The group was not far from a few shacks in the village when they heard Liu Xiaoyun's shouts and walked into the woods.
Wang Ergou felt incredibly ashamed. He glared at Liu Xiaoyun and was about to leave with the firewood.
Jiang Yimian blocked his way and said coldly, "Put the firewood down. My brother picked it up."
Wang Ergou was furious and was about to argue when he heard Old Liu coldly shout, "Wang Ergou, it was one thing for you to steal chickens and dogs and be lazy in the village before, but things are different now. If you don't work harder, you'll starve to death after you finish eating the old rice at home. You're not even willing to gather a single piece of firewood. You're worse than a child. You're a disgrace to your Wang family."
These past few days, everyone has been worried about the rebels, constantly fearing that the village will be destroyed, whether they will lose their lives, or whether they will starve to death. In short, they are worried about how to survive.
Wang Ergou, on the other hand, is just as lazy and petty as he was in the village. Instead of thinking about how to survive, he gets into arguments with a few children. People who are already annoyed get even angrier when they see the other person's attitude.
They're all from the same village. When Wang Ergou's family runs out of rice, they'll have to ask them for help. In this chaotic world, everyone's rice is limited; how can we help a lazy bum every day?
These merciless words left Wang Ergou feeling ashamed. He dropped the firewood in his hand and ran out of the woods, secretly harboring resentment towards the men.
The farce ended quickly, and everyone dispersed.
When Jiang Yimian returned with the two little ones, Wang Fengqin had already prepared dinner.
It's rare that I didn't cook plain porridge; instead, I made a pot of dumpling soup. You could see the oil floating on the surface of the soup from afar, which looked very appetizing.
On the bluestone slab, there was also a plate of cold shepherd's purse salad and stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat.
The two little ones were quite surprised. It wasn't until the tarpaulin on the shed was lowered that Ono exclaimed softly, "Mom, where did this meat come from? It smells so good!"
Except for holidays like Chinese New Year, the children in the village rarely have meat at home. They don't see any meat on ordinary days, and with a large family eating together, each person can only get a limited amount of meat.
Upon seeing the large slices of meat stir-fried inside the bamboo shoots, Ono thought she was seeing things and rubbed her eyes hard to make sure it was indeed meat.
Little Nuan'er stared at the meat, drooling, and sniffed the aroma in the air, wishing she could bury her head in the dish.
Wang Fengqin chuckled and lifted Xiao Nuan'er's head up, explaining to the two how the meat came to be.
Upon hearing that it was their older sister who had found them, the two little ones' eyes lit up with admiration.
Jiang Yimian couldn't stand the intense gaze, and chuckled twice before saying, "Try the bamboo shoots and see if they're good."
Ono paused, staring at the sliced bamboo shoots on the plate, and asked doubtfully, "These are bamboo shoots, are they edible?"
He still remembers the time he went to the bamboo forest to pick bamboo shoots out of curiosity and was terrified by the astringent taste.
The bamboo shoots looked fresh and juicy, but who knew they would taste so bad?
I finally got to eat meat today, why is it being stir-fried with this stuff?
The more she thought about it, the more resentful she felt. She was torn between staring at the meat sandwich on the plate and not picking it up.
Little Nuan'er didn't have so many worries. When she heard her sister say to try bamboo shoots, she immediately picked up a piece and put it in her mouth, nodding with a smile and saying, "Bamboo shoots are so delicious, Little Nuan'er likes them."
Ono was full of surprise. Seeing that her mother and sister were eating bamboo shoots with normal expressions, she tentatively picked up a piece of bamboo shoot with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth.
The first bite was the fresh and crisp taste of bamboo shoots, mixed with the savory aroma of pork belly, so delicious that he almost swallowed his tongue.
"Delicious! This bamboo shoot is so delicious, not bitter or numbing at all."
As Ono spoke, he picked up another large mouthful of bamboo shoots and stuffed it into his mouth.
Wang Fengqin also laughed and said, "Yimian is so smart. She knew to boil the bamboo shoots to remove the bitterness. Otherwise, I would never have known that bamboo shoots could taste so good."
She felt a pang of heartache when she thought about the bamboo shoots that the villagers had thrown away in the past. If only she had known earlier, she wouldn't have wasted so many.
Everyone enjoyed the meal.
Jiang Yimian rarely ate until she was stuffed; she just felt that food with meat flavor was especially delicious.
In the afternoon, Wang Fengqin took Xiao Ye and Xiao Nuan'er to dig for wild vegetables nearby. Jiang Yimian didn't go out; she was cutting and splitting bamboo outside the shed.
Although a thick layer of dead branches and leaves had been laid on the ground last night, the chill in the air was still unbearable for her in the middle of the night.
Not to mention Wang Fengqin, who was already ill, and her two children.
After measuring the size of the shed, she cut off the small stems and leaves from a few bamboo stalks, cut them to the same length, and then split a few of the thicker sections in half.
She didn't cut many bamboo stalks, fearing it wouldn't be enough, so she split the bamboo to make a simple bamboo plank bed, and then placed a smooth, flat stone slab under the bamboo plank.
While they were busy, Gou Sheng came over carrying a small basket. After hesitating for a while, he said, "Sister Yi Mian, I dug up a lot of lamb's quarters today. I'll share some with you."
As he spoke, he handed over the still-fresh lamb's quarters from the small basket.
Jiang Yimian looked over, somewhat surprised.
The basket was filled with freshly washed, bright green lamb's quarters, the leaves of which looked even greener and more appetizing.
Lamb's quarters, also known as wild lamb's quarters or gray knotweed, has a delicious flavor and is rich in nutrients. It can help prevent anemia, prevent intestinal parasites, promote children's growth and development, and also has certain health benefits for middle-aged and elderly people with calcium deficiency. (Source: Internet)
This dish is available in many modern restaurants; it's delicious served cold or stir-fried with eggs.
Jiang Yimian had seen them in the woods yesterday, but there were only a few scattered ones, so she didn't dig them up. There are quite a few in this basket, so Gousheng must have gone to many places to dig them up.
Considering the scarcity of food these days, and how rare it is to find some wild vegetables, she said, "No need, you can keep them for yourselves. I also dug up some shepherd's purse, you can take some back with you."
After saying that, he didn't pay attention to Gou Sheng's absent-mindedness and went into the shack to get some shepherd's purse.
As soon as she came out, she saw Gou Sheng staring blankly at the bamboo on the ground. She raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything. She just handed him the shepherd's purse and was about to continue chopping bamboo.
Gou Sheng panicked a bit, scratching his head for a while before finally speaking, "Sister Yi Mian, I dug up a lot of lamb's quarters. You can keep these for yourselves. They taste pretty good. They're delicious after blanching and making a cold salad. Please accept them."
Jiang Yimian nodded and looked at Gou Sheng indifferently, "That's it? Don't you have anything else to say?"
Gou Sheng nodded and then shook his head, finally managing to utter a few words after a long while, "Sister Yi Mian, where did you cut this bamboo? Can you tell me?"
It's cold in the mountains at night, and even colder on the ground.
His father had broken his leg and was bedridden, so he wanted to make a bed for his father so he wouldn't have to sleep on the floor.
Fortunately, he was young and strong enough to withstand the cold, but his father's leg injury had not yet healed and he was in so much pain that he could not rest day or night. If the cold from the ground entered his body, it would probably be even more difficult to heal.
And then there's my mother, who's pregnant and busy all day long, and at night she has to sleep on the cold ground, which must be unbearable for her body.
As the only able-bodied man in the family, he naturally didn't want his parents to suffer.
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