Living on a Mountain with my Husband

Chapter 19: At Night

When everyone had finally reached the Li's house, it had already gotten late. If Zimo and LongWei left to climb the moment now, they would reach the cabin until after dark.

No matter how comfortable and familiar LongWei was on the. Omens it wasn't safe to enter at night. Knowing this Mrs Li invited them to stay the night and naturally join them for dinner.

"I'm going to start preparing dinner now. It will take some time, because I haven't prepared anything yet. In the meantime, LongWei could you take Zimo over to the river bend? I remember seeing some of those plants he mentioned." Mrs Li said.

So the two went to the river to dig up some citronella plants to transplant into the Li's yard in hopes to deter the badger.

Along the way, LongWei wanted to talk to Zimo a little more about how they would be living on the mountain.

"ZiMo, life on the mountain is different than in the village. There are many animals and insects we need to watch out for. For the first week or so after we go up, I want to take you around the cabin area, and towards the river.
These are the places you'll move around the most. The area isn't too deep, and the animals are on the smaller size, such as rabbits and birds.
However, there is always a chance other more dangerous and larger animals might show up. If they do, how you behave when you see them depends of which one you meet.
I will teach you everything you need to know, but you must listen well. Do you understand, Zimo?" LongWei's word sounded strict and a little harsh.

Zimo, however, wasn't afraid to hear him speak in this way. He knew LongWei was saying this for his protection.

"Listen to you." Zimo said in response.

...

As they continued to walk Zimo started sniffing the air. It was faint, however he could smell the unique scent of citronella.

The two headed a little further up the river and found over a thirty citronella plants growing.

"How many do you think we should bring back?" Asked Zimo.

"Let's bring back all of them." LongWei replied.

"Won't that be too many?" Zimo asked.
"It's okay. The ones they don't want we can bring up the mountain with us tomorrow." LongWei had thought about it, and if the could really repel insects and animals like badgers, it would be an added protection.

"Um." Zimo nodded as he moved towards the first plant to start digging.

...

The two worked quickly and soon returned to the Li's house. When old man Li as the baskets full of plants he was surprised.

The three of them continued to work in the garden transplanting the citronella plants at the doors and around the chickens pen.

By the time they were down they had used twenty out of the thirty, leaving ten extra plants for LingWei and Zimo to bring with them up the mountain.

Just as they had finished Mrs Li came out from the kitchen and called the three of them over for dinner. After washing they all made their way to the table to enjoy a delicious meal.

The meal wasn't anything fancy, but it had been a long time since both Zimo, and LongWei had eaten anything that but porridge. Mrs Li didn't have any meat, but she had a garden full of fresh vegetables. She made a vegetable soup with cabbage and greens, some stir fried eggplant, and thick rice porridge.
Not having eaten such delicious homemade food since transmigrating, Zimo ate well. At first he was a little hesitant, but every time his bowl was empty Mrs Li or LongWei would fill it back up for him. By the end of the meal, he had eaten so much he could barely move.