Chapter 49: The Problem is I Lost

Yang Chunyan rinsed her mouth and returned to the room. She found a white gauze cotton vest for Zhou Huaian, which cost one or two yuan and had patches on the front and back.

The boxer trousers are made of blue homespun cloth and are purely hand-woven and sewn.

After putting away his underwear and pants, he changed into a vest and floral shorts, chased away the mosquitoes in the mosquito net, got on the bed and pressed the mosquito net under the straw mat. Then Zhou Huaian ran back, "Yan'er, where are my clothes?"

"On the bench!"

"Oh!" Zhou Huaian stripped himself naked in a few seconds, and slowly put on his vest and pants. While putting on, he glanced at Yang Chunyan, and saw her lying on the bed sideways without even turning her head. He was a little frustrated, "Yan'er, you really won't do that with me for a month?"

Yang Chunyan didn't even turn her head, "If I lose, will you promise me that I won't do that with you?"

The problem is that you have won and I have lost! "..." Zhou Huaian glanced at her angrily and threw himself on the bed, "You have made me sick, don't regret it!"

Yang Chunyan was too lazy to pay attention to him. She was so tired after a long day and didn't know where she got so much energy!

Zhou Huaian rolled around on the bed, not knowing when he fell asleep.

The next day, Yang Chunyan heard the rooster crowing at home and sat up. Seeing Zhou Huaian sleeping soundly wrapped in a thin quilt, she thought of calling him after dinner was ready.

I got out of bed, changed into long clothes and pants, walked to the door, and heard voices outside.

Yang Chunyan opened the door and saw Li Qiuyue was also up, "So early?"

Li Qiuyue whispered, "The third brother and his friends went up the mountain to chop wood today. Mom and sister-in-law have already cooked breakfast."

The two girls in the room were still sleeping. They were in the growing period and it was impossible for me to get up so early with them.

"Then I'll wake up Huai'an." Yang Chunyan turned back to her room and hung up the mosquito net. "Huai'an, get up and eat."

Zhou Huaian hugged her into the quilt and said in a muffled voice, "Cook the meal and call me later."

"The old man and my eldest brother are going up the mountain to chop trees, so my mother and my eldest sister-in-law got up early in the morning to do it."

Zhou Huaian scratched his head irritably, sat up and looked at Yang Chunyan: "So annoying! She only fell asleep in the middle of the night!"

"If you don't want to get up, just continue sleeping." After saying that, Yang Chunyan turned around and walked out of the room. When she went to the backyard to relieve herself, Zhou's mother and Zhao Huifang had already put the food on the table.

For breakfast, I had green bean and potato rice, and boiled taro.

Everyone had to go out to work, so Zhou's mother added some corn to the food and made rice balls for the people who went up the mountain, adding pickled vegetables and fried eggs to them.

Everyone sat down and started eating, and then Zhou Huaian yawned and walked slowly into the main room.

Zhou's mother glanced at him, then looked at the three energetic children. The anger in her heart surged up but was suppressed by her: I gave birth to them, so I won't be angry! If I get sick from anger, I will have to pay for medicine!

The old man glared at him and said, "You are so lazy! The meal is ready and we are ready to eat, but you are still asleep!"

"Master, please stop talking. It's so bright, I'm lucky enough to be able to get up." Zhou Huaian walked to sit next to Yang Chunyan, picked up the bowl and started eating.

Father Zhou glanced at him and cleared the rice in his bowl. "Old man, I'm full. You eat slowly."

The old man picked up a taro and said, "I'm done eating too, wait till I leave together."

"Eat slowly, we still need to get something."

Zhou's father took a backpack and put dry food, ropes, machetes, saws and the chainsaw that old man Zhou Yiding had lent them into it. Zhou Huairong and his two brothers also finished their meals.

Father Zhou said to Mother Zhou, "Wait, go to the corn field and see clearly whether it was our corn that was stolen. Then go to the brigade to find Secretary Xu."

"Yes, please be careful on the mountain."

"Yeah!" Three generations of the Zhou family left together.

Zhao Huifang and her three sisters-in-law had also finished their meal, and the three of them prepared to go to the backyard to carry dung buckets up the mountain to water the plants.

"Chunyan, after we finish watering the plants, we'll go cut the old mugwort and water pepper!"

"Okay, you can pull the mountain-driving whip back if you see it."

"Understood." The three agreed and walked towards the backyard.

Yang Chunyan waited for Zhou Huaian to finish eating, and quickly put away the dishes. Just as she was about to take them to the kitchen to wash, Zhou's mother came over with dry food and a bamboo kettle and gave them to her, "Put the dishes there, I'll wash them. You guys should leave early, otherwise it will be too hot when the sun comes out!"

"Okay." Yang Chunyan took it and glanced at Zhou Huaian who had finished his meal and was lying on the recliner at the door. "Go back and change your shoes. Let's go."

"Oh!" Zhou Huaian stood up, stretched, and walked towards the room.

Yang Chunyan put the things in the backpack, went back to the house to change into a pair of rubber shoes, tied her trouser legs with a hemp rope like tying leggings, then put realgar, snake medicine, a knife, and hemostatic powder into the bag and pinned it in place with a locking pin.

He took a straw hat, rope, sack and two urea bags and went out.

In her previous life, she often carried urea bags when she went out. This kind of bag is waterproof. When going into the mountains or going out when it rains, she can fold the corners of the bag in half and it will become a simple raincoat.

Ten years ago, urea bags were something that every household was vying for.

Because it is made of nylon, it is very sturdy when dyed black and made into pants.

In those days, you couldn’t buy cloth even if you had money but no tickets. In the countryside, some people actually dyed it black and made it into trousers to wear.

Later I heard that some city officials also wore them, and someone even made up a rhyme: Big officials and small officials, each with a pair of urea pants, peeing in their daily lives...

Zhou Mu's mother put the machete, medicine hoe and sickle into their backpacks for them. "Your old man has prepared the hoe handle for you. Try it and see if it fits you well."

Yang Chunyan picked up a handful and tried it. "It fits. Let's go."

"Okay, be careful and remember to grab a stick."

"I understand." Zhou Huaian picked up the two bamboos, put on his backpack, and went out the back door with Yang Chunyan towards the mountain.

Yang Chunyan turned her head to look at Zhou Huaian, and saw him following her lazily. She didn't say much and quickened her pace up the mountain.

She still wanted to go to that valley to see if those Magnolia trees were still there.

For people who have been running in the mountains all year round, walking on mountain roads is no different from walking on plain land. In addition, the two of them did not delay along the way and soon reached the top of the first ridge.

Yang Chunyan looked back to the east, and saw a fiery red sun rising gradually from the valley of the eastern mountain. When she looked back again, the morning glow had already covered the foot of the mountain...

Zhou Huaian looked back at her, and Yang Chunyan stepped down the mountain and continued to move forward. The two of them didn't say a word along the way, and they hurried on their way one after the other.

We soon passed the place where we dug Chuanxiong yesterday and walked down about ten meters, and saw a field of stinking peonies.

The smell of stinking peony comes from its leaves, which stink very badly when crushed.

But its flowers don't smell at all, and have a faint fragrance.

It is the flowering season. Small trumpet-shaped flowers in pale pink, purple or red are blooming in the forest. Clusters of small flowers are densely gathered together, looking more beautiful than pictures.

The fruits of the stinking peony are blue-black when ripe, and look like black agate.

The main medicinal parts of stinking peony are its roots and leaves, which have the effects of dispelling wind and detoxifying, reducing swelling and relieving pain.

Its roots can cure rheumatic joint pain, bruises, hypertension, dizziness, headache, and lung abscesses.

The leaves are used externally to treat carbuncles, furuncles, hemorrhoid inflammation, eczema, and can also be used to kill maggots.

Yang Chunyan plans to pick this patch of stinking peonies again when she returns.

(End of this chapter)