The Farm Girl and the Executioner (Rebirth) 23p2

Chapter 23: Crispy Pancakes and Pickled Cabbage p2

The next day.

Early in the morning, when Lin Shuang woke up, Jiang Huaizhen was already out of bed.

When she left her room, she saw that she was moving things out of Old Madam Jiang’s room, from inside to outside, to make room for the heated kang.

The old woman’s bed was in the other corner. She was sitting on the bed, looking at her with an unhappy expression.

Seeing Lin Shuang poke her head in, she said unhappily, “Making a fuss so early in the morning, not letting anyone have any peace.”

Lin Shuang liked Jiang Huaizhen’s drive and smiled. “When it gets cold, you’ll know how comfortable a heated kang is.”

Old Madam Jiang snorted. “It’s just an earthen bed. What’s so great about it?”

Lin Shuang didn’t argue with her. After washing up, she began to prepare breakfast. There were only a few things in the house, so it was either porridge or dough drop soup. Thinking that they had eaten crispy flatbread for lunch and dinner yesterday, and their throats were very dry, she made porridge.

The pickled cabbage she had made earlier was already sour enough and was perfect to go with the porridge.

After breakfast, the two of them began to build the kang.

First, they made holes in the two walls. The one on the outer wall was for the smoke outlet, and the one on the inner wall, which led to the kitchen, was for the firewood inlet, one large and one small.

Seeing her perfectly fine bedroom being poked with two holes, Old Madam Jiang’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

She was tired of scolding and supported herself against the wall to sit at the main entrance, out of sight, out of mind.

In the room, the two young girls, after making the holes, began to mix the mud.

They had gathered a lot of soil when they made the adobe bricks a few days ago, so they didn’t need to get more today. They just added water and sand to the soil to make a mud slurry, which would be used as an adhesive.

Once inside, Lin Shuang was mainly in charge of directing, while Jiang Huaizhen was in charge of laying the bricks.

They built the frame, including the two kang walls and the short pillars that supported the surface of the kang, and dealt with the flue, making the smoke and fire turn a corner before going out through the side smoke outlet.

As long as you understood the internal structure of the heated kang and measured the distances correctly, the whole process was very simple. By the end, Jiang Huaizhen knew what to do without Lin Shuang even having to say anything.

The final step was to lay the eight pre-made adobe bricks on top and then smooth them over with a layer of mud.

Seeing that they were almost done, Lin Shuang said, “We need to light a fire to see. If there’s no smoke leaking, then it’s a success.”

Jiang Huaizhen brought a bundle of straw and started a fire outside. Lin Shuang watched from inside. Seeing no smoke, she said, “It’s done. We can use it in another five or six days.”

Hearing that they were done, Old Madam Jiang came inside. She looked at the earthen bed covered in yellow mud with disgust.

But since it was already built, and she was tired of complaining, she went back to her original bed to rest.

Jiang Huaizhen moved her things back and tidied up.

Seeing the room neat and tidy again, the old woman’s pursed lips finally relaxed.

The next step was to repair the stove outside. This didn’t require Lin Shuang’s participation. She washed her hands and sat to one side, finishing the shoes she had started yesterday.

By the time the shoes were sewn, Jiang Huaizhen’s stove was also built.

She changed out of her mud-stained clothes and returned to her otherworldly appearance. She looked at the shoes handed to her and, finally, didn’t refuse.

She reached out, took them, and sat down on a chair to put them on.

She then stood up and took a few steps. They were the right length, not too loose and not too tight. They were sturdier than the ones her grandmother had made before, and not like the flimsy ones you bought outside, with just a thin layer of cloth that hurt your feet even when you walked on flat ground.

It felt like they would last a long time.

Lin Shuang looked at her and asked, “Are they comfortable?”

Jiang Huaizhen’s gaze moved from her feet to her, and a rare, happy smile appeared on her lips.

“They are.”

…

A busy day passed in a flash, and Lin Shuang’s body had also recovered. The next morning, the two of them got up, made something to eat, gave the old woman her medicine, and then went up the mountain, each with a basket on their back.

Jiang Huaizhen couldn’t bear to wear the shoes she had sewn yesterday and changed into another tattered pair.

They took the same route as last time, chatting idly along the way. It was mostly Lin Shuang who was talking, with Jiang Huaizhen occasionally replying.

After passing the place where they had dug the fangfeng, they continued inward for about half an hour. It wasn’t until she saw a few scattered huangqin plants that Lin Shuang stopped.

Jiang Huaizhen looked at the plant she was pointing at and began to dig with her head down.

There were only about a dozen huangqi plants, and they were dug up in no time.

Lin Shuang continued to explore the surrounding area and subsequently found some danshen and other common herbs, scattered here and there.

Even though she could sense a small portion of the land, if there were no good things on this mountain, she couldn’t just conjure them up.

But she wasn’t discouraged. If rare herbs could be found so easily, they wouldn’t be called rare. The two of them continued to walk along the mountain, searching as they went.

By noon, Jiang Huaizhen’s basket was finally full, but Lin Shuang’s only had a few bitter ginseng roots.

“Let’s rest, eat some dry rations, and then go down the mountain. We can try another place tomorrow.”

Hearing this, Jiang Huaizhen stopped and found a large rock to sit on.

They each had a bamboo tube of water. After drinking some, Lin Shuang took out the crispy flatbread she had made yesterday from her basket and handed it to her.

The flatbread was wrapped in a large mustard green leaf and tied with two rounds of thin string so it wouldn’t fall apart. Although it was cold, you could still smell the fragrance when you opened the leaf.

Jiang Huaizhen clearly had a special fondness for flatbreads. She took it and took a large bite, chewing it carefully.

In her past life, Lin Shuang had been so preoccupied with her own pain and self-pity that she had paid little attention to her emotions and preferences. It was only now that she learned that she liked pasta.

When she sold this batch of medicine, she would buy some more white flour to keep at home, so she could make it for her whenever she wanted.

Jiang Huaizhen saw her staring and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Shuang smiled and tore off half of her own portion to give to her. “I can’t finish it.”

“Aren’t you hungry after walking so far?”

“I just drank a large bamboo tube of water. My stomach is full.”

Jiang Huaizhen hesitated for a moment before taking it and eating it with relish.

Seeing her eat so happily, Lin Shuang was also happy. She finished her own portion, stretched her arms lazily, and lay down on the rock, looking at the sky.

There was a little bit of sun today, but she had sweated a little, and the wind was a bit chilly.

She closed her eyes and habitually let her consciousness probe down through her palm and into the rock. But in the next moment, she sat up with a start, shouting, “Jiang Huaizhen—”

Jiang Huaizhen reacted almost instinctively, moving to stand in front of her.

“What’s wrong?”

Lin Shuang was trembling all over. She had sensed a snake, right under the large rock she was on.

Just as she was about to speak, she saw the snake’s head, with its large spots, emerge from behind the rock, staring at her.

A chill shot up her spine, and her whole body went limp. She lowered her head and burrowed into Jiang Huaizhen’s embrace, her tongue not listening to her commands, her teeth chattering. “Snake—snake—”

She was naturally afraid of snakes. This fear was not the same as the fear of death; it was an instinctive revulsion and resistance. And now, she was being stared at by this creature. How could her scalp not tingle and her soul not leave her body?

Jiang Huaizhen looked in the direction she had indicated and indeed saw a qi snake, as thick as three fingers, slowly slithering toward them.

Her slender body also tensed in an instant. She gently pulled Lin Shuang’s arm to hide her behind her, then turned and crouched, facing the snake.

Lin Shuang didn’t dare to look at the thing, nor did she dare to leave Jiang Huaizhen’s side. She clutched her clothes and huddled behind her.

In the rustling of the mountain wind through the grass, the hissing of the snake’s tongue was particularly clear.

Lin Shuang felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

At this moment, Jiang Huaizhen’s right hand had already reached for her waist—where she always kept a three-inch-long dagger.

The qi snake suddenly arched its body, the scales on the side of its neck looking as if they were about to explode.

Lin Shuang’s nails almost dug into Jiang Huaizhen’s waist. She heard her teeth chattering. “It’s, it’s going to pounce…”

Before she could finish, the snake’s shadow whipped out like a whip.

Jiang Huaizhen’s left hand flashed out, grabbing Lin Shuang’s belt and pulling her back. A silver light flashed from her right hand and flew out.

The dagger accurately pierced the snake’s neck at the seven-inch mark, pinning its head to the moss-covered rock surface.

The snake’s tail thrashed wildly, sending pebbles flying.

“Close your eyes.” Jiang Huaizhen’s voice was colder than the blade of a knife, but her palm was scorching hot as it covered Lin Shuang’s trembling eyelids.

Lin Shuang smelled the scent of blood mixed with the soapberry fragrance from the other’s sleeve and heard the dull sound of tearing flesh—it was Jiang Huaizhen breaking the snake’s bones.

Jiang Huaizhen flung the still-twitching snake’s body toward a distant old scholar tree.

When she turned, the dagger scraped against the edge of the rock, creating sparks. The snake’s blood rolled down the blade in beads.

“It’s alright. It’s dead. It can’t hurt anyone.”

Lin Shuang opened her eyes and only then realized that the cloth ribbon that had tied Jiang Huaizhen’s hair had been knocked off by the snake’s tail. Her long, black hair was stuck to the side of her neck with cold sweat. On her snow-white neck, a small black mole was faintly visible.

“Are you alright?” she asked, only then realizing that she was still pressed tightly against the other’s back.

Her fingertips moved up to the other’s still-tense shoulder blades.

The tremor of the kill still lingered there, like the hum of an unsheathed blade.

“It’s a mountain peak snake,” Jiang Huaizhen took two steps forward, bent down to observe the underside of the large rock, then suddenly lifted her foot and crushed a piece of gravel, revealing the shed skin of a snake’s nest underneath. “This creature loves to coil under warm rocks and wait for its prey.”

With that, she said with regret, “It’s a pity I was too rough. If I hadn’t damaged its skin, it could have sold for a lot of money.”

Lin Shuang was still in shock. She pulled on her sleeve and said, “Let’s go down the mountain quickly.”

“Alright,” Jiang Huaizhen said, turning to deal with the snake.

Lin Shuang was terrified and almost cried, “What are you going to do with it?”

“Although it’s dead, it’s still valuable. People in the city buy this kind of thing for medicine. It’s still early. I’ll go to the city and see.” Jiang Huaizhen untied the cloth bag from her body and put the snake’s body inside.

The family was poor. She had even become an executioner for money. Lin Shuang couldn’t blame her. She just frowned and said sullenly, “I’ll walk in front. You’re not allowed to come near me.”

Jiang Huaizhen said, “I won’t come near you.”

Lin Shuang’s legs were still weak, and she was angry that she had insisted on picking up the dead snake. She deliberately didn’t share the load in the basket with her and hobbled down the mountain with a stick, following the original path.

Jiang Huaizhen followed her from a distance, unhurriedly.

It wasn’t until they reached the door of their house that she called out, “Lin Shuang.”

Lin Shuang turned and looked at her from a distance.

Jiang Huaizhen put the basket down and said, “I’m going to the city now. I’ll be back after I’ve dealt with it.”

Lin Shuang paused, then said stiffly, “Then go.”

Jiang Huaizhen bit her lip and looked at her, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she closed her mouth, picked up the cloth bag, and walked toward the small path, quickly disappearing into the forest.