There is food on Daqing Mountain.
This news spread like wildfire to the brigade near Daqing Mountain.
In Zhoujia Village, Mengzi's family was the first to hear the news. Early in the morning, Old Lady Feng asked Lianhua to bring a few eggs to Mengzi's wife, saying that they were for her to replenish her body.
As soon as Mengzi's wife Cuijuan saw Lianhua, she quickly took her hand and thanked her: "Lianhua, thank you so much and Old Lady Feng! Yesterday, Mengzi brought me three wild vegetable dumplings. The fragrance was so strong that it filled my nose. I couldn't resist and ate them all in one breath. I was so full! I didn't expect that three shepherd's purse dumplings could make me so full! Although I have enough food every day, I have never been too full. This meal was so delicious! I feel like I have endless energy today! It is true that only when you have a full meal can you have strength!"
Lotus smiled secretly in her heart. It's not just about having a full meal! But she couldn't say it. It was really uncomfortable to hold it in her heart!
"My grandma said that your health is fine now and you're in better shape than before! Do you feel it? Are you no longer short of breath or afraid of the cold? If you work hard for another month, I guarantee you'll be in better shape than before!"
Cuijuan's eyes lit up. "Really? She's worthy of being called Old Lady Feng! No wonder the neighbors always turn to Old Lady Feng whenever they have any problems."
Mengzi has lived with the grandmother who picked him up since childhood. A few years ago, Cuijuan's family fled famine, and Mengzi's grandmother, out of kindness, took them in. Before they left, Cuijuan's father praised Mengzi's strength, filial piety, and good character. Mengzi's grandmother was kind and had saved their family's life. Cuijuan's father then discussed with her grandmother about Cuijuan marrying Mengzi.
Cuijuan was already eighteen years old at the time, beautiful and capable. Mengzi's grandmother was naturally very happy. And so Cuijuan stayed in Caijia Village. A few years later, Mengzi's grandmother passed away, leaving Cuijuan and Mengzi alone in their small family, relying on each other for support.
Every brigade had several wives like Cuijuan who had fled famine from other places. Jiaojiao's mother, Shuixiu, was also one of them.
"When I first came here, I heard that people went to see Old Lady Feng when they were sick. I was wondering, how could a crazy old lady have such a talent? Hahaha..."
Feng Lianhua was at a loss for words after hearing this: "Then I am the crazy Lianhua?"
Cuijuan laughed and said, "In my hometown, there's actually a family named Jiang. They have witches for generations. They treat illnesses and can tell fortunes. But they can't deliver babies."
"When we go to that fortune teller for medical treatment or fortune-telling, we always go to that fortune teller. She's very famous."
There are fortune tellers everywhere, but Lotus doesn't care much about it.
"My grandma said that there are wild vegetables in many places in Daqing Mountain recently. If you don't have any to eat, why not go to Daqing Mountain and dig wild vegetables?"
Aunt Zhou Er, who came to Mengzi's house to help, asked hurriedly, "What did you say? There are wild vegetables in Daqing Mountain? I went there a few days ago to dig, and the mountain was completely dug bare, even the tree roots were dug up."
Aunt Zhou and Mengzi's family were neighbors. Mengzi's late grandmother was Uncle Zhou's aunt. The two families had always had a good relationship. Aunt Zhou's family had been out of food for several days and had no other choice but to ask Mengzi for a loan.
"Our team has been digging shepherd's purse in the back mountains these past two days," Lianhua said. "The shepherd's purse in yesterday's dumplings was dug from Daqing Mountain."
"What I ate yesterday was also dug from the mountain? It was so delicious!" Cuijuan is still savoring the taste of yesterday's dumplings. "Second Aunt, go quickly! Go and have a look, maybe there is some!"
"Hey, I'll go right away."
Aunt Zhou took two steps at a time and ran home.
At Aunt Zhou's house, the adults sat inside weaving bamboo hats and caps. Seven or eight children lay in bed. While the adults worked, the children stayed in bed, minimizing their activity and conserving their energy.
But in reality, they had no energy left. The two most mischievous children, nine and seven, were boys, and now they didn't even have the energy to fight.
The gate was slammed open. Aunt Zhou rushed in: "Hurry, put down your work, grab your baskets, and get up to Daqing Mountain."
Zhou Er's eldest son Shuisheng asked, "Is there anything to eat in Daqing Mountain?"
"Yes! Hurry up! If it's too late, others will know!"
When they heard that there was food to eat, Aunt Zhou's children's eyes lit up.
The family dragged their weak bodies and headed towards Daqing Mountain.
When the path they were walking on was not far from Daqing Mountain, Shuisheng, with his sharp eyes, had already seen a green patch on the Daqing Mountain.
"There's someone! There's someone on the mountain! Run!" Shuisheng shouted, and the Zhou family hurriedly followed.
When Jiaojiao went up the mountain to sort wild vegetables yesterday evening, it was dinner time for every household. After dinner, everyone went to bed and rested. No one would go to Daqingshan at night.
This morning, people woke up and started looking for food. Members of the nearby Caijia Village brigade found shepherd's purse. They were ecstatic to see the shepherd's purse covering the mountains.
"Everyone, come out quickly! Wild vegetables are growing on the hills behind us again. Go up there and dig for them!" the village chief shouted in the center of the village, beating a gong. They didn't dare use the village radio; who knew if anyone would hear them?
Upon hearing that there was food to eat, every household that was still able to walk went up the mountain to dig wild vegetables.
The people of Caijia Village quickly dug up all the wild vegetables in the neighboring village like locusts. Since Wangjia Village could not move, Caijia Village attacked in another direction.
When Zhou Er's aunt and her family came over, the people from Caijia Village had just arrived.
"Hurry! There are a lot of people coming!"
Aunt Zhou and her family quickened their pace and quickly joined the army of people digging vegetables.
The hillside was thickly covered with shepherd's purse, and occasionally with other wild vegetables. Aunt Zhou's family of eight dug for a short while and filled their bags with what they had brought.
Aunt Zhou looked up and thought that going home would be too time-consuming, as Old Lady Feng's house was not far away.
"You guys dig first, I'll go to Old Lady Feng's house to borrow some baskets!"
The three Shuisheng brothers responded. Aunt Zhou picked up a basket and ran quickly to the Feng family.
"Grandma Feng, Grandma Feng, I came to your house to borrow a basket." Aunt Zhou Er poured out the wild vegetables from the basket. "Thank you very much for your daughter Lianhua telling me. I don't have any other thank you gifts, so I just picked some wild vegetables."
"You're so polite!" Old Lady Feng said, "Just wait, I'll make a backpack for you."
Old Mrs. Feng took out a backpack and a cloth bag.
"Come back tomorrow morning and see if there will still be wild vegetables growing on the mountain. We've been digging for three days straight, and there are plenty every day."
"Great! Thank you, Grandma Feng! If there were wild vegetables on the mountain every day, we would have hope!" Aunt Zhou sighed.
"Don't worry, there will be one. God has opened his eyes!" said Old Mrs. Feng. It wasn't just opened his eyes, he gave their family such a big treasure!
"I'll give you two pieces of candy. Go home and give them to your children to sweeten their mouths." Old Mrs. Feng stuffed a few pieces of candy into Aunt Zhou's hands.
Candy is a precious thing, and Aunt Zhou refused for a long time before finally accepting it. She kept saying that Old Lady Feng was a really kind person, a living Bodhisattva, and she thought about how happy the children would be to eat the candy.
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