The back of the mountain refers to the side behind the mountain, that is, the back side of the mountain.

There is a wide river outside the forest, and perhaps the wolves came from across the river and finally came to live in this big mountain near Xinghua Village.

Gu Changning listened to her explanation, frowned, lowered his head and pondered.

If there really is a pack of wolves living here, it will not be safe for the villagers to go up the mountain in the future, not to mention that their family still lives in the west, and the road up the mountain is so close to her house, if there is such a group of wolves, if they come out of the mountain, the people who live in the west must be the first to suffer.

It's just that......

Gu Changning narrowed his eyes, still feeling that something was wrong.

In her previous life, she only left Xinghua Village when she was ten years old, and she had never heard of wolves in those two years, let alone Uncle Ge meeting wolves.

This incident did not spread in the village in the previous life, indicating that everyone did not believe in wolves.

What happened to the wolf howl that Uncle Ge heard?

Xing'er saw that Gu Changning was deep in thought, and hurriedly pushed her, and said, "Okay, don't think about it, this mountain is so big, there are so many animals that can be eaten, and it doesn't necessarily mean that the wolves will come to our village, let's go, let's chop wood first." ”

She and Gu Changning have been standing at the entrance of this path, looking at the end of the path, there is always a gloomy feeling, and a little fear can't help but rise in her heart, dragging Gu Changning to leave here.

"Mmmmmm, I know, I'll go, you let me go first." Gu Changning, who was dragged all the way, hurriedly said, assuring Xing'er that he had no intention of entering that road.

Xing'er turned her face sideways and looked at her, and after making sure that she was not perfunctory, she put down her arm, "I tell you, don't go in to see it because of curiosity, if there are really wolves inside, think about whether your life can be saved!" ”

"Got it! Do I look like someone with such a high level of curiosity? Gu Changning glanced at her angrily and said.

"Hmm...... That's just as well. Xing'er thought about it, nodded and said, in exchange for Gu Changning's eye knife.

"Okay, okay, the place to cut the pigweed has arrived, I'm going to cut the pigweed, what about you?" Xing'er ignored her eye knife, crossed her hands on her hips, and tapped her chin on a piece of hogweed in front of her.

"Then I'll chop some branches here too." Gu Changning looked around and saw that there were a lot of small trees here, so he directly took out the woodcutter in the basket and said.

Xing'er didn't say anything after she saw that she had made a decision, and was busy with the work in her hands, sweeping the corners of the weeds by the way, to see if there were any wild vegetables worth picking back, and she was very busy with two things.

Gu Changning was also busy cutting off the small tree with a woodcutter, she didn't have enough strength to cut horizontally, she could only cut diagonally with a woodcutter at the bottom of the trunk of the small tree, and repeat it in all four directions, until the connection in the middle of the trunk was cut to the thickness of a finger, she kicked the trunk down with a strong kick, and then cut it to a length that could fit into a bamboo basket, and then went to the next tree to repeat the action just now.

"Ning Ning, what are you doing cutting so many tree trunks?" As soon as Xing'er turned around, she saw Gu Changning holding a woodcutter and chopping very quickly, and asked with some curiosity.

She had already heard from Chen Shuang and Yang Jin that Ning Ning was busy picking up firewood as soon as she went up the mountain these days, but she said that she didn't want to sell it, and she couldn't figure out what to do when she picked up so much firewood.

"Take it home and burn it." Gu Changning replied without looking back.

"How much do you pick up?"

"Of course, the more the merrier!"

"But ......," Xing'er frowned, still puzzled and asked, "You don't need so much firewood to cook rice, right?" ”

"That's definitely not necessary, I'm here for the winter!"

Xing'er blinked and said, "...... Isn't it only May? ”

It's summer, and she's already preparing for winter?

"A-Niang is pregnant with her younger brother, almost winter, and my brother has to go to school to study, and it will be too late to pick up firewood and harvest during the New Year's holiday! I can only take advantage of the fact that I have more preparations now, so that when winter comes, I won't be in a hurry, and the firewood is not enough to ......" Speaking of this, Gu Changning suddenly paused, his face changed suddenly, and he suddenly remembered something.

How could she forget that this year's winter is a great cold winter that has not been encountered in 50 years!

Because Gu Changning had her back to Xing'er, Xing'er didn't notice her instantly pale face, but nodded after hearing her voice and said, "What you said is also true, it is better to prepare early than late." ”

“…… Well. Gu Changning replied with difficulty, her voice was indistinct, Xing'er was busy looking for any missing wild vegetables, and she didn't pay close attention to listening, so she ignored her abnormality.

The two of them were busy with their own business, and then they went down the mountain together.

It's just that along the way, Gu Changning has become much quieter.

Coming down from the west mountain road, Gu Changning stood at the door of the house to say goodbye to Xing'er, and then pushed open the door and entered the yard, put the trunk and woodcutter away, and waited for his brother to come back from school and split it into a long block to put in the yard to dry.

The wood that has just been cut down is wet firewood with water, and this kind of firewood will emit a lot of black smoke when burned, which will choke people and must be dried before it can be used.

Gu Changning took the vegetable seeds with a solemn face and continued to go to the backyard vegetable garden to sow seeds, the whole person looked a little in a trance, and he couldn't even mention the interest of checking if the big flowers and small flowers had laid eggs.

She is so delirious because she remembers the events of her previous life.

In the previous life, after A-Niang's miscarriage, she was depressed, and felt that she was dragging down their brothers and sisters, and wanted to make more money back, so she kept doing embroidery work day and night when she didn't raise her body, and finally broke down her body, and it happened to meet the cold winter that had not been encountered in 50 years, and they had sold the house without a fire wall and kang to keep warm, and the firewood was not enough.

Thinking of this now, Gu Changning only felt that her heart was full of grief and indignation, and the despair at that time came to her heart, making her hands begin to tremble coldly in this summer weather, as if she was in a cold ice cellar, trembling all over her body and unable to extricate herself.

Her heart was full of hatred, full of hatred, but she didn't know who to hate, who to send this resentment to, so she had to silently shed tears, sprinkled seeds without saying a word, and bit her lower lip to try not to make a sound.

After a few moments, she sniffed, reached out to wipe away her tears, and blinked, trying to raise the corners of her mouth.

Gu Changning, you shouldn't cry, you have already got a chance to do it again, A-Niang and my brother are still alive, you can change the fate of your family, everything still has a chance, you should be happy!

Gu Changning looked at the vegetables in the backyard and evoked a sad smile.

***

When Gu Huai'an came back from school, he was very surprised to see a few thinner tree trunks in the front yard, about thicker than his arm.

Needless to say, he knew who cut it, so he went directly to the backyard at the moment, looked for Gu Changning and asked, "You cut down the tree trunks in the front yard by yourself?" ”

"Hmm." Gu Changning was busy watering the land that had just sown seeds with a gourd scoop, and nodded without raising his head when he heard this.

Gu Huai'an frowned, remembering that her sister seemed to have picked up a lot of firewood and came back during this time, and she had some doubts in her heart.

Originally, Ning Ning was just picking up the dead branches on the ground, these were just things to handle, and when she picked them up, she picked them up, after all, she also needed firewood to cook rice and boil water.

However, now that she started cutting down trees directly, Gu Huai'an felt that something was not right, her eyebrows were twisted, and she asked, "Ning Ning, you picked up so much firewood and came back, are you going to sell it in winter?" ”

It's still May, and it's summer, so it's too early to prepare for winter.

After thinking about it, only the explanation of hoarding firewood and waiting for winter to sell it can make sense.

Gu Changning's watering hand paused slightly, and he replied vaguely: "Hmm." ”

She hadn't figured out how to tell her brother about growing vegetables in winter, and she really couldn't come up with any good explanation, so she could only drag it out and slowly find the time to mention it again.

Things can be said slowly, but this firewood and soil can't wait, and they have to start preparing now.

In fact, the soil is good to say, this thing is everywhere, such as the mountains, the edge of the field, the amount needed is not more than firewood, and it can be dug anywhere, not so urgent.

Even if she takes a step back, she can't get some soil from the outside openly because of everyone's eyes, then it's always okay to dig the soil in their backyard, digging in her own yard, even if the movement is louder, others can't notice it, right?

But this firewood is different, this is the key to growing vegetables, because the amount of firewood needed must be a lot at that time, A-Niang will give birth in winter, and she must not go out to pick up firewood, so she and her brother can only go.

The school usually doesn't have a holiday until a few days before the first day of the new year, when the mountains are covered with white snow, and the mountain roads are rugged and difficult to walk, and the snow is slippery, and it is not easy to pick up firewood.

Besides, generally only people who are not prepared enough will continue to collect firewood in the icy and snowy weather.

Although she estimated that her brother might take advantage of school time to go to the mountains to prepare firewood for the winter in the autumn, it was more cost-effective for her brother to use this time to copy books than to collect firewood, and she would definitely not let her brother waste time copying books.

So to be honest, my brother can't actually help much.

My brother and A-Niang are not free, so they can only collect it by herself, but with her petite body with thin arms and legs now, she can't drag it back much at a time, so she can only start preparing half a year early, so that she can barely have enough for winter.

But in fact, she didn't know how much firewood was needed for the idea of growing vegetables in winter, but it was always right to prepare more.

However, she prepared so much firewood, and she didn't say what it was for, which couldn't help but feel a little strange in the eyes of others.

In order not to make everyone suspicious, she could only accept the situation in order to rationalize her behavior.

With a reason to hoard firewood, she can justify going up the mountain to chop firewood in the future, right?