When Wen Qian was fifty years old, her child was four. Now whenever Wen Qian went out and couldn't conveniently take her along, the child could stay at home obediently and wait for the adults to return.
This age happened to be a whole number, meaning Wen Qian had possessed this "space" for half of her life, which also meant she had a secret that she couldn't share with anyone.
For instance, with the current child who was four years old, she already knew a lot of things and would remember what was happening now even after growing up, so Wen Qian had to be more reserved around her.
Like when she caught larger prey, she would drag it back home on a rack from a place close by, as she tried to avoid carrying heavy objects at her age.
The habit of making things appear out of thin air was also corrected during the process of the child's growing age. Now Wen Qian would take things out from behind the child's back.
Wen Qian built a few small sheds behind the house, all used for storage, filled with jars and pots that she had fired herself.
There was one shed specifically for curing and hanging meat, where Wen Qian had cleaned out all the animals she had hunted over the past two to three years, as well as fish she had caught.
In cold weather, she would salt-cure them into cured meat and cured fish. If the temperature wasn't that low, she would add salt and hang them in this shed, using pine branches to smoke them from below.
This shed was pitch-black because it was frequently used for smoke-curing various meats. The meat was hung from the ceiling, so one had to wear a hat when entering to avoid oil dripping onto their head.
There was another small shed specifically for storing other grains, which were kept in jars and pressed down with stone slabs and ceramic tiles to prevent rodents from eating them. Insect repellents were also placed inside to extend the shelf life of the grains.
This way, the child would know where the sausages, smoked meats, and grains that the family ate came from.
Of course, there were also many things from Wen Qian's "space" that she would silently add to the child's diet without her knowing.
For the winter cabbages and such, Wen Qian also stored a portion in the cellar, which was finally put to proper use.
She also kept some other things at home to avoid having to produce them out of nowhere, which might seem strange to the child.
This way, there were more things that required attention to expiration dates and storage methods, which Wen Qian found time-consuming and effortful, but there was no other way - this was simply how it should be under normal circumstances.
Food had different shelf lives in winter and summer, and without refrigeration, spoiled food could not be consumed, as eating contaminated food would be unwise in a time of scarce medical resources.
Books would be eaten by worms and rodents if not sundried, and the contents of wooden boxes also needed regular inspection, lest they be gnawed on by rodents at any moment.
This was especially true for items in the small sheds, which Wen Qian didn't visit often, so they required extra care in preservation.
In the open space near the house, she would drive two wooden stakes into the ground, place a box on top, and cover it with a waterproof material.
The part of the wooden stakes more than a meter above the ground was coated with grease, preventing rodents and insects from climbing up. In winter, pouring water over it would create an ice barrier.
Rodents' teeth were formidable, and they would attempt to gnaw on anything, so Wen Qian wanted to catch a cat to keep and hunt rodents, but unfortunately, there were no households with cats at the moment, and she couldn't catch any kittens.
Although Wen Qian had rodent poison, homemade glue traps, and cages for catching rodents, those only worked on naive rodents that had never seen the world before.
Later, the rodents became cunning and would walk around the traps, rarely falling for them, except for the occasional inexperienced one.
However, this was not a problem unique to Wen Qian, but rather a common issue for all the residents here. Even in the south, there would be rodents, except they had cats there.
Living in the mountains, the child had become familiar with the various prey that adults hunted, most of which meant food, and a few that could be traded for money.
For the rabbits raised at home, Wen Qian would bring back grass, and the child would be responsible for feeding them.
When dealing with wild prey, the child would watch as the adults skinned and butchered them. Any leftovers could be made into jerky and hung in the smoke shed.
Whenever Wen Qian did tasks, she would have the child watch by her side, hoping the child could form an initial impression of living here.
Her way of life had also gradually become more grounded due to the need to demonstrate experiences to the child, just like Big Jin and the others. In the past, when she had her "space," she didn't need to consider these things, but now she had to collect and store food like her other neighbors.
Sun-drying, roasting, air-drying, smoke-curing, salt-curing, and sugar-curing - there were many methods, which Wen Qian had discussed with the people around her and also sought out in books.
She had learned a lot and tried making things herself, such as homemade fruit leathers and jerky.
During this process, it was inevitable that some food would spoil due to improper storage, forcing her to painfully discard it.
The amount of food stored outside was less compared to what was in Wen Qian's "space," but it still pained her.
It was all obtained through her hard work, yet it ended up like this because she didn't preserve it properly, which naturally made her feel regretful.
However, the spoilage of food could also serve as an experience to teach the child. Thinking this way, Wen Qian didn't feel as upset.
After sighing, Wen Qian would tell the child about it with a displeased tone, causing the child to also furrow her brow and become distressed, which amused Wen Qian instead.
Then Wen Qian would explain the reasons for food spoilage and give her precautions, which would leave a more profound impression on the child as an actual experience and memory.
She hoped that when the child grew up, she would have the experience to live well here.
The child was still young, so Wen Qian wouldn't just teach her one thing, or teach it only once. She would continue to reinforce these lessons in the future.
The child was also attentive, reminding Wen Qian when water was boiling, rice was steaming, or grapes needed to be picked.
Now Wen Qian had an additional helpful and thoughtful assistant who would remind her of things she might forget.
Ni Sha's child, who was a year older, would sometimes come over with her mother to play with An An.
Living in such a remote area, it was rare to have a playmate, so the two children were always delighted to see each other, though they couldn't go and play with each other independently yet.
There was still some distance between the two families, and no adult would feel at ease letting them set off alone. At the very least, they would need to be twelve years old or older and able to use a gun before being allowed to go to a neighbor's house alone.
Most of the time, the two children would follow their respective mothers wherever they went, whether to the market or to visit each other's homes.
Wen Qian would take out fruits and some snacks for the two children to share, while the two adults would chat nearby, talking about family matters.
Wen Qian was Ni Sha's best customer, mainly buying jars from her. At first, Ni Sha thought Wen Qian would use them to store water and that they would freeze and break during the winter.
Later, she learned that Wen Qian would put blankets inside the jars, cover them with stone slabs to prevent mice from gnawing on them.
Using jars to store everything was indeed a good method, as long as the jar's mouth was properly sealed, items could be preserved.
Even the children at home had their own small jars to store their snacks.
