Hearing this, Liu Rumei also sighed, "Oh, there are so many miserable children in the world."
Chen Xiaobei also sighed. In this era, such a situation is not uncommon.
If he hadn't met a kind man like Qin Gang, this tiger would probably have passed away long ago.
At this time, two old men brought two more bamboo baskets. They were filled with unknown wild fruits, some red and some green. They looked different from those brought by Huzi just now.
Qin Gang pointed at the fruits, smiled and said to everyone, "There is nothing delicious in the mountains, so we can just eat some."
With a smile on her face, Liu Rumei grabbed the wild fruit, stuffed it into her mouth, and said with a smile, "Well, it's so sweet. Grandpa Qin, where did you find this?"
After receiving Liu Rumei's praise, Qin Gang seemed to be in a good mood, pointing towards the distance with a smile on his face.
"There is a forest over there, full of all kinds of fruits."
Liu Rumei gave Chen Xiaobei a look, and Chen Xiaobei understood. He looked at Qin Gang with a smile, "Old man, what else do you eat besides eating wild fruits on weekdays?"
Qin Gang looked at Chen Xiaobei and then at Liu Rumei.
Of course Liu Rumei understood what it meant, and quickly explained with a smile, "Oh, Grandpa Qin, this is my husband, his name is Chen Xiaobei."
Qin Gang looked at Chen Xiaobei with surprise in his eyes.
Obviously, Chen Xiaobei and Liu Rumei do seem to be a bit incompatible.
But Qin Gang's look of surprise only flashed across his face. He immediately clasped his fists at Chen Xiaobei and said, "It turns out to be Mr. Chen. Please forgive me for being so slow."
Chen Xiaobei smiled and replied, "Senior, you're welcome. I'm just a villager, not a young man."
Although Qin Gang was surprised in his eyes, he did not pursue the question. Instead, he changed the topic and pointed in the distance, "There is a field there. We use it to grow some rice, raise some chickens and ducks, and these wild fruits. It’s enough for just the few of us.”
Hearing this, Chen Xiaobei nodded secretly. Thinking about it, with just six or seven elderly people, plus one child, and a rice field with chickens, ducks and wild fruits, there is obviously no problem in surviving. And from Qin Gang's words just now, Li also said that they occasionally go to the county town to purchase supplies.
Thinking of this, Chen Xiaobei frowned. Something was wrong.
In his memory, he never heard anyone mention seeing anyone coming down the mountain.
That would be very strange. Even if they go down the mountain less frequently, there is always a chance of being seen as long as they go down the mountain. After all, they have been here for fifty years.
Thinking of this, Chen Xiaobei clasped his fists again, "Old man, I have been at the foot of the mountain for so many years, and I have never seen you come down the mountain. I didn't know you were..."
Hearing this, Qin Gang smiled again, "Oh, to be honest, we don't go through your Hetou Village when we go down the mountain. There is another way."
As he spoke, he pointed forward, "There is a path over the hillside from where we go. At the bottom of the mountain is the woods. After passing the woods, we go directly to the official road."
Hearing this, Chen Xiaobei suddenly realized that in his memory, the source of the river outside the village was surrounded by dense woods, including at the foot of the mountain and stretching to the official road.
Occasionally, villagers would go to the forest in autumn and winter to chop some dead branches for fire. At other times, no one would go to the forest.
No wonder no one knew that anyone lived in Hulu Valley for so many years.
After understanding his doubts, Chen Xiaobei stopped saying anything.
At this time, a white-haired old man came over and said to Qin Gang, "Brother, the food is ready."
After saying that, he turned to look at Liu Rumei, "Miss Liu came at the right time. She killed a few chickens yesterday and wanted to replenish the tiger's body."
Qin Gang also laughed when he heard this, "Yes, Miss Liu is really a blessed person."
Liu Rumei responded with a smile, "It's better to come early than to come by chance, so I won't be polite."
Soon three large pots of stewed chicken were served. The stone tables and benches look simple and have a unique flavor.
Just as everyone was about to raise their chopsticks, there was a burst of laughter in the distance, and Huzi came flying over, "Grandpa, grandpa, didn't you say you want to eat chicken for lunch?"
Just when Qin was about to speak, Liu Rumei spoke first. She moved to the side and said, "Huzi, sit here and let's eat together."
Huzi nodded and sat down next to Liu Rumei without any courtesy.
Liu Rumei smiled and put a large bowl of chicken in front of Huzi and said with a smile, "Huzi, you eat."
Huzi shook his head slightly. He pushed the chicken back and said, "Sister, sister, you can eat it."
Qin Gang next to him quickly took a bowl, filled a few pieces of chicken and put it in front of Huzi.
Chen Xiaobei could also see that what was served to Liu Rumei and the others were chicken legs and breasts, the meaty parts, while the chicken necks and other meatless parts were given to Huzi.
Huzi doesn't care about this, he is happy when he has meat to eat.
Chen Xiaobei wanted to switch with Hu Zi, but he was afraid of hurting Qin Gang's self-esteem.
So he pretended not to see it and started eating.
I have to say, this chicken soup is really delicious. It was much more delicious than the chicken he had eaten in Hetou Village.
Soon, several more dishes were served, plus fragrant rice and several vegetables.
It can be seen that here is like a paradise, very carefree.
While I was eating happily, it suddenly turned dark outside. The sun was shining brightly, but it suddenly became like night.
Seeing such a scene. Huzi groaned, suddenly stood up and ran out.
Qin Gang and others also ran out, hugged the clothes hanging outside, and hurried back.
Before they could run into the cave, heavy raindrops fell.
Huzi rushed into the cave, chuckled, put his clothes aside, and raised his hand to swat the water droplets from his hair, "It's okay, okay, I ran fast enough, and my clothes didn't get wet."
Seeing this scene, everyone laughed and Chen Xiaobei even sighed.
"The rain came too fast."
After hearing his emotion, Qin Gang smiled and nodded, "Yes, in this Gourd Valley, the rain comes at any time, so fast that you don't even have time to hide."
Huzi suddenly slapped his head and said, "Oh, Dahuang and Erhuang are still over there. I'm afraid they are going to suffer this time."
Qin Gang smiled, raised his hand and patted Huzi on the head, "It doesn't matter, they are not afraid of the rain."
Huzi seemed to have remembered something again and ran into a nearby cave. It seemed that that should be his residence.
With little effort, Huzi took out a small stone ball, which was about the size of an adult's fist.
He put the stone ball in front of Chen Xiaobei, "I said I would give you a medicine. If you give it to the tiger, it will be as docile as a kitten."
Chen Xiaobei took the stone ball and observed it carefully, and then he found that there was a little bulge in it, and it opened when he pulled it. It turned out to be a lid. When you open the stone ball, it is hollow inside and contains a few dark pills.
Qin Gang also smiled and explained, "Mr. Chen, give this to Tiger and the others to eat, and they will listen to you from now on."
Chen Xiaobei quickly thanked him. If he didn't believe in this kind of medicine in his previous life, he had seen too many strange things in this life.
