Chen Xiaobei thought for a moment, then immediately put down the rice and headed towards the wasteland outside the village.
Sure enough, Cui Hongyu and Chen Qiao'er were watering the plants!
The vegetable seedlings had already grown more than an inch high, lush and green, which was truly pleasing to the eye.
When Chen Qiao'er saw that Chen Xiaobei had returned, she skipped over to him, happily calling for her brother.
Chen Xiaobei reached out and patted her on the head.
"Qiao'er, were you good today?"
Chen Qiao'er nodded. "Qiao'er was very good. If you don't believe me, you can ask Sister-in-law."
Cui Hongyu also smiled and said, "Yes, Qiao'er was very good, she even helped me water the plants!"
Then, she changed the subject. "Husband, you take Qiao'er back to rest. I'll finish watering this little bit and then go back to cook."
Chen Xiaobei shook his head with a smile, stepped forward, and took the iron pot from her hands. "Let me do it. You and Qiao'er go back first."
Cui Hongyu wanted to say something else, but Chen Xiaobei had already taken the pot with authority.
As he walked toward the river with the pot, Chen Xiaobei couldn't help but laugh to himself. The iron pot had taken on an unexpected responsibility!
It was originally meant for cooking, but now it was being used for watering the plants. No, he thought, he'd need to go back to the county town and get a proper container.
What touched Chen Xiaobei was that when he returned with the pot after watering, Cui Hongyu had already prepared the fish. When she saw him, she pointed at the fish and said, "Husband, I just followed what you did last time. I removed the scales, took out the intestines, and rubbed some salt on them."
Nice, Cui Hongyu was indeed clever. After just seeing him do it once, she had remembered it all.
Cui Hongyu stepped forward, took the iron pot, and placed it on the stove. The so-called stove was really just three stones.
She smeared a little pig fat on the bottom of the pot, pan-fried the small fish on both sides until golden, then added water and started to stew.
Impressive, Cui Hongyu was really smart. She had watched once and executed all the steps correctly.
During the meal, Cui Hongyu took the initiative to put a fish head in her own bowl, then gave the fish body to Chen Qiao'er, and smiled as she handed the fish tail to Chen Xiaobei.
Chen Xiaobei was very happy. The two exchanged a knowing smile.
After a few bites, Chen Xiaobei brought up that he needed to go back into Qingniu Mountain.
Chen Qiao'er shouted that she wanted to go, but Cui Hongyu quickly grabbed her arm. "Qiao'er, your brother is going to the mountain to take care of important business. Later, I'll take you to Brother Dachun's place, alright?"
Before Chen Qiao'er could reply, Chen Xiaobei bluntly said two words, "No good."
"Why? You?" Cui Hongyu looked at Chen Xiaobei in surprise.
Chen Xiaobei looked at Cui Hongyu, speaking slowly and seriously, "You just said you want Qiao'er to go to Dachun's house, do you want to come with me?"
Seeing that her little plan had been uncovered, Cui Hongyu's face turned a little red.
"Hongyu, I've been going to Qingniu Mountain every few days since I was a child. I know the roads there very well, so you don't need to come with me."
Cui Hongyu wanted to argue, but Chen Xiaobei quickly took over the conversation again. "Alright, no more arguing. I've made up my mind. You and Qiao'er stay at home and wait for me. I'll be back before the sun sets."
Chen Xiaobei's tone was firm and not to be denied, even though it was a bit blunt.
But in Cui Hongyu's heart, things were different. People said that Chen Xiaobei was a weak man, but from the tone he just used, there was a bit of masculine authority in it that she hadn't expected.
Chen Xiaobei carried the wild chicken-catching net into Qingniu Mountain.
To be honest, he had no idea what he was going to find today.
But he still held on to a bit of hope and first went to check the place where he had caught wild chickens before.
Everything was just as he had expected—no wild chickens would appear here anymore.
There was nothing to do but keep going deeper into the mountain.
They said that there were wild beasts in Qingniu Mountain, so the villagers only dared to stay near the foot of the mountain.
Chen Xiaobei walked another four or five miles in. The path was getting overgrown with weeds, indicating that the area was seldom visited by people.
With his head down, Chen Xiaobei pushed on, eventually reaching the mountain god temple.
In his memory, it had been about six or seven years since he last visited the temple.
At that time, Chen Qiao'er had just been born, and his parents' attention was entirely on his little sister, so he had been left to his own devices. That day, he had bravely gone there with Dachun.
After so many years, the temple had become even more run-down.
The entrance was overgrown with weeds, and the statue of the god inside was dilapidated, looking like it could collapse at any moment.
This was as far as he could go, mentally. He didn't have the courage to go any further.
Behind the mountain god temple was a small forest. With a bit of curiosity, Chen Xiaobei walked into it with the net.
What surprised him was that there weren't many weeds in this forest.
In the middle of the forest, there was even a small patch of bamboo.
But thinking about it, the absence of weeds meant there wasn't much cover, and it seemed unlikely there would be any wild chickens here.
As he turned to head back, his attention was caught by a few strange plants nearby.
A large cluster of vibrant green leaves, with a bunch of red, bead-like particles on top, likely fruit or seeds.
Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei felt it was familiar, like he'd seen it somewhere before.
But he couldn't quite recall what it was.
He couldn't come back empty-handed, so even if it was just to make Qiao'er happy, taking this back would be great.
With that in mind, he picked a few of the red particles and turned around to head back.
As he walked back to the mountain god temple, Chen Xiaobei felt a sudden clarity. Standing at the temple, he could see all the way down to the foot of the mountain.
The movements in the forest were completely visible.
Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei had an idea.
Of course! From up here, if he kept a close watch, he would definitely be able to spot the movements of the wild chickens.
Of course, this could only work if he understood the wild chickens' routine. He had to be there when they were returning to or leaving their nests.
Just like people, animals work by the sun—up with the dawn, down with the dusk.
So, if he wanted to observe the wild chickens, he would have to get to the mountain god temple before dawn.
Once he realized this, Chen Xiaobei grabbed the net and headed down the mountain.
When he returned empty-handed, Cui Hongyu didn't complain. Instead, she brought him a bowl of water.
"Dear, you must be tired. Here, drink some water."
Chen Xiaobei took the bowl, gulped it down, and with a look of apology said, "Sigh, I went all the way for nothing, didn't find anything."
Chen Qiao'er brought over the three-legged stool and placed it in front of him. "Brother, sit down."
Chen Xiaobei affectionately patted her head, then took out the red particles he'd picked from his pocket.
"I didn't find any wild fruit up there, but I'm not sure if this is edible. You can keep it and play with it."
Chen Qiao'er smiled, took the bunch, and was about to walk away when Cui Hongyu suddenly grabbed her.
Cui Hongyu took one of the bunches from Qiao'er, held it up in front of her, and carefully examined it with a look of surprise. "Dear, where did you find this?"