Chapter 110: Fire
Editor: Atlas Studios
Shu Wanniang glanced at the two rabbits and glared at her daughter. Having raised her, she was most familiar with her daughter’s hunting methods.
Mu Yangling stuck out her tongue and went forward intimately to hold her mother’s hand. “Mother, I’ll bring the rabbits to the county to exchange for some eggs to nourish you. This way, my baby siblings will have milk to drink.”
Shu Wanniang thought about how the twins had been crying from hunger for the past few days and squeezed out an ugly smile. She stroked her daughter’s head and said, “Alright, just exchange one. You can keep the other one for dinner.”
Madam Ma-Liu took the rabbit from Xiuhong’s hand and said, “I’ll go instead, lest others bully Ah Ling seeing her young age.”
Mu Yangling couldn’t ask for more. Madam Ma-Liu’s bargaining skills were unparalleled.
That night, Madam Ma-Liu brought back 35 eggs. At the rate of two eggs a day for Shu Wanniang, this should last them for some time.
Mu Yangling went to bed early in the morning. She got up before dawn the next day and woke Xiuhong and Xiulan up for the first time. After putting on thick clothes for them, she said, “We’ll burn the weeds later. I’ve checked—there’s no wind now.”
Madam Ma-Liu had already gotten up and cooked porridge for them. She made everyone eat the porridge before leaving to warm up their bodies.
Little Bowen got up in a daze and wanted to tag along too. Mu Yangling stuffed him under the blanket and said, “Be good and continue sleeping. You’re still young. If you fall sick, our family won’t have the money to buy medicine for you. Stay at home and take care of the twins. We’ll be back in the morning.”
Mu Yangling quickly finished two bowls of porridge, took the lighter, and left.
When they arrived at the edge of the field, Mu Yangling handed them a branch with leaves. “Xiuhong, you and Xiulan guard one end. Great-aunt, guard another end. I’ll guard the third.”
“What about here?” Great-aunt asked.
“Don’t worry about it. This large piece of land is our family’s land. Let the fire burn in this direction, don’t let it spread too wide. Control it slowly and let it burn inwards. When you leave, you must ensure that the flames are extinguished.”
After Mu Yangling finished speaking, she walked to the side and used hay to ignite the weeds. The high-grade land here was alright, for the weeds were only seven to eight centimeters tall. However, the deeper they went, the worse it became. Perhaps because it hadn’t been cultivated for a long time, the weeds at the the worst plot of land did not even reach a person’s calves. When the fire spread there, the fire would definitely be very strong.
Mu Yangling waited for the fire to burn for a distance before using a branch to extinguish the scattered fire points. She followed the flames in front and said, “That’s it. When we walk forward, we have to extinguish the flames behind us. There’s dew on the grass now, so it won’t burn very quickly. We’ll go back when the dew is almost dry.”
Xiuhong, Xiulan, and Madam Ma-Liu understood and nodded. They used the hay to start a fire before moving to the side. The four of them guarded the fire as they gradually walked inwards.
By the time the sun came out and gradually dried the dew on the hay, the four of them had already burned nearly ten acres of land. Mu Yangling led them to put out the fire and walked around again. After confirming that the flames had all been extinguished, she spread out the pile of ashes. She only left after seeing that the sparks had lost the last bit of red light in the cold air.
Xiuhong and Xiulan followed Mu Yangling’s instructions and quickly surveyed the area that had been burned.
The happy Madam Ma-Liu said excitedly, “Fire really works. Look, this way, we can finish burning all the weeds in the fields in just a few days.”
Mu Yangling looked up at the sky. “I wonder if it will affect the air?”
“What?” Madam Ma-Liu looked up in confusion.
“It’s nothing. Great-aunt, let’s go back. After resting for a while, we’ll come and cut the grass. The grass further down is too high and lush. We have to create a firebreak1 first. Otherwise, I won’t dare to burn it.”
Madam Ma-Liu didn’t understand, but she knew that she just had to do as Ah Ling said. Nodding, she agreed.
After dawn, the Hu family was the first family to discover that the Mu family had burned weeds. Seeing the vines and weeds swaying in the cold wind, Old Hu could not help but click his tongue. “That old sister-in-law is really bold. She even dares to set fire in such weather. If she’s not careful, she can burn this land, too. It might even spread to the mountain.”
Madam Hu-Fang said, “Just focus on getting rid of your weeds. You’re interfering too much. I think their family is only burning the short grass at the front. They have to do the same as us for the back part.”
Straightening his back, Old Hu said with a sigh as he looked at such a large piece of land, “In the past, I’ve always wanted more land. Now that I have it, I’m worried. How long will it take to get rid of so much weed?”
Madam Hu-Fang buried her head in her work and did not speak. Considering there were many people in their family, by starting early and returning home late, they would eventually be able to finish the work. The Mu family, on the other hand, was comprised of the elderly and little ones. Weren’t they in an even more worrisome position?
In the afternoon, the Mu family brought the scythe over. Madam Hu-Fang looked up at them, then said while squatting down, “I was right, wasn’t I? They still have to cut it.”
“Mother, that’s not right. Why aren’t they cutting from the side but from the inside?” Madam Hu-Fang’s eldest daughter-in-law, Madam Zhang, asked curiously.
Madam Hu-Fang and Old Hu looked up and couldn’t figure it out for a long time.
Mu Yangling asked them to carve out a firebreak that was a meter wide. The grass was cut off at the root, and they only needed to hoe this grass later. As such, their workload would be greatly reduced.
This time, Little Bowen was also here. It being his first time doing farm work, he moved around swiftly. Mu Yangling was terrified when she saw this, afraid that he would cut his hand.
Seeing that the sky had darkened, Mu Yangling said, “Let’s go back first. We’ll come back tomorrow and cut according to the path I showed you today. Tomorrow, I’ll go to West Mountain Village to see if I can find some farming tools.”
It took half a day to walk from Chenggu Garrison to West Mountain Village. Mu Yangling woke up early in the morning. When she reached the intersection of Nearhill Village, Mu Yangling could not help but enter.
This was the place where she had lived for nine years. She was born here and grew up here. Now, it was filled with burned houses, including the Mu family’s. The houses were burned black, and the beams had caved in. Mu Yangling searched inside but could not find anything.
Not long after they fled to the county, Liu He was worried about the villagers and asked Liu Dacang to bring back more than 20 young men to collect their corpses.
He couldn’t very well let his fellow villagers die in the wilderness. The bailiffs who came here for the statistics would only throw them into a huge pit and bury them. There wouldn’t even be a straw mat.
At least if the villagers of Nearhill Village were to bury the corpses themselves, they could erect named tombstones for them. Even the things in the village had been tidied up.
Mu Yangling sighed as she stood in front of her house. She then turned around and walked towards West Mountain Village.
The situation in West Mountain Village was worse than Nearhill Village, but it could be seen that West Mountain Village had never been cleaned up. Mu Yangling entered the house and after rummaging around, actually found some iron pieces among the ruins. Mu Yangling placed them in the basket on her back and found her great-aunt’s house. Seeing that her house was still in the same state as when it collapsed, her eyes lit up.
Madam Ma-Liu’s house collapsed during the first snowstorm. Later, Mu Shi brought Liu Ting and the rest over to repair it, but it had yet to be completely repaired. Then, the two heavy snowfalls caused the kitchen to collapse, too. Mu Shi considered that Shu Wanniang had to be taken care of and that the weather was cold, so he asked Great-aunt and the others to stay in the Mu Residence. He decided to build the house when it was warmer.
Unexpectedly, because the house had collapsed, the Hu people did not set fire to it. It was the only surviving house in the entire West Mountain Village.
Mu Yangling carefully went into the storeroom to search. When she saw the hoe, shovel, and iron plow on the ground, her spirits immediately lifted. “It’s good that Great-aunt’s house collapsed. Not only is she fine, but her things are also safe.”
Mu Yangling placed the things into the basket on her back and did some choosing. Seeing that there was nothing else, she carried the basket, picked up the iron plow and hoe, before rushing to Chenggu Garrison.