The mountain behind Mu's house is Kitchen Mountain, which surrounds half of Mingshui County. There are many wild animals and many wild fruits on the kitchen mountain. It can be said that the kitchen mountain is not only half the barrier of Mingshui County, but also one of the survival of the local people.

The kitchen mountain behind Mu's house extends all the way from the east, and it's the end here, so the people in Mingshui County collectively refer to the mountains here as Xishan or Weishan, because several mountains here are in the kitchen. on the small tail of the mountain.

If Mu Yangling wants to go from Linshan Village to Xishan Village, he only needs to go over the last hill. The villagers of the two villages used to walk a narrow road for convenience, which is more than half the speed of going around Xishan and taking the avenue. time.

Mu Yangling was used to walking in the mountains, so he was not afraid at all. He carried a basket that was about the same height as himself and walked up the mountain lightly.

The path has grown denser because no one has walked around for a long time. Fortunately, traces can still be seen. Mu Yangling hummed a song and jumped over the stones, whipping the things on the side of the road to Xishan Village.

After coming out of the mountain, he saw the village at the foot of the mountain at a glance. Several households had already seen smoke from the cooking. Mu Yangling looked up at the sun in the sky. It was about eleven o'clock before noon.

Mu Yangling lifted the basket on his back and said to himself, "This time is just right, not too early, not too late."

Mu Yangling didn't know where her aunt's house was, so she could only go to the village to find out, so she hurried down the mountain with the basket on her back.

Ma Zhang was picking off the good rice at home when he saw a little girl coming from the foot of the mountain with a big bag on her back. come over.

Ma Zhang could only stop, and the little girl raised a smile and asked her, "Auntie, do you know how to get to the house of Granny Liu, who married from Linshan Village?"

She married from Linshan Village and is also called Granny Liu. Isn't that her aunt?

Ma Zhang looked at the little girl up and down and asked, "Little girl, where are you from? What are you looking for with Granny Liu?"

"I came from Linshan Village. Granny Liu is my aunt, auntie, do you know how to get to my aunt's house?" Mu Yangling didn't say why she came, only her identity.

"I know, it turns out that my aunt is your aunt, so you have to call me aunt. Your aunt is my aunt." Ma Zhang picked up the burden and said, "Wait first, I will put This rice is picked up at home and I will show you the way."

"Thank you, Auntie." Mu Yangling would rather call her Auntie, a relative.

Ma Zhang's house was not far away, so she came out soon. She looked at Mu Yangling's back basket curiously and asked, "What's in here?"

However, Mu Yangling walked a few steps quickly as if there were eyes behind her back, which made her hand fall, and smiled as she walked quickly: "It's not a good thing, it's just some food from the family, my mother said that I haven't seen my aunt for a long time. Mother-in-law, ask me to bring it here."

Fortunately, when she was in the mountains, she was worried that the sun would catch the prey inside, so she picked a lot of big leaves to cover it up.

Ma Zhang was a little embarrassed, and said: "Is it your mother's sauerkraut or something?" Seeing that Mu Yangling just smirked and didn't answer, she asked: "You said my aunt is your aunt, I haven't seen it before. How about you?"

"This is the first time I've come here, and Auntie has never seen me before." Mu Yangling looked around and asked, "Auntie, is my aunt's house still far away?"

"It's not too far, now, the adobe houses in front of you are."

Mu Yangling looked up and stopped, this was the worst adobe house she had ever seen. The three adobe houses were next to each other, and the walls were sparsely hung with clods. Mu Yangling believed that, As long as the wind is stronger, the house is afraid that it will collapse, and the front wall is about one meter of mud piled up.

Mu Yangling didn't expect that her aunt's family was so poor. Even if the life in Linshan Village was not very good, there was no such a bad house.

Ma Zhang didn't know the shock this house caused to Mu Yangling's soul, but just walked in front to lead the way: "Let's go, your aunt is probably in the ground at this time, and I don't know if your cousins ??are there."

Because Mu Yangling can keep up with the nutrition and has been practicing martial arts, she is a little older than the average nine-year-old girl, and it is not obvious in the town and county. In this rural area, Ma Zhang thought she was ten years old. One or two years old, after all, Mu Yangling's stature is indeed what an eleven or twelve-year-old girl should have when everyone is hungry and thin.

Ma Zhang pushed open the door of her aunt's house and shouted loudly, "Xiulan, Xiulan, are you at home? A guest is coming to your house."

A thin and weak girl ran out of the kitchen and looked at Ma Zhang's family warily. Mu Yangling took a closer look and realized that it was the little girl he saw a few days ago.

The seven-year-old girl looked like she was only five years old. The big eyes on her thin face looked at Ma Zhang uneasily, which made Mu Yangling feel sad.

She took the initiative to step forward, "Cousin, do you remember me? We only met in town two days ago."

Ma Xiulan only saw Mu Yangling, her eyes flashed brightly, she nodded, and whispered, "You are the cousin of the cousin's family."

Mu Yangling's face suddenly raised a smile, boasting: "Cousin has a good memory, my mother asked me to come and see my aunt. Last time my father went back and said that I met my aunt, and my mother remembered that my aunt had marinated before. Pickled cabbage and beans are really delicious, and it happened that my mother was pregnant and wanted to eat something sour, so I asked me to come and see if you have pickled pickled cabbage and sour beans."

Ma Zhang realized, frowned, and glanced at Mu Yangling with contempt. Seeing that she was carrying a basket on her back, she didn't seem to have much weight, so she thought that the leaves covered on her were for the sake of appearance.

No wonder she didn't show it, it turned out that there was nothing in it, but it came to play the autumn wind.

Ma Zhang lost interest in an instant, and said lazily: "Since I have brought you here, I will go back to work first."

"Thank you, Auntie, for bringing me here." Mu Yangling sent Ma Zhang out with a smile on his face.

Ma Xiulan saw that Ma Zhang finally left, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled at Mu Yangling: "Cousin, you can do it in the house, I'll call my grandma and sister back."

Mu Yangling pinched her face and said, "Don't go out and call, they will be back soon at this hour, do you want to cook? I'll help you do it together."

Ma Xiulan got tangled up. Their grandparents and grandchildren eat porridge every day at noon, and the side dishes are Xiaodie’s sauerkraut. My cousin is a guest, so she can’t be allowed to eat these too, right?

Mu Yangling had already entered the house with a backpack on his back, took out all the leaves, took out a pheasant, and said, "Do you have a lot of sauerkraut in your house?"

Ma Xiulan stared blankly at the four wild animals in the back basket, and couldn't help swallowing, not hearing Mu Yangling's question at all.