After a long while, Jiang Sanlang spoke again: "Chun Niang, how did Yingbao know that you were pregnant with a little brother?"
Chunniang paused and said, "I heard from the elders that children have spirituality since childhood, but when they grow up, those spiritualities gradually disappear. This is not uncommon.
They also say that the younger the baby, the easier it is to tell whether the baby is a boy or a girl. I guess I am definitely carrying a boy this time."
Jiang Sanlang chuckled, "That's true. Mother asked Yuanbao last time: Is your aunt pregnant with a brother or a sister? Hehe, I hope it's a boy and a girl. Yingbao will have a brother to protect her and a sister to keep her company in the future."
The two chatted for a while and then gradually fell asleep.
Yingbao was awake and blinked in the darkness.
The rumor still arose.
I guess that family will get wind of the news soon.
Yingbao sank his consciousness into the cave and looked down at his wrist.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but the birthmark seems to have faded a little, but it’s still clearly visible.
It is the size of a copper coin and shaped like a plum blossom. It is very unique and unforgettable at first sight.
Yingbao is worried.
I have been scrubbing and washing it for several months, but the birthmark has not changed much. It is obvious that it cannot be washed away with Wudingzhi and pool water.
Then, there are only two other methods left, either cutting with a knife or burning with fire.
Seeing that my younger brother was about to be born, I would soon become the focus of the entire village, so I couldn’t delay any longer.
Can…
Both the knife cutting and the fire burning were very painful, and she was afraid that she couldn't do it.
But if you are afraid of this little pain, only greater pain will be waiting for you.
It's the kind of pain that leaves you bruised all over.
Otherwise, wait until the weather gets colder before doing it. That way, the wound will be less likely to get infected.
The next day, Yingbao got up early, dressed and washed herself, and wrapped her wrists with cloth again.
First water the saplings and then continue to cover them with the wicker basket.
Then go to the chicken coop, pick up two eggs, and put them in the egg basket.
Then he picked up a small basket, put a small shovel in the basket, and took the two hens out for a walk.
I didn't go far, just wandered around near home.
"Oh, it's Yingbao." Aunt Wang was carrying the toilet to the river to wash it. She saw the little kid in shorts and a short coat and asked with a smile, "Why are you going out so early?"
Yingbao blinked her eyes, tilted her head back and said in a baby voice, "Second Grandma, I'm going to dig earthworms to feed the chickens."
"Oh, what a good boy."
Aunt Wang's eyes moved around Yingbao, and her gaze stopped at the child's wrists. "Huh? Why are both wrists wrapped in cloth? Are you hurt?"
"No." Yingbao said seriously, "It looks good when worn."
In order to coax her daughter not to take off the wristband, Chunniang added borders to the two strips of cloth and embroidered a pattern of plum blossoms and twined branches.
In fact, Chunniang didn't know that even if she didn't coax her and embroider on the cloth strip, Yingbao would always wear it and not give others the chance to discover the birthmark.
At this time in her previous life, Yingbao was still an ordinary child who didn't know what her mother meant by giving her a wrist band, and she didn't follow her mother's instructions seriously, which resulted in that family being attracted.
Aunt Wang smiled and asked softly, "Ying Baoer, tell Grandma, have your father and mother ever beaten you? Have they ever denied you food?"
Yingbao rolled her eyes secretly and said tenderly, "Daddy and Mommy love Yingbao the most, so they won't beat her. They even save the best food for Yingbao. Daddy and Mommy say Yingbao is their treasure, and if anyone dares to bully her, Daddy and Mommy will beat her!"
Aunt Wang's face turned dark and the corners of her mouth twitched. "Oh, this little guy is so talkative. He's really good at talking." She turned around and left.
Yingbao stuck out her tongue at her back and took the two hens to Xiaohangou.
Seeing that there was no one around, he took out the can of earthworms from the cave and overturned it.
The earthworm that had been coated with Wudingzhi was also taken out, cut into several sections with a shovel, and fed to the hens.
The two hens came over with a clucking sound and quickly ate up several segments of the earthworms.
Then he tilted his head left and right, and kept looking at his owner, as if he wanted more.
The earthworms that were poured out of the jar crawled around and were ignored by the two chickens.
Even if the young master cut off a few of them and put them in front of him, the hen just took a few steps back and ignored him.
Yingbao seemed to be thinking about something, then picked up a handful of Wudingzhi from the stone wall of the cave and handed it to the hen.
The hen was very excited. She stretched her neck and pecked at the food quickly. She also pecked and bit Yingbao's fingers very gently, which made her giggle.
Afterwards, Yingbao spent the whole day observing the two hens.
Seeing that there was nothing unusual about them, I breathed a sigh of relief.
A few days later, Jiang Sanlang finished harvesting the Beishan ramie, carried it to the pond behind the house, threw the bundles into the water and began to ferment.
These ramie need to be soaked for several days before they can be peeled, so Jiang Sanlang can finally have a few days of leisure.
"Yingbao, do you want to go to Beishan?"
Jiang Sanlang still remembered that his daughter was going to Beishan, and today he planned to fulfill her little wish.
"I want to! I want to!" Yingbao raised her little hands and happily asked her father to hug her.
Jiang Sanlang laughed loudly and brought a backpack over. "Yingbaoer, just sit in the backpack. It will be easy for Dad to carry you."
"Yeah!" Yingbao had no objection of course, and happily stood in the backpack.
Beishan is about three or four miles away from Dongchen Village, and its vegetation is denser than that of Xiaonanshan.
Jiang Sanlang pointed to a forest and said to his daughter, "This is our land. Next to it is your uncle's and your second uncle's land. Your grandfather's land is near Xichen Village, a little far from here."
Last year, he went to his grandfather's field to pick cherries. Passing by a grave, he heard a baby crying.
So he ran over to check, and saw a small swaddling clothes in the grass. The swaddling clothes were covered with mountain ants, which were gnawing at the baby's face.
The baby shook his head helplessly and cried loudly, looking very pitiful.
When he thought of the scene that day, Jiang Sanlang couldn't help but feel heartbroken.
Fortunately, the baby had an amazing ability to recover. Within a few days after being brought home, the redness and swelling on his face subsided, and no scars were left.
"Come on, Dad will take you to see our mulberry trees." Jiang Sanlang carried his daughter on his back and walked towards a mulberry field.
Although the villagers in Chuanhe Town are not good at raising silkworms, every household grows some mulberry trees.
This was a mandatory regulation of the imperial court, which not only required every household to plant a certain number of mulberry trees and elm trees, but also to plant trees that were easy to grow into timber, otherwise the fine would be doubled.
Jiang Sanlang stood on tiptoe, pulled a handful of mulberry branches and handed them to his daughter, on which hung several purple mulberries.
Yingbao narrowed her eyes in a smile, picked out the largest and most purple mulberry fruit and stuffed it into her father's mouth, "Dad, eat it."
Jiang Sanlang accepted it with a smile, and found a few more trees, broke off a large handful of branches with mulberries and put them in the backpack, and told his daughter, "Don't be greedy, let's take it back for your mother to taste."
Eating a small amount of this thing can stop diarrhea, but eating too much will cause diarrhea, so Jiang Sanlang does not allow his daughter to be greedy.
"Yes, take it back to mother."
Yingbao said this, but she still picked a few ripe ones and secretly put them into the cave for seeds.
Hehe, she has one more fruit tree seedling.
The father and daughter wandered around in the woods and found many wild fruit trees, such as chestnuts, wild peaches, and wild pears.
The fruits of these wild fruit trees are not only small but also taste bad, so the villagers are not very interested in them. Only children will visit them once or twice occasionally.
Jiang Sanlang took his daughter around for a long time before they found some ripe yellow apricots. When they opened them, they found worms inside.
He shook his head and asked his daughter, "Can we go home now?"
Yingbao was reluctant to leave, she wanted to see if there were any mulberry ears here, which were the snow fungus that grow on mulberry trees.
That thing is very valuable. If it is dried, it can be sold for twenty taels of silver per pound in the big medicine shops in the city.
Suddenly, two short-tailed deer appeared from behind a clump of trees and looked at us with their big eyes blinking.
"Dad, deer! Deer!"
Yingbao excitedly tugged at her father's collar, pointed to the side and reminded him softly.
Jiang Sanlang also saw it, and was even more excited than his daughter. "Dad saw it. Well, let's go home quickly and hunt with your uncles."
Then he turned and left.
The mountain deer became alert and disappeared into the woods.
Jiang Sanlang hurried back home, handed his daughter to Chunniang, took the bow and arrow and rope and went out.
I haven't seen mountain deer in Kitayama for several years, but I didn't expect to see a herd of them come this year.
My wife at home is about to give birth, and I was worried that I didn't have enough money to prepare the supplies. Unexpectedly, I encountered a godsend opportunity today.
Jiang Sanlang went to the old house to discuss with his elder and second brothers. The three of them took water bags and some cakes, carried bows and arrows, and quietly left the village.
Mountain deer are not easy to hunt. They are very clever and will sprint into the woods before you can fully draw your bow, so you have to drive them to an open area first and then hunt them in a circle.
A lot of effort is spent before hunting, including searching, driving away, and rounding up the animals. It takes at least one or two days.
Some hunters would go into the mountains for ten days or half a month just to hunt down one or two big animals, such as deer or bears.