Wen Qian changed directions and headed upwards, trying to get a clearer view.
Then she noticed the cooking smoke slowly fading, and there were no other figures or footprints in the woods.
Wen Qian moved closer and closer, and when she looked through the binoculars, she found that there was no one near the hut.
She found a pile of firewood that had been extinguished with water, probably from someone who had just cooked meat and the smoke Wen Qian saw was from the water being poured on the fire.
The other person had lit a fire on the open ground beside the hut, and the footprints around it showed that they had come from the railing not too far away, but had now gone far away.
On her wooden door, they had written a few words in charcoal: "Hello, neighbor."
The words were large, with a smiley face underneath the four words.
Wen Qian saw footprints circling the wooden hut, and some of the moss and small grass on the side had been trampled.
But it seemed that the other person was probably friendly, as they had not broken the simple lock on the door.
The words they wrote indicated that they just wanted to say hello and let the owner of the hut know that a new neighbor had arrived.
After ruling out any danger in the surroundings, Wen Qian planted the fruit seedlings she had brought in a sunny spot.
She wondered whether she should write something on the wooden door as well, but after some hesitation, she left without leaving any message.
If the other person wanted to meet the neighbor, it wouldn't be too difficult, so Wen Qian didn't feel the need to respond.
After quickly planting the fruit seedlings, Wen Qian hurried back, but before she could get home, she encountered Big Jin carrying a gun by the river.
As soon as Big Jin saw Wen Qian, he waved eagerly, as he had an urgent matter to find her about.
When they reached Wen Qian's home, they found her door was closed, and no one responded to their calls.
They had thought they would have to make the trip in vain, but unexpectedly, Wen Qian had just returned at that moment.
Big Jin asked Wen Qian with a grave expression, "Today, I found unfamiliar footprints in my area."
These footprints were slightly larger than his own, so he naturally wouldn't think they were Wen Qian's, and Wen Qian basically never went into his area since they had divided the boundaries.
However, in the area not adjacent to Wen Qian, although he had planned to put up fences, he hadn't had enough time initially, so a large part was left blank.
Now, unfamiliar footprints had appeared, and he didn't know if the other person was good or bad. If they had no ill intentions, that would be fine.
But if the other person was not a good person, then he would need to warn his family and neighbors to be cautious.
Wen Qian was stunned for a moment, then replied, "Today, I found cooking smoke, someone had lit a fire in my area, but I didn't interact with them."
When Big Jin returned from hunting, he had told his family about this incident and asked them not to go too far away, especially the two children.
Now, hearing from Wen Qian that there were also traces in her area, he asked if she wanted to go hunting together for a while so they could look out for each other.
Wen Qian told him that the other person had written on her hut's wooden door.
Big Jin only then realized that Wen Qian had already set up a hunter's hut on her own, and he couldn't help but admire her efficiency.
However, he was still cautious about the message left on the door. He said that if the other person truly wanted to be friendly with the neighbors, they would probably come and greet them in person along the river later.
This matched Wen Qian's thoughts – since the person was new, there was no reason for them to go find others. If the other person was truly harmless, they might come by themselves when they had time.
As for hunting together, Wen Qian thought it would be better to hunt around their homes for now.
There was no need for the two of them to team up near their homes, as they were both familiar with the area and the woods were not that dense.
However, if the two of them went farther away as a pair, Big Jin's family still had elders and children, so he wouldn't feel too comfortable leaving them.
So Big Jin said he would discuss it with his wife, and also reminded Wen Qian to be more cautious recently.
He was worried that if there were bad people around, Wen Qian would be in more danger living alone, especially since she had built such a nice home.
After their conversation, they each returned home. When Wen Qian got back, she quickly ate dinner and then went up the mountain behind her home.
At the highest point, she trimmed some trees, found a suitable branch, took out a cushion, sat on it, and began using her binoculars to patrol the surroundings.
For the time being, she wouldn't go far away but would just tend to her crops and fruit trees near her home, and could spend some time checking the area through her binoculars every noon.
However, she was alone and had no one to take shifts with her, so she thought about Big Jin's children – perhaps they could help with this task.
But then she dismissed the idea, as the two families lived quite far apart, and it might be difficult for someone else's children to come over and help while also taking care of their own home.
Wen Qian had no family, so she had no one to take shifts with.
Big Jin had a family who could help him keep watch and take shifts, but that also became his weakness, preventing him from going too far alone.
These two survival modes both had their pros and cons. Wen Qian thought about the words and smiley face written on her door, and hoped that the other person was truly harmless.
She was willing to believe the other person was harmless, based on the fact that they hadn't forcibly opened her lock.
But she didn't know if, when this person saw that she lived alone, they would still remain friendly.
Sure enough, after another month passed and everyone thought the other person wouldn't come, someone came down along the river.
A rather tall hunter carrying a rifle, with a basket on his back.
He first saw Wen Qian's home, so he stood on the opposite bank and called out to this side. Finally, he put down his rifle, took off the basket, and pulled something out to wave in the air.
Wen Qian saw that he was waving a wild chicken, with beautiful feathers.
So she also carried her gun down from the mountain and spoke to him from across the river.
Wen Qian remembered that Big Jin's family had greeted her in a similar way, so she guessed that the other person might just be introducing himself to them.
The other person asked if the small hut was hers, and after Wen Qian nodded, he said he lived by a mountain stream upstream.
Wen Qian didn't know where that mountain stream was, as the distance between them was simply too far.
This hunter had walked nearly two hours just to come here, following the river.
If he had gone by the mountain paths, it would have been even farther. The main reason he came to greet Wen Qian was that he might settle in this area, adjacent to Wen Qian's territory.
Since he could not throw the object in his hand across the river, he could only leave it on the shore for Wen Qian to collect herself when she had the chance. Afterwards, he went to Big Jin's place.
Big Jin, who was active near the house, had already noticed the commotion over there.
