Seeing that Liu Huan ignored him, he squatted down and sniffed, "Huanhuan, I want to play too."
Liu Huan patiently explained, "Brother, I'm not playing around, I'm doing something big."
Xiao Shi: "Then I'll help you!"
Liu Huan was afraid he would mess it up, but considering that he was the one who discovered it, she wanted him to feel involved, so she gave up her spot and said, "Then help me clear away this dirt, but don't touch those tendrils."
"Oh~"
Xiao Shi obediently dug in the soil, digging a little bit for Liu Huan and then digging a little bit for him. Both of them were covered in dirt.
After Shi Tou finished picking the spicy fruit, he saw the two of them digging with their butts sticking out, their clothes covered in mud. He felt a sudden chill and gasped.
He kicked each of them in the buttocks, saying, "What are you two doing? Get up!"
Liu Huan was engrossed in digging and didn't even turn her head: "Shitou, you go pick mushrooms first, don't worry about us."
Xiao Shi nodded in agreement: "That's right, that's right."
Looking at the spicy fruit in the basket, Shi Tou assumed Liu Huan had grown tired of it and asked, "Do you still want these spicy fruit?"
Liu Huan turned around and took the basket: "Yes, thank you, Shi Tou." Then she turned back to continue digging.
Enraged, Stone climbed up on his own. Just then, Su's mother came over to put out mushrooms and asked him where the two younger ones were.
Stone replied coldly, "I don't know."
Cao'er found it amusing to see Shi Tou so angry. Her little brother always acted like a little adult, but he always ended up getting the short end of the stick with Huan Huan: "Alright, let them play. I'll wash their clothes when we get back."
The two of them dug for a full fifteen minutes before they finally dug out the roots completely, which were as long as their arms.
Little Stone, turning into a curious child, pulled on the long tendril and asked, "Wow, Huanhuan, what is this?"
Liu Huan thought for a long time, then shook her head and said, "I don't know either, but it looks really nice. Let's take it back and plant it."
Xiao Shi believed whatever Liu Huan said, centering his opinion on her aesthetic: "Okay, let's take it back and plant it together."
Like a little firecracker, he climbed up the grass and loudly told everyone, "Huanhuan and I dug up a cute tree, and we're going to take it back and plant it."
Cao'er jokingly asked, "What kind of tree is it that can make your second brother angry? Let me see it too."
"She's with Huanhuan." Xiao Shi turned around and found that Liu Huan hadn't come up yet, so he jumped down again. "Huanhuan, I'll pull you up."
The two of them went up, and with four hands they held the tree root high up. "Look, isn't it beautiful?"
Xiao Shi: "Is it pretty?"
Grass chuckled, "It's just a tree root, look at you two darlings. Huanhuan, Stone is angry, why don't you go and coax him?"
Liu Huan walked up to the stone and made all sorts of faces: "Stone, look at me, stone... stone..."
Stone pressed his hand against her head. "Stand still, don't move."
Liu Huan smiled, revealing her small teeth, "Stone is the best!"
Although Stone was immune to that phrase, he still succumbed when he saw her smiling face. "Okay, I'm getting dizzy."
When Su's father returned and saw this, he hurriedly asked where Su came from.
Liu Huan knew he recognized him as soon as she heard him speak, and pointed down and said, "It's down there, but unfortunately it's gone. The fruit that grew there was red and very pretty."
Father Su stopped picking mushrooms and hurriedly led his family back home.
As soon as they entered, they closed the courtyard gate and the inner gate. Su's mother was startled by this commotion: "Husband, what's wrong?"
Father Su took out a tree root and said, "Look."
No one could figure it out either, and several pairs of eyes stared at him. He was so excited that his face turned red: "This is ginseng."
Su's mother was shocked: "What? What is this?"
She took it and examined it closely. "Dad, are you sure? Is this the legendary ginseng baby? Huanhuan, how did you know?"
The series of questions showed just how excited he was.
Liu Huan naturally didn't claim the credit, "It was Xiao Ge who saw it, and we thought it looked nice, so we were going to dig it up and plant it, right, Xiao Ge?"
Xiao Shi thought about it and realized that he had indeed found it, so he nodded: "Yes, that's what I saw, but Huanhuan and I dug it together."
Xiao Shi is four months older than Liu Huan. The two are so close that they can practically share a pair of pants, so they always share credit together.
Su's mother squatted down and hugged them, giving each of them a kiss. "Oh my good darlings, you are truly the lucky stars of our family."
Su's mother remembered the voice she heard when she picked up Liu Huan years ago, which would bring good luck to her family, and sure enough, it all came true.
Liu Huan buried her face in her shoulder and giggled, "Our whole family is lucky."
Father Su found a red cloth from the house, wrapped it up, and prepared to put it away. Liu Huan reminded him, "Dad, isn't this bad? Shouldn't we air it out in the sun?"
Mr. Su was stunned. That's true. What if it spoils?
"My idea is not to sell. It's not at that point yet. We'll talk about it later. What do you guys think?"
Su's father was a very open-minded father who would discuss everything with his children.
Liu Huan agreed with his statement. In ancient times, ginseng could save lives in critical moments, and ginseng that was over a hundred years old was a rare commodity.
Everyone agreed with Su's father's point of view. Although they had no idea how much the item was worth, it didn't stop them from being happy.
Since I can't go to the street, I can only dry the mushrooms in the sun. Luckily, the sun is strong, otherwise I'm afraid they'll spoil.
The whole family loved the mushroom soup; it tasted sweet and delicious even with just a little salt.
Liu Huan asked for a plot of land in the garden, peeled chili seeds and scattered them on it, and removed the weeds every now and then, taking great care of it.
As long as she doesn't ask for help, everyone lets her have her way; she only has a small plot of land on either side.
Now, an adult stays at home every day to keep watch, partly to dry mushrooms and partly to dry ginseng. Liu Huan and Xiao Shi play the role of lookout at the door, shouting when someone comes.
Big Stone continued going to school, and Grass continued doing her embroidery.
Because Little Red is gone, two chicks have died, and with the two that were taken earlier, there are only five left.
Su's mother was so anxious that bubbles were coming out of her mouth. How could she let him die like this? Even if Wang Laizi was paralyzed, she would still scold him every day.
Liu Huan boiled water every day, let it cool, and then fed it to the chicks. She also fed them with cornmeal and ground earthworms from home, making them slightly damp. She changed the water bowl whenever it got dirty. Xiao Shi was responsible for cleaning up the chicken droppings. This is how the five chicks grew up safely.
Little Yellow's twelve chicks have also hatched, filling the yard with fluffy chirping. Su's mother no longer goes to the fields, staying home all day to watch over them, fearing that they might be lost again.
When Xiao Huang's child got a little older, she suggested that she visit her parents' home.
Liu Huan blinked. Her maternal family? Why hadn't she heard anyone mention them in all these years? She had thought Su's mother was an orphan.
“Your maternal grandparents’ home is in another town. It will take two days to get there.”
I told everyone at dinner, and Father Su had no objections. He said that once summer arrives, there's nothing to do but chop firewood all day, so we don't need that many people. We've also finished picking all the mushrooms.
“Go ahead, catch a few chicks and some dried mushrooms for them to try. Also, take the two younger ones to visit their grandmother.”
Mother Su nodded with tears in her eyes: "Yes, I understand."
Years ago, out of gratitude, the Liu family betrothed their daughter to the son of their benefactor, who was also Su's father. The two families lived far apart and were poor, and had only visited each other a few times in the past ten years.
Liu Huan was a little curious and a little reluctant to see her go to visit relatives.
Before going to sleep, I buried my head in Stone's arm and said, "Stone, I can't bear to part with you."
Shi Tou hugged her and patted her to comfort her: "It's okay, I'll be back soon. You have to be a good boy, okay?"
Liu Huan looked up, her eyes filled with reluctance: "Will you miss me?"
The stone teased her: "I don't want to."
Liu Huan rolled around in the blankets, "Do you want to? Do you want to?"
Stone was annoyed by her nagging and pressed her head down, saying, "If you want to sleep, go to sleep."
How could a child you raised not want to...
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