Due to the rise in temperature, the crops Wen Qian planted yielded fairly well.
Of course, the yield was still lower than what was stated on the seed packets when she initially bought them.
However, the grain she cultivated could cover her consumption until the next season's crops came in, so her field was still reasonably productive.
At the very least, after the harvest, she had a fixed guarantee, unlike the instability of hunting.
The so-called harvest refers to the grains being safely stored before one can feel at ease. Wen Qian directly harvested and stored them in her spatial pouch, which was secure.
Her neighbors were different; they tended to their crops much more diligently. With more people in their households, they naturally hoped for higher yields.
Especially the Old Granny, who had been farming for years, would not be at ease until the very end.
When the wheat seedlings sprouted, they hoped there would be no natural disasters. As they grew taller, they worried about pests. When the wheat kernels were filling, they fretted about abnormal weather leading to a fruitless harvest.
The saying "farming depends on the mercy of the heavens" is not an exaggeration.
Past famines occurred when, just as the wheat was about to ripen, a hailstorm struck, ruining nearly everything.
If the harvested grains could not last until the next harvest season, problems would inevitably arise.
Fortunately, they now lived in the forest region, where wild animals outnumbered humans, so they could still go hunting.
The weather remained favorable until they harvested, threshed the wheat, bagged it, and carried it home.
When their neighbors stored their grains, Wen Qian simply cut the wheat and put it into her spatial pouch, without any other processes.
Afterward, she also cut the sweet potato vines and put them into the pouch, but did not dig up the sweet potatoes or potatoes. She chopped the soybeans and spread them out at the doorstep to dry, though the yield was not much this time.
As for the peanuts she planted, she had previously dug up half of the fresh peanuts and stored them in the pouch. She could dig up the remaining small portion before the first frost.
Everything was done hastily, without much care.
Because she needed to free up time to go into the mountains and build a house while she could.
At this time, the mountain forests were no longer lush and green, and many grasses on the ground had begun to wither and go to seed.
She carried a sickle and trimmed the path on both sides, then began excavating the foundation at the previously planned location.
Earlier, she had cut down a ring of trees, clearing the space.
First, there was a tree root that had decayed over spring and summer. Wen Qian spent two days just digging out the roots within the foundation area. Fortunately, these trees were not particularly thick, so she did not need to dig too deep.
Afterward, she used large stones from her spatial pouch to tamp the ground surface, then laid a low foundation layer.
This took her several days, during which she basically left early and returned late, interspersed with hunting trips.
She brought out the timber and old bricks she had previously prepared for constructing the house.
Since it was a small house, the materials needed were not many, and the structure, built from top to bottom, was relatively simple, with the top layer consisting of wooden boards, yellow mud, and thatched grass.
The windows were quite small, with only frames. Wen Qian did not install glass or aluminum windows, but rather nailed wooden boards together, making outward-opening window shutters.
This small hut was meant for overnight stays, so basically just a few layers of wooden boards were enough to block the windows, except for occasionally opening them for ventilation after a long period. Otherwise, they remained closed.
Inside, she built a kang bed stove. When she came, it was mostly cold, so she only needed to heat up the food she brought. However, at night while sleeping, she needed the room to retain warmth.
Since the requirements were not high, the quality was also average, with the lower half made of brick walls and the upper half a wooden structure.
Because of the kang stove, Wen Qian was a bit worried about a fire hazard with an all-wood structure, so she ultimately made it half brick.
In Wen Qian's view, this house was quite crude, so she completed it quickly.
She made a door frame but did not use the kind of secure door she had collected earlier. Instead, she installed a rather old wooden door and hung a lock on it before hurriedly returning home.
If not for her spatial pouch, she would have had to make many trips just to transport the materials by herself, as she had no livestock to help her haul them, let alone any other transportation means.
After finishing this, Wen Qian rushed back home, as the sweet potatoes, potatoes, and peanuts in the fields needed to be harvested.
Digging up potatoes and sweet potatoes was very tiring, so she did not plant too many.
Peanuts were even more troublesome, having to pull out each one individually, and the bundle left holes in the soil that needed to be dug out, so she would not plant too many peanuts either.
She chose the planting area and varieties all within her own capabilities.
First, she pulled out the peanuts, cut off the roots and put them in a bamboo basket to take home for drying, and bundled the other parts.
In the past, when they had cattle at home, these green peanut stems and leaves could be fed to the cows. Now, Wen Qian chose to store them in her spatial pouch.
After pulling out the peanuts, she tilled the land again, picking up any peanuts left in the field.
Next, she dug up the sweet potatoes and potatoes. The local soil was relatively loose, so digging them was not as tiring.
She put them into baskets and into the spatial pouch, and would sort them out when she had time.
In the past, doing all this at her old home was exhausting. Now thinking about it, the main reason was that digging sweet potatoes at the old home was particularly strenuous.
They also had to put them into baskets and carry them back home, one basketload at a time, and then dig a sweet potato cellar and store them individually in an orderly fashion, which was why it was so tiring.
Now, the only strenuous part left was the digging. The transportation was handled by her spatial pouch.
The sweet potatoes and potatoes were dug out, with the roots and soil clinging to them left unprocessed. Everything was dealt with after being obtained first.
Because in the north, many crops matured in September and October, Wen Qian was extremely busy during this period.
She only roughly stored most of the produce in her spatial pouch, then squeezed out time to build the house.
With the grains in hand, she was not worried. After resting for a day, Wen Qian began picking apples and persimmons in the mountains behind her home.
The fruits had also ripened in this season. Previously, when the fruits were setting, Wen Qian had erected nets around the trees to prevent birds from stealing them.
If they just ate one or one tree, it would be fine, but they had to peck at every single delicious fruit, so without the nets, she would not be able to collect many good fruits.
In addition to the wild berries she gathered in July and August, Wen Qian now had apples and persimmons as two more fruits to eat.
Since they were crisp persimmons, Wen Qian stored half in her spatial pouch, and the other half she peeled and hung in the corridor to make persimmon cakes.
Wen Qian went to her neighbor's house to seek Old Granny, to see how they made persimmon cakes. She found that they had started earlier than her, and the earliest batch was already edible.
Previously, their two little children had picked wild berries like blueberries and lingonberries near their home. After making jam with honey and malt sugar, they even gifted a small jar to Wen Qian.
Since they didn't have white sugar, they could only use honey or malt sugar as much as possible, making the jam more precious.
Although Wen Qian had white granulated sugar and rock sugar, they didn't appear to be the coarsely made sugar after the natural disaster, so she wouldn't easily give them away, only for her own use.
So this time when she came to inquire about making persimmon cakes, she gave them a jar of chili sauce and twenty pounds of peanuts.
