sbdcsierra Chapter 596: Wild Vegetables for a Change
Chapter 596: Wild Vegetables for a Change
She looked around, at the spring scenery in the mountains and fields, breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned against the roots of a big tree behind her. She felt that one should not stay stuck in the house for too long and should come outside from time to time.
After a busy day, I feel indescribably happy and relaxed everywhere except my stomach.
It’s a pity that she had finished eating all the dry food she brought. If the master was here, he would have hidden somewhere to eat game.
As she was thinking, a breeze blew, bringing with it a faint scent of flowers. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
I don’t know how long it took.
Gradually, I heard a human voice.
"See, I told you she'd come back a long time ago. Don't worry. Even if so many of us got lost, she wouldn't get lost."
"Hey, why did you fall asleep here? You must be too tired these days. Hush, everyone, stop talking and let the child sleep a little longer."
Only after she heard Li's voice did she feel at ease and fall asleep again.
Li watched the child move her eyes twice and then fall asleep again. She also sighed, laid her flat, put her head on her legs, and adjusted her into a comfortable position.
Zhou Guo hasn't had a good night's sleep since the Chinese New Year.
All day long she is either in the mountains or in the fields, busy spreading fertilizer, planting seeds, and finding time to buy land. The most important thing is still the mountains. Now she knows what is grown in the mountains: sheep mushrooms!
Those needle-tip-sized things that popped out of the soil gradually grew bigger, produced black heads, and then grew further until they looked like small lamb mushrooms.
Although I couldn't believe it and felt it was impossible, what I saw before my eyes was real and could not be deceived.
This child stays in the mountains day and night for these mushrooms. How can she, as a mother, not feel distressed?
Chen said, "What has this kid been busy with these days? He looks so much thinner, and the fat on his face is gone."
Li sighed, "I was busy with things in the mountains. Fortunately, I remembered to eat well, otherwise I would have collapsed."
Zhou Guo woke up and found herself lying on her mother's lap. She yawned, stood up and said, "Why did you put me on your lap? Aren't your legs sore?"
Li combed her hair and said, "It only took a short while. Why are you sore? Did you sleep well? If not, sleep a little longer."
Zhou Guo looked up at the sun that was gradually setting in the west and said, "Still sleeping? I'm afraid I'll have to stay here tonight. I'm hungry."
"Are you hungry? Just wait." Li happily picked up the basket beside her, "Come, mother has prepared a lot of food. We have everything you want to eat."
He untied the bamboo tube from the backpack and said, "There's still water here."
Zhou Guo looked into the basket and saw that there was everything: steamed buns, meat patties, pastries, dried meat, and even a small jar of pickles!
"Mom, you prepared everything, even pickles!" He took a steamed bun, put some pickles in it, and started eating with the bun in one hand and the dried meat in the other. He took a sip of water from time to time. When he saw that Li didn't eat, he said, "Mom, you eat too."
Now that the weather is getting warmer, it tastes good even if you eat it cold.
Li looked at her eating and said lovingly, "You eat, mother has already eaten."
Zhou Guo nodded and stopped asking questions since there was no shortage of food.
She looked around while eating and found that there were fewer people. "Have all the others gone down the mountain?"
Chen on the side said, "It's still so early. Why did you go down the mountain? You went back up again. You said you would look for more. Maybe you can find another pound or half a pound. It's also worth money."
Li said, "This year, there don't seem to be as many mushrooms as last year. I don't know if it's because the season hasn't come yet. I walked around the mountain for so long and only found about four or five kilograms."
Chen said, "I'm about the same as you. Those who came early and found more also picked up seven or eight kilograms. Those who found less are about the same as us. I'm afraid it will be difficult this year. If you want to make some money from this, I think it's better to pick some ferns and sell them early. Maybe you can make more."
She decided not to join in the fun. Firstly, she had a lot of land at home and it was not very busy. Secondly, she only earned a little money after working so hard, so it was better to save the money for her family.
By the time everyone in the mountain came out, Zhou Guo had finished his meal and half of the basket of food had been eaten up.
Li was very happy. She placed the two sacks of wild vegetables that Zhou Guo had picked horizontally on the backpack and tied them up with a rope so that they would not fall down.
Zhou Guo said, "Mom, please leave me a sack and I will carry it."
Li handed her the empty basket and said, "What are you carrying? It's not a heavy thing. Can't your mother carry this? Have you forgotten that your mother is not as strong as you, but she is not weak either. If your father can carry anything, I can do it too."
I have been doing everything inside and outside the house since I was young, so I have built up my strength a long time ago.
Zhou Guo said: "Yes, yes, you are a strong man."
Qian was very envious, "I wish I had such strength."
Chen smiled and said, "Not only do you want it, I want it too. Besides, you are quite strong, stronger than most women."
Qian said, "That can't be helped. I have no one to rely on for housework. I have to carry it even if I can't bear it. Slowly, my strength seems to have really increased. It would be great if I could have more strength."
A group of people went down the mountain in a lively manner.
Zhou Guo followed him up the mountain for several days in a row. Sometimes he would run to other mountains alone with a backpack, hoping to pick more ferns.
But she always walked behind others. Those people had lived here for generations and knew better than anyone else where these things were. She could only follow behind others and pick up the missed ones in the thorn bushes.
Not to mention, I could carry back half a basket of food every day. I did this for three days. I couldn’t finish eating the cold dishes, and I could dry the rest.
The old man later went with her. After eating game, it was good to eat wild vegetables occasionally to change the taste.
Two days later, she took off the backpack and said to the old man, "Master, I can't accompany you anymore. I have to go to the mountains to watch over you. You can go wherever you want."
The old man really wanders around with a backpack on his back, and he can go anywhere in the mountains alone.
Every night when Zhou Guo came back, he could see him carrying a basket and a sack back home.
Gradually, the yard was filled with dried ferns.
There were really too many, so Li put more into the jar, intending to add both sour and dry ones.
The Zhou family was dumbfounded.
Zhou Guo asked, "Master, where did you get these? All the ferns growing near the village have been plucked."
The old man was drinking tea in the yard with a cup in hand, and said, "You also said it was near the village. I went to the mountains. There are a lot of them there, mountains and mountains. I will go to harvest them in the fall, and next spring I will have as much as I want. You want to eat it, right? This much is enough for you, right? It's a pity that it tastes best when served cold. It won't taste as good if you dry it and then cook it."