Stepmom's Farm Life

Chapter 18 Auntie doesn't want us anymore

When Qin Yao woke up, the rain had subsided. The woods were wet and filled with white mist.

In such weather, not only animals but also people will not go out.

Qin Yao remembered that Old Man Liu had said before that it would rain in the next two days. It seemed that this old farmer was quite good at predicting the weather.

I just don't know if it will affect wheat planting.

But she didn't have time to worry about that now. She first picked a rabbit, skinned it, took out the meat, put it on the fire to roast, and ate it for breakfast and lunch.

After filling my stomach, I continued to pack up the remaining six rabbits.

In one morning, Qin Yao cleaned all seven rabbits. She peeled the skins with high integrity, processed them simply with wood ash, and roasted all the meat together.

When she wants to eat it later, she can just heat it up. It is also more convenient to carry it with her. Fortunately, the temperature has dropped. The roasted rabbit meat should be able to be kept for two or three days, which is just right for her food for the next few days.

Qin Yao has a big appetite, and her physical energy consumption is proportional to her food intake. If she eats to her heart's content, these seven rabbits will be enough for her for two days.

By noon, the rain had stopped completely. A little sunlight shone through the clouds, and the water vapor on the ground evaporated, creating a very unpleasant smell in the forest. Mosquitoes flew out, and small animals tentatively left their nests and walked around in the woods.

Qin Yao covered the cave, took his weapons, and went to look for a water source.

Along the way, Qin Yao discovered many traces of wild animals, most of which were wolves and monkeys. There was at least one monkey pack and one wolf pack nearby.

Monkeys are not valuable, and because this animal is similar to humans, the Sheng people are very taboo about it and do not eat or actively hunt monkeys.

Most wolves are gray wolves. Their meat is not tasty, but their skins are more valuable.

But wolves are social animals, and provoking a wolf pack without complete weapons and equipment is no different from committing suicide. Qin Yao avoided them the whole time.

During this season, snakes rarely come out of their holes and are rarely encountered.

Qin Yao was too lazy to attack the small snake that passed by. Instead, the snake noticed her and was so scared that it slipped into the grass and swam very fast.

On the way to the water source, Qin Yao shot two arrows and hit a yellow weasel and a roe deer.

After yesterday's practice, she is now very accurate in archery. She deliberately left them with a breath and didn't hit their vital parts. In order to chase the two little guys who were staggering to escape, Qin Yao also ran a long distance.

Especially the yellow weasel, which was small, agile and very fast. If it hadn't been dragging an arrow on its tail and being blocked by the branches, Qin Yao would have had to chase it even farther.

After being captured alive, the little thing bared its teeth in a particularly ferocious manner and tried to bite Qin Yao, but was knocked unconscious by a slap from her.

The roe deer was not stupid, but because few people set foot in the deep mountains, it was so focused on chewing the leaves that it didn't notice the hunter approaching. Qin Yao shot an arrow at its front thigh, and it started to run wildly in pain and fear.

But it was big in size and a big target, so it was much easier to catch than the yellow weasel. With a long rope, it fell headfirst on the spot and was tied up by Qin Yao.

There was no shortage of carrying poles in the forest. Qin Yao cut a thick branch, tied the two prey to the branch, and carried them to the water source.

This is a small pond formed naturally in the central depression on the top of the mountain. It should be spring water that seeps out from the ground. The water is very shallow and clear, and there are even fish in it.

There were many traces of small animals drinking water by the pond. Qin Yao put down her burden, found a clean place to wash her face, and tried to catch fish. Unexpectedly, the fish here would not hide at all and moved slowly, so she caught them all.

After a while, Qin Yao caught six fish weighing two or three pounds. She strung them all together with a straw rope and hung them on the other end of the shoulder pole. She also filled a bamboo tube with water, so that she could have a snack for tonight.

Dusk is when the wild animals in the mountains are most active. Qin Yao left the water source early, picked up today's prey and hid nearby to observe the situation.

Two kilometers away from the water source, we found a pile of fresh feces, which was obviously left behind by the fish when they came out to swim after the rain stopped.

Qin Yao might not be able to recognize all the crops in the fields, but she could tell which animal the feces of various large animals belonged to at a glance.

This is the feces left by a black bear, and judging by the size of the feces, it should be that of an adult black bear.

Qin Yao was ecstatic, but also a little worried.

Bears have very sensitive hearing, and at this season, food is plentiful, so black bears that are fattening up for hibernation generally won't appear, so it's not easy to catch one.

But since its trace has been found, Qin Yao does not intend to let it go.

It was getting dark, and Qin Yao returned to the cave with today's catch. While grilling fish as a snack, she was thinking about how to lure the black bear out.

But the weather was not good and it started raining again at night.

And this time, it rained intermittently for two days in a row.

Qin Yao lay in the cave, looking at the struggling spores and yellow weasels, as well as a few pheasants and squirrels she had caught, and was unwilling to go down the mountain like this.

Without hesitating for too long, she decided to stay in the cave and continue waiting for the opportunity.

Four days have passed since Qin Yao entered the mountains.

It rained on and off for four days.

Fortunately, Liu Bo and his two brothers had finished planting the wheat seeds left by Qin Yao on the first day.

If it had been half a day later, the wheat in these two acres of land would have been wasted.

Every autumn rain brings a chill. In just four days, the temperature dropped several degrees.

In the thatched hut at the innermost end of Liujia Village, Liu Dalang and Liu Erlang lit a fire. However, there was always wind leaking into the house, and it was still cold even with the fire. In the end, the four thinly dressed brothers and sisters moved directly to the bed, wrapped themselves in quilts, and warmed themselves by the fire, only then did they feel a little warmer.

The taro that Qin Yao left behind was gone after she ate half of it this morning.

It had been raining outside and the ground was muddy. Dalang and Erlang wanted to go out to dig some wild vegetables but couldn't.

If they got caught in the rain and caught a cold, they would have no money to buy medicine and would die.

It has been several days since I last saw Qin Yao. Si Niang counted the days on her fingers and asked every day:

"Brother, when will my mother come back?"

Today, after she had finished bending her four fingers, she asked again, "Brother, why hasn't mother come back yet?"

Sanlang asked his second brother quietly, "Will she never come back?"

Jiro glared at him and said, "Don't talk nonsense. She will be back when the rain stops."

Sanlang was quiet for a moment, then couldn't help but frown and asked worriedly, "Brother, do you think she has been eaten by a wild beast?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Si Niang burst into tears: "Wuwuwu Si Niang, I don't want my mother to be eaten by wild beasts!"

When she cried, the other three people in the room fell silent.

After three seconds of silence, Sanlang couldn't hold back his tears and started crying too. He raised his hands to wipe his tears and said with a sob, "Auntie doesn't want us anymore. She must have run away."

Erlang looked at Dalang worriedly, "Brother, did she really run away?"

Dalang looked at the crying twins, and then at Erlang who was filled with anxiety. The suspicions he had had in his heart for many days seemed to be confirmed. A feeling of bitterness and anger of being deceived and abandoned surged in his heart. He was about to grit his teeth and tell his younger brother and sister not to think about her.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

(End of this chapter)