Chapter 40

  Forty

  Hunting, the forest on the mountain still has a thin layer of residual snow, the waterfall flows happily, hidden in the middle of the mountain, looking far away is a white strip, with unknown light purple wildflowers already budding, the air is sweet and the scenery is beautiful to the extreme, Xu Saihan holds a shotgun, crouches down, searching for prey.

  For Xu Saihan, who was in the army, shooting rabbits was a piece of cake. The gray wild rabbit sneaked around looking for tender green grass, and when it was targeted, "bang" went the sound, and Xu Saihan ran like a small hunting dog, quickly stringing up the rabbit with branches and carrying it on her shoulder with great pride. Xu Saihan took out a camera from the car to take pictures of her, this was her hobby, and everyone's hobbies should be respected.

  Xu Sairen finally targeted a tree where a large pheasant was sleeping, the color was too bright, he raised his gun and aimed. The pheasant was sleeping soundly, suddenly there was a loud noise, it fell to the ground with a thud, its belly burst open, its internal organs hanging from the treetops in disarray.

  They hunted a few more small wild rabbits, and Xu Sairen's stomach growled with hunger. She still wanted to hear Shen Shuxian talk more about the new happenings at Nihui Girls' School, so she urged, "Brother, let's hurry up and go to Shen Big Sister's house, I'm hungry again."

  To her home, it's just a short walk, no cars can get through. The two of them walked slowly, discussing how to make the game taste better.

  Shen Shuxian sat at the door shelling corn, her two hands were frozen bright red, and so was her nose. Seeing them coming, she quickly wiped her hands and greeted them.

  There's nothing valuable at home, and there's no electricity. At night, they can only light oil lamps. Xu Saihan sits in front of the table waiting for dinner. Suddenly, he says to Shen Shuxian who is busy in the kitchen, "Forget it, let's go roast something together."

  In the courtyard, a bonfire was lit, and with an iron fork, the rabbit and wild chicken were skewered. The internal organs were removed, and salt was evenly applied. Shen Shuxian looked at the two rabbits with eager anticipation, their bloody fur hanging on the back of the door. Perhaps when her mother returned, she could sew a rabbit fur collar.

  Three people gnawed on the steaming hot rabbit, chatting, it was so delicious, crispy outside and tender inside, with a rich meaty aroma, no animal is better than rabbit. The surroundings of the fire pit were warm and cozy, with sweet potatoes roasting in the yellow mud beneath. When the bonfire was about to go out, they dug them up, tore open the skin of the sweet potatoes, revealing a bright orange color, releasing another wave of fragrance. Xu Saillei couldn't help but dance with joy, "It's too delicious, I'm so happy!"

  Shen Shuxian and Xu Saihan exchanged a smile, but suddenly felt embarrassed.

  Men all have some carnal thoughts about beautiful girls.

  The woman thought the handsome man was somewhat unapproachable.

  Xu Saihan is not married, and Shen Shuxian is not married either.

  These days have been particularly happy, especially Xu Saille, who is so happy that she doesn't want to go back, and the journey has been delayed day after day. Xu Baoshan is not worried either, letting Jingyi nag in his ear. The child has grown up, going out to play, it's nothing serious.

  Three people often go hunting together, but Xu Saihan's shooting skills are the most accurate, and he often asks the two women to find footprints and carry prey. Sometimes Xu Sailu sleeps at home, and Xu Saihan goes out with Shen Shuxian, returning only at noon. Shen Shuxian also teaches Xu Sailu how to identify herbs on the mountain, such as rockhead vegetables that can expel tapeworms, cat-tail grass that relaxes muscles and promotes blood circulation, and dispels wind and dredges collaterals. The light gray volute arborvitae grows in shady and humid mountain slopes, under forest rocks, or in crevices of old stone walls along streams. There are more cave heads on Cloud Platform Mountain, which can stop bleeding with blood. Therefore, it is also called nine-death resurrection grass and immortal grass. There is also shade-loving fern, which can clear lungs and resolve phlegm, and detoxify.

  Xu Saille said, "Yeah, I'll go back and tell my father, his lungs aren't very good, he's always coughing."

  After the beginning of love at first sight, it was a process of dry firewood. Xu Sairen slept in the inner room, saying that the gap between the doors of the main hall was large, and the wind blew like a ghost crying, so the inner room was quiet and not afraid of ghosts.

  Xu Saihan slept in Yao Jinyi's bed, while Shen Shuxian leaned against the wall and slept beside her.

  "Are you scared?" Xu Saihan asked, turning his head in the darkness. He liked to hear her soft voice, as slender as her waist, which he had hugged in that dream on that day. When he woke up in the hotel that day, his pants were all wet, fortunately, he had spare clothes with him.

  "I'm used to it." Shen Shuxian sighed, "You and I are people from two different worlds. Look at the roof of my house, I'm really afraid that one day it will collapse, and I don't know how I'll die."

  "Do you have someone in mind?" Xu Saihan was startled by his own words.

  Shen Shuxian thought of Ning Xingguo's face in the darkness, but what came out was the opposite, "No one has ever appreciated me."

  Xu Saidan said, "No wonder, your school is all girls. What type of man do you like?"

  "Yes, but I'm too lazy to think about what's going to happen in the future. Thinking too much doesn't make sense anyway. As for what kind of person, it's always been others who choose me, not the other way around. Whatever comes my way is whatever comes." Shen Shuxian felt a wave of sorrow rise up within her.