Defeat natural disasters with farming

The good news soon came from the village. The village soldiers who went hunting in the mountains came to Ye Yu’s house with a small stone. The leader was Ye Zhouyuan. We finally found the licking stone, which is far away from the village, and almost left Songshan.”

Ye Yu asked carefully how they found it.

Ye Zhouyuan replied: "It's a coincidence that we were chasing a herd of red deer," he remarked incidentally, "The herd of deer ran really fast, we followed behind and followed the traces left on the ground. It took a long time to catch up, but it also delayed time, and I didn’t have time to go back to the village that day, so I stayed on the mountain for two days and two nights.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he poured a bowl of plain water and drank it dry in one breath.

Before Ye Yu could speak, Ye He urged him, "And then?"

"Then we crossed Songshan Mountain and saw a lake on the other side of the mountain. The lake is not too big, but there are many waterfowls inhabiting the lake. Originally, we just wanted to hunt more prey, but what we didn't expect was that we just approached the lake. I saw a few gazelles licking around a stone."

Ye Zhouyuan gestured and said, "At that time, I just slapped my thigh. Isn't this the salt well you told us about?"

Ye Yu silently reminded him, "It's rock salt."

"Hey, it doesn't matter what it is." He waved his hand indifferently, "Is it rock salt? I knocked out a piece of rock, and there is a puddle beside the rock. I also filled some water in it. Hurry up." come and see."

Ye Yu took the crushed stones and the bamboo tube, and first pinched the stones, feeling like ordinary stones, but a little fragile, with his strength, he could squeeze out a little bit of debris, and the water in the bamboo tube showed a kind of It was a strange blue-gray color, and there were unknown flocs floating in it. Ye Yu immediately gave up the idea of ​​tasting it, and silently put the bamboo tube back.

But although Ye Yu put down his heart to taste it, Ye He didn't let it go, so before Ye Yu could react, he picked up the stone from the table and put the broken pieces into his mouth.

"Hey, don't put everything in your mouth, spit it out quickly."

Ye He tasted it for a long while before spitting it out twice, and then said excitedly: "I think it has a bit of saltiness on it."

Hearing this, Ye Zhouyuan also tasted the broken pieces, "It's really a bit salty, did we really find the salt?"

"Not sure, I have to go and see for myself." Ye Yu frowned and said.

Having said that, he already had some confidence in his heart. Even if it wasn't rock salt, there might be crystals near the rock.

After Father Ye learned of this, he quickly decided that Ye Yu would lead the way and take five young and middle-aged men from the village to go there. Besides, there were also Chu Xufeng, Jia Yi and Jia Er in the team, and Ye He's two senior brothers. Ning Rong and Tang Youyan.

"Hurry up and go to bed, you have to get up early tomorrow." Just after dinner, Mrs. Ye began to urge a few people in the family who were going out tomorrow to wash up and go to bed.

Among them are Ye Laoer and the three brothers Ye Hai, Ye He, and Ye Yu.

Ye Laoer is an old hunter with a lot of experience, and Ye Hai and Ye He are the best kung fu among the younger generation.

Ye Yu yawned. After brushing his teeth in the yard, he was about to go back to the house for sleep. While he was lying on the kang and getting sleepy, he suddenly heard someone knock on the door, so he straightened up and said, "Please come in."

It turned out to be Mother Ye, she walked in and put a sachet beside Ye Yu's pillow.

"There are a lot of mosquitoes outside, and there are various insect repellent herbs in the sachet, remember to take it well, and don't lose it."

Ye Yu leaned over and smelled the scent from the sachet. He guessed it contained mint and mugwort, which were refreshing and refreshing.

Mother Ye stroked Ye Yu's head and said, "It seems that you have grown from such a small size to your current size in a blink of an eye, but I always feel that it hasn't been long."

"No matter how old I am, I will always be my mother's treasure." Ye Yu attached her face to Ye Mu's arm with attachment, "Tomorrow we will go to the mountains to find salt. Salt worries."

"Good boy, be careful, you all will come back safely." Mother Ye said solemnly.

"Don't worry." Ye Yu also solemnly replied.

In the early morning of the next day, two-thirds of the houses in the village were smoky, and Ye Yu's house was no exception, and Mrs. Ye and the others made a very rich breakfast, tofu nao served with steamed bun fried dough sticks. The fried dough sticks were very crispy. There is also an egg in between the deep-fried dough sticks, which is even more oily and fragrant.

"I put all the things you need in the basket. Fortunately, when you enter the mountain, there are two horses following you, so you don't have to carry them by yourself. Oh, by the way, I seem to have forgotten to pack the food for millet."

After finishing speaking, Mrs. Ye quickly took out a bag of steamed buns with minced eggs and meat from the kitchen and put them into the basket.

Upon hearing his name, Xiaomi raised his head from the food bowl, barking twice.

After entering the mountain, the hounds can do a lot of things, they are the hunter's best helpers, so they plan to bring two dogs into the mountain this time, one is Xiaomi, and the other is Heitan from Ye Zhouyuan's family.

After breakfast, the group stepped into the mountains in the early morning dew. Ye Yu didn't carry anything, but the two horses Liefeng and Lihuo had two wicker baskets on their backs.

Jia Yi and Jia Er led the two dogs in the lead, Ye Zhouyuan followed behind them to guide the way, Chu Xufeng and Ye Yu were in the middle of the team, and the rest were at the end.

Ye Yu has been paying attention to his Xiaomi, and the more he looks at it, the happier he is. Xiaomi is really a hound, with his ears erect all the way, and whenever there is a disturbance on the roadside, he will look over vigilantly.

With these two hounds, you don't have to worry about meeting snakes in the grass.

As time passed, the sun gradually rose, and the temperature in the forest gradually began to rise, causing the sweat on the faces of their group to fall like rain, and they had to unscrew the water bag from time to time to take a sip.

Seeing this, Ye Yu discussed with Chu Xufeng: "Let's go to the stream to rest at noon, just to replenish the water we drink."

Chu Xufeng nodded, pondered for a while and said, "But according to the speed we're moving, I'm afraid we won't be able to reach the stream until the afternoon, or we can speed up before it's the hottest time, and try to get there before noon."

"Okay," Ye Yu raised her voice when she heard the words, "Let's go faster, and you can get to the stream as soon as possible so you can rest earlier."

As soon as he finished speaking, the speed of the group of people was significantly improved. No one in the group spoke, and they were all concentrating on walking. Once they were distracted, they would easily trip over the roots and vines on the ground.

After about two hours, Ye Yu felt the air around him gradually becoming moist, and after walking two steps forward, the sound of gurgling water entered his ears.

The stream is not wide, a grown man can cross from one side to the other with just one leg, but it is especially clear. The stream flows down the steep rock wall and hits the rock wall to form drops of water, like cracked diamonds. Under the reflection of the sun, it glows with colorful luster.

A group of people checked the surroundings to make sure that there were no large animals, and then stayed to rest. Ye Zhouyuan led the black charcoal with only a pair of amber eyes wandering around outside, while Ye Yu and the others took out the stove and pot and started Boil water.

I don't know if it's Ye Yu's delusion, but he always feels that the boiled stream water is sweeter than the well water at home.

He lowered his head and ate the millet pancakes he brought from home with the boiling water. Because of the hot weather, the millet pancakes in the basket were warm from the beginning to the end, so he didn't have to worry about eating them.

When Ye Yu was only halfway through eating, Ye He had already finished eating. He wiped his mouth, and happily took bean cakes to feed the two horses tied under the shade of the tree.

After a while, Chu Xufeng looked at the sky and said, "Let's rest for half an hour before leaving."

Ye Yu covered her mouth and yawned, "Then I'll sleep for a while."

Waking up early in the morning, coupled with the exhaustion of walking, he was already a little tired, and it was better to rest for half an hour than to stay in a daze.

"Okay, you sleep on me." Chu Xufeng said gently.

Ye Yu leaned against the cypress tree, with Chu Xufeng beside him. He fell into a strange dream in the shade, and he didn't know if he fell asleep. Anyway, the tip of his nose was always filled with the faint scent of mint.

Taking a nap for half an hour can indeed effectively replenish his physical strength. When he woke up, he only felt that his originally sore limbs became stronger again.

"Are you awake?" Chu Xufeng asked in a low voice, "Wash your face and get ready to go."

"En." Ye Yu replied, he was still a little dazed when he just woke up, and his voice was hoarse.

It wasn't until he washed his face with stream water that he really woke up. Before leaving, he specially pinched a pinch of salt and sprinkled it into the boiling water. Salt water can provide electrolytes and is the best choice for replenishing physical strength.

The group packed up their things and continued on their way.

Ye Zhouyuan pointed the way as he walked, "Pass this stream, and then walk for another three hours, and you will be able to reach the pine forest, which is suitable for us to sleep at night."

Ye Yu sighed when he heard this, "It looks very far away."

"No, but it's safer along the way, and you won't encounter wolves or black bears or brown bears."

However, as soon as Ye Zhouyuan finished speaking, a brown bear suddenly appeared in the depths of the forest. It was more than three meters high and covered its whole body with brown-gray fur, which was very shocking.

Seeing this, Ye He was eager to try, "I haven't tasted bear meat yet."

Ye Yu rolled his eyes at him, took his arm, and whispered, "We haven't finished our business, so don't make trouble."

Ye He obviously knew the importance, he turned his head to look at the brown bear reluctantly, and then followed the crowd to leave quietly.

Ye Hai didn't dare to speak until he couldn't see the brown bear, "Look at your crow's mouth."

Ye Zhouyuan said that he was very innocent, "Who knew a bear would appear suddenly."

Ye Laoer also joined the topic, "Is this the bear that hurt Ye Zhong back then?"

"I don't think so." Ye Yu shook her head and said, "I remember Uncle Zhong said that the bear that hurt him was four times as tall as him, or five or six meters. This one is a bit smaller."

Chu Xufeng added: "Judging from the teeth marks, it should be underage."

In other words, there is more than one brown bear on this mountain.

All kinds of wild fruits can be seen everywhere along the way, and sometimes Ye Yu would pick some and wipe them with his sleeves to share with others during a break.

The sorbet juice is rich, the vines are sweet and sour, and the wild apricot tip is reddish...

After drinking a sip of salt water when he was tired, Ye Yu really insisted on walking half of the distance, and rode with Chu Xufeng for the rest of the way.

To be precise, Chu Xufeng was riding a horse, and he was sitting on the horse.

The area of ​​the cypress forest is quite large. After the group arrived, the first thing they did was to set up three sheds with branches and broad leaves. It was just right for three people to live in one.

Then Jia Yi and Jia Er went nearby to find some dry firewood and brought it back. Ye Yu lit it with a flint. Ye Lao Er took Ye Zhouyuan, Ye Hai and two hounds to patrol around. Powder to repel insects and snakes was sprinkled outside the camp.

Nobody was idle anyway.

Not long after, Ye Lao Er and the three came back happily. Ye Yu squinted his eyes and looked over. They seemed to be carrying something in their hands.

Sure enough, as soon as Ye He saw them, he couldn't wait to say: "Xiaomi and Heitan just caught two hares, we have meat to eat tonight."

Ye Yu didn't care about the hare. Instead, he stroked the backs of Mi Ta and Mi Ta and praised him, "Good boy."

Xiaomi squatted obediently beside him, tilted his head and rubbed against him, but Heitan stretched out his tongue and licked his hand with great enthusiasm, which made him laugh twice.

The two hares were skinned and washed, using the water poured by the stream at noon, and then Ye Yu began to clean the internal organs, roasted them and shared them with the two hounds.

The rest of the rabbit meat is coated with salt and pepper, skewered with twigs and grilled slowly over the campfire.

Naturally, nine people can't get enough to eat two rabbits, so their staple food is the corn pancake brought from home, with some syrup in it, it tastes sweet, and Ye Yu especially likes it.

The meat of the roasted rabbit was a bit dry, he ate one leg and didn't touch it again, the rest was eaten by Ye Laoer and the others.

The leftover bones were buried in the ground, and the peeled skin was covered with a layer of ashes left over from the campfire, and then stuffed into wicker baskets.

The lit bonfire was not extinguished all night, and there were people watching outside, so Ye Yu slept relatively peacefully this time, although the intermittent howling of wolves could be heard in the middle of the night.

After Ye Yu was woken up, Chu Xufeng stretched out his hands to cover his ears, and whispered, "It's still early."

He rubbed his eyes, "I didn't expect there to be wolves on the mountain."

"It's not just a wolf, but a pack of wolves." Chu Xufeng said solemnly, "I'm worried that sooner or later, this pack of wolves will go down the mountain and besiege the village."

"Don't worry too much, our village still has walls." Ye Yu replied with a frown.

Immediately afterwards, he yawned again, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes, "Let's sleep again."

"Okay." Chu Xufeng responded.

The night on the mountain is not cold, even if they sleep in the shed, they are sweating from the heat. Fortunately, it gradually cools down in the middle of the night, and they can even feel a bit of chill all over their bodies, and they need to cover themselves.

Therefore, before Chu Xufeng fell asleep, he took out a coat from the basket and put it on Ye Yu.