Chapter 2: Mounts

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  Even though Li An had some mental preparation beforehand, when he discovered that he should be crossing through time and space like those main characters, he immediately became stupid.

  "Yes, it's the first year of Zhenguan. Daozhang, are you all right?"

  Looking at the person in front of him, his eyes suddenly widened and froze there. Zhao Er was worried but didn't dare to act rashly, so he could only wave his right hand in front of the other person.

  "Oh, no... nothing, Zhao Er, just help me up first."

  Li An took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down the intense emotional turmoil in his heart, and then reached out to place his hand on the shoulder of the ancient man sitting beside him.

  "Hey, Daozhang, you'd better be careful."

  Zhao Er's personality was very honest and he didn't dare use too much force, carefully helping someone get up.

  Li Anran clenched his teeth, enduring the hunger pangs in his stomach and the lingering numbness and pain on his body. After circling the open area at the edge of the forest twice, his face was filled with bitter smiles.

  After these two turns, I have completely ruled out the possibility of being fooled by others. At the same time, it can be basically confirmed that this big mountain is not within the territory of Yushui.

  With the knowledge of agriculture and forestry he learned from the Agricultural University, Li Anran was even more certain that this place was not in Jinling City.

  Adding to that, there's Zhao Er by his side, with a retro outfit and a mouthful of Guanzhong dialect, Li Anran couldn't help but admit that he might have really traveled through time.

  "Never mind, whether it's true or false, let's fill our stomachs first and talk about it later. As long as we can survive, there will always be a way."

  Li Anran stared at the reality which was very "bony", and didn't continue to bother anymore. Instead, he let Zhao Er support himself to the side of the tricycle that was parked not far away.

  When he found that his beloved car had also traveled with him to the Tang Dynasty, and judging from its appearance, it seemed to have suffered no damage at all, Li An couldn't help but feel a wave of relief.

  At this moment, Zhao Er's face was full of curiosity and a hint of reverence. He helped himself to move closer, then pressed the switch on the soft top convertible that had been locked from the outside to prevent rain, and lifted it open.

  "Whoosh!" With a sound, the black convertible top retracted back into the rear of the tonneau cover, revealing an interior that still had some water marks left on it.

  Such a change directly made Zhao Er's face full of reverence and awe even thicker.

  Li Anran finally found the target from a large supermarket plastic bag filled with many things after bending over and rummaging through it for a while.

  Spicy roasted pork ribs, a product of Yurun Group, a local enterprise in Nanjing. I bought it when it was on promotion, buy one get one free, the taste is average but it's worth it for its affordability.

  He took out two bags of spicy roasted chestnuts tied together with tape, and Li Anran didn't even care if his hands were dirty or not, he directly tore open the packaging bag and started devouring them.

  "Burp!" A sudden sound rang out, and Li Anran, who was chewing on meat, turned his head to see Zhao Er rubbing his stomach with a embarrassed expression.

  After swallowing the meat in his mouth, Li Anran smiled somewhat apologetically and hastily pulled out another package of spicy roasted rabbit head, handing it to the person in front of him.

  "Zhao Er, you just ate my food, now I'm treating you."

  "No, no, no, I don't want it, and I'm not hungry either."

  Looking at the piece of meat wrapped in a transparent plastic bag that was handed over to him, Zhao Er did not take it but instead waved his hands repeatedly.

  Just then, a "gurgling" sound of abdominal rumbling clearly rang out.

  "Haha... are you not hungry?" Li Anran knew the other person was just being polite, so after laughing, he straightened his face and said: "If you're not going to eat, I'll throw it away."

  After finishing the gesture, I have to throw away the spicy roasted chestnuts in my hand.

  "Stop it, I'm eating, can't I even eat?"

  Zhao Er, who normally just relied on his own skills to be slightly better than ordinary villagers and could barely make a living, couldn't bear to waste such delicious meat anymore.

  "That's right, come on, tear it open along here and you can eat it, but don't eat the outer packaging."

  Li Anran had long known that the other party would react in this way. After handing over the thing, he also pointed to the serrated edge of the packaging of the spicy roasted rabbit and reminded him of a sentence.

  Zhao Er carefully tore open the packaging, and as he brought the fragrant spicy roasted pork ribs wrapped in a layer of sesame seeds and sauce to his mouth for a bite, his eyes suddenly widened.

  "What's wrong? Not to your taste? Never mind, I have sausage, braised egg, and cured meat here. Oh, and there's also a Nanfang roasted chicken and a sauce duck, one of them will suit you."

  Li An thought the other person was not used to eating spicy food, so after swallowing the last bit of spicy roasted rabbit in three or two mouthfuls, he turned around and started searching again.

  Before attending a funeral in the town, Li Anran took a detour to the county and strolled around a large supermarket, replenishing a lot of "food" for his family.

  "No, no, no, Daozhang, I've just never had meat that tasted so good."

  Looking at the food in Li Anran's hand, Zhao Er didn't understand what "hot dogs" and "sandwiches" meant, but he understood the meaning of the words.

  "It's fine if you like it, but that piece of meat probably won't be enough for you to eat. Here, this pack of braised pork is not spicy and should suit your taste."

  Li Anran realized he was thinking too much, so he stuffed another package of rations into his hand and continued to wolf down the food.

  As he ate and ate, Li Anran unexpectedly discovered that the more he ate, the faster the numbness and soreness on his body dissipated.

  After devouring a roasted turkey leg and a large red sausage, both vacuum-packed in plastic, as well as over ten braised eggs, I basically recovered.

  "My god! I've eaten so much and I'm still hungry, when did I become such a big eater?! And what's going on with my body? Eating can actually relieve pain?"

  After sweeping away the remaining sausages, Nan Nong roasted chicken, sauce chicken and a small number of braised eggs in his bag, Li Anran's mood was really not good.

  "Dao Zhang, Dao Zhang?"

  Li An was deep in thought about what had happened to him when he was suddenly brought back to reality by Zhao Er, who was standing beside him with a hesitant expression and a face full of embarrassment.

  "Hmm, Zhao Er, what's up?"

  "I... I think, I want to take this food back home, is it okay?"

  Looking at the person who was holding the fragrant spicy roasted rabbit and the unopened crystal ham, salivating nonstop but never eating again, Li Anran asked:

  "Bring it back home? Zhao Er, aren't you hungry now?"

  "I'm a bit hungry, but I'll just grab something to eat later." Scratching the back of his head, Zhao Er smiled and said: "I think... I want to take this meat back home for my wife and kids to try."

  After hearing this, Li An suddenly realized that the place he was in now might not be modern times, but rather the first year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, which was ancient.

  In this era, it's considered simple and rough, as if even stir-frying is not available in cooking skills. These lazy instant noodles bought from the supermarket are absolutely delicious.

  Even if Li Anran studied agriculture instead of history in college, he had also seen some ancient dramas describing the Tang Dynasty and a few classic time-traveling novels.

  It is clear that in the first year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin had just ascended to the throne and created a prosperous Tang Dynasty. Due to the war at the end of Sui Dynasty, people's lives were quite hard.

  Not to mention eating such delicious food, most ordinary people can't even eat meat, and many people still have trouble getting enough to eat.

  "Zhao Er, you have saved my life before, this is naturally no problem, if it's not enough, I still have some here." Li Anran paused for a moment before continuing:

  "For now, I also have nowhere to go. I don't know if it's possible to stay at your place for a while? Please rest assured, I won't disturb you for too long."

  Li Anran also knew that after these lazy people finished eating the grain, they would probably not be able to eat again. However, compared to the big matter of survival, this was nothing.

  "As long as you don't mind the humble state of my home, Master Dao is welcome to stay for as long as he likes."

  If it were an ordinary stranger who made such a request, even if Zhao Er was very honest and got more benefits, he would not agree so readily.

  Not unwilling, but afraid.

  It is now the first year of Zhenguan, and Li Shimin has just ascended to the throne. He has not yet fully consolidated his position, and the impact of the war at the end of Sui has not been completely eliminated.

  Even if the people of Zhaojia Village don't understand such principles, they can't help it if someone does. For example, the village elder and the lowest-ranking ancient official, the Lizheng.

  Although the Tang Dynasty is very ancient, it has a well-developed household registration system. Although not as strict as the Ming Dynasty, which requires a passport for long-distance travel, it's not far behind.

  Zhao Er's prompt response was not due to anything else, but because of the Taoist robe on Li Anran's body. Of course, Bian Sanlun was also one of the reasons.

  With his request granted, Li Anran, who wasn't very clear about history, didn't think much and directly got on the three-wheeled vehicle to try starting it.

  It was fortunate for Li Anran that his beloved car had no problems at all. It started up very smoothly. However, the roar of the engine startled Zhao Er to a jump.

  After starting the car, Li Anran didn't rush to drive, but instead let the car stop there and warm up first, to see if there were any potential problems.

  He inadvertently raised his head and saw Zhao Er staring at his beloved car with a look of reverence, and he smiled and said: "Zhao Er, don't worry, this is...this is my steed."