So the three Lin brothers took turns fetching water from the mountains, while the other two began tilling the land all over the mountains. Anyone who didn't know better would think they were clearing land again.

"Grandpa, I'm not clearing land! I'm looking for earthworms. Didn't the doctor at the clinic say he collects them? I happened to have some free time lately, so I came out to look for some."

Lin Chaonan answered the elder who came over to ask.

Upon hearing this, the old man realized there was such a thing, so he immediately waved to Lin Chaonan and the others and hurried home to tell his family that he was going up the mountain to dig for crickets.

Then, just like when they were digging for medicinal herbs a month ago, the villagers of Linjiagou mobilized the whole village to dig for eels, and even the children excitedly dug around with tree branches.

Including that girl Xiaoman, who would squat on the ground with a twig and start poking around randomly for half a day, sometimes not even noticing when she wet her pants, and even started playing with mud, which made Liu Shi turn into a tigress.

"Xiaoman! That's pee!!! Do you even have the manners of a girl anymore?!"

"Xiaoman! Look at what you've peed on! Your skirt is covered in mud! You don't have many clothes to begin with, and there's not even enough water from home to keep you warm. You keep wetting your pants every day. Do you even have any clothes to wear?"

The naughty child, Xiaoman, was scolded by Liu Shi, and then Liu Shi took her home. She gave her a bath and did her laundry. From the moment she discovered that Xiaoman had wet her pants to the moment she changed Xiaoman into clean clothes and washed all the dirty clothes, Liu Shi's nagging never stopped.

"Tell me, do you even resemble a proper girl anymore? Whose daughter plays with mud and pee? It's driving me crazy!"

Liu was so angry that she poked Xiaoman's head with her index finger, which resulted in Xiaoman grinning.

"Mother, hahaha!"

Xiaoman thought Liu was teasing her, and her sweet smile made Liu unable to stay angry anymore.

After washing the clothes, Liu did not go up the back mountain again, but stayed at home to prepare lunch.

Because there was food at home, even if they were reluctant to eat it, they were not worried. So, for once, Liu Shi did not cause any trouble and remained normal. Only Yue Jiuyue noticed this. She thought that Liu Shi was being threatened by her, which was why she behaved herself. She never expected that this was the power of food.

It was the same familiar wild vegetable soup, the only difference being that the wild vegetable soup Yue Jiuyue had tasted when she first arrived was that now the wild vegetable soup had a little salt added.

The word "a little" is quite subtle; it really means only a little, because Yue Jiuyue has never tasted any saltiness!

"Mom, the wild vegetables are all old now, they've all grown so big. If we go a little further into the mountains, we can easily dig up a whole basketful. Mom doesn't need to be frugal anymore, please have another bowl!"

Lin Chaodong was in charge of fetching water today because all the wild vegetables near the spring had already been dug up. The newly sprouted shoots, although quite tender, were not difficult to dig up. They could only dig up half a basket in a day. So they went up another hill together, where there were really more wild vegetables. Just as he said, they easily dug up a whole basket.

He saw that Yue Jiuyue had only drunk one bowl of wild vegetable soup before putting the bowl down, and assumed that she wanted to save some for them. After all, she had eaten two steamed buns the day they ate them. So, touched, he urged Yue Jiuyue to eat more.

Yue Jiuyue almost had to stay in Bengbu; she couldn't keep her eldest son!