Era-C46

Chapter 46: The Pleasant Time in the Rain

After lying in bed for a while, playing with his wife’s hand, Lin Heng waited until his daughter woke up with a soft whimper. Then, both of them got up.

Lin Heng glanced at the clock. It was only around seven o’clock. In an era without TV, time seemed to move so slowly.

In the main room, the carpenter, Liang, had already started sawing wood planks. He had cut over a hundred planks in the past few days, but it was still far from enough.

Lin Heng’s father was helping him, using a knife to peel bark from the tree.

“You came back wet yesterday. Didn’t catch a cold?” Lin Heng’s father asked as he looked up, no longer showing the usual disappointment in his son.

“No, Xiulan made ginger soup for me last night. I’m fine.” Lin Heng chuckled, feeling a sense of accomplishment inside.

This was just the beginning. He was determined to gradually make the family wealthy, so his parents wouldn’t have to struggle for living essentials, and could instead pursue their own interests.

“Good. Your mom should be done with breakfast soon. Go wash up and eat.” Lin Heng’s father said.

Lin Heng nodded and was about to leave when the carpenter handed him over a dozen arrow shafts made from paulownia wood, saying, “I was bored this morning, so I made these. What do you think?”

Lin Heng took a look. The shafts were smooth and clearly sanded with care, indicating that the carpenter had put real effort into making them.

It was obvious that these had been brought by the badger he hunted last night. People of this era admired those with skills.

Catching a badger on his own was proof of Lin Heng’s hunting ability.

“These are perfect, Uncle Liang. Your craftsmanship is impressive.” Lin Heng said, delighted as he took the arrow shafts.

Uncle Liang laughed heartily, “A good saddle for a good horse. It’s a perfect match for you. I work here every day and eat meat, so this is my small contribution.”

“Haha, you’re too modest, Uncle Liang. You’re simply doing what’s right.” Lin Heng also chuckled, flashing his white teeth.

The carpenter was indeed an interesting person.

“I heard some banging last night. Did you catch all those mice?” Uncle Liang asked, noticing the basket of dead mice by the wall.

“Yeah, it was too noisy with them running around on the tarp. I lured them to the windowsill and used a slingshot to take them out.” Lin Heng replied with a smile.

“Impressive!” Uncle Liang was genuinely impressed. Each mouse had been struck in the head, a terrifyingly precise kill.

It wasn’t just him; everyone in the house was stunned when they saw it. To kill so many mice with a slingshot in the pitch black night was an incredible feat.

“Haha, they were close, so it was easy.” Lin Heng humbly laughed.

For breakfast, they had pickled cabbage noodles, which was considered a pretty good meal in this era.

After breakfast, the rain was still heavy. Lin Heng’s mother and the others were busy processing the badger meat, cutting it up, rubbing it with salt, and smoking it with cypress branches.

Without a fridge, that was the only way to preserve it.

The internal organs were all stir-fried and set aside, cooked three times a day until eaten, to prevent spoilage.

Even though it was raining, the temperature was still around ten degrees Celsius, so it was difficult to store food for long.

“Here, this is your reward.” Lin Heng said as he poured food into the dog’s bowl. It was all rat meat, with no trace of any cooked meals.

Worried about the dog’s health, Lin Heng had burned off the rat fur and boiled it for over half an hour until it was soft before serving it.

“Woof woof!”

Seeing the food, the dog, Xiong Ba, immediately began devouring it, chomping noisily as though a storm were blowing through.

In less than two minutes, three pounds of meat were gone, and it looked up at Lin Heng with its pale golden eyes, as if asking, “Is that all?”

“That’s it, only this much for breakfast.” Lin Heng patted the dog’s head.

Then, he found a bench and sat under the eaves, assembling his arrows. The arrowheads and fletching were already prepared, so it didn’t take long to assemble them.

Once done, Lin Heng tested them out and found them to work even better than the ones he had bought.

After finishing everything, Lin Heng leaned back in his chair, stretched his legs out, placed his left leg over his right, and propped his head on his hands as he looked at the rain in the sky.

“Dog… dog…”

Xiaoxia was playing with the dog, but Xiong Ba just lay there, unresponsive to her tugging its ears, rubbing its belly, or pulling its tail. It was like trying to move a rock.

After a while, Xiaoxia grew bored and angrily started throwing punches in the air before turning to bother Lin Heng.

Lin Heng pretended to be asleep, and the little girl hammered him for quite some time until she spotted her aunt, Caiyun, and ran over to her.

“Woof woof~”

After Xiaoxia left, Xiong Ba walked over to Lin Heng and stared at him with what looked like reproach.

“It’s gone now.” Lin Heng rubbed its head, but Xiong Ba wasn’t convinced and turned around to lie down with its back to him.

Xiulan, Lin Heng’s mother, and his sister-in-law Liu Juan were busy with their sewing. Xiulan was repairing the soles of shoes, while Liu Juan was mending clothes.

Outside, the rain poured heavily, and the sounds of chopping and carving wood filled the main room.

In the distance, the mountains appeared hazy in the rain, with fog rolling in from beyond them, as if a giant white monster were swallowing up entire mountains.

The peaceful and quiet environment made Lin Heng feel sleepy. The slow passage of time always made one want to take a nap.

But the laughter of his daughter and the playful shouts of his two nephews playing hide-and-seek would always wake him up.

These lazy and carefree moments brought him a sense of peace, a scene he could only dream of in his past life.

Of course, not everyone was so leisurely. Some people were out in the rain, collecting cow grass, while others were busy planting sweet potatoes. In this world, there were always people working hard.

Lin Heng dozed off with the sound of rain in the background, and when he woke up, he noticed that someone had draped a jacket over him. Who else but Xiulan?

Even while he was asleep, she had been sitting nearby, sewing and taking care of the children without leaving.

Around three in the afternoon, the rain stopped. Lin Heng’s elder brother went out to collect cow grass, while Lin Heng, along with Xiong Ba, went out to help, carrying a basket and a slingshot.

He wasn’t really expecting to hunt, but just hoped to find some mushrooms. After the rain, mushrooms were often abundant.

Xiulan, Lin Heng’s mother, and Liu Juan also took baskets and headed up the mountain, while Caiyun stayed home to look after the children.

There were many women from the village also heading up the mountain. The first mushrooms to appear after the rain were the most sought after, and everyone had their own secret spots to gather from, fearing someone else would take them.

Especially around the village, there were only a few spots where mushrooms grew, and everyone knew where they were.

“We’ll split up to search. We’ll get some mushrooms for tomorrow’s house-building meal.”

Lin Heng’s mother said, and the three women went their separate ways.

“Little brother, I can manage the cow grass on my own. You go with Xiulan and the others to collect mushrooms.” Lin Heng’s elder brother, Lin Yue, said with a smile.

“No worries, I can go anywhere.” Lin Heng grinned, knowing that places with many people might not have the best mushrooms.

“Alright!” Lin Yue nodded and led Lin Heng to the forest on the west side of the village.

This area didn’t grow many mushrooms, so fewer people came.

“Delicious beef liver mushrooms!”

As soon as they entered the forest, Lin Heng spotted two fresh beef liver mushrooms next to a firethorn tree.

They were just starting to grow, about the size of a fist, with cinnamon-colored caps and white gills underneath. The stalks were thick and had a light brown net-like pattern.

These mushrooms were very distinctive, looking like the mushroom houses from fairy tales.

Of course, they were also delicious, second only to the prized “jian shou qing” mushrooms.

However, “jian shou qing” mushrooms were rare here and eaten less often.

“These mushrooms just popped up recently. They’re a bit early this year.” Lin Yue nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I’m going to check deeper into the forest. Come on, Xiong Ba.”

Lin Heng nodded, leading Xiong Ba further into the forest.

“Woof woof!!”

Xiong Ba barked excitedly twice, ran ahead, and stopped in front of another beef liver mushroom, tapping it with its paw.

Lin Heng walked over to collect it, and the dog ran ahead again, stopping in front of the next one, pawing at it and barking twice: “Woof woof!”

“Damn, calling the dog, huh?” Lin Heng laughed and scolded, walking over to collect the mushrooms.

“Woof woof!!”

After Lin Heng finished collecting the mushrooms, Xiong Ba ran around the forest for a bit before calling out again.

Lin Heng went over and looked at what the dog had found, his face lighting up in delight: “It’s a Qing Tou mushroom!”

(End of this chapter)