Chapter 3: A fruitful journey into the mountains

Chapter 3: A fruitful journey into the mountains

By noon, Liang Zifeng's backpack was filled with various mushrooms and herbs, and he had two hares tied with hemp ropes in his hands. These two hares were captured by his mental power, and the two rabbits thought that he could not find them.

Liang Zifeng had set up quite a few traps in the morning, and maybe he would get some rewards when he returned in the afternoon.

Maybe Liang Zifeng was lucky, as he didn't encounter any wild beasts the whole morning. He did see wild deer and wild goats twice, but unfortunately these animals were very alert, and ran away when they saw Liang Zifeng from a distance.

Now is the time when spring and summer meet. Some wild fruits have grown quite big, but they are very unpalatable. Liang Zifeng found some of these wild fruits to satisfy his hunger, and then got some bamboo and weaved a basket. In the afternoon, Liang Zifeng specifically looked for various ores, preparing to try to smelt iron himself after returning home, as there were too few iron tools at home.

At around three o'clock in the afternoon, Liang Zifeng started walking back. When passing by several traps, he harvested three wild rabbits and a pheasant.

However, there was only some hare fur and meat scraps around one of the traps, as well as animal footprints similar to those of a dog. This made Liang Zifeng even more alert.

On the way back, Liang Zifeng always felt that something was staring at him from behind, but he didn't find anything when he turned back several times. To be safe, he used his mental power to control a large pile of rubble, and by accelerating by nearly 20 meters, he shot a large amount of rubble in the direction he felt.

After waiting for a while, he didn't hear any sound and thought he was mistaken, but the feeling of being spied on disappeared during the rest of the journey, which made Liang Zifeng certain that there was indeed someone trying to target him before, but gave up after seeing him show his strength.

With the help of his mental power, Liang Zifeng sped up his return and finally returned home around 5 pm.

"Second brother, you are finally back? Wow, so many wild rabbits?" The fourth brother was the first to see Liang Zifeng and happily ran over to take the two wild rabbits.

"Second brother." The third brother also came over with his younger sister. He was happy to say hello, but also felt relieved.

"Erguo, good morning, rabbit." When the little sister saw the hare, her eyes curved with joy and she poked a hare with her finger.

"Is everything alright at home?" Liang Zifeng took down the basket and backpack, then asked the third brother.

"Uncle Yang came in the afternoon and gave us some bamboo shoots. He was very happy to hear that your soul-leaving syndrome had been cured. Then he didn't say anything when he heard that you went to the mountains, but just sighed when he left." The third brother thought for a while and said.

"Oh, we must repay Uncle Yang well in the future, okay?" Liang Zifeng said seriously to his younger brothers and sisters.

"Yeah, Uncle Yang is a good man." The fourth brother nodded and gave Uncle Yang a good guy card.

"Yang Dudu, bamboo shoots, good luck." The younger sister also said with a smile, obviously having tasted fresh raw bamboo shoots.

In fact, fresh bamboo shoots can also be eaten raw. They have a light sweetness, but many of them have an astringent taste, and eating too much can cause diarrhea.

The Uncle Yang they were talking about was called Yang Tiezhu. He was about 30 years old, but looked to be around 40. He got along well with their father. After their father disappeared, Uncle Yang also took good care of them.

The entire mountain village was very poor, and they could not even get enough food. But even so, Yang Tiezhu would often come to see them, and he would share some of the game he hunted and the wild fruits and vegetables he picked with them, otherwise one of them would have starved to death long ago.

For dinner, we still cooked porridge, but unlike in the morning, this time we added rabbit meat, some nourishing herbs, a kind of leaf that can remove fishy smell, and of course wild vegetables.

The brother and sister were very surprised by this method of cooking, but after taking a bite, they started to gobble it up. They cooked more this time and there was a lot left. Liang Zifeng asked the third and fourth brothers to deliver it to Yang Tiezhu.

After dinner, Liang Zifeng put the little bit of iron ore he had collected in the corner of the yard. He no longer expected to smelt iron to make any tools. There was too little iron ore and it would take too long. It would be better for him to collect some herbs and then take time to go to Majiaji, twenty miles away.

After processing the small amount of ore, Liang Zifeng began to process the remaining rabbits. He peeled off the rabbit skins, removed the internal organs, and then used rice bran to make smoked rabbit meat. The rabbit meat made in this way can be stored for a long time.

While Liang Zifeng was busy, the third and fourth brothers came back, and Yang Tiezhu came with them.

In fact, Yang Tiezhu has a daughter who is just one month old, and his wife is in poor health and seldom goes out. Even in such a situation, he will still do his best to take care of them, which shows what kind of person Yang Tiezhu is.

"Uncle Yang, you're here?" Liang Zifeng had already put the rabbit in the pot to smoke and was now processing the rabbit's internal organs. When he saw Yang Tiezhu, he greeted him.

"Er, did you have a good harvest today? Do you need your help?" Yang Tiezhu said to Liang Zifeng with a look of satisfaction.

"..."

Liang Zifeng was speechless about the way Yang Tiezhu addressed him. Then he remembered that they, the brothers and sisters, didn't seem to have formal names and usually called each other by their ranking.

"Uncle, I have named my brothers and sisters. My father's surname is Liang, so I will be called Liang Zifeng from now on." Liang Zifeng did not respond to Yang Tiezhu's question, but put down the work in his hands and introduced himself to Yang Tiezhu.

"The third child will be called Liang Zimu, the fourth child will be Liang Zijin, and the youngest child will be Liang Ziya."

"Ah?" Yang Tiezhu didn't react for a moment and was a little dazed.

"Second brother, will I be called Liang Zimu from now on?" The third brother was a little surprised, then asked excitedly.

"Well, our father's last name is Liang, so we can't just keep calling him Liang Lao Er or Liang Lao San, right? Especially since my little sister is a girl, how about Liang Lao Wu? Or Liang Xiao Mei? Liang Xiao Mei sounds good too."

"No, that doesn't sound good. I want the rice character from Erguoqi." The little girl actually understood what he said, and immediately hugged Liang Zifeng's thigh and shook her head.

"Okay, I'll call you Liang Ziya from now on. It's a nice name." Liang Zifeng smiled and wanted to touch his hair, but then he found his hands were covered in dirt from handling the rabbit's internal organs.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." The little sister showed a satisfied smile on her face.

"Oh, my name will be Liang Zijin from now on, haha, I have a name." The fourth brother also knew that he had a name at this time.

"Er... Zifeng." Yang Tiezhu subconsciously called Liang Zifeng by his original name, and after he came to his senses, he changed his words and called him by his name.