Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1205 Visiting Xiaoman
Dashan helped Kova up and let him lean against the bed. Kova looked around the simple thatched house.

The old farmer went outside to pour a bowl of water, and Dashan snatched it from him, walked to the bedside, and fed the water to Kova.

Grandpa Li said, "I haven't studied any medicine, but I just felt that you didn't seem to be injured. So, Dashan will hunt a pheasant for you every day and make soup for you to nourish yourself. Take your time to recover. If you need anything, just come to Dashan. Rest assured and take care of yourself. No matter what happens, no one will come to this place, it's the middle of nowhere. Don't worry."

As Dashan fed Kova water, he smiled憨憨地, and Kova could sense that he was happy that she had woken up.

Kournikova thanked Grandpa Li and Dashan again, and settled down here with peace of mind.

Every day, Dashan would come over to talk to Kova. Kova learned that she was in a remote mountain village in the Wu Kingdom, a place somewhat isolated from the world.

Kournikova also knew that hunting in the mountains was very effective, but her grandfather always forbade her from going deep into the mountains, saying it was too dangerous there.

Every day, Da Shan would find some meat for Kova. Kova knew that this meat was very precious here, and she was very grateful to Da Shan. Coincidentally, Kova and Da Shan were the same age, born just one day apart.

On that very day, Kova became the eldest brother and Dashan the second brother, and they agreed to go hunting together once Kova recovered.

Dashan told Kova about everything in the village, including the story of the village chief's wife taking a bath by Ershazi peeping over the wall of the village chief's house in the east of the village.

Kournikova suddenly asked, "What color is that young wife's underwear?"

“Red, uh,” Da Shan blurted out, his face instantly turning red.

“Call me next time you go,” Kournikova said.

Da Shan laughed and said, "Actually, besides Er Shazi, there's also Xiao Ga Tou from the village. That Xiao Ga Tou runs faster."

Kova found out that Dashan, Ershazi, and Xiaogatou's little gang had caused quite a bit of trouble in the village.

Kournikova's health gradually improved, but he had lost all his spiritual energy and was unable to communicate with his own little world. He could only wait for future opportunities.

Since Kournikova is here, we should accept it and go with the flow, letting nature take its course.

When Kova fully recovered, he met the famous "Two Fools" and "Little Gato," and the four of them agreed to go hunting together.

Grandpa Li now treats himself like he has another grandson, and he's happy all day long. Kova is very good at sweet-talking people, and everyone in the village knows that Old Li has another grandson, but no one has ever seen him.

On this day, the four of them agreed to go hunting in the northern part of Hongniu Mountain. Before they left, Grandpa Li once again told them not to go deep into the mountains, but he didn't say why.

Kuva followed the three up the mountain. The mountain was no different from the one in Baishan Town, except for the trees. As they walked, Kuva saw mountain fungus growing on the trees. This was a good thing.

Kuva pointed to the wood ear mushrooms and told Dashan she wanted to pick some. Dashan was puzzled and said, "There are plenty of these in the mountains, but nobody eats them."

"Have you ever eaten it?" Kournikova asked.

The three of them looked at each other and shook their heads. Kournikova then asked, "So, besides the grains and meat you usually eat, have you ever eaten anything else?"

Kournikova also noticed the problem: in the past few months, apart from meat and grains, she had not seen any vegetables or other ingredients.

The three of them shook their heads again, and Kournikova understood; they were afraid to eat these unfamiliar things.

Kournikova led the three men, directing them to pick wood ear mushrooms in the mountains. Later, they encountered other mushrooms, and Kournikova taught them how to distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous ones. Kournikova patted her chest and said she would cook a big meal for the three of them when they returned.

Along the way, Xiao Gatou caught a red rabbit, the first time Kuwa had ever seen one. It had red ears and was twice the size of the rabbits in their Baishan Town. Kuwa found a large patch of scallions and spices in a mountain gully. He picked some and told the three people from Dashan that these were ingredients for cooking, and that they would come back here to pick more when they needed them, and maybe transplant some back home to grow.

On the way back, Kournikova saw an apple tree, but the fruit was too small to eat. However, Kournikova told the three people that it was a delicious fruit and that they could eat it when it turned red, as it would be sweet.

The three of them were confused and asked Kournikova what sweetness was. Kournikova was also stumped and sighed that these poor kids didn't know what sweetness tasted like.

The entire area around Beishan is very quiet. Apart from the chirping of birds in the sky, there are no large animals here, but there are plenty of mountain produce and wild vegetables.

It was already afternoon when the four of them returned to Dashan's house. Grandpa Li frowned as he looked at the things they had carried back. Kova noticed Grandpa Li's doubt and said, "Grandpa, just you wait and see. I'll show you something today."

Kova busied herself at the stove, while the three little devils were vividly recounting their journey to Grandpa Li.

Kova walked around the house but didn't see a table for eating, so she found some planks and clattered them together to make a makeshift table. However, it was very low because the mountain family didn't have any stools at all; they only had stone stools, which weren't high.

After setting up the table, Kourva started cooking. Since there was no oil, she used the fattest part of the rabbit to make rabbit oil, which would have to do. The salt was also coarse salt, and Kourva filtered it three times before she could get the brine.

Soon, there were six dishes: braised rabbit with wood ear mushrooms, chicken stew with mushrooms, braised double mushrooms, stir-fried rabbit, stir-fried rabbit with wild celery, and stir-fried cabbage. The wild celery and cabbage were also picked from the mountains.

The multigrain steamed buns were a modified version of the buns made by Kournikova. They were filled with a mixture of rabbit meat and cabbage, and scallions were added. There were two whole steamers of them, and Kournikova felt a little embarrassed because she thought she had made too many.

When Grandpa Li brought his three sons to the table, they were presented with food they had never seen before. When Kova used two twigs as chopsticks to demonstrate, they couldn't resist any longer.

What use are chopsticks? Hands are still very useful. A quick and easy meal was devoured. When Kournikova brought out the pig's ears she had prepared for Grandpa Li, there was nothing left on the table. Kournikova was dumbfounded.

Kournikova placed the rabbit ears in front of Grandpa Li. Grandpa Li grabbed a piece with his hand, ate it, and said with great enjoyment, "It would be nice if we had the yellow wine from town."

Kournikova was helpless; the grain here couldn't be used to brew alcohol. But she said, "It's okay, the four of us brothers can go out and explore more often; we might just run into something."

The three boys nodded frantically. Little Gatou said shyly, "Brother Kuwa, could you teach me how to make this for my grandma and mom?"

The idiot looked at Kourva expectantly, and Kourva said, "No problem, I'll make another one and bring them to my family later."

Grandpa Li ate a rabbit ear, nodded with a smile, and turned to Dashan, saying, "Catch more red rabbits when you have time; these ears are quite delicious. Why didn't I know to eat ears before?"

Da Shan secretly took a bite and exclaimed, "From now on, we'll hunt Red Rabbits! This stuff is so good, and it goes well with so many other foods."

A little while later, Kournikova came out looking worried. Grandpa Li asked her what was wrong, and Kournikova said that she had cooked the food, but she didn't know what to use to hold it since there was nothing in the house.

Grandpa Li smiled and said, "You know, neither of their families had anything to put in their containers. Didn't you see they all ran back to get basins?"

A short while later, Ershazi and Xiaogatou came in a hurry with a basin, filled it up, and then left in a hurry again.

Kournikova laughed behind him, and Grandpa Li said, "With so much more food, autumn is going well, and it will be even better once winter is over."

Kova was taken aback, then smiled and said to Grandpa Li, "These things can all be made into dried vegetables. They'll be just as delicious after being soaked in water in winter."

Grandpa Li was shocked. Kova said, "Grandpa, I'll teach you how to store more. It's the same with vegetables. Dry the cabbage in the fall and put it in the cellar. It can last through the winter."

Grandpa Li was surprised. After a long pause, he asked, "What is a vegetable cellar?"

(End of this chapter)