81 Chapter 81. This Poor Mountain

Ji Shuisheng’s voice rang out. Su Qing looked up from the carriage, and Ji Shuisheng looked back.

Their gazes met in the air. Ji Shuisheng shifted his gaze away unnaturally and landed on the small clothes in Su Qing’s hands. Once again, Ji Shuisheng felt that Su Qing was omnipotent.

Surprisingly, the clothes made from the rags did not look shabby at all. Every cloth was cut to the same size and sewn into a diamond shape. It seemed unique and much better than ordinary clothes.

Su Qing saw that Ji Shuisheng was looking at the clothes in her hands and felt that the clothes she had made were too ugly, so she put the clothes by her side. Ji Shuisheng saw that she was embarrassed and hurriedly looked away, jumping off the carriage.

Not to mention that the fatigue from the days of riding the carriage was much less, Ji Shuisheng walked towards the back of the team with vital steps to check if any villagers had fallen behind.

Ji Xiaoying and the children opened their eyes drowsily and yawned repeatedly. When they saw the carriage stop, Ji Xiaoying rubbed her nose, her eyes glistening with tears. She asked Su Qing in a soft voice,

“Have we arrived?”

She was still sleepy!

Su Qing looked at Ji Xiaoying in amusement.

“We’re here. Let’s prepare dinner,”

“I’ll go down and help.”

When she heard they would cook, Ji Xiaoying immediately perked up and wanted to help.

Su Qing got out of the carriage with Ji Xiaoying. She saw that aunt Qiu and aunt Li were exhausted but still forced themselves to cook.

Su Qing walked over and said to aunt Qiu expressionlessly,

“I’ll do it!”

“How can I let you work alone?”

Aunt Qiu’s legs felt filled with lead, but she was still too embarrassed to let Su Qing do the work herself.

“I’ll help, big brother.”

Ji Xiaoying quickly walked over and volunteered,

“Please rest; we’re not tired from the ride.”

Ji Xiaoying wanted to say they could cook for them if tired, but it sounded like she was showing off to Qiu Yue.

Qiu Yue glared at Ji Xiaoying, her eyes filled with anger. In the past, she was the closest to Ji Xiaoying, and she would follow her around every day. Now, Su Qing had captured her with just a carriage.

It was all fake to say that they had a deep sisterly love.

Qiu Yue was blinded by jealousy. She did not think Xiaoying would risk her life to save her when she saw her fall into the water!

Su Qing was finally able to show off her skills. She had a complete set of condiments; even if she made vegetarian dishes, they would still be delicious.

Since there was enough food and it was lunchtime, they could not make porridge. Su Qing steamed coarse-grain cornbread and made four pots in total. There were more than a hundred people, which was not enough even if there were fewer.

They had bought three carts of food, but this meal would cost 20 to 30 catties. The three carts of food would not last long.

Su Qing steamed the cornbread into the pot and went to look for wild vegetables. The children who had slept enough in the car also followed Su Qing. They might look like children, but the children of the poor were good at digging up wild vegetables.

After searching down, Su Qing only realized how barren this mountain was. It was filled with desolation, and even the trees were lifeless. Where could she find any fresh wild vegetables?

The main reason was that Tiegang mountain wasn’t like Guocheng, where an earth dragon had turned over and rained heavily for an entire night. Therefore, it was easy to pick wild vegetables in Guocheng, but it was an extravagant hope here.

Su Qing had no choice but to return empty-handed with the children. When she reached the foot of the mountain, she saw Ji Shuisheng walking out of the mountain with two hares so thin that they were only skin and bones.

“This mountain is poor; even prey is rare.”

Ji Shuisheng said to Su Qing when he saw him. He had entered the mountains to hunt and look for Lingzhi.

As Su Qing had said, the mountain had no spiritual energy, so how could there be Lingzhi?

“It’s not bad. I’ve stewed a dish.”

Su Qing was delighted. She thought they would have to eat coarse grain and cornbread today. Even if the rabbit had little meat, everyone could still have soup.

Su Qing and Ji Shuisheng returned to the camp while they were talking. Qiu Yue saw Su Qing and Ji Shuisheng walking side by side and even chatting from time to time. She was so jealous that her face turned dark.

Why did Xiaoying have to save this woman? Wouldn’t it have been better to let her die in that ditch?

“Brother.”

Su Qing left Ji Xiaoying behind to watch the fire, and her face was covered with several black marks. She had learned her lesson and no longer dared to call them ‘big sister’ and ‘big brother.’ When she saw Su Qing and her big brother return, she happily welcomed them.

“See what big brother has caught.”

Ji Shuisheng did not know why he was in such a good mood. He raised the wild rabbit in his hand to his sister and teased her with a smile.

Ji Xiaoying’s eyes reddened when she saw her brother smiling. She rubbed her eyes and said excitedly,

“Brother, you’re smiling. You haven’t smiled in a long time. That’s great.”

The smile on Ji Shuisheng’s face immediately froze. That’s right, ever since his foster father died, he had carried a blood feud and had forgotten how to smile.

Su Qing turned her head and saw Ji Shuisheng’s expression. Her eyes flickered, but she didn’t ask anything and walked forward. Ji Shuisheng looked at her slender back, and the vast rock pressing on his heart seemed lightened.

He carried the rabbits and followed behind Su Qing. Li Daniu ran over and volunteered to clean up the rabbit.

“I’ll go and pack.”

Ji Shuisheng threw the wild rabbits to Li Daniu and found a tree with dense shade to sit. He bent one leg and casually placed it on his knee. He leaned his head against the tree trunk and took the time to sleep.

Su Qing lifted the lid of the big pot, and the hot steam rushed into the sky. The smell of the coarse-grain cornbread drifted into everyone’s breath. After walking for a day, they were tired and hungry. When they smelled the cornbread, they couldn’t help but salivate.

On the other hand, the little tiger and the other children did not drool as much as they did every day because they had eaten the pastries.

Aunt Qiu and the others had finished resting and came over to help. Su Qing took out a pot and left it alone.

Li Daniu cleaned up the rabbits and brought them over. Su Qing chopped them all into small pieces. There was little meat, so she didn’t want to make a braised rabbit.

Su Qing made a massive pot of rabbit soup. Although the rabbits were skinny, the soup didn’t have a bad smell. Everyone was given half a spoon of soup and rabbit meat and ate it with coarse-grain cornbread. Everyone looked delighted.

After the meal, everyone leaned against the tree and took the time to sleep. Su Qing returned to the carriage to continue her unfinished work.

Ji Xiaoying had only returned after helping aunt Qiu and the others pack up. Her eyes lit up when she saw Su Qing embroidering.

“Brother, you know how to embroider?”

Hearing his sister’s voice, Ji Shuisheng couldn’t help but look up at the carriage. He saw Su Qing dressed in men’s clothes, holding an embroidery shed in her hand as she focused on embroidering.

She had a slender swan neck, a small oval face, a delicate nose, and long eyelashes that blocked the coldness in her eyes. She looked so gentle and refined.

Ji Shuisheng was immediately attracted to her. He seemed to have dreamed of this scene before. A girl whose face could not be seen was embroidering flowers with her head lowered. She was carrying her prey home and looked up at him with a smile.

“Do you know how to embroider?”

Su Qing heard Ji Xiaoying’s surprised voice and looked up at her. Ji Xiaoying shook her head.

“I know how to do needlework, but I don’t know how to embroider,”

Su Qing laughed. What Xiaoying referred to as embroidery was one of the aspects of needlework.

Ji Shuisheng had been watching the heartwarming scene of Su Qing and Xiaoying talking and laughing. A smile flickered in his eyes as well. Suddenly, a shadow blocked this heartwarming scene.

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