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MTL - The Sweet Little Fulang-Chapter 21
"It's time to go back."
Shen Xuanqing glanced at the west sky, the sun set as soon as it set, it would be dark soon, the mountains and forests at night were dangerous, it was better to go back as soon as possible.
Lu Gu was called back to the world by this sentence, his slightly condensed eyes rolled, showing a bit of panic, then he bit his lip lightly, and lowered his head to hide his distraction.
He used to be driven out several times when he was hungry. When he couldn't find anything to eat after searching for a long time, he would hold his stomach and stare at the river or the forest in a daze. When others saw him, they laughed at him for being stupid, and he felt embarrassed. After that it was rarely the case.
After returning, there was a very thick tree trunk leaning against the wall beside the courtyard gate. Shen Xuanqing closed the courtyard gate, and half-holding and dragging the heavy long tree trunk to the door, so that even if there were two trees outside. The bears couldn't knock the door open.
Ever since the old hunter went through that incident, even when he was teaching Shen Xuanqing his craft, he often warned him, saying that he must keep the door open at night, or he would die.
Before the night was dark, Lu Gu boiled water for the two of them to wash their hands and scald their feet. It was really cold in the mountains, and the coldness hit after the sun went down. Fortunately, Wei Lanxiang brought him a jacket.
The crescent moon hangs silently in the sky, the windows are creaky and closed, the room is much darker, and only the outline can be seen in the hazy.
Lu Gu slept in the bed, and Shen Xuanqing closed the window and groped to get on the bed. The quilt was lifted and closed, and there was a tall and warm man beside him.
Lu Gu had only slept with Shen Xuanqing, and there was such a tall and strong man lying next to him. He sometimes felt oppressed and frightened. When he was cranky, he thought about it, that all married couples and girls would be afraid of the man around them at night. .
But he must never say this to the second person. He is ashamed and ashamed, so naturally he can't say it, and he doesn't even dare to think about it because he is too outrageous.
It was quiet both inside and outside the house. The two of them covered two layers of quilts, and they warmed up when they lay down. Lu Gu gradually fell asleep.
The other person on the bed couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
Shen Xuanqing didn't know what was wrong with him, listening to the light and shallow breathing in his ear made him even more impatient. As for what he couldn't bear, he couldn't tell, but he felt like something was missing in his hands, and there seemed to be something in his chest that was not filled, and it was empty.
When the mountains and forests became quieter, I could hear the faint rustling of the wind outside, and Lu Gu was breathing steadily, clearly sleeping.
Shen Xuanqing turned over gently, grabbed the soft hand under the quilt, and gradually clenched it, and the palm was at ease.
Humans are all greedy, and it only depends on whether the greed is big or small.
He held someone's hand and should have gone to sleep like noon, but I don't know if it was a long night or something. As he got closer, he could smell the softness of Lu Gu's body. The smell seems to come out more and more.
Shen Xuanqing was almost in disarray. He was a reckless boy under eighteen who had never even held Shuang'er's hands before, let alone faced this charming feeling that only he could perceive.
The darkness obscured the vision, invisible but palpable, and since no one could see it, it strengthened the courage.
When Lu Gu was at Shen's house last night, he didn't sleep well because he was worried about going up the mountain today. He walked the mountain road for a long time during the day. He was already asleep now, and the man who held him in his arms deliberately relaxed his hands and feet. Didn't wake him up.
After taking it into his arms, Shen Xuanqing breathed a sigh of relief, his empty chest was filled.
—
In the early morning, the dew was heavy, and soon after walking into the grass, the upper and trousers of the shoes would be wet. After Lu Gu woke up, Shen Xuanqing had already dressed and got out of bed. As for the hug and sleep last night, he had no idea at all.
The usual thing to get up early is to boil water and eat cakes, which is no different from Yamashita.
"I'll be back late, I won't be able to catch up with lunch, you can eat it yourself, you don't need to wait for me." Shen Xuanqing carried a long hatchet and a bow and arrow on his back, and also carried a bamboo basket on one shoulder. In the basket were hemp rope and a small cloth bag of steamed buns.
The two crossed the threshold, and outside the courtyard, he turned his head and told Lu Gu: "There are no wild animals in the woods nearby, but don't run too far. It's not too late for me to take you out in the future."
Lu Gu nodded in response, Shen Xuanqing said nothing after explaining, and said after a pause, "Then I'll leave."
After he finished speaking, he no longer hesitated, and went eastward, and the three dogs ran towards the forest.
Lu Gu watched, and the barking of the dog gradually faded away. As Shen Xuanqing disappeared into the woods and could no longer be seen, he felt a bit of empty silence, and he was the only one left here.
Birds flutter their wings, and the rising sun brings a bit of warmth. Lu Gu went back alone. Because the sun hadn't yet brightened, he was in a panic. He turned around and closed the courtyard door, with a high wall surrounding him, which made him feel at ease.
The front yard is quite big, but it has not been taken care of very much. The long and heavy axe was thrown on the ground, and there were also a lot of unsplit firewood. Water spirit.
Lu Gu picked up the axe and leaned against the wall, and piled up the unsplit wood next to the firewood room. He either washed or wiped the chopping board, stove and pots and pans in the kitchen, and the small pots that put oil, salt, sauce and vinegar were also wiped with dust.
Because it is difficult to transport things in the mountains, except for the water tank, the rice and noodles are all in cloth bags and placed on the mud platform on the other side of the chopping board. This mud platform is about half the height of Lu Gu’s calf. There is also a wooden board on the head, otherwise if there is water on the ground, wetting the cloth bag will easily make the rice noodles damp and moldy, so just put it on a high place.
He took a broom and swept the house and kitchen again. There were many trees on the mountain, but there were fewer leaves in the front yard and the back yard, because the trees around the yard were cut down, so as not to block the sun. There is enough open space, so that there will be no trees blocking the way when you go out.
When Lu Gu finished his work, the sun rose and the light was shining on the world, he dared to go out. Seeing that there was less water in the tank, he went out to fetch water with a wooden bucket. When he got to the river, he remembered the net that Shen Xuanqing had set down yesterday. , not far away.
The net really caught a big fish. It was too big to get out of the mesh, so it slammed and stirred, and the fish twisted so much that the water splashed out.
It wasn't long after the fish was caught, and the strength was not exhausted. The net was not too big, and it could just land on the lush water and grass in the flat and narrow section of the river. Lu Gu was afraid that the big fish would break through the net and run away, so he quickly closed the net. come up.
He worked a lot, and he had some strength in his hands, but the fish was slippery and slipped when he caught it. He was afraid of breaking the net. It took him a while to get the big fish out of the tangled net.
Now that he had caught it, there was no coarse salt to pickle the fish, so he couldn't take it down the mountain to sell it. He remembered that he had heard people say that the fish is stewed with peppercorns and chili, which is delicious and spicy. If you make a pot, you can wait until Shen Xuanqing returns It's too fishy to eat meat, and it's cold in the evening, so it's hot to eat a stewed fish.
Lu Gu glanced at the fish in the wooden barrel, and thought that there was water here, so he might as well take a knife and kill by the river to save the yard from being dirty.
It can be said that he is the only one in the radius of ten miles. He took the knife and came over, and the wooden barrel was still in place.
The fish was so big that it wasn't dead yet. It was thumping on the ground when it was poured out. It was slippery again. Lu Gu didn't hold it down a few times, let alone killed it. The fish's head was also big. I didn't get dizzy, so I had to pick up a fairly clean stone and smash it to death.
After cutting the belly and scraping the scales before washing, the big fish was cleaned up. He washed the kitchen knife and the blood on his hands, passed the grass through the fish's mouth, and went back with the fish in one hand and half a bucket of water in the other.
After the fish was chopped into pieces, there were also many. Lu Gu used a wooden basin to hold it. After chopping, he didn't have time to rest. He took the wooden bucket and ran a few times.
He was busy in and out of the courtyard alone, and the sun was shining brightly in the courtyard, but it was already noon.
This meal was supposed to cook rice soup, but he just added a small handful of rice and a scoop of water, and it was easy to burn the pot.
Thinking that rice soup is good for people, if Shen Xuanqing wanted to eat it too, he made more, scooped out a large bowl from the pot and set it aside. ate.
In the main room, Lu Gu ate lunch alone.
There was not much rice in his bowl, so he only scooped the thin soup on top. The dishes were simple, only a small half bowl of pickles, and he ate two steamed buns with mixed noodles.
Such a simple enough meal is also satisfying for him. When he can eat at the Lu family, he also eats leftovers, most of which are cold, which is comparable to hot rice soup and hot steamed buns.
Shen Xuanqing was not here, he didn't dare to eat those dishes.
The vegetables they brought are mostly green, ginger, and garlic, such as green vegetables, autumn spinach, autumn cowpeas, and daffodils. They will wilt after a few days of digging out, so you can't bring too much. It's a pity that after eating these, he will have to dig wild vegetables in the mountains in the future.
Country people don’t think it’s rare to eat wild vegetables. The vegetables they grow are expensive. Of course, Lu Gu doesn’t dare to eat alone.
—
The sky was clear blue and high, and thin clouds drifted past like mist. Lu Gu found a **** to loosen the soil for the small vegetable field in the front yard, and ran back and forth three times with a wooden bucket, pouring several rows of vegetables.
I had been busy for a long time by myself, and when I stopped, my ears were silent, and no one made a sound.
He put the barrel back at the door of the kitchen, and stood there when he didn't have any work to do. The quiet mountain forest made him feel lonely, as if he was the only one left in the world, abandoned outside the world.
Shen Xuanqing will come back.
Lonely and helpless, he thought of Shen Xuanqing, and was firm in his heart that Shen Xuanqing would be back soon.
Lu Gu kept himself busy again, and there were only ten steamed buns with miscellaneous noodles left. Shen Xuanqing ate too much, and it wasn't enough for two days. When the pot is empty, make pancakes.
Wei Lanxiang specially told him that if you want to eat steamed buns and pancakes instead, you will get tired of eating only the same thing all day long. People don't live to earn this bite to eat. All are strong.
Although the baked thick cakes are not as fragrant as the oiled puff pastry, they are better than the chewy, the more chewy the more fragrant, because they are baked on the bottom of the pot, round and thick, one is as big as three puff pastry, It is also very full, and it is very durable to take one with you when you are on the road.
Five large and one small pancakes were baked in a pot of miscellaneous noodles. Usually, they were cut into four corners. According to Lu Gu's own food intake, one corner of a large pancake was enough.
Five or six flatbreads and those few steamed buns were enough for them to eat for several days, and Lu Gu didn't make them any more.
It was getting late, so he picked the peppercorns outside the door, and simmered the fish while the bottom of the pot was on fire, maybe he would be able to eat it when Shen Xuanqing came back.
The autumn peppers that I brought here are still green, and they look good together with the dried red peppers. After eating the autumn peppers, they will be gone in a few days, and only the dried peppers will be eaten in the future.
Although Lu Gu had never stewed fish, he remembered it when he saw Ji Qiuyue stewing spicy rabbit meat. He fry the red and green chili peppers and peppercorns with less oil. The numbness and spiciness made him turn his head and cough, and tears came out. Well, fortunately, it will be much stronger after pouring the fish into the water.
Soon the pot was guzzling, and it was spicy and tangy. He didn't mess up the pot and didn't do anything wrong. He was very happy. If the mother was still there, he would definitely say that he is really good.
The fire at the bottom of the stove was changed to a small fire with small firewood. Lu Gu looked east at the discharge gate. There was no one in the forest, and he couldn't even hear the barking of dogs.
The wait is the longest, and people are gradually stunned. Lu Gu watched for a while in front of the door before going back to add two more thin sticks of firewood.
The sun was sinking to the west. He added firewood several times, added water to the pot twice, and built a drawer to heat the rice soup, but Shen Xuanqing still didn't come back.
That's how hunting is, it's time to come back sooner or later, he told himself, that he might look up and see someone at some point.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone in front of the house, and Lu Gu sat on the threshold with a panicked expression.
It was getting dark, if Shen Xuanqing didn't come back, there would be wolves and old bears in the old forest. What should I do if something went wrong? He didn't know the way, and he couldn't even find Shen Xuanqing.
These terrifying thoughts made his face turn white, and he had no time to think about the fish in the pot now. For the first time, when Shen Xuanqing returned late, he was full of panic.
Until a few dog barks broke the silence of the evening, Lu Gu looked over subconsciously and saw Shen Xuanqing appearing in the forest, getting close.
And when Shen Xuanqing got closer, he seemed to have just reacted, and he stood up to meet him, but he stopped immediately, and was at a loss for a while, finally calmed down, and said with a trembling voice, "You come back. already."
Shen Xuanqing had come to the front, she heard guilt in her eyes, and said in a low voice, "It's been a long time."
In the forest, he saw Lu Gu sitting on the threshold, thin, looking at the east with a pitiful expression, as if he had been waiting there for a long time, and he didn't even react until he came over.
Shen Xuanqing, who originally got the good things and brought them back, felt a little pain in his heart because of this scene. Although there is no word of love at this time, Lu Gu is waiting for him like this. Even a man can't be hard-hearted. This is his husband, he But he didn't take good care of it, making him feel guilty, so he unloaded the bamboo basket, took out something wrapped in several layers with large leaves, and peeled it off to reveal a golden honeycomb.