Jiang Sanlang snorted lightly, scooped two buckets of water himself, pulled off the sweat towel from his shoulder and rubbed it in the basin, washed his face with three or five scoops, and wiped his neck and arms.
It's finally cool.
When I looked again, the water in the basin had turned black.
After pouring the water, I saw my wife coming over with her hand on her waist.
"Sanlang, the soup and noodles are under the basket. Yingbao and I have already eaten them. You should eat them quickly."
"Okay." Jiang Sanlang nodded and took out a large bowl of shepherd's purse soup, five black-flour cakes, and a boiled goose egg from under the basket.
"Where did the goose eggs come from?" Jiang Sanlang sat down at the small table, rolled up a pancake and took a big bite.
"Dani sent it over." Chunniang fanned her husband with a palm-leaf fan and also fanned Yingbao. "Bring two. Yingbao and I will eat one. This one is for you."
Jiang Sanlang took a sip of the soup, then picked up the pancake and munched on it. "I'll give you the goose eggs tomorrow. People say that pregnant women who eat goose eggs will give birth to fair-skinned babies. Why should a grown man like me eat this? It's a waste!"
Chun Niang chuckled, "Nonsense, how can you waste it? Yingbao and I have boiled eggs every day, and my nephew sent snails, shrimps and loaches. This goose egg is not a big deal. You should eat it quickly. It's so hot and you're hoeing the fields under the scorching sun. Don't eat meat or you'll get a heat stroke."
As she spoke, she picked up the goose egg, knocked it against the corner of the table a few times, broke the shell, and handed it to her husband.
Jiang Sanlang had no choice but to take it and peel the shell bit by bit.
Chunniang sat down on a high stool, fanning her husband and daughter with a palm-leaf fan. Seeing the two hens circling around her daughter, as if begging for food, she whispered, "Strangely enough, our two hens have gained a lot of weight recently and are laying eggs more frequently, two eggs a day, all with double yolks."
Yingbao looked up at her mother, then squatted on the ground and stroked the chicken's head and feather back.
The two hens cackled and pecked their little master's toes affectionately.
Jiang Sanlang paused when he heard this, frowning, "It's probably earthworms. Didn't Dani often take Yingbao to dig earthworms to feed the chickens these days? The chickens are strong, so they lay eggs more often."
"That's right." Chunniang looked at her daughter with a smile, and the more she looked, the happier she became.
Yingbaoer became more and more beautiful, with a delicate face and eyebrows like the dolls in the New Year pictures. Even though she ran around all day and was exposed to the wind and sun, she did not get darker.
Looking at the other kids in the village, after the summer harvest, they all looked like black loaches, and were simply unbearable to look at.
"Baby, come here and open your mouth." Jiang Sanlang used chopsticks to pick up a piece of egg yolk and stuffed it into his daughter's mouth, then picked up another piece for his wife, and then ate the rest of the goose egg.
After dinner, the family of three lay on the mats for a nap.
Yingbao couldn't sleep, so she waited until her parents fell asleep, then quietly got up and slipped out of the yard.
The two hens followed her closely.
The three little ones came to a small dry ditch.
This is the earthworm base that Yingbao and Sister Dani often visit. The soil in the ditch is rich and suitable for raising seedlings.
Yingbao squatted in the pit and dug the soil with a shovel, shoveling the soil with a few fallen leaves into a small bamboo basket, then carried it back to her own vegetable garden one trip at a time and scattered it around the saplings.
She was so tired after two trips back and forth that she was out of breath and sat down on the ground to rest.
Suddenly, he slapped his forehead and thought, I have an invisible mobile warehouse, so it should be no problem to transport some soil.
Alas, people have become smaller and their brains have become rusty.
I looked around and there was no one. It was the middle of the day and everyone was at home to avoid the heat, so no matter what I did, no one would see me.
Yingbao immediately stood up and picked up the shovel to dig the soil.
Shovel once and collect once, shovel once and collect once.
Soon, she had harvested a large area of fertile soil in the dry ditch.
When the two hens saw that they couldn't eat the bugs, they cackled anxiously and looked at their owner with their heads tilted in confusion.
Yingbao touched them apologetically and assured them, "Wait a moment, when sister Dani comes, you will have bugs to eat."
She had to collect more soil when no one was around to make it easier to grow seedlings later.
"Bao'er, what are you doing?" Jiang Sanlang woke up and found his daughter missing. He hurried out to look for her. He saw his daughter's face, hands and body covered in black mud, squatting in a ditch, doing something unknown.
Yingbao was startled and quickly stood up and ran over. The two hens followed closely behind her, running so fast that even their wings fluttered.
"Dad, Bao'er is digging earthworms for the chickens." Yingbao blamed her companion without blushing.
The two hens said: She cheated! She lied! She ate everything herself, not even a scrap of dirt was left.
Jiang Sanlang took his daughter home, brushed off the dirt on her body, washed her hands and face, put her next to Chunniang, pinched the little hair on her head, and threatened her: "Go to sleep! If you dare to run around alone again, be careful to get spanked!"
Yingbao giggled, snuggled up beside her mother, and made a face at her father.
Jiang Sanlang stood up and said to his wife, "The sun outside is not so hot anymore. I'm going to hoe the remaining fields. You should stay at home and take care of yourself. Go out for walks less often. And keep an eye on Yingbao and don't let her run around."
"Okay, got it." Chun Niang leaned on the couch, touched her daughter's little head, and said gently: "Bao'er has really been wild recently. She disappears when I'm not paying attention. I can't catch up with her. Go to the front and call Dani, and ask her to come over and play with our Yingbao more often."
"good."
Jiang Sanlang went to the kitchen, filled a can with cold boiled water, put on a straw hat, and went out with a hoe on his shoulder.
Not long after, Dani came running over, followed by her youngest brother Yuanbao.
"Aunt San, let's come and play with Yingbao." said Dani.
Chunniang was walking back and forth in the room. When she saw her niece and nephew, she waved with a smile: "Dani is here, come in quickly, Third Aunt will make you some sugar water. Hey? Doesn't Yuanbao have any homework today?"
Yuanbao is six years old this year. He just started his enlightenment in a private school in the spring. Going to school every day is like going to the execution ground, and coming back is like a monkey coming down the mountain.
"No, no homework." Yuanbao sniffed and hung his head dejectedly.
He didn't understand why all the adults liked to ask him this question when they saw him. Couldn't they just say something more pleasant
Yingbao ran over and held her little cousin's hand, "Brother Yuanbao, can you read to Yingbao?"
Yuanbao touched the back of his head, looking conflicted: "I, I only know the Three Character Classic." The first few paragraphs.
Alas, I shouldn’t have come here with my elder sister.
"Then brother Yuanbao should read the Three Character Classic, okay?" Although Yingbao can read, she can't let her parents know.
Only after I had more contact and learned more from Yuanbao did I dare to reveal it bit by bit.
Yuan Bao couldn't stand the expectant look in his little cousin's eyes, so he had no choice but to clear his throat and start reciting: "When people are born, they are good by nature. Natures are similar, but habits make them different..."
After reciting "The Three Talents are the benevolence of Heaven and Earth," Yuanbao began to stutter and scratch his ears.
Yingbao clapped her hands and praised: "Brother Yuanbao is really awesome!"
Yuanbao blushed, but her little chest straightened instantly.
Chun Niang called out, "Come and drink some sugar water. Yuanbao, ignore your sister and come and drink some water to moisten your throat."
"Yeah." Yuanbao breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran over to avoid his little cousin.
Yingbao smiled secretly and ran to drink water.
After drinking the brown sugar water, the three children stayed in the house for a while, but felt bored, so they ran out of the yard and fished for insects in the woods in front of the door.
Yuanbao was very familiar with this game. He picked a handful of locust leaves and removed the leaves, leaving only the slender leaf stems.
He would lie prone on the ground, find a few small insect holes, poke a thin leaf stem into them, and then pat the ground with his hands, shouting, "Mah dog, mah dog, come out!"
Then with a gentle pull, a small green and white insect appeared on the leaf stem.
Yuanbao laughed loudly, wiped his nose with the back of his hand, and picked up the little bug to show Yingbao.
Yingbao took a few steps back. She didn't want to play this kind of kid's game.
He turned to Dani and said, "Sister Dani, can you go pick some water chestnuts?"
There are rice fields in their small mountain village, and you can find a lot of small water chestnuts in the paddy fields, which taste very sweet.
Dani was also very tempted and immediately nodded in agreement.
So Yingbao went home to tell her mother, and ran to the nearby paddy fields with Dani Yuanbao.
In the paddy fields, the seedlings have just taken root and the water chestnuts are also quietly sprouting.
Dani and Yuanbao took off their shoes and went down to the paddy field. They bent down and groped around, and soon they found a bag of black, round water chestnuts.
This kind of water chestnut is only the size of a fingernail and tastes sweet and refreshing. Yuanbao immediately stuffed a few into his mouth.