After crossing over a few hills, Li Yao arrived at the edge of the dense forest in the mountains.
This area was relatively sparsely populated by villagers, so it was still possible to dig up vegetables here, but there was no trace of medicinal herbs to be seen. Li Yao let the children dig vegetables nearby, while she went into the woods alone.
After trekking for over an hour, she didn't find many herbs, but she did have an unexpected gain.
She saw a lot of spices.
Star anise, Sichuan pepper, fennel, cinnamon, bay leaves, wild ginger, these were all commonly used and could be bought at the market.
But cloves, cardamom, cubeb pepper, and lesser galangal, the people of this world had not yet discovered their uses.
So she gathered some of each, to use for cooking dishes and pickling in the future.
When she was about to go deeper into the woods, a north-south valley blocked her way.
On both sides were steep cliffs, more than a hundred meters deep, with no end in sight. The trees and weeds in the valley were dense, and there were no signs of human activity on the cliffs.
It was this valley that blocked the villagers from going up the mountain. Even experienced hunters had never gone down it. But Li Yao was bold and skilled, what was an insurmountable precipice to the villagers, was a piece of cake to her.
After carefully observing the terrain, Li Yao plotted a route, using the trees and weeds on the cliff to slowly make her way into the valley.
The cliff was indeed dangerous. Even for her, without any protection, she didn't dare go down too quickly. It took a full half hour before she finally stepped onto the valley floor.
Being in the valley felt like entering a whole new world, a treasury of resources.
All kinds of herbs could be seen almost everywhere.
Aconite, white peony root, peony root, ephedra, Fritillaria, salvia, ophiopogon... and they were all a few years old. In no time, she had filled half a basket.
After digging up a clump of ephedra, Li Yao suddenly heard two chirping sounds, which made her heart leap with joy.
Wild chicken!
She put down her basket and took up her bow and arrows, stealthily approaching the source. Soon she saw a small, gray chicken pecking around in the undergrowth.
It would peck a few times, then warily raise its head to listen for sounds around it.
Li Yao approached to within about three meters in the gentlest manner, before drawing her bow to shoot an arrow.
Whoosh!
The bamboo arrow hit the wild chicken's thigh. It let out a shrill cry and panickedly tried to escape.
Li Yao pounced and grabbed it, twisting its neck.
And just like that, she easily caught a wild chicken.
Where there was one, there would be two. Where there were two, there would be three. Li Yao quickly shot two more nearby.
The three wild chickens were all small, probably a little over a pound each. They looked very young and tender. This kind of small chicken had tender meat, perfect for frying or roasting.
But it was a little lacking in quantity.
However, fortune favored her, or perhaps the valley was just too abundant in resources. She soon encountered a plump wild rabbit and successfully shot it down too.
Three small wild chickens and one large wild rabbit, dinner tonight was finally enough.
Bringing the herbs into town tomorrow could also earn some money, which solved the pressing problem at hand.
Climbing up the cliff, Li Yao oriented herself and quickly headed home.
Before reaching the edge of the woods, she suddenly heard footsteps and immediately tightened her grip on the cleaver in her hand.
"Who's there?"
"It's me."
Liu Hunter, carrying a bow and arrows, soon walked out from behind a tree.
This made Li Yao even more vigilant.
In this kind of forest, a young and beautiful widow meeting a strong man alone was dozens of times more dangerous than meeting a wild beast.
Fortunately, Liu Hunter was upright. Seeing her alone, he did not come closer.
"I thought it was someone else, turns out it was Li Yao," Liu Hunter was from Li Yao's natal village, so he naturally recognized her. "What are you doing alone in the woods?"
"I'm here to hunt."
"You? Hunting?"
Liu laughed.
A woman going into the mountains to hunt, wasn't that a joke?
"Well, did you manage to hunt anything?" Liu smiled ambiguously and asked.
"Not much, just three wild chickens and a wild rabbit."
Liu Hunter: ...
Seeing the wild chickens and rabbit in Li Yao's hands, all shot dead with arrows, Liu Hunter's eyes were about to pop out.
She really hunted that much!
He had set dozens of traps in the woods, checking them every day, and had gone empty-handed for ten straight days already.
It was only today he got lucky and caught three small wild chickens, so he didn't have to go home empty-handed.
Compared to her, it was enough to anger someone to death.
"Brother Liu," Li Yao said, seeing Liu Hunter had no ill intentions, "Would you like to trade your chickens for something?"
"What do you want to trade?"
"I'll trade the rabbit for your three wild chickens."
The rabbit Li Yao caught was very plump, no less heavy than the three chickens, and the fur could also be sold for money. This was a very cost-effective trade, so Liu Hunter naturally agreed.
As for why she wanted to trade, it was because without cooking wine, it was difficult to get rid of the gamey taste of wild rabbit.
It was better to trade. Added up, it was just six chickens, just right for one each in her family.
After trading, Liu Hunter kindly reminded: "Wild boars have started coming towards the mountains this season. It's best if you don't go into the mountains alone again."
Wild boars?
Li Yao's heart twitched uncontrollably as she thought of crispy, juicy five spice pork belly wrapped in fresh lettuce...
It looked like she would have to make frequent trips to this mountain.
"I understand, thank you Brother Liu."
Carrying the chickens, she headed back the same way and met up with Dashuang and the children. By then, the sun was already tilting west. Seeing that she had actually hunted wild chickens, and a full six of them at that, the children could hardly conceal their excitement.
But they were also very worried.
They didn't know if Mother would give all the chickens to Grandma's family like before.
It turned out their worries were unnecessary.
After getting home, Li Yao immediately started arranging things. Dashuang and Wang Er cleaned the chickens, San'er and Wang Xiaosi started a fire and got charcoal ready, He Xiaoya sorted the herbs and washed wild scallions and ginger.
She slowly dried the spices over low heat, preparing to make a simple version of thirteen-spice blend.
"Mother," He Xiaoya didn't recognize some of the spices and asked, "What are these? They smell pretty good."
"I picked them in the woods. The aroma seems nice so I brought some back to try out. Where's the stone mortar?"
"Under the shelves. I'll go get it."
The dried spices were put in the stone mortar and slowly ground into a fine powder. The rich fragrance instantly spread out. He Xiaoya kept smelling it. As expected, it had several more scents compared to the spices she had seen before.
The mingled fragrances made her feel very comfortable.
The family was busy but orderly, the atmosphere lively. If not for the dilapidated thatched house, who would have thought this was the poorest family in He Wan village?
After the chickens were cleaned, Li Yao marinated them with salt, wild scallions, ginger, and the thirteen spice blend for half an hour. She then strung the chickens onto bamboo skewers and slowly grilled them over the red hot coals.
When the chickens were almost cooked, she put the chicken giblets pierced on small bamboo sticks to grill over low heat. Finally, she brushed on a layer of oil and sprinkled the thirteen spice powder. The rich aroma instantly burst out and the whole yard was filled with the intoxicating smell.
The children watched the golden brown roast chicken, continuously swallowing their drool.
"Everyone go wash your hands clean. It's time to eat."
The family sat around the table, each with a roast chicken in front of them.
The chicken skin was golden brown and crispy, the meat tender and juicy. The fragrance of the spices made one unable to resist voraciously digging in.
A platter of grilled chicken giblets was also golden brown and crispy.
Just as they were about to start eating, an inharmonious voice called out, "What are you eating that smells so good?"
Li Yao looked up to see it was her own younger brother Li Fu who had barged in uninvited.
Seeing the wild chickens on the table, Li Fu's eyes immediately lit up greedily. He sat down without any hesitation.
"Big sister, you have so many chickens but didn't send us any? Good thing I got here in time."
As he spoke, he casually reached to take the roast chicken in front of Wang Xiaosi.
Seeing this, none of the children dared to make a peep.
Usually this uncle didn't have any good attitude towards them. He was even more casual at their home than his own, taking any good food he saw. And Mother always defended him no matter what.
Now that he wanted to eat the roast chicken, they figured Mother would not only readily hand it over with both hands, but also let him take several back.
But what surprised everyone was that before Li Fu could even touch his bowl, Li Yao's chopsticks flashed like lightning and struck out towards him.