Quick Wear: Reversing Life

Chapter 222: Escape from the Mountains (3)

The village is called Xiaoba Village, with a total population of about 50 households. The village chief is surnamed Wang, and the family has a complicated network of relatives.

The only primary school in the village is built at the entrance of the village. It is a Hope Primary School. People in the village said that it was built with money donated by a rich man in the city.

The original owner only studied here until the fifth grade and then dropped out. In order to support his family, he now works as a helper in the school cafeteria, earning 20 yuan a week. He only needs to come at noon and in the evening, not in the morning.

The old man at the school gate is the principal. He was a little surprised to see Xiaocao.

"Why are you here, Ni'er?"

Speaking of which, it was thanks to Principal Wang that the original owner was able to go to school.

Li Yuliang refused to pay a penny. It was he who paid for Xiaocao's tuition and miscellaneous fees, which allowed Xiaocao to go to school for five years.

Xiaocao took out five yuan from her pocket and handed it to Principal Wang. She said in the local dialect, "Principal Wang, can you let Xiaohua take classes here?"

"You don't need to buy textbooks or anything. Just let her sit in the back of the classroom and listen."

Principal Wang was smoking a pipe, his eyes were narrowed, and his face was full of wrinkles.

"It's already mid-June, and the semester is almost over. Why are you still listening? Come back in September."

Xiao Cao said, "There are still a few days left in the semester, so please let her study for a few days. My father has been drinking again recently, and I'm afraid she will get beaten at home."

Principal Wang closed her eyes when she thought of her father, Li Yuliang.

"Come on, come on, come on, put her in Class 1, Grade 1. Don't give her the money. Just for a few days. Keep her until school starts in September."

Principal Wang waved his hand and did not take her five dollars.

"Thank you, Principal Wang." Xiaocao said to Xiaohua, "Xiaohua, thank you, Principal Wang."

Xiaohua bowed obediently and said in a pinched voice, "Thank you, thank you, Principal Wang."

Principal Wang exhaled a puff of smoke and asked, "Why is Ni'er still stuttering?"

Xiaohua is timid by nature, and she is beaten by Li Yuliang all day long. She stutters when she speaks to people and cannot speak long sentences.

...

Xiaocao took Xiaohua to Class 1, Grade 1. The first class had not started yet, but some people had already arrived one after another. They were all children from Xiaoba Village.

Xiaocao took out a bowl from the bamboo basket behind him and handed it to Xiaohua.

"Here, if you're thirsty in the morning, go get some water from the well over there."

She brought a small stool from her office and placed it at the back of the classroom.

"You're here for class this morning. Listen carefully, okay?"

There are only two subjects in school: Chinese and mathematics. There are three classes in the morning and two classes in the afternoon. Generally, the same subject is taught together.

When Xiaohua heard that she would have to stay here alone, she was immediately scared and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Sister, I, I don't want to stay here. I'm scared."

Xiao Cao said, "If you listen carefully to the class for the whole morning, I will buy you some malt sugar."

When Xiaohua heard that there was malt sugar to eat, her eyes lit up for a moment.

"How do you have money? To buy candy?"

When the little monkey next door was eating malt sugar, she looked at it with envy and it smelled so delicious.

"As long as you attend class and listen carefully, I'll buy you some."

Xiaohua nodded immediately.

"If someone bullies you, go find Principal Wang, okay?"

...

After settling Xiaohua down, Xiaocao followed the route he remembered and went around the village to go up the mountain.

I saw the golden wheat field from yesterday again. It matures in June and should be winter wheat.

Winter wheat is mainly distributed in four regions: Southwest, Northwest, North China, Huanghuaihai, and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Judging from the local dialect and common vegetation in the village, this is probably North China or Central China.

Most of the buildings in the village are slate houses with walls made of stone strips or blocks and roofs covered with stone slabs.

This kind of stone is a bit like the stone ore resources that can only be found near Taihang Mountains.

Perhaps this village is near Taihang Mountains.

After going around the wheat fields and up the mountain, there are no other man-made paths except a small path for grazing cattle on the mountain.

The green and yellow shrubs on both sides even grew taller than the grass. Looking up, one could see huge trees blocking out the sun, towering like a canopy. Only a few beams of sunlight shone through the gaps in the treetops.

Xiaocao continued to walk up and came to the place where the original owner often grazed cattle, which was a small hillside.

The bushes here are not that tall. There is a stream not far away. There are lush aquatic plants near the stream. If you look closely, there seem to be fish swimming in the water.

Standing on the hillside, you can see the vast and endless forest in front of you. The green and dark blue mountains in the distance are swallowed up by the air bit by bit, becoming thinner and stretching to the end.

As Xiaocao walked along, he found that the vegetation resources here were very rich. The soapberry tree, which the villagers often used to wash clothes, had the effects of removing phlegm, opening the orifices and dispersing wind, reducing swelling, killing insects, and promoting bowel movements.

There was a lot of mugwort growing on the grass under her feet. Mugwort is also a very useful thing and very friendly to the female body.

In addition, she also saw several chestnut trees on the way here, but chestnuts mature in autumn, especially in the north, usually from September to October.

If it's autumn, you can also pick some chestnuts, which can strengthen the spleen and stomach, and also nourish the kidneys. In traditional Chinese medicine, the kidneys govern the bones, so eating chestnuts can strengthen the tendons and bones.

...

Xiaocao walked down the hillside and squatted by the stream to wash her face. The reflection of the clear stream water allowed her to see her face clearly.

Her hair was short, like dead grass, and had a faded yellow color due to malnutrition.

His skin was a bit dark, his face was probably only the size of a palm, and he looked rather plain and ordinary, with only a pair of fairly bright eyes.

The original owner was relatively strong, though somewhat malnourished. He was so thin that his ribs protruded from his body, and he didn't look tall.

At the age of 14, it seems that he is not even 140cm tall.

Xiaocao knew that this wouldn't work. Without a healthy body, he couldn't get out of the mountains.

At this time, a crucian carp swam past her eyes. It moved very quickly and swam away in a flash.

Are there crucian carp in this stream?

Crucian carp has high nutritional value and contains high-quality protein and fat. If you can catch a crucian carp and take it home to make soup, it can be considered an improvement in your diet.

Xiaocao took off his shoes and rolled up his trouser legs. The stream was not deep and just reached his knees when he stepped in.

These fish were very agile and slippery. Xiaocao took great effort to catch two of them and threw them into his bamboo basket.

I also caught several wild grass shrimps.

After finishing the work, my clothes were soaked.

The grass simply took off its clothes and threw them on the grass to dry, then rubbed itself clean carefully in the stream.

The sun was shining brightly and the clothes dried in no time.

She put her clothes back on, carried her bamboo basket and prepared to go into the mountains to try her luck.

Before entering the mountains, she crushed mugwort and applied the juice to her ankles and wrists to prevent mosquito bites.

For fear of getting lost, Xiaocao didn't dare to go too far, after all, the original owner was not very familiar with this place.

The vegetation in the forest is mainly composed of arborvitae, pistachio and larch.

The bark and leaves of Pistacia chinensis can be used as medicine, which has the effect of clearing away heat and detoxifying. It can also be used to treat psoriasis, rheumatism, etc.