As noon approached, Zhao Liangcai led Qin Junyao to a small stream.
After examining the footprints by the stream and nearby traces, he instructed Qin Junyao to stay in an open area and not wander off, while he went to catch a pheasant.
Qin Junyao squatted by the stream, washing her hands, and saw the small fish in the water, wondering what she could use to catch them.
She hadn't eaten fish once since arriving in this world.
Qin Junyao tried basins, drying trays, and baskets one by one, but besides muddling the stream, she didn't catch a single fish.
The fish here were too smart, Qin Junyao's excuse for failing to catch them.
Unable to catch fish, Qin Junyao sat on a sun-warmed rock, looking at the lush green mountains, the birds in the sky, and the fearless small animals drinking water by the stream.
Looking at such scenery, Qin Junyao really wanted to take out her zither and play a tune, but alas...
"Junyao, you must be hungry," Zhao Liangcai appeared within Qin Junyao's sight, carrying four pheasants in one hand and a bundle of firewood in the other.
"Not hungry, why did you catch so many pheasants?"
Zhao Liangcai walked to the stream and explained to Qin Junyao, "Pheasants don't have much meat. They were gathered together, so I caught them all."
"Do you know wild leeks? There might be some here since there's water. Find some to put inside the chickens, and I'll prepare them."
"I know, I'll go find them," Qin Junyao replied to Zhao Liangcai, who was using a dagger to cut the chickens' heads.
Qin family had over a dozen wild leek plants in their vegetable garden. Qin's mother treasured them and wouldn't let anyone dig them up, waiting for them to grow more the following year.
Wild leeks grew in places with ample moisture. They were common in Qin's mother's hometown, but finding over a dozen within Yangshu Village was considered lucky.
Qin Junyao found a few clumps along the stream, but they were a bit old. She decided to sneak some out from her spatial storage.
"Do you think these are enough?"
Hearing the sound, Zhao Liangcai looked up and saw Qin Junyao holding a large bunch of wild leeks in her hands.
The wild leek bulbs were of uniform size, their roots clean, and there were no yellow leaves.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said to Qin Junyao with a smile, "Enough. Half will do for me, and you can take the rest back."
After washing half of the wild leeks, Qin Junyao watched Zhao Liangcai prepare the pheasants.
Two pheasants had already been skinned and beheaded, impaled on four sharpened branches and stuck in the soil by the stream.
The other two chickens had their innards removed. Zhao Liangcai took the wild leeks from Qin Junyao and stuffed them into the chickens' bellies, then sewed them shut with thin branches.
"Aren't you going to pluck their feathers?" Qin Junyao asked Zhao Liangcai curiously, looking at these two chickens, which were clearly different from the ones on the branches.
"These two will be covered in mud and cooked. Without large leaves, I have to cook them with their feathers on. These are tender, while the two roasted ones will be chewy."
Qin Junyao knew this was beggar's chicken when she heard about the mud. "How do you know so much? You seem very familiar with this area, do you often go into the mountains?" Sudang Xiaoshuo.com
"I've only been here once. Don't you remember my father was a hunter? When I was young, my father would carry me into the mountains and teach me to recognize animal tracks, droppings, and predict their movement."
Zhao Liangcai mixed the mud and said playfully, "Going into the mountains is like going into my backyard."
"I still remember, whenever I went into the mountains with my father, my mother would wait at the courtyard gate, not going anywhere, until I returned safely," Zhao Liangcai's gaze shifted away from Qin Junyao and towards the distance.
"The only thing my mother complained about to my father was taking me into the mountains. My father would always promise with a smile not to take me again, but then he'd secretly take me into the mountains a few days later."
Qin Junyao cupped her cheeks with her hands, imagining a tall hunter secretly taking his son into the mountains, and his wife waiting angrily at the courtyard gate for the father and son to return.
"What are you thinking about, smiling so happily?" Zhao Liangcai turned his gaze back to Qin Junyao and saw her smiling warmly.
"Thinking about what you said, you must have been very happy then?"
Zhao Liangcai finished covering the wild leek-filled pheasants with mud and began to dig a pit.
"I was only happy for about a year. I don't remember anything before the age of two or three. When I was five, my mother passed away from illness. Your family is so good, complete and lively."
Qin Junyao smiled without responding. Zhao Liangcai had a year of happy and warm memories, while she didn't even have that. What she had now wasn't something she had experienced.
Zhao Liangcai used Qin Junyao's medicinal hoe to dig a large pit, laid burn-resistant firewood at the bottom, placed the mud-covered chickens on top, then added more firewood and lit the fire.
When the fire wasn't too strong, Zhao Liangcai held the two impaled pheasants and roasted them by the fire.
All Qin Junyao could do was help add firewood. Roasting chicken was more difficult than stir-frying, a skill beyond Qin Junyao's reach.
After Zhao Liangcai brushed the chickens with oil again, he asked Qin Junyao to take a small wooden box from his baggage.
One side of the opened wooden box revealed salt, another side revealed cumin powder, and a turn revealed chili powder.
Qin Junyao wasn't surprised that Zhao Liangcai brought cooking oil into the mountains, but the small box for seasonings filled her with curiosity.
"Where did you buy this box? It's so convenient."
Zhao Liangcai closed the box in his hand and handed it to Qin Junyao, then pulled the pheasants from the ground to continue roasting. "It wasn't bought. A soldier in my camp who specialized in making bows and crossbows made it casually."
"It looks convenient, but it doesn't hold much seasoning. It'll be gone in three or four uses."
Qin Junyao took the box and kept opening and closing the lids. She opened all six sides that could be opened, but couldn't figure out the internal structure.
"It's made so well. Can he make those puzzle boxes?"
"Puzzle boxes are the most basic. They're just things they make to practice. If you like it, I can have someone send you a few," Zhao Liangcai replied to Qin Junyao as he rotated the pheasant in his hand.
Qin Junyao heard that puzzle boxes were the most basic, so she got up and sat on a rock a little closer to Zhao Liangcai.
"Um, my younger brother, San Niu, really likes things like mechanisms. He made our cart himself, teaching himself without anyone's guidance."
"Also, the Lu Ban locks I bought, he can unlock and reassemble them after playing with them for a few minutes. He can even make larger ones for Xiao Yu and Hou Shan to play with."
Zhao Liangcai listened to Qin Junyao speaking, only two fists away from him, without interrupting.
"I wanted to discuss with you, would it be possible for San Niu to learn about puzzle boxes? You don't have to teach him anything confidential. San Niu is very obedient, he won't say anything about what he sees or hears."
Seeing that Zhao Liangcai had not reacted while she was speaking, Qin Junyao thought her request was too much.
It made sense, as they barely had enough time to make bows and crossbows, let alone teach a child.
She was about to get up and return to her original position when a fragrant roasted chicken was placed in her hand.
"San Niu will have to call me brother-in-law in the future. Let alone learning puzzle boxes, I can even have someone come to your home to teach him."
"In the future, just tell me if you need anything, no need to discuss. Your matters are my matters."
"Try it, is it delicious?"