The group chatted as they peeled bamboo shoots. Before they knew it, it was already mid-afternoon.

Xu Han didn't cook lunch. Instead, she took out some snacks from her space. Everyone ate them casually and didn't feel hungry.

"Finally, we've finished peeling them all. There looked like a lot of bamboo shoots, but we only managed to peel out this little bit," Lu Chuan said.

"Let's use this time to pickle the bamboo shoots with pickled peppers. We can make dinner right after that," Xu Han suggested.

“Okay, I’ll do it with you. Grandpa Zhao and the Taoist priest should go and rest for a while. They didn’t take a nap today.”

"Alright, then you can put these away. We're going back now." After saying that, Grandpa Zhao got up and left the main room first.

Seeing this, the Taoist priest followed suit and went out. After they all left, Xu Han put all the peeled bamboo shoot shells into her spatial storage. She would keep them for composting later, so as not to have to search all over the mountains and fields for them.

Take out the bamboo shoots you're going to use for pickled bamboo shoots in advance, and store the rest in your space first.

When you have time, you can boil them and dry them into dried bamboo shoots, or you can simply keep the fresh bamboo shoots to eat.

In the evening, everyone enjoyed a delicious and satisfying dinner together.

The rain was still falling the next morning, but thankfully it stopped completely by lunchtime.

Even in the afternoon, the sun faintly rose from the west again.

“The rain has stopped, let’s go for a walk,” Xu Han said to Lu Chuan.

"Okay, wait for me to go change into a pair of straw sandals."

After Lu Chuan finished speaking, he went into the room. When he came out again, he was wearing straw sandals and tattered clothes.

Seeing this, Xu Han went inside and changed into a slightly worn set of clothes. The two of them told Grandpa Zhao and the Taoist priest, and then went out together.

"Why did you decide to come out? Where are we going?" Lu Chuan asked as they walked.

"Let's go up the hillside and see if there's any wild vegetable, pick some and stir-fry it with eggs."

"They should be available this season, let's go look for them together."

"There seems to be too much water in the paddy field. Should we drain some?" Xu Han asked as they passed by the paddy field.

"I don't know either?" Lu Chuan scratched the back of his head, looking completely bewildered.

"Okay, you asked the wrong person." Xu Han smiled sheepishly.

Then he continued, "How about we drain some water? It seems like there's a bit too much. If we drain some water, we can probably plant the rice seedlings tomorrow. After we finish planting, we can go to the county town, and the roads will be easier to travel then."

"Okay, I'll come back to put it when I get back. Let's go find some wild vegetables first."

"Yes, let's hurry up, it'll be dark soon."

As expected, the two returned with a basket of wild vegetables, and each one was exceptionally plump and delicious.

Moreover, both Xu Han and Lu Chuan selected clean and large pieces of lichen, which were easy to clean.

"Mommy, this is so delicious! I love eating this!" Mu'er said, eating one bite after another.

"This is called lichen. If you like it, I'll pick more next time and cook it for you."

"Okay, I want to go pick lichen with Mother," Mu'er said with a grin.

"Okay, Mommy will invite you to go with me next time."

"When Xiaohan and I went out today, we saw that the paddy fields outside were full of water, so we released some of it."

"The rice seedlings in the backyard have grown quite a bit. Why don't we take advantage of this free time tomorrow and plant them?" Lu Chuan said.

“Sure, no problem. The rice seedlings in the backyard are growing very well, lush and green, and quite robust. It’s time to transplant them,” Grandpa Zhao agreed.

"Let's start tomorrow morning. We should be able to finish planting in about a day. The three of us can work very quickly on more than three acres," Xu Han said.

“Well, let’s get up early tomorrow to plant rice seedlings, otherwise the midday sun will be too strong and make our backs hurt,” the Taoist priest agreed.

"Okay, it's settled then."

The group finished their dinner chatting and laughing. After dinner, they played a round of mahjong together before heading back to their rooms to rest.

The next morning, when Lu Chuan got up, Xu Han got up with him.

After getting dressed, the two went to the backyard to pull up rice seedlings without even washing up.

There was a lot of water in the paddy field. Lu Chuan took off his shoes and went into the paddy field to pull up the seedlings.

Then tie the prepared straw into a bundle, stack it neatly to the side, and you can carry it directly to the paddy field in a while.

"You two got up pretty early. Is the water cold?" Grandpa Zhao asked as he walked towards the backyard.

"It's alright, it's not too cold," Lu Chuan replied.

Xu Han did not go down into the rice paddy, but stood aside helping Lu Chuan tie up the rice seedlings.

Seeing this, Grandpa Zhao also took off his shoes and went down into the rice paddy to pull up the rice seedlings.

"I don't know if these seedlings will be enough. It's my first time growing seedlings myself, so I'm a little unsure," Xu Han said shyly.

"It's alright. If there's too much, we'll just clear out a small plot of land. If there's too little, we'll just plant it sparsely later," Lu Chuan said with a smile.

"Haha, you said it yourself. I was worried that we wouldn't have enough, so I deliberately sowed extra seeds."

"That's great! Planting more crops means we can harvest more grain," Grandpa Zhao replied with a smile.

"I'll pick these seedlings out first," the Taoist priest said, picking up a carrying pole and basket from the side.

"Okay, you can just throw these seedlings evenly into the paddy field, and they'll be ready to use when you plant them later."

"Throwing them into the paddy field will save us the trouble of going back and forth to get the seedlings. All that trampling has flattened the paddy field," Xu Han instructed.

"I understand. It's just throwing it away, what's so difficult about that? Don't worry," the Taoist priest said nonchalantly.

For some reason, all three people present suddenly had a bad feeling.

What to do? She was so afraid that the Taoist priest would throw all the seedlings away. Xu Han kept recalling whether she had tied the seedlings tightly when she tied them. Hopefully, they wouldn't all fall apart.

Lu Chuan was wondering if it would be too late to call the Taoist priest back now, whether it would be better to pick up the seedlings later or to get beaten up by the Taoist priest now.

Grandpa Zhao, however, was thinking, "Why does this Taoist priest seem so unreliable? Should I go with him now?"

The group spent a few minutes in unease. Still feeling uneasy, they picked up the seedlings they had just pulled up, exchanged glances, and walked outside together.

As soon as she stepped out of the courtyard, she saw the Taoist priest throwing rice seedlings. The strength he used made Xu Han worry that the seedlings might break.