19 Picking up firewood

So they continued trekking upwards, Shen Zhiwen leading the way to hook tree branches, and Shen Yunfang following behind to pick them up. As some of the branches were quite large, she struggled to move them, so she gathered all the branches together, and once there were enough, Zhiwen pulled out a bundle of hemp rope from his sling bag, tied the branches into one big bundle, and then turned to Yunfang, who was behind him, saying, "I'll take these back first, then come back later. Can you stay here by yourself, or do you want to wait for me on the little slope?"

Zhiwen wouldn't normally ask this of just anyone, but he knew his cousin Yunfang was timid since childhood and only dared venture as far as the little slope when going up the mountain. He worried that if he left her here, she might start crying once she was alone.

"No need, it'll just waste time going back and forth. I'll wait for you here," Yunfang didn't want to go back at all. It was not easy, and the large sickle was about to be in her hands—if she didn't take the opportunity to gather more firewood, it wouldn't be worthwhile.

"You really won't go back? Aren't you afraid being here by yourself?" Zhiwen asked uncertainly once more.

Yunfang was somewhat speechless, thinking that this question was a bit too late. If she was scared, would she be able to live at the foot of the mountain by herself, groping around in the dark without even an oil lamp?

"I'm grown up now; I stopped being afraid a long time ago. Just hurry back," Yunfang waved her hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly.

Zhiwen had no choice and also felt that in this short span of time, nothing was likely to happen. This patch of forest was often frequented by villagers collecting firewood, and the wild animals were scared of humans, so you couldn't even encounter a rabbit here.

Zhiwen, still uneasy, repeated his cautions a few times before bending down, lifting the large bundle of firewood from the ground, and then trudging steadily down the mountain.

Watching Zhiwen disappear down the path, Yunfang turned around, picked up the large sickle leaning against a tree, and sized it up—it must have weighed about ten pounds. She looked up at the tree and decided—that was the one.

Yunfang chose a branch she had set her sights on and shakily raised the heavy sickle in her hands.

The sickle was naturally heavy, and to lift it by one end was not easy to balance. After several attempts, Yunfang finally managed to reach the branch, found the spot where it connected to the trunk, and, using all her strength, tried to hook it down. Instead, the sickle got stuck on the branch, which stubbornly clung onto the tree, not budging at all.

It was infuriating—was it teasing her for her lack of strength?

Yunfang refused to admit defeat; she spat onto her palms for better grip and then started tugging the wooden handle with all her might.

Yunfang felt like she was using every ounce of strength she had, but the branch above seemed to be defiantly resisting her efforts, not moving an inch.

With no other option, Yunfang eventually added her seventy-some pounds of body weight into the effort.

Finally, the branch overhead fell down, and with it, the sickle crashed to the ground, bringing her down along. Fortunately, since the handle of the sickle was long, it landed a good distance from her head.

Yunfang got up from the ground, rubbing her sorely bruised backside; being too skinny was not ideal—she had hurt herself with her own bones.

She glanced down the mountain, then looked cautiously around to make sure no one was there. After confirming she was alone, she stored away the branch she had managed to bring down with her own hands into her space.

Then, still unwilling to admit defeat, she continued to use the tool to hook branches. Fearing Zhiwen would notice something amiss when he returned, she didn't dare continue forward but instead retraced the path they had already taken.

After practicing several times and paying the price of a few falls, she finally mastered the craft of hooking down branches. Although she still had to use her full body weight, she no longer fell.

Seeing that time was almost up, she quickly picked up the large sickle and returned to where she had started.

When Shen Zhiwen came back, the two of them continued on their way. That morning, Shen Zhiwen had made three trips back and forth, spreading the branches in the courtyard. These branches still had a lot of moisture in them and couldn't be burned directly; they needed to be dried in the yard for use in winter. Meanwhile, Yunfang took advantage of his trips to transport firewood to hook down quite a few branches herself, storing them in the space.

Finally, Shen Zhiwen led Yunfang to the south side of the mountain, to a large Pine Forest. It was so huge that Yunfang couldn't see the end of it from the edge.

She took a deep breath, and the unique scent of pine filled her lungs, inexplicably comforting.

"What are you standing around for, get moving and gather the branches," Shen Zhiwen had already squatted down and gathered a small pile, only to find that his cousin hadn't started working; looking up, he saw her standing foolishly, staring at the sky, stretching her arms.

"Oh? Oh, I'll get right on it," said Yunfang, her brief moment of literary flair interrupted. Remembering she had work to do, she quickly squatted and began working behind her cousin.

After spending the day together, she realized that this cousin, who seemed simple and honest and smiled naively at everyone, was not so simple after all, and sometimes he even made sharp-tongued remarks. Truly, appearances can be deceiving.

The layer of pine branches on the ground was thick, and it didn't take long for the baskets they carried to be filled, so the two of them descended the mountain together. That was enough for the day; they would come back to the mountain to collect more when they had time.

At this time, when helping out, one did not have to worry about meals, at least Yunfang didn't. So, after coming down the mountain and putting down the firewood at home, Shen Zhiwen left without saying a word.

While Yunfang still had to go up to the mountain to check on the sheep.

Of course, she had to feed herself first.

That evening, when Yunfang went to the production team to deliver the sheep, she observed quietly to ensure no one was around, then went to clean the cow sheds for free. Of course, in the end, all the cow dung was hers to take.

Before leaving, she dug around with a shovel outside the pigpen, finding exactly what she wanted—earthworms. She quickly brought out the small clay jar she had prepared in advance, filled it with soil smelling of pig manure, and then dumped in the earthworms she had dug up.

Yes, Yunfang's first plan was to raise earthworms. By next spring, when the earthworm breeding was up to scale, she could expand her chicken-raising business a bit.

She was lucky to catch a good time, as in this place, during this period, there were no restrictions on raising chickens. So she could develop her poultry business. Even if she couldn't sell to individuals, she could sell the eggs and meat to the state in the future—that would settle it. As long as she could solve the issue of feed, it would all be profitable.

Of course, she had other plans, but everything had to be done step by step. She believed that with all her skills, she could definitely have a good life in this impoverished era.

Oh, she might not have mentioned, but her parents in her previous life were farmers. They stopped farming from the time she was born, though, catching the tail end of the reform and opening up, they started a breeding business. Her parents raised her on the poultry business, chickens, ducks, and geese.

After years of hard work, they even used earthworm farming to support her university education, so whether it was raising earthworms or poultry, she knew how, and she did it scientifically.