As the sun rises, the earth is covered with layers of warm light orange.
The residents of the village get up early, and smoke is already rising from the chimneys before dawn.
Ruan Xiaotang stood halfway up the mountain and looked out at the sparse lights and the white fireworks at the foot of the mountain.
He held the rope with his left hand and pulled hard at the two fat wild rabbits behind him.
The tears in the corners of my eyes couldn't help but flow out from the corners of my mouth.
The best way to cook them immediately came to my mind.
Spicy rabbit head, braised rabbit meat in a large iron pot, and grilled honey-glazed rabbit legs.
Rabbit meat is a treasure, and you can eat it to your heart’s content in any of the ways it’s prepared.
"Where did it come from?"
Liu Guifang stared at the two dead rabbits lying beside the stove.
One weighs at least ten kilograms.
Ruan Xiaotang used a feather duster to dust off the dirt and a few cockleburs stuck on his trouser legs.
Without changing his expression or beating his heart, he replied, "I caught it."
The fire stick in Liu Guifang's hand immediately stopped moving, and she looked at her daughter in front of her with a dull expression.
There is a familiar stranger feeling.
Ever since she woke up after accidentally falling into the water, her words and actions have been strange, but she couldn't tell what was strange.
She has limited education and cannot sort out the whole thing.
This girl has been gentle, well-behaved and sensible since she was young.
There is not a single neighbor who doesn't praise it.
But only she, as a mother, understands her daughter's true temperament.
As gentle as she appears on the outside, she is actually quite tough on the inside.
Stay calm and have your own opinions when facing problems.
Such a strong person has a family that holds her back...
Things don't always go as planned.
Fate, everything is fate!
Liu Guifang hung her head in shame, not daring to look her daughter in the eye again.
Ruan Xiaotang was keenly aware of the strange atmosphere. Her mother next to her lowered her head, holding a fire poker in her left hand and scraping corn husks into the kitchen.
It was impossible to tell the emotions on her face, but one could clearly see that her hair was sparse and dry, and her temples were beginning to turn white.
He was wearing a set of gray cloth clothes that had turned pale from washing, with large patches piled on top of small patches, one next to the other.
He was wearing a pair of black corduroy square-toed cloth shoes. Not only were they patched, but the ridges of the corduroy on the surface had long been worn flat, leaving only a straight black line.
The body under the patched clothes was skinny, like a loose piece of clothing hanging on a hanger.
Chronic malnutrition.
He always spoke in a weak and sickly manner...
Ruan Xiaotang's chest tightened.
The eye circles are a little red.
This family lived a very hard life, and she secretly swore in her heart that as long as she was around, she would make sure they lived a good life with delicious food and plenty of drinks.
"Sister, you're back. Wow, there are two such fat rabbits!"
Ruan Xiaohai limped in from the side room.
As soon as he entered the door, he grinned, showing his big teeth and laughing.
The bruises on his face, combined with his festive expression, gave him a funny and familiar feeling.
"Come on, Xiaohai, drink the water in this teacup."
"Sister, I'm not thirsty. Let's stew the rabbit meat."
He stared at the rabbit on the ground and kept swallowing saliva.
"You drink first. We will stew rabbit meat for lunch. We will stew a big pot of it to satisfy your craving."
Ruan Xiaohai was as satisfied as an innocent child.
Dancing with joy.
"Sister, this water is so sweet and delicious. Mom, please try it."
"Drink it, Mom is not thirsty."
Ruan Xiaohai begged and handed the teacup to his stubborn mother.
Liu Guifang couldn't resist, so she took a sip, her eyes lit up, and asked, "Did you add sugar?"
Sugar is a precious good thing in this day and age.
The woman who could drink a bowl of steaming hot brown sugar water during her confinement period would make all the women in the village envious.
But there are too few women with such a good life.
"Rock sugar. I went to the city before I fell into the water and bought two taels at the grocery store."
"Sister, I want to eat some rock candy, okay?"
"Sure. It's on the table in my room. Go get it."
"Thank you, sis!"
Ruan Xiaotang hooked the bench with her foot and sat on it with a bent waist.
He took off his coarse cloth jacket and handed it to his mother, "There are two bags full of chestnuts and walnuts in the inner pocket. Fry them and have a snack for our family."
When Liu Guifang saw the two bags of good things again, her eyes lit up.
This kind of rare and good thing cannot be bought with money.
There is a large area of chestnut and walnut trees on the hillside of the village. When the picking season comes, every household contributes people and earns work points for their labor, but they can also exchange them for food. Not a single cent of the chestnuts and walnuts are distributed to everyone.
Liu Guifang felt doubtful and turned around to glance at the empty yard in panic.
Make sure no one is around and quickly close the wooden door and bolt it.
He asked quietly, "Where did this thing come from? If the village chief knew about it, our family would..."
"Mom, don't worry. I dug this out from a squirrel hole in the mountains. It took me a lot of effort. You and Xiaohai can just eat it with peace of mind."
"real?"
"When have I ever lied to you?"
Liu Guifang believed her daughter, took the bamboo basket hanging on the wall, and carefully put the treasure in her pocket into it slowly.
There are so many, enough for their family to eat for a while.
You can eat fewer poplar leaves.
After hanging it back on the wall, he turned around and said to Ruan Xiaotang, "You are a girl, so don't go up the mountain alone in the future, let alone climb trees. It's very dangerous. What if you fall from the tree?"
"Okay, listen to mom."
……………………
"Sister, sister, wake up, it's noon, we should cook rabbit meat."
Following his sister's instructions, he had skinned the rabbit and soaked it in water to remove the blood.
More than two hours have passed, it should be about time.
The gluttonous worm in my dull stomach was rumbling with hunger.
"Don't shout. Your sister went to the mountain before dawn and brought back so many good things. Let her sleep a little longer."
Liu Guifang sat on a stone bench in the yard with a tattered dustpan between her legs.
Holding the silver needle in your right hand, pick up a fresh pine mushroom with your left hand, insert it on the silver needle, and pull it down, the pine mushroom will hang on the thin white thread.
His hands kept moving, and soon he had put on a long string of silk.
She turned her head, scratched her hair with the end of a silver needle, and called out to her greedy son.
"All right."
Ruan Xiaohai squatted beside the wooden basin, staring at the wild rabbit in the basin.
Swallowing saliva hurriedly.
I just hope my sister can wake up soon.
He stood by the pot, staring at the spatula moving across the rabbit meat. The steaming, tempting aroma lingered around his nose.
“It smells really good!”
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