Chapter 12: Discovering the Chestnut Forest

An Yinan smiled to herself, "Before you go to the fields, come to me; I'll wrap it for you, so don't take it back to the Educated Youth Dormitory."

The material for the scarf really wasn't something available nowadays; if it were to be investigated closely, it would be too much trouble.

Besides, there was also the green-eyed Sun Xiaoqin; she wasn't afraid of her, but she was afraid of trouble.

"Alright, I'm heading back first. Tomorrow, I'll go up the mountain with you to gather firewood."

Xie Yuanyuan left these words behind and returned to the Educated Youth Dormitory.

After An Yinan finished tidying up, she threw a handful of branches into the stove, checked the walls and the heated brick bed for any cracks, and sprinkled some water. Only after checking everything once did she walk out to the courtyard with peace of mind.

There were two more days until they had to go to the fields.

Taking advantage of these two days, she needed to gather some firewood. After the autumn harvest, frost would arrive soon. At that time, the firewood on the mountain would be damp and would need special drying before it could be used for burning.

Uncle Xie had also modified the passageways on both sides of the room and covered them with straw mats, so whether it rained or snowed, the firewood stored in the passageways wouldn't get wet.

The next morning, Xie Yuanyuan and Zhang Qian came over. Both of them had eaten their two meat buns, Xie Yuanyuan pitifully carried the other meat bun on her person, and Zhang Qian carried the remaining three.

"Sigh, next time I'm going to buy ten meat buns." Xie Yuanyuan puffed out her round cheeks and clenched her fists.

Before the words had even faded, she added, "No, buy twenty."

Zhang Qian nodded as if he had or hadn't noticed; they had indeed bought too little this time.

An Yinan shook her head helplessly. Touching the now-dried walls and heated brick bed, she had already settled most of her things; she hadn't taken out too much to begin with.

"Beibei, Aunt Li will have someone deliver things today; you might need to wait at home for a while," An Yinan instructed An Xiangbei.

Ever since he arrived at Quanshui Village, An Xiangbei's personality had changed slightly; he was more cheerful than when he was in the City.

He would go into the water to catch fish with Huzi, go to the foot of the mountain to dig for vegetables, and find wild fruits to eat.

His ability to adapt made An Yinan feel a bit more at ease.

An Xiangbei put down the book in his hand, "Sister, I understand."

The three of them brought their lunch and headed up the mountain with large baskets on their backs.

An Yinan had specifically opened a small door in the passageway beside the room.

Outside the small door was a large patch of wild grassland, and from there, one could go directly up the mountain.

"Wow, there's a small door here? It saves us from taking a big detour to get up the mountain."

If Nan Nan hadn't led the way today, she wouldn't have even known this path had a small door opened on it.

An Yinan smiled. She planned to open up a vegetable garden next year. She had asked the Educated Youth Zhang before; every Educated Youth could open their own vegetable garden. If they cooked together, they would share the vegetable garden; if they cooked separately, they could plant their own, but they couldn't eat from the shared one.

It was autumn this year, and most of the vegetables had already been eaten. She planned to go find Aunt Li to buy some, so she hadn't gotten involved in the shared vegetable garden matter.

"I'm opening a vegetable garden next year, so I opened a small door separately. Very few people come to the back, so it's more convenient. And I've already agreed with Uncle Xie that he will help me build a wall around it separately. How do you plan to handle your vegetables next year?"

One look at Xie Yuanyuan's expression and it was clear she hadn't thought of this at all.

Zhang Qian, however, had thought of it, "I originally wanted to give them some grain in exchange for a year's worth of vegetables; it would be convenient."

But, now?

"Can I trade with you? Or help you with work?" Zhang Qian usually spoke very little, but he knew that the other side had many people and was complicated, so he wanted to get involved as little as possible.

An Yinan rubbed her brow, "How about this: I'll clear this area next year, and Uncle Xie will come to help me build the wall after the autumn harvest. When it's time to clear the land, you two come over to work. I'll decide what vegetables to plant, and you can eat as much as you want, how about that?"

This plot of land could yield over fifty gardens, enough for four people to have vegetables, and one could even plant some watermelons and strawberries in the corners.

With a wall blocking it, she felt even more at ease.

"Okay, I'll do the work," Xie Yuanyuan nodded immediately.

Zhang Qian also nodded.

After the three of them went up the mountain, they finally realized how terrifying An Yinan was.

They saw a dead tree as thick as a calf's leg; An Yinan stepped on it once, and the dead tree broke as thoroughly as could be...

"It's best to pick firewood like this; it burns long and has high heat, and it doesn't take up much space. These dead branches are also fine," An Yinan said while demonstrating and picking up firewood.

Quanshui Village was surrounded by mountains on all four sides, and firewood was countless; as long as one was diligent enough, one wouldn't freeze to death.

Every time they gathered three bundles of firewood, they would leave them under a tree nearby. The people from the village and the Educated Youth Station had all gone to the fields; at this time, no one went up the mountain. Even if someone saw the three bundles of firewood, they would know they had been gathered by someone else. As long as their character was decent, they wouldn't take them away.

This method was told to her by Aunt Li; it was the rule among the villagers.

The three of them had been walking for over two hours when, just as Xie Yuanyuan's face turned pale and she couldn't catch her breath, they actually saw a small Chestnut Forest.

"These are chestnuts," An Yinan's eyes crinkled with a smile.

"Are they edible? Are they good?" Xie Yuanyuan asked, panting heavily.

"Mm-hmm, you can stew them with chicken, you can make chestnut cake, they're super fragrant." An Yinan looked at the thick layer of chestnuts on the ground and felt a bit pained. These chestnuts probably hadn't been harvested for many years; the bottom layer had already rotted into fertilizer. It was a waste of these wild chestnuts.

Wild chestnuts were relatively smaller, but their texture was stickier.

Xie Yuanyuan swallowed her saliva. What was she waiting for? Let's get to work.

Just as she was about to reach out, An Yinan grabbed her wrist with quick reflexes.

"Wear gloves. Chestnuts are covered in thorns. Some on the ground have split open, so you can pick them up directly, but there are still many thorns, so be careful."

After she finished speaking, she put on her gloves and squatted on the ground to pick them up, throwing one into her basket and two into her space.

It wasn't out of greed; it was just that there were too many chestnuts on the ground, and it would be a waste of time to carry them all back.

Although Xie Yuanyuan and Zhang Qian were young masters and misses from the city, they were both smart and learned after watching for a moment.

"Mine is full. You two combine yours into one basket. I'll take them down the mountain, and you keep picking." An Yinan was skilled through practice, and besides, she had picked chestnuts before. She quickly filled a large back basket, while Xie Yuanyuan and Zhang Qian had only managed to fill more than half a basket between them.

"I'll go down with you," Zhang Qian poured the chestnuts Xie Yuanyuan had picked into his own basket and handed the empty basket to Xie Yuanyuan.

An Yinan refused, "I have more strength; I'll just send them back myself. If you feel bad about it, just give me more chestnuts later."

An Yinan smiled. She had walked up the mountain for two hours, but she had actually been accommodating their speed; otherwise, she could have reached the Chestnut Forest in thirty minutes.

"Okay," Zhang Qian nodded.

An Yinan carried her large basket on her back, held Zhang Qian's basket in her hand, and walked quickly down the mountain. Passing by the firewood they had bundled, she picked up two bundles and strapped two more onto the large basket on her back.

With two large baskets and four bundles of firewood, she swayed as she ran down the mountain.