The night wind was blowing, and when it swept through the withered forest, it made a rustling sound. Song Chuyi and Zhao Yilou were probably too tired, and soon fell into a deep sleep. Just before falling asleep, Song Chuyi still kicked Zhao Yilou to the side.

  The next day, Song Chu slept until dawn broke.

  The reeds were covered with white frost, the sunlight was bright and dazzling, but there wasnt much warmth. Song Chuyi hid in a thick pile of grass and still felt cold, while Zhao Yilou had already crouched by the edge of the pond to prepare to kill a mountain chicken.

  Seeing this situation, Song Chu suddenly came to his senses, jumped up and ran to Zhao Yis side, "What did you catch?"

  Zhao Yilou seemed to think that this question was not worth answering, and lowered her head to use a sharp stone to poke the pheasants neck. Before long, it was bloody and mangled, but the pheasant still flapped its wings fiercely.

  "Its too cruel!" Song Chu was filled with unbearable pity.

  Zhao Yi Lou let out a cold snort and continued to grind the stone. He still remembered that one time, he had caught a rabbit with great difficulty, but was forced by a Shìzú girl to release it. Although she later gave him a small bag of grains as compensation, at that time he had already gone without meat for half a year, and in winter, eating meat could help keep out the cold. Therefore, he still held no good impression of the Shìzú girl. At this moment, Song Chu Yis behavior was exactly what he disliked the most.

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, one crouched down, picked up a stone from the edge of the stone pool that was just the right size, covered Zhao Yilous hand with it, pressed the mountain chicken to the ground, and swung the big stone to smash it. In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, and the mountain chicken only twitched twice before dying completely.

  Zhaoyi Lous face was splashed with two drops of blood, and he stood there in a daze.

  "Its time to take action, young man." Song Chuoyi threw away the stone and patted his hand, sitting cross-legged beside him. "Hurry up with your move, or by the time you make it, the sun will have set in the west."

  Zhao Yi Lou stared blankly at her for a while before reacting, then lowered his head and continued to deal with the pheasant.

  The pheasants movements were quick and agile, making it difficult to catch without experience or tools. Zhao Yi Lou was purely lucky this time, and until the moment before Song Chu Yi picked up a stone to hit the chickens head, his mood was still very excited.

  "Hey, Im quite skilled at cooking, want to give it a try?" Song Chu volunteered as soon as he saw that the other person seemed to have no experience handling pheasants.

  If it were usual, Zhao Yi would rather die than hand over food to someone else, but perhaps Song Chuyis return of the fruit yesterday made him feel a little better, or perhaps he thought that even if he handed it over to her, she wouldnt dare to secretly take it for herself, so he hesitated for a moment before loosening his grip and moving it aside.

  Song Chuyi poured some boiling water from a nearby clay pot over the chicken, scalding it for a moment before quickly plucking out its feathers. Even with just one relatively sharp stone, Song Chuyi was able to disembowel and clean the chicken with great ease.

  "This chicken, lets divide it and do it separately." Song Chu cut the chicken in half, "This big half will be roasted with fire, can be stored for a longer time, this small half well make chicken soup today, what do you think?"

  "Good." Zhao Yilou thought this method was excellent, and they could also store the dried meat. Today, they could eat their fill.

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, her craftsmanship was not very good, and she couldnt make any exquisite dishes. However, when she was down on her luck in the past, she often went hungry, so she relied on this simple skill to help some merchants dry and smoke meat into jerky. In exchange, she would get a bowl of millet porridge every day. If she did more, she might even get a small pancake the size of half an egg. Therefore, she worked quickly and efficiently at this task, just for the sake of getting that extra pancake.

  As an intellectual, using labor as a means of exchange for food is undoubtedly pathetic and shameful.

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, Yizhen also resented her father. However, after thinking about it, she realized that her father was actually quite farsighted. She wasnt good-looking and her family was poor and declining. In the future, she might not be able to marry well and would have a hard time protecting herself in the chaotic world. Its better to learn some skills and make a career for herself in the future.

  Even if the hardships on this road are unimaginable suffering for others.

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, Yizhi suddenly thought of things that had happened a long time ago. Perhaps her current situation was too similar to the past! At that time, she thought every day about how to stand out, but now she feels very satisfied.

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, a fire was lit on both sides, and soon the pheasant was cooked.

  The two of them began wolfing down their food from the clay pot, at this point no one cared about being disgusted by anyone else, what was most important was getting the meat into their own mouths.

  Like a whirlwind sweeping away the remaining clouds, not even a single drop of soup was left in the pot.

  Without salt or any seasonings, the boiled food naturally didnt have the enticing aroma of roasted meat. Putting down the clay pot, the two sat facing each other with their sleeves rolled up at the edge of the pool, staring at the half-roasted mountain chicken in front of them and swallowing saliva.

  From morning till afternoon, Song Chu said, "Have a bite."

  Zhao Yilou hesitated and nodded slightly.

  Two men each tore off a piece of meat, compared them for a while in terms of size, and only when they were roughly equal did they stuff them into their mouths.

  Even if I had a pot of chicken soup for breakfast, at this moment, putting the roasted mountain chicken that is dripping with oil into my mouth, I immediately feel a sourness at the root of my tongue, and a burst of saliva emerges. One piece of chicken meat goes down, and theres almost no sense of satisfaction.

  Zhao Yilou carefully wrapped up the chicken and put it away. Then, she found yesterdays leftover millet porridge, added some water to it, brought it to a boil, and the two of them drank their fill.

  "Alas! Meat is actually more delicious with some salt." Song Chu said with a sigh.

  Zhao Yilou had eaten his fill and was in a good mood, so he struck up a conversation with her. "Three years ago, I also had this dish in Yingcheng. It was my first time eating it, and it was delicious."

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, she smiled slightly. She had eaten the worst things and also the best food, but what people cant forget in their lives is still the best meal when they were at their lowest point.

  "We have nothing, we cant spend the winter here." Song Chuyi suddenly changed the subject and said, "Lets hunt for some wild food in these days, Ill go with you. We will leave this place before winter."

  There is hardly any place to hide from the rain, let alone the fierce winds and heavy snows of winter. There is no shelter from the cold, no thick clothing to cover the body, and being frozen to death is only a matter of time.

  Zhao Yilou nodded.

  "But." Song Chuoyi raised an eyebrow and suddenly grabbed him, pushing him into the water, "Youd better wash your body clean for me every night before you sleep!"

  Zhao Yi Lou lost the initiative and was occupied by Song Chu Yi in a favorable position, and for a time, she couldnt shake her off.

  Song Chuoyi scooped water from the pond and splashed it on Zhao Yis face, looking at the dirt spreading in the pond. Song Chuoyi couldnt help but curse, "How many years have you been hoarding!"

  "Pffft!" Zhao Yilou lifted his head out of the water, spitting out a mouthful of water. "Mind your own business!"

  After a noon of sun exposure, the water in the pool was slightly warm and not too cold. Song Chu Yi took the opportunity to massage his hair as well.

  After a little more than half an hour of fighting, Zhao Yilou was like the mountain rooster at noon, becoming smooth and shiny.

  "You... youre a noble lady from which family! Even a rough village woman is better than you!" Zhao Yilou glared at her angrily.

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, Yiran was washing his hands in a water pool, and didnt even glance at him. "You have wounds on your face, if you dont clean them up properly, do you want them to rot?"

  Zhao Yilou was taken aback, only to remember that the wound at the corner of his mouth had already begun to show some signs of redness and swelling. If he didnt clean it up in time, it would inevitably fester.

  The sky was no longer early, Song Chuyi stood up and turned around to see Zhao Yilous appearance, slightly stunned for a moment, and clicked his tongue, "Appearance is not bad."