Living on a Mountain with my Husband

Chapter 22: The House

They had almost reached the house, but they needed to get passed one more big obstacle first. There was a very steep slope. It was a short distance, but the mule wouldn't be able to pull the cart passed it without some help. LongWei felt a little reluctant to wake Zimo up, but they needed to work together.

"Zimo, wake up." LongWei said has he gently shook Zimo.

"Umm... dear?" Zimo answered. His voice carried some raspiness from sleeping.

"Zimo, we are almost at the house, but first I need your help."

"Yawn... sorry. Did I fall asleep?" Zimo finally opened his eyes remembering where they were. He couldn't believe he had slept. How could he, riding a mule cart up a mountain was not a comfortable ride. The cart, unlike modern vehicles, did not have shocks. His butt was completely sore after sitting for so long. Despite this he seemed to be able to sleep.

"Zimo, do you see the slope up ahead? It too steep for this old mule to get passed it alone. We need to help push. If we work together it shouldn't be to hard." LongWei explained as he began disembarking from the cart.

Zimo nodded in understanding. He also got have and stretched his body. Sitting on the cart had left his body feeling stiff.

Zimo and LongWei positioned themselves behind the cart and began to push. The cart was a little heavy, but with the mule and the two men, they managed to get passed it.

Reaching the other side the scene ready suddenly changed. Zimo and LongWei had been travelling through the dark and dense forest for over an hour. When they passed the slope, things became bright again.

The area with the cabin was a small basin next to a cliff extending high in up. Unlike what they had been riding through prior the trees were less densely packed here. LongWei must have cut down many of the trees allowing for more light. Surrounding the cabin was a mud fence roughly shoulder height. And inside the space for large enough.

There were three small buildings. The first was the largest with with a living space and bed. The two weren't separate from each other. There was a rough table and chair in one corner. A box placed next to the only window, and in the far corner a bed. Only four pieces of furniture could be found in the room.

The next building was the kitchen. Under a simple roof, there was a rough mud stove and a shed with a few jars filled with lard, rice, and salt. Across from the stove was another small table used to cut things and prepare dinner. Three knives of different sizes were placed on the table and a pile of room next to it.

The third building was the shed. In it LongWei had lied up a large amount of wood and a caged area. He would use this space to put small animals he had caught.

As Zimo followed LongWei through the three different buildings he felt excited. It wasn't a big living place, but it's were he would call home for the chapter of his life. It was big enough for the two of them, but also very dirty.

LongWei's accident occurred when he was out hunting. The amount of dust piled everywhere was enough to change the color of the quilt and other surfaces. In the shed, LongWei remembered catching a few pheasants and rabbits. He had put them in the cages. However, some animal must have broken in because a big whole was found in the bamboo cage.

Outside in the yard area, the remnants of a vegetable garden could be seen. Weeds had overtaken the vegetables to the point it was difficult to see what was Keebler and what wasn't. Looking around they had a lot of cleaning to do.

"It's a little dirty, dear. I think we should clean everything first before unloading the cart. Is there somewhere we can get water?"

"Over the ridge, there is a river with some fish." LongWei said as he grabbed two large buckets.