Xie Zirui put the basket down and asked, "Yiyi, is there something wrong?"
Yun Yiyi shook her head. "Brother Zirui, I don't know either. But it's very noisy in the woods right now. Normally, everyone is out digging for wild vegetables, and there are only the elderly and children at home, so it should be very quiet."
"If we keep making such a commotion, I think someone might come to our place to get information."
Xie Zirui also stretched his head to look into the woods, but saw nothing.
"Brother Zirui, I'll cut some grass, and you can fill our baskets with weeds."
"Okay, Yiyi. You mow the grass."
Yun Yiyi took a sickle and cut two large handfuls of grass nearby.
Xie Zirui stuffed the weeds into two baskets. They were almost there anyway, so he stuffed the baskets full.
"Okay, Brother Zirui, let's go."
"good."
Yun Yiyi and Xie Zirui carried baskets and walked through the woods to where the crowd was making noise.
There were many villagers gathered here. Yun Yiyi also heard the voice of the village chief and several unfamiliar voices.
Yun Yiyi made a face at Xie Zirui who was following behind her. The two of them did not make a sound, but walked quietly and quickly through the place towards home.
Fortunately, everyone was watching the fun and no one was looking outside, so the two of them quietly returned home.
At this moment, Zhang was using a shovel to stir the chestnut powder on the mat.
Chestnut powder dries very quickly under the sun. I estimate that after drying it for another day tomorrow, it can be packed into the tank.
"Mom, we're back."
Zhang looked up and said, "Yiyi, Zirui, you two came back so early today. You must be tired. Come and sit down and rest for a while."
Yun Yiyi put down the basket and went to wash her face. When she sat down, she felt her whole body aching.
Xie Zirui asked quietly, "Aunt, Yiyi found some taro today. Does it need to be dried in the sun?"
Zhang stopped what she was doing and walked over. "Zi Rui, what taro did you two find? Let me see."
Third Brother Yun also came over. He took out a big fan and fanned Yun Yiyi.
"Yiyi, what taro did you find?"
Yun Yiyi raised her chin and said, "Mom, Third Brother, it's the kind of small taro with hair."
"When I went up the mountain before, I found a pepper tree. At that time, I was busy going into the mountains and didn't have time to pick it."
"Today it's just me and Brother Zirui. I don't want to wander around any longer, so I'll just go pick some peppercorns."
"Mom, the big taro leaves wrapped with grass are filled with Sichuan peppercorns."
When Zhang Shi heard this, he hurriedly picked up the big leaf she had just thrown away and said, "If Yiyi hadn't told me, I would have thrown it away."
She opened the taro leaves, revealing a mass of bright red Sichuan peppercorns. She weighed them and estimated they weighed over three pounds.
"Yiyi, Zirui, the peppercorns you two picked today are pretty good. They're quite large, and I can smell a strong scent."
"Third brother, go find a basket and put these peppercorns in the sun. There are quite a lot of them, and we'll have plenty for pickling."
Brother Yun San put down his fan, went to find a clean basket, poured the peppercorns into it and spread it out evenly, then placed it next to the mat where the chestnut powder was drying.
"Mom, that pepper tree is quite big. I'll take my eldest and second brothers with me tomorrow and spend the morning picking some."
"Okay, I just checked, the peppercorns are of good quality. We won't have to worry about running out of peppercorns for the next year."
Mayor Zhang removed all the weeds from the basket, revealing the taro inside.
She picked up a taro and looked at it. "Yiyi, weren't you two picking peppercorns? How did you find taro again?"
"Mom, I got tired of picking peppercorns. When I stood there to rest, I saw a very tall tree in the distance. Its leaves were round and green."
"Its trunk was also green, but it didn't look like a tree. I didn't even think it was taro at the time."
"I just want to sit down there and rest for a while."
Having said that, Yun Yiyi smiled embarrassedly.
“When I got under the taro, I realized it was taro.”
"Later, I took a sickle and a hoe and dug out the big taro. Unexpectedly, it produced a lot of taro."
"Later, I turned around and found another big taro more than ten meters away from this taro."
"So, I decided to go down the mountain after digging taro in the afternoon. Mainly because my eldest, second, and third brothers didn't go, and the baskets that Brother Zirui and I carried were too small."
"Once all the taro is packed in, there will be no room for anything else." Yun Yiyi said, and sighed regretfully.
Zhang praised softly, "Yiyi, these taro are quite a lot. They can be eaten as a meal."
"Mom, I remember cooking the taro. It tastes delicious when dipped in sugar."
Zhang rolled her eyes at Third Brother Yun and said, "You're such a picky eater! Taro tastes good even without sugar."
"Mom, taro tastes better when dipped in sugar."
Zhang immediately put on a smiling face, "Yes, Yiyi, let's cook taro tomorrow, and then I'll let you dip it in sugar."
Yun Yiyi looked at Third Brother Yun with pride.
Third Brother Yun deliberately turned his head to the other side.
Xie Zirui, who was standing next to them, watched the actions of the brother and sister, covering his mouth and laughing.
"We won't eat taro today, so I'll put them in the mule cart." After saying that, Zhang picked up a basket in each hand and put it in the mule cart.
Then, Zhang found a small jar of sour jujube cakes and let the children share them.
It just so happened that Yun Yiyi and the others were tired and hungry, and the sour jujube cakes arrived at the right time.
Yun Yiyi ate the sweet and sour jujube cake and said, "Mom, you and Third Brother will be here soon. Are you going to start cooking?"
"Yiyi, it's already started. The sweet potato porridge in the pot is almost done."
"Third brother, you are so fast."
"Yiyi, after you finish eating the sour jujube cake, you and Zirui should go back to sleep for a while."
"Mom will start making pancakes soon. I just checked the dough and it has risen well. We can knead it and make pancakes now."
"Mom, you are so capable. I love eating the food you cook."
"It's delicious, just eat more."
Zhang smiled as she watched the children eat and chat.
"Oh right, Mom, Third Brother, when Brother Zirui and I came back just now, we found a lot of people gathered at the village chief's place. It was really noisy."
"I also heard strange voices. Do you know what happened? Do you want me to go ask?"
Zhang shook her head. "Yiyi, you don't have to go. Wait for your father to come back and ask the village chief."
"Okay, Mom. I'm going to sleep for a while. I've done too much work today and I need to rest more."
"Go to bed, Yiyi."
"Zi Rui, you should go too. Play after you wake up."
"Yes, auntie."
After talking, Yun Yiyi and Xie Zirui went to bed.
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