The rules for the bamboo shoot digging competition are very simple.
Xiaojia Village has designated ten hills with the best-growing bamboo, and participants can bring hoes, shovels, and all sorts of tools to go up the hills to dig for winter bamboo shoots.
(Except for weapons with excessive destructive power such as gunpowder, explosives, torpedoes, and flammable and explosive materials.)
The session lasts eight hours, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a one-hour lunch break.
The whole bamboo shoot feast was prepared by Li Hongying and the villagers who were not participating in the competition, and it was to be completed twelve days in advance.
The participants went down the mountain to eat when it was time to leave.
After lunch, you can decide whether to rest or immediately head up the mountain to continue digging for bamboo shoots.
In previous years, the first prize was a wild boar.
The sizes vary, mainly depending on Xiao Guofu and the villagers' hunting team's luck.
This year's first prize is a mystery grand prize sponsored by Xiao Cheng and Bai Lu.
Everyone was excited. More than two hundred people gathered in the square in front of the Xiao Family Village Ancestral Hall, carrying baskets and sacks on their backs, holding tools, and looking eager to try.
Before setting off, Xiao Guofu, as the clan leader, gave a speech, giving instructions on precautions. Bai Lu was also warmly pushed forward by the Xiao family members to say a few words of encouragement before the gong was struck and the ceremony began.
"Charge!"
"The first place winner gets a big prize!"
We must win the championship this year!
"This year's number one prize isn't the wild boar anymore, it's the mystery grand prize sponsored by Brother Cheng and his wife! Let's go!"
The square was packed with more than two hundred people. Except for Li Jianfeng and Wu You, they all scattered and rushed up the mountain!
Seize the bamboo shoots!
Luo Shiliu, Xiao Dazhuang, Xiao Wei, and Shang Chuyao are waiting for Bai Lu, while Bai Lu is saying goodbye to her grandparents.
"Lulu, the mountain path is steep, and there are many thorny plants on the mountain besides bamboo, so please be careful."
"The piglets we raised at home have grown into big piglets. You've all been busy at the end of the year and haven't had time to come back, so the pig-slaughtering feast has been postponed to today. After you finish digging the bamboo shoots, hurry down the mountain, and Grandma will make you some pork rib soup..."
"Okay." Bai Lu nodded obediently.
"Grandpa and Grandma, don't worry, we'll come down the mountain to eat as soon as we find bamboo shoots. Rib soup and a whole bamboo shoot feast are waiting for me. Cooked ones taste much better than raw ones."
The grandparents smiled and nodded, watching Bai Lu, Xiao Wei, and the others turn and head up the mountain.
Li Hongying took him directly to the foot of the mountain.
"Lulu, should we prepare a more elaborate lunch?" Bai Lu said that a distinguished guest would be arriving at noon.
If the chicken, duck, fish, meat, and bamboo shoot feast weren't lavish enough, Li Hongying would have someone go to the riverbank in town to buy shrimp and crabs. Although she wasn't sure if they were available, or if they were big or small, this was the most lavish lunch she could think of.
Bai Lu shook her head slightly: "Just be the same as everyone else, nothing special is needed, as long as the ingredients are fresh."
"Okay, then take it easy."
"Goodbye, sister-in-law~" Li Jianfeng and Wu You also said goodbye to Bai Lu. The mountain they were going to was the mountain belonging to Xiao Cheng's family, and it was a different route from Bai Lu and the others.
We have to say goodbye for now.
Bai Lu glanced at the plastic bag in Wu You's hand and couldn't help but remind Li Jianfeng, "If you use a shovel or a hoe, we can all go to the same mountain."
"I don't want a hoe!"
Li Jianfeng looked disgusted: "That thing is too slow at digging bamboo shoots, it's better to just blow them all up with a torpedo!"
Luo Shiliu stared at his hand with a half-smile: "Don't blow yourself up."
"I'll blow you up first." Luo Shiliu took out a plastic bag.
Bai Lu's eyelids twitched wildly: "Alright, alright, hurry up and fry... cough, dig your bamboo shoots! If you're late, you won't get first place. You know where the mountain is, right?"
"Know."
Just now, some villagers took Li Jianfeng and Wu You to see where Xiao Cheng's mountain is.
Li Jianfeng waved goodbye: "Then we're off~ Goodbye, sister-in-law, I'm going to blow up Xiao Cheng's mountain!"
Bai Lu: "..."
"Go, there are bamboo shoots in the mountain valleys."
"Even from a remote mountain village, I can get first place!"
"Good luck."
The group parted ways at the foot of the mountain.
Xiao Dazhuang and Luo Shiliu carried hoes in front, while Xiao Wei followed behind Bai Lu and Shang Chuyao.
The wind rustles through the bamboo forest, and slender green leaves are blown down, covering the ground. New leaves and old leaves mingle, and the light footsteps of a stroll through the forest pass by.
Luo Shiliu and Xiao Dazhuang have found bamboo shoots.
"Sister-in-law, I want to go dig for winter bamboo shoots too."
Xiao Wei loosened Bai Lu's sleeves, picked up a small hoe, and ran off to help.
Bai Lu and Shang Chuyao also took small hoes and searched for sprouting winter bamboo shoots nearby.
While searching, Bai Lu discovered that Shang Chuyao was watching Xiao Dazhuang digging bamboo shoots with great interest.
"Do you want to go help?"
Bai Lu teased, "Without encouragement, it'll be hard for Da Zhuang to get first place!"
Shang Chuyao looked surprised: "Didn't we dig bamboo shoots just for fun?"
"That's true..."
Before Bai Lu could finish speaking, Shang Chuyao changed the subject: "Xiao Dazhuang seems strange today. When he talks to me, he keeps looking around."
"In short, he doesn't look at me and speaks very little, but he answers every question I ask him. What's even stranger is that he didn't mention my mother or my sister-in-law today."
Bai Lu leaned against a bamboo stalk, her eyes gleaming with a hint of intelligence, and stared directly at Shang Chuyao: "You didn't beat up Dazhuang last night, did you? So he can't tell the truth?"
"How could that be!" Shang Chuyao denied righteously, "I only revealed your secrets."
"I don't remember the rest."
Bai Lu sneered, "You still remember exposing my secrets?"
"Shang Chuyao, I've always treated you well, how could you betray me? You're so heartless!"
Shang Chuyao was stunned for a moment, then grabbed Bai Lu's shoulders apologetically and shook her hard: "Lulu, are you still drunk? Didn't I explain to you this morning that I'm capable of anything when I'm drunk? Betraying others is the least of my worries. If I drink a couple more glasses, I might tear your house down!"
Bai Lu: "..."
What kind of explanation is that, adding fuel to the fire?!
After explaining, Bai Lu was still in a daze when she followed Shang Chuyao's gaze and saw Xiao Dazhuang bending over, diligently digging bamboo shoots.
Indeed, people who work diligently are the most attractive, regardless of gender.
"Yaoyao, do you want Dazhuang's future mom and sister-in-law to say things like 'Yaoyao says things' instead?"
After watching Xiao Dazhuang dig bamboo shoots, Shang Chuyao watched Luo Shiliu dig, then watched Xiao Wei dig. Only after watching Xiao Wei did she realize what she was talking about: "What are you saying?"
“How could Xiao Dazhuang possibly be like this? No, how could I possibly be like this… um, please continue.”
Bai Lu laughed heartily: "Dazhuang is an honest and good kid. He listens to whoever is right. If you tell him something he doesn't know, he will definitely take your words as the standard and criticize whoever is wrong."
"Really?" Shang Chuyao asked skeptically, "I feel like you're trying to fool me."
"If you don't believe me, teach him to identify poisonous mushrooms and see what happens," Bai Lu suggested sincerely.
Having gained Shang Chuyao's decisive approval, he immediately went to teach Xiao Dazhuang how to identify poisonous mushrooms.
They even picked some mushrooms from the roadside as samples.
Luo Shiliu and Xiao Wei stared blankly at Xiao Dazhuang, who was diligently learning to identify mushrooms from Shang Chuyao while digging bamboo shoots. They both turned to look at Bai Lu in shock.
Bai Lu smiled and waved her hand, just about to say something, when a figure rushed into the bamboo forest.
"Sister-in-law, our distinguished guest has arrived."
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