooker. Ge Dejun improvised with materials at hand, breaking off a few mountain grass twigs and whittling them to the length of chopsticks, and handed a pair to Chiang Xiao.
Xu Linjiang then cushioned the hot lunch box with tree leaves, holding the box of white rice in his hands, taking a bite of meat, a mouthful of rice, a bite of wild vegetables with wood ear mushrooms, a mouthful of rice; Chiang Xiao felt she was so happy she could bubble over with joy.
They had not brought along any oil and salt, but the thinly sliced wild boar released its own fat. Using that fat to stir-fry fresh wild vegetables and wood ear mushrooms, and then scooping in a very salty pickled vegetable for seasoning, the dish tasted so good Chiang Xiao almost swallowed her tongue.
Ge Dejun and Xu Linjiang were too busy eating to talk, devouring their food.
This kind of life felt right.
Even if it was a bit tough and tiring, the rewards of hard work were incredibly satisfying!
After they had eaten, Ge Dejun presented Chiang Xiao with something wrapped in leaves as if offering a treasure. Chiang Xiao opened it to find a handful of bright red mountain berries.
She was immediately delighted, "Uncle Grandpa, where did you find these?"
"I found them over there while setting traps earlier. There are not many. Go ahead and eat, no need to wash them, they’re not dirty growing here in the mountains." Ge Dejun watched her with a smile and said, "Right now, there are not many wild fruits growing on the mountain. Wait another couple of months, and all kinds of wild fruits will be hanging from the branches. Looking at the richness of Bai Gu Mountain, by then, I reckon there’ll be enough for you to enjoy to your heart’s content."
Imagining this scene, Chiang Xiao couldn’t help but smile brightly, innocently saying, "Then I definitely won’t be able to finish them all by myself! I’ll get Cousin Aunt Xiao Tong to come and enjoy them too!"
Hearing her words, Xu Linjiang felt both grateful and anticipatory—grateful that Chiang Xiao thought of them in everything, and hopeful for Xiao Tong. Though Xiao Tong was her cousin aunt, she was hardly a few years older than Chiang Xiao. Xiao Tong had few friends, and after following him to the city, she knew no one, had to endure his stepmother’s attitude, and was unable to cheer up, almost becoming ill from repressed unhappiness.
In the future, letting her spend more time with Chiang Xiao would surely make her happier. Seeing how cheerful and lively Chiang Xiao was, just seeing her smile made him feel better.
If Chiang Xiao knew his thoughts, she would surely smile bitterly.
This was probably the most cheerful and lively day she had had in two lifetimes.
In the past, she had been like a child with autism.
The mountain berries were sour and sweet, and Chiang Xiao wanted to share some with them, but Ge Dejun and Xu Linjiang both refused to eat any.
"You eat, you eat," Ge Dejun coaxed her like a child.
Without much persuasion, Chiang Xiao took them one by one, treating them like dessert after her meal.
Though it was just a small handful of wild mountain berries, she still enjoyed them thoroughly.
After resting for a while and finishing their berries, Ge Dejun and Xu Linjiang got back to work. They chopped down two sturdy branches and used mountain vines to create a simple net, resembling a stretcher.
They hoisted the wild boar onto it and tied it with hemp rope at one end, so Xu Linjiang could pull the roped end over his shoulder and drag the boar down the mountain.
While they were busy with this, they did not dare let Chiang Xiao wander off again, asking her to stay close by.