After the new year, they experienced a few snows, but then there was no heavy snow, and she could move around.
Therefore, the neighbor on the other side of the river started to discuss the boundaries with Wen Qian.
According to their previous agreement, the two families would walk around the area together, make markings, and then install fences together.
However, it was inconvenient for Wen Qian to join them, as they would need to chop down trees and install fences on-site, which would not allow her to use the materials she had prepared.
So they agreed to each take care of half the area, and after completing their parts, they would check together and make adjustments if needed.
The neighbor thought for a moment and agreed since their family was larger and believed they could work faster than Wen Qian alone.
They said if Wen Qian couldn't complete her part, they would help.
With stones marking the boundaries, Wen Qian decided to prepare the fence materials for her area at home first.
That way, she could just install the fences directly on the ground, which would be much faster than gathering materials on-site.
However, she didn't quickly install the fences along the boundary with her neighbor. Instead, she did a bit each day, spending the rest of her time on the boundaries not adjacent to her neighbor.
It was still quite cold, so the bears should still be hibernating. She needed to install her fences before the weather warmed up.
After spring arrived, she wouldn't have time for such tasks, as cultivating and tending to the crops would require a lot of effort.
No one knew if there would be more neighbors in the future, so she secured the boundaries without neighbors first.
When the neighbors finished their part and saw Wen Qian's progress, they remarked on how quickly she worked.
They didn't know that in the same time, Wen Qian had also marked the other areas.
Wen Qian mentioned to her neighbors that it was best to fence off their own areas first, in case more people arrived.
The neighbors agreed to leave markings on the stones as well.
As the weather warmed, she felt there would only be more people coming, not fewer.
Although not all might come to hunt, some could be coming to cultivate rice.
After getting to know each other better, Wen Qian asked if they wanted to go dig up fruit trees together.
Spring and autumn were the best times for transplanting trees, but Wen Qian didn't want to wait until autumn, so she planned to do it in early spring.
Since there were many trees, Wen Qian didn't mind sharing the location with them, as both families could benefit, especially since the neighbors had children.
The neighbors happily agreed, as having fruit trees around their home would be better, especially with children.
So the couple went with Wen Qian, mainly to familiarize themselves with the area so they could go alone in the future if needed.
These fruit trees were ones Wen Qian had discovered along the road, likely from abandoned orchards planted by previous inhabitants.
The couple's northern route differed from Wen Qian's eastern route, but they had also noted a few locations and shared them with her.
The two families exchanged information, and Wen Qian thought she could also visit the locations mentioned by her neighbors.
To transplant the fruit trees, they needed to dig up some soil and roots to increase the survival rate.
Wen Qian loaded two trees onto her three-wheeled vehicle: an apple tree and a persimmon tree.
Since they were from an orchard, the trees weren't tall.
After years of neglect and surviving the harsh winters, the main trunks had thickened considerably.
Their shorter height would make it easier for her to harvest and cultivate them.
The couple brought a cart and dug up four trees, including one persimmon tree.
The persimmons in this area were generally crisp persimmons, yellow and hard but delicious, and could be dried into persimmon cakes.
The persimmon trees Wen Qian had seen in her hometown of An Province were completely different from these, as they were the red persimmon variety.
The red persimmons had to be left to soften and turn red before they could be eaten, otherwise the yellow ones would be astringent and numb the mouth. And they couldn't make persimmon cakes from those.
Initially, Wen Qian didn't know about the different varieties and believed the saying "pick persimmons when soft" applied to all persimmons until she learned about crisp persimmons in university.
After returning home, the two families planted the trees they had brought back near their homes.
Wen Qian chose two sunny spots behind her house to plant her trees, looking forward to them sprouting leaves in the spring.
She went back a few more times, bringing less soil each time, and transplanted around 15 trees on the back mountain.
Most of the fruit trees took root and sprouted leaves as the temperature rose.
The neighbors had more people, so later they brought their grandma and children along.
They planted ten trees around their home, expecting to have plenty of fruit in the future.
Wen Qian planted more trees since she didn't need to worry about storage issues, while the neighbors couldn't store too much without having means to trade or exchange the excess.
After completing this task, they began working in the fields.
As Wen Qian tilled the soil, she realized without machinery or cattle, the time required would be longer.
While sowing wheat, looking at the individual grains, she suddenly wondered if she could make wheat-related foods besides flour, like sugar.
After sprouting, the wheat could be used to make malt sugar, a flavor Wen Qian enjoyed and had purchased jarred or solid forms of online before.
In her hometown, malt sugar was called "ding ding" sugar, named after the sound made by sellers striking iron blocks to attract customers. The adults would bring the sugar home, coat it with flour, and when children wanted some, they would knock off a piece. As long as the weather wasn't hot, the sugar remained hard.
So Wen Qian soaked some wheat at home, planning to make malt sugar after it sprouted.
She could find the process in books and remembered it, so she could only make it herself now.
While Wen Qian was sowing seeds in her fields, the neighbor's child came over to ask a question.
The adults had sent the child to ask if they could trade game for some wheat or other grains.
Because after the spring sowing, the harvest was an autumn affair, and during this time period, they didn't have too much grain food to eat.
During this time, they could eat the vegetables they planted, and they could also go hunting, so they had enough meat.
The only thing they didn't have enough of was staple foods like rice and flour, so they let the children come and inquire about Wen Qian's intentions.
Wen Qian asked the children, if she gave them wheat in exchange, how would they grind it into flour?
The children said they had simple iron grinding devices, and they could grind as much as they needed to eat, but they couldn't grind a lot at once.
Knowing that they could grind the flour themselves, she agreed to give them wheat in exchange for fresh game.
It just so happened that in the spring, she had too many things to plant, and often didn't have time to hunt.
So the children happily went home and told the adults about this.
