"Why are you so useless? Hurry up and get the corn down the mountain." Wang Sufen rolled her eyes at Li Muwu impatiently. As someone who had seen with her own eyes how the branches could stretch and shrink at will without him kneeling down, Wang Sufen felt that Li Muwu was a little too cowardly.
Li Muwu stood up with his knees and legs shaking. However, he felt dizzy when he saw the corn scattered all over the ground and the potatoes dug out from the soil. Li Muwu pointed at the food on the ground with a trembling hand, and his lips trembled: "Did our girl make this?"
Wang Sufen nodded proudly: "Our daughter is really amazing. Mother said she must be the reincarnation of a god. But you can't tell anyone else about this, not even Mu Sen. And our sons are getting older and older. Who knows when they might let this out. You better keep your mouth shut, okay?"
Li Muwu glanced at Wang Sufen sullenly: "Don't you know whether I'm tight-lipped or not?"
Wang Sufen remembered her husband's character of not being able to get two farts with a stick, and she was relieved immediately. She pinched her waist and waved the hoe in her hand, looking a bit like Old Lady Li: "I'm collecting the grain here, you hurry up and transport it down. Transport as much as you can before dark!"
When Li Muwu picked up a handful of corn and was about to throw it into the basket, he suddenly saw a rice bowl wrapped in blue cloth inside. He quickly took it out and handed it to Wang Sufen: "I was so scared that I forgot about it. This is the rice your mother brought for you. You should take a break quickly, put the child down and let her crawl on the ground. It's tiring to carry her all the time."
Wang Sufen looked at Li Muwu with an indescribable look when she heard this: "I'm afraid if I put her on the ground, she will turn this mountain into a cornfield." But as soon as she finished speaking, Wang Sufen remembered that Zhenzhen had put a several-meter-long branch on her back, and it seemed that it was not safe to carry her on her back.
Wang Sufen took off her sling and put Zhenzhen in the basket that Li Muwu brought. "Send my daughter home and let Guihua look after her. If I come back late, ask Guihua to make her some steamed egg custard."
Li Muwu responded, put some potatoes that were almost as heavy as Zhenzhen's into the basket in front of him, then he put the shoulder pole on his back and walked down the mountain with big strides.
Sitting in the wobbly basket, Zhenzhen curiously grasped the edge of the basket and looked out. This ancient and lush forest had abundant products, including dozens of wild fruits that people knew and commonly ate. The fruits were not yet ripe, and the red, yellow, and green fruits hanging on the trees looked particularly beautiful. Zhenzhen looked at the wild fruits for a while, then looked up at the not-so-big pine cones on the trees.
Zhenzhen couldn't stop drooling when she thought of the aroma of roasted pine nuts at home during the Chinese New Year. The pine cones on the tree grew rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye under her gaze. When the kernels became plump, they fell from the tree and into the basket.
Zhenzhen didn't know whether this was a talent or an ability. She didn't seem to need to practice, just like breathing, eating, and drinking, she seemed to know how to do it naturally. This interesting talent made Zhenzhen like a child who just got a new toy, and she never tired of trying it over and over again.
Cape fruit, raspberry, hawthorn, sand apple, mountain pear, wild hawthorn, grapes and kiwi, the unripe wild fruits mature quickly, the decayed fruits become full again, and the ripe fruits become sweeter. Each kind of wild fruit falls when it tastes the best, and rushes into Zhenzhen's arms.
Zhenzhen looked at the increasing number of wild fruits in the basket, and her eyes curved into a crescent moon with laughter. Li Muwu, who was carrying the shoulder pole, felt more and more that something was wrong. Why did the shoulder pole always fall backwards
He pulled the carrying pole forward and walked for dozens of meters. The basket at the back fell down again. Li Muwu finally reacted and quickly turned around to look at Zhenzhen in the basket.
Zhenzhen was sitting there with a pine cone in her arms. She had eaten a lot of food from the basket. Her face was like a kitten, with red, purple and green juices mixed together. She looked cute and funny. There were seven or eight pine cones scattered around Zhenzhen, and all kinds of fruits filled half of the basket.
Seeing that the lantern fruit that used to break easily was now firmly hanging on the pine cone without any signs of breaking, Li Muwu turned his head back with difficulty, pulled the pole forward again and again to restore the balance, and suddenly ran quickly: "Mom... Mom..."
Old Lady Li tied the carriage to a tree at the foot of the mountain, and couldn't help picking up the small shovel she brought with her to dig wild vegetables around. As soon as she put a handful of dandelions on the carriage, she heard her son's ghostly howling in the distance.
Old Mrs. Li was so angry that she shook her head: "What a worldly-wise person! If I had half the brains of his brother, I would have had less worries over the years."
Just as she finished muttering, Old Lady Li saw Li Muwu appear in her sight as if he was being chased by a wolf. He rushed down the mountain in a hurry, with the earthen baskets in front and behind him swinging up and down, and even the potatoes inside flew out.
How could Mrs. Li, who had experienced hunger, bear to waste things like this? Her face changed immediately and she wanted to scold him. But when she was about to speak, she suddenly saw something familiar in the basket behind her: a pigtail with a red headband, a blue jacket, fair skin, and big eyes like black grapes...
Suddenly, Old Mrs. Li forgot all about potatoes and other grains. All she could think about was the granddaughter she had been waiting for for many years: "Li Muwu, if you dare to throw my granddaughter out of the basket, I will break your legs!" The old woman's earth-shaking roar finally woke Li Muwu up. He quickly came to his senses and slowed down his pace.
Seeing that there was no one around, Mrs. Li couldn't help but scold him, "Didn't I tell you everything before? Why are you so scared?"
“No…” Li Muwu swallowed hard, not knowing how to explain to his mother: the first wave of shock had passed, and now he was experiencing the second round.
Giving Li Muwu a blank look, Old Lady Li went over and picked up Zhenzhen. Looking at the half basket of things, Old Lady Li was quite surprised: "How come the sand apples are ripe already in August? The pine cones they picked look quite big, so they are ripe quite early." As she spoke, Old Lady Li picked up a sand apple and ate it all in a few bites.
"No..." Li Muwu struggled to organize his words, but was interrupted by Old Lady Li again. "This year's sand apples are sweet and have a lot of moisture. After you move the grain, go pick some and I'll scrape them with a spoon and feed them to Zhenzhen."
"But… "
"How much did you feed Zhenzhen? Look at how dirty her little face is." Old Mrs. Li said as she pulled out a handkerchief from her bosom, poured some water from the kettle, and wiped Zhenzhen's little face clean in a few strokes.
Seeing that Old Lady Li had finally finished her words like a cannon, Li Muwu finally had the chance to speak: "I don't know where these wild fruits were picked from. When I carried the load down the mountain, there was nothing in the basket. When I was almost there, I turned around and saw half a basket of things. I was so scared that my legs went limp."
"You're so scared but you're still running so fast!" Old Mrs. Li couldn't help but retort. She looked at the mess of wild fruits and even a few potatoes in the basket. She guessed that they were all thrown out by Li Muwu, but somehow they all fell into the basket at the back.
Having even seen vegetables grow out of thin air, Old Lady Li really didn’t take the half basket of wild fruits seriously. She urged Li Muwu, “Hurry up and go up the mountain to pick up the things. I’ll go to your Aunt Li’s house up ahead and ask her to help take Zhenzhen home. It’s already afternoon, it’s too late.”
Old lady Li carried Zhenzhen and walked quickly again. Li Muwu staggered up the mountain with his eyes wide open. Fortunately, the way to his own field was smooth, and Li Muwu would not take the wrong path even with his eyes closed. In addition, carrying things did not require any brainpower, so although Li Muwu's head was a mess, he still filled half a car of food before dark.
Although there was still some light in the sky, it was almost dark on the mountain. Li Muwu quickly filled two baskets of corn and hurried down the mountain with Wang Sufen.
Old Mrs. Li was sitting in the car smoking a pipe. When she saw her son and daughter-in-law coming down, she quickly lifted the felt cloth and asked Li Muwu to pour the corn in.
With the last bit of light in the sky, the family finally got home before it got dark. Li Muwu opened the door and drove the carriage in. When the family heard the noise, they all came out to greet him.
"Grandma, you said that we should wait at home and you would assign us work to do, but we ended up waiting for the whole afternoon and there was nothing else to do except taking care of Zhenzhen?" Mingbei complained when he saw his grandma.
"Zhenzhen is very well-behaved and never makes trouble. Why should you watch her?" Smelling the aroma of food emanating from the house, Mrs. Li didn't even want to scold her grandson. She jumped down from the carriage nimbly: "Hurry back to the house and eat first."
After washing her face and hands, Wang Sufen hurried back to the east room to see Zhenzhen. At this time, Zhenzhen had eaten the egg custard and fell asleep sweetly. Wang Sufen used a pillow to block her from the outside and then went out to eat.
The dinner was rabbit stewed with potatoes and wild vegetable dumplings left over from lunch. Although Mingbei kept assuring Grandma Li that they should eat as much as they could today, Guihua didn't believe him. The year was so difficult, and there was only so much food at home. If they hadn't eaten it all, there would be nowhere to buy. If it weren't for the fact that her parents and grandma must be tired after being out all afternoon, Guihua wouldn't even have been willing to serve the wild vegetable dumplings. With such a good dish as rabbit stewed with potatoes, she should have saved the food.
Old lady Li was eating potatoes soaked in meat aroma while listening to Mingbei chattering about Guihuakou. Mingdong looked at Old lady Li and seemed to be hesitant to talk. Old lady Li pretended not to see his eyes and ate the potatoes and wine with great relish.
After dinner, Mrs. Li wiped her mouth and saw her grandchildren yawning and about to go to sleep. She hurriedly stopped them and said, "Don't go to sleep yet. Come with me to work." She glanced at Mingdong and Mingxi and said, "You two should quit your jobs tomorrow after you get your salary."
Mingdong said quickly, "Grandma, I still have more than half a month before school starts. Isn't it too early to quit my job now?"
Looking at her eldest grandson, Old Lady Li showed a rare friendly expression: "We will go to Ice City in a few days. You should take a few days off and help me with the housework at home." After hearing what Old Lady Li said, Mingdong had no choice but to agree.
Thinking of her grandson's classmates who were also admitted to university, Mrs. Li asked one more question: "Have you all bought your tickets? Are you going to start school together?"
Mingdong said quickly, "Wang Jianguo was admitted to Bingcheng University of Technology, which started two days later than our Agricultural University. Li Aijun was admitted to Bingcheng University of Science and Technology, which started on the same day as me. We took our admission letter, opened a letter of introduction, and bought our tickets. Wang Jianguo will also go with us so that he can be our companion."
When Mrs. Li heard that they were going together, she felt relieved. She got off the kang, turned on the light, and called out to the family members, "Hurry up and go out to work while it's light." Li Mingbei stared at the light in amazement, and couldn't help turning back to say to Mingdong, "Brother, grandma doesn't even use electricity to read at night, so what are you doing now that you can use our light bulbs?"
Old Mrs. Li said nothing. She walked to the front of the carriage with her hands behind her back and pulled off the felt cloth covering it, revealing half a carriage full of corn, potatoes and cabbage.
Mingnan and Mingbei rushed to the front of the carriage in two steps. They touched the cabbage and picked up two corns. They looked back at Mrs. Li in disbelief: "Grandma, are these all from our family?"
Old Mrs. Li looked at her family members who had become like fools, and smiled with satisfaction: "They are all ours!"
"Where did it come from?" Mingdong held his eyes on his nose and couldn't help asking.
Glancing at her normally calm grandson, Old Lady Li lied calmly, "Your uncle heard that we were out of food, so he asked his comrades to buy food from the south and send it to us."
Mingdong felt something was wrong and wanted to ask more questions, but Granny Li seemed to see through his thoughts and blocked his mouth preemptively: "Your uncle took advantage of the public and used a large grain truck to bring us grain. He and his comrades took a great risk. We dared not make a big fuss when we brought grain back. We could only quietly bring the food back little by little. Remember not to let outsiders know about this. If anyone implicates your uncle, I will not give him food for a month."
The three brothers Mingxi, Mingnan and Mingbei nodded quickly: "Grandma, don't worry, we promise not to tell!" Old Lady Li nodded with satisfaction and looked at Mingdong. Mingdong smiled helplessly: "Grandma, I know the seriousness of the matter. I must not let you take this risk."
Old Mrs. Li then smiled and said, "Put the cabbages and potatoes in the cellar, and pile the corn in the backyard. When you are home tomorrow, peel the corn and throw it in the backyard to dry."
Mu Wu looked at the boys at home who had already started working enthusiastically, and couldn't help but ask: "Why don't we send some to Mu Sen's family first?"
Old Mrs. Li took two puffs from her pipe. Seeing that the children had gone to the backyard, she whispered, "We still have ten kilograms of cornmeal and thirty kilograms of sweet potato flour left. Give half of them to his family for emergency use. When we get all the food back, let him come to get it. This way, your brother won't believe it and follow us to get the food. He'll be exposed then."
Wang Sufen looked at Old Lady Li with admiration: "Mom, you have a very smart brain!"
"That's right!" Old Mrs. Li raised her head proudly: "If I hadn't been smart, Zhenzhen would have been reborn into our family!"