Under the gloomy sky, Bai Lu's eyebrows were slightly curved, a few strands of hair at her temples were blown by the wind, her clear eyes were as bright as a ray of sunshine, containing a warm smile, along with her large straw hat that blocked the wind, cutting through thorns and sweeping away the cold wind, irresistibly crashing into his heart, stopping the temperature from falling into the abyss.
The dark clouds parted at dawn, and the sky cleared.
Pale golden sunlight bathed the earth and shone on Bai Lu, making her fingertips, the hem of her clothes, and her hair glow.
Xiao Cheng's dark eyes were lit up, and a pair of candles in his hands ignited with a bright red flame. The flames flickered, but no matter how fierce the cold wind was, it could not shake the raging fire that accompanied them.
Xiao Wei held the newly lit incense stick and stared at Bai Lu, who was standing in the sunlight, for a long while.
It wasn't until a pair of candles appeared in front of the grave that he came to his senses and placed the incense sticks he was holding in front of the grave as well.
Bai Lu also offered incense, and everyone remained silent as they swept each grave in silence.
Finally, there is Xiao Wei's mother's grave.
After clearing away the weeds, I lit incense and candles...
Xiao Cheng did not leave immediately as he had in previous years, but turned around and walked to the outside of the cemetery, where he stopped.
At the grave, Bai Lu patted the little guy's head, then gently touched his trembling shoulder, pulling him closer to her.
Xiao Wei leaned against the warm waist surrounded by sunlight, hot tears silently streaming down his face.
Bai Lu's clothes were soaked around her waist, but she didn't take a step back. She gently patted the little guy's back with her palm.
In previous years, people would offer incense at this grave and then leave, with no one paying their respects.
If Xiao Wei dared to cry, Xiao Cheng would turn around and leave without waiting for even half a second longer.
It would never be like today, where even with a cold expression, one remains outside the cemetery.
Even the faint sobs that came from the grave—"...bought new clothes..." "Mom..." "My older brother and sister-in-law are so good to me..."—did not leave first.
...
It was already noon when he got home. He bought some cooked food while passing through the town, so he could cook dinner when he got home.
After the meal.
Bai Lu took a small stool and a pair of pliers, sat down by the well in the yard, and started trimming the snail tails.
After watching for a while, Xiao Wei also took a pair of pliers and followed suit, cutting the snail's tail.
Tomorrow, Xiao Cheng will be going to the countryside to exchange chestnuts for rice. He's going to buy rice, but not from Li Shuixian. Instead, he's driving a brick truck to the rice processing plant outside the town.
The factory owner not only gave Xiao Cheng the lowest price on the market, but also invited him to tea, and the two had a very pleasant conversation.
Knowing that Xiao Cheng was no longer working under the big boss, Boss Mi half-jokingly and half-seriously suggested that Xiao Cheng come to the factory as a manager, saying the work would be easy and the pay would be good.
To put it bluntly, they were after Xiao Cheng's notorious reputation for ruthlessness and wanted to use him to intimidate their subordinates.
In addition, when the rice suppliers couldn't pay their debts, Xiao Cheng was sent to collect them.
There's not much money, but a lot of work to do. In the end, I'm back to my old job, making a living in the eye of the storm.
Xiao Cheng knew exactly what he was thinking, and used the excuse that the house was under construction to brush it off with a few words.
I casually mentioned the fluctuating prices in the city.
Boss Mi immediately started chatting with him again.
There are many rice paddies outside the town, and it's not far from the countryside. The rice boss's rice processing plant is located here, and it's been very successful. After harvesting the rice, he hulls it and then sells it to the city. He has a good grasp of the price information.
Once they start talking, it never ends...
Bai Lu and Xiao Wei cut about three or four pounds of snails, and there were still many in the basin, which they couldn't finish eating at once.
"How long until they die?" Xiao Wei asked bluntly, staring at the little creatures in the basin.
"Without mud, they'll die in two or three days."
Bai Lu pursed her lips: "There are no snails for sale on the street. Families who moved up from the countryside must have eaten stir-fried snails before, so they could sell them on the street. But we don't have many here, so we can't make much money. It's better to eat them ourselves. Not only can we fill our stomachs, but we also won't waste any."
Xiao Wei suspected that she wanted to keep it for herself.
"I've got it!" Bai Lu's eyes lit up: "Let's raise snails, and then we can eat them whenever we want, as many as we want."
Xiao Wei: "..."
How to raise it?
“There’s a little river in the backyard vegetable garden, right? We’ll put the snails in the river, and then nail bamboo poles up and down the river to separate them at different distances so they can grow freely. Once they’ve grown enough, we’ll catch them and stir-fry them.”
Bai Lu seemed to see the whole river of fried snails beckoning to her, urging her to quickly throw the wok into the river.
"Xiaowei, quickly help me scoop all the snails into the winnowing basket. I'm going to put them in the oil...and then into the river!"
The small river in the vegetable garden is a tributary of the main river outside the town, and there is currently no industrial pollution there.
The river in the countryside and the stream in the backyard have similar water quality; both are very clear and should be able to support the fish.
Bai Lu, with excited little steps, quickly put the cut snails back in the kitchen and returned the pliers to their original place.
Xiao Wei took a large winnowing basket and a small winnowing basket and scooped all the snails out of the basin to drain the water.
After scooping them out, Bailu and I each took a basket and carried the remaining snails to the stream in the backyard.
After the "plop plop plop" sound of water stopped, the two realized that they didn't seem to have any bamboo at home.
Bai Lu looked up and spotted the large chestnut tree surrounding the vegetable garden... its branches, thick and strong.
However, the chestnut trees have already started to form flower buds and will bloom by next month at the latest. After they bloom, a few months later, the trees will be laden with chestnuts.
It cannot be cut.
Moreover, cutting the tree at this time would likely damage it.
The firewood used for cooking in the kitchen was all short; once it was stuck into the river, it would be more than halfway submerged, allowing snails to escape.
Bai Lu was racking her brains for a solution when a soft voice suddenly sounded beside her: "Wang Cuihua has bamboo at home."
“Two days before the Qingming Festival, I saw Brother Dazhuang using a wooden cart to help her bring it back. There is a bamboo forest by the river, and there are many dried bamboos in the bamboo forest. Wang Cuihua would go there to cut dried bamboo to bring back for firewood,” Xiao Wei explained in detail.
No sooner had he finished speaking than there was a knock on the door.
The moment you open the door, you see Cao Cao.
Bai Lu and Xiao Wei were both taken aback. What a coincidence!
"Bai Lu, is Brother Xiao Cheng home?" Wang Cuihua was covered in dust and dirt, with a lot of black ash on her face, as if she had just crawled out of the stove.
Wang Cuihua called him "Brother Xiao Cheng" once when they were worshipping their ancestors in the countryside. The girls overheard it and complained about it for a long time in front of her.
She vomited so much that she had to switch back to Brother Xiao Cheng.
"What's wrong with you?" Bai Lu asked, her face full of concern for the safety of the bamboo tycoon.
"The chimney seems to be broken."
Wang Cuihua looked pitiful, on the verge of tears: "I was just about to boil water to wash my hair when suddenly there was a loud crash from the roof, and lots of chimney pieces fell down. I had just lit some straw and was going to blow on the fire in the stove when all the embers came flying out as soon as I opened my mouth..."
Bai Lu noticed that Wang Cuihua's lips were a little red and swollen, probably from being burned by a spark.
A small tuft of bangs on her forehead was also burned into curls.
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