Chapter 3: Mutual Support and Encouragement (Part 2)

  Yang's daughter wanted to speak several times, but under Wu Ji's overbearing gaze, she ultimately didn't say a word. She held her bowl and drank the vegetable soup instead. She was very careful, afraid of making even the slightest sound.

  Wu Ji picked up the bowl and took a sip. The hot steaming soup went down his stomach, and his intestines felt a wave of heat, increasing his hunger. If possible, Wu Ji would have devoured an entire cow.

  After drinking the vegetable soup, although it was hard to bear the hunger, I felt much more comfortable, my body warmer and with a bit more energy.

  The ancients said: The five grains nourish people, and this saying is really true!

  Wu Ji put down the bowl, and Yang Niangzi quickly got up to take it away. Seeing Yang Niangzi busy, Wu Ji felt guilty, being a big man with such poor physical strength, he couldn't even lend a hand.

  "Hun, hun, hun..." Wu Ji originally wanted to call Yang Niangzi "hun jia", but he felt that this way of calling was too awkward and not as smooth as calling her "old lady". He tried several times but couldn't bring himself to say it.

  "If I were to give you a name, Yang Niangzi, it would be easier to call out. After some thought, he said: 'You are pure and beautiful, so let's call you Xiu. With your elegant appearance and clever mind, adding another Xiu would make it even better. From now on, your name will be Yang Xiuxiu.'"

  "Ah!" Yang Xiuxiu was so surprised that she couldn't help herself, her small mouth wide open in shock. It took her half a day to react, and then she jumped up without caring about her image: "I have a name! I have a name!"

  Later on, her eyes turned red and she actually shed tears, repeatedly saying: "Thank you, Wu Lang! Thank you, Wu Lang!"

  Wu Ji originally gave her a name for convenience in addressing each other, but he didn't expect Yang Xiuxiu's reaction to be so intense, it was a big surprise. Suddenly remembered that ordinary women of the Song Dynasty did not have names, and their titles were surnames plus order, if they were married, they would be called certain daughter-in-law. Such as Sun Erniang in "Water Margin", which came from this.

  If she is unmarried, she is called Miss So-and-so.

  In the Song Dynasty, women who had names were extremely rare, and it was a great honor. Even Liang Hongyu did not have a name; her name was given to her by later generations. In the records of the "History of the Song", she is only referred to as "Liangshi".

  If there was a name, it would be an honor, so Wu Ji gave Yang Xiuxiu a name, and Yang Xiuxiu had such an excited expression. This is absolutely one of the most exciting moments in her life.

  As a result, Yang Xiuxiu suddenly became spirited and efficient in washing pots and dishes, as if she had four more hands, and finished everything in one breath.

  Yang Xiuxiu wiped her hands, gathered some firewood and piled it on the bonfire, making the flames rise high. She helped Wu Ji sit down and repeatedly reminded him not to go out and get frozen. As for herself, she took a hatchet and rope and went to chop wood.

  Wu Ji was left alone in the house, feeling cold, lonely and bored. He warmed himself by the fire for a while before going out, but the mountain wind was icy and he found it hard to bear with his small build. He finally understood why Yang Xiu Xiu had repeatedly warned him not to go out, and realized that she had been genuinely concerned about him.

  "Malnutrition! We must think of a way to improve our living conditions and take good care of ourselves!" Wu Ji walked a few steps, panting slightly, and couldn't help but feel a deep regret. This family was too poor, their nutrition was inadequate, resulting in such a frail physique.

  Improving life is a top priority for Wu Jie, but it can only be a beautiful wish. He has no strength or money now, and he is poor and white, how easy is it to talk about?

  This is a small mountain village called Wujiacun, where most of the villagers are surnamed Wu. Even if they don't have the surname Wu, they are all related to the Wu family in some way. There are about 50 households and over 200 people in total.

  The vast majority of people's homes were thatched cottages, with only a very small number of tile-roofed houses. In the Song Dynasty, tile-roofed houses were symbols of status, and only wealthy families could afford to live in them. Even so, those thatched cottages were much better than Wu Jie's home, at least they were bigger and brighter.

  Looking around the village, Wu Ji gazed into the distance, and what entered his eyes were undulating mountains. This was a small mountain village in the midst of great mountains, with mountains all around. Living by the mountains and relying on the mountains for food, if one had some strength, they would not be so poor.

  The leaves are withered and yellow, it is the time when wild beasts are fat, this season is the hunting season, every hunt yields more than other days.

  "If I had the strength, I would definitely go into the mountains to hunt and improve my life. Not to mention anything else, just setting up a few traps could catch quite a few prey!" Wu Jie thought wistfully, but where did he get the strength from?

  Even walking a few steps is panting, can you go into the mountains to hunt?

  "Hoo-hoo!"

  The mountain wind blew, and Wu Ji felt a chill all over his body. He quickly returned to the house to shrink away. Although the thatched hut was drafty and leaked rain, it was still better than being outside. After returning to the house, he felt much better.

  Sat back by the fire, and actually fell asleep in a daze. Didn't know how long had passed, when he found someone beside him, opened his eyes to take a look, only to see Yang Xiuxiu bringing another tattered shirt for him to put on.

  "Has it gotten dark?" Wu Jie rubbed his eyes and looked around, only to see the sky was dim. He had slept very soundly this time. His body was really weak, he loved sleeping too much, Wu Jie concluded.

  "It's just a rumor!" Yang Xiuxiu was afraid that Wu Ji would think too much, so she comforted him in various ways.

  Yang Xiuxiu helped Wu Ji put on his clothes, and then busied herself with carrying firewood and wanting to start a fire. Wu Ji knew that she had a hard time chopping wood, so he hastily stopped her: "I've been sitting for a long time, I need to take a walk. Don't start the fire yet, we can do it when we sit down again."

  "Wu Lang, you go ahead and move around, I'll get up first and prepare." Yang Xiuxiu was considerate of every detail, getting the fire burning brightly.

  Wu Ji had been sitting for too long, his legs and feet were a bit numb, he really needed to move around and loosen up his body. Yang Xiu Xiu was worried, so she accompanied him by his side.

  The house was just that big, he walked for a while, nowhere to go, and came to the room where miscellaneous items were stored. This was a small room, with farm tools and firewood piled up inside.

  What caught Wu Ji's eye was that there were actually saltpeter and sulfur. Wu Ji was somewhat surprised: "What is the use of this?"

  "The doctor from Caoshi said this can cure illness." Yang Xiuxiu hastily explained.

  "Can it cure illness? Oh, it seems to be possible. But, with my illness, it's not even related at all? It's clearly malnutrition and lack of exercise that caused this weakness, if saltpeter and sulfur can cure it then I'll see a ghost!" Wu Ji suddenly had an epiphany, muttering to himself: "No wonder the white-robed angels have black hearts, their ancestors were so good at scamming people!"

  Wu Ji took a look at the saltpeter and found that it was not natural saltpeter, but had been refined. Although the craftsmanship was rough and there were many impurities, it was quite an achievement for the Song Dynasty to have produced something like this.

  Look at the sulfur, it's the same. Wu Ji picked up a piece of sulfur and brought it to the fire pit, threw it into the fire, making a hissing sound, burning very quickly, and surprisingly, the quality is not bad.

  Saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal can be used to make gunpowder. If we have the tools, we can even make firearms and go hunting. If that's the case, I'm sure our hunt will be extremely successful." Wu Jie couldn't help but get a little carried away with his thoughts.

  The problem is that the Song Dynasty could not possibly have had the necessary tools such as lathes to manufacture firearms, which makes this gun too extravagant. Manufacturing a fire lance like the one used by Wei Boyang would be no problem, but the issue is that thing only has power at extremely close range, and if the distance is slightly further, it lacks power and can't even kill people, let alone thick-skinned and thick-fleshed beasts.

  Wu Ji shook his head and smiled wryly at himself, thinking that he had been too eager to improve his life.

  After exercising for a while, Wu Ji felt a bit chilly and returned to the fire pit to sit down, continuing to warm up and doze off in boredom. Yang Xiuxiu went to cook dinner.

  This dinner was different from the daytime meal, it was a porridge made with coarse rice. Yang Xiuxiu served it to Wu Ji, but she herself had wild vegetable soup. Wu Ji didn't want to eat alone, so as the host, he forced Yang Xiuxiu to share the coarse rice porridge with him.

  After dinner, Yang Xiuxiu did needlework by the firelight. She threaded the needle and drew the thread with great skill, making excellent things. Yang Xiuxiu was a famous seamstress in the village, her needlework was highly praised by the villagers, and whenever there were needlework tasks, they would look for her. In return, the villagers would give her some goods, such as grain or meat.

  Wu Ji was really bored and could only spend his time admiring the young girl's awkwardness under the lamp, until his eyelids were fighting, and he had to crawl onto the bed to sleep.

  It wasn't until much later that Wu Ji vaguely felt someone beside him, turned over and wrapped the petite person in his arms. Yang Xiu Xiu stiffened for a moment, still trembling slightly, but didn't resist.

  Smelling the fragrance emanating from Yang Xiuxiu's body, Wu Ji felt his heart racing and thought to himself, "This is a tender young girl, needs to be nurtured for a few years before she can be enjoyed." The more he thought this way, the more unbearable his thoughts became.

  The idea is not bad, but Wu Ji's sad discovery is that the hard place has become soft, as soft as noodles!

  Wu Ji thought nervously: Is this caused by malnutrition or congenital dysfunction?

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