Chapter 72: Picking Acacia Flowers
Following Zhou Weiguo's actions.
The muscle groups on the back and arms bulge and contract clearly, and the lines are as hard as if carved out of rock, full of primitive power.
Beads of sweat oozed out from between his short, stiff stubble, rolled down his neck, slid across his protruding Adam's apple and the depression of his collarbone, and finally sank under the collar of his vest.
The axe fell, and with a crisp "crack", the firewood split into two pieces.
He bent down to pick it up, his arm muscles tensed again, and the outline of his waist became clear in an instant.
Shen Lingning looked at it, his face slightly hot, and he subconsciously looked away, secretly spitting in his heart: This barbaric bull... seems to have no place to use his strength.
But his gaze couldn't help but drift back to the wound on his left arm that was still wrapped in gauze, and his brows frowned slightly - with such a big movement, he wasn't afraid of breaking the wound.
Zhou Weiguo seemed to realize something, stopped, stood up, and wiped the sweat off his face with the towel around his neck. He happened to meet Shen Lingning's gaze, which he had not yet completely withdrawn.
His eyes were dark and looked straight at me with the heat of someone who had just finished doing hard work.
Shen Lingning's heart skipped a beat inexplicably, and the heat on his face showed a tendency to spread, so he quickly found a topic to talk about.
His voice was half a second faster than usual: "Why chop so many? Just enough to burn for a few days. Be careful with your arm."
Zhou Weiguo looked at her slightly red ears, then lowered his head to look at his sweat-stained gauze, and said "hmm" in a deep voice: "It's okay, I know what I'm doing."
He paused, looking at the clam oil box in her hand, "Are you done? It's cool in the room, why don't you sit in the sun for a while?"
He didn't say anything else, but that look, that sweaty muscular body, and that straightforward and clumsy concern made Shen Lingning's discomfort even more obvious.
She made a vague "hmm" sound and didn't respond. She turned around and pretended to tidy up Fubao's clothes that were already dried on the line. She pinched the corners of the cotton jacket with her fingers, a little hard.
For a moment, the only sounds in the yard were the regular chopping of wood and the rustling of women hanging clothes to dry.
The sunlight lengthened the shadows of the two people, occasionally overlapping, and then quickly separating.
The air was filled with the crisp smell of wood, the faint scent of sweat, and the sweet, earthy floral scent of cheap clam oil on her hands.
Aunt Sun knocked on the door and came in, holding a porcelain jar. She said happily, "Lingning, would you like some locust flower dumplings? Daqiang went to the mountains a few days ago and brought back a lot. I'll bring some for you to try."
As she spoke, she saw the young couple, one hanging clothes and the other chopping wood, both with red faces. As someone who had experienced this, she naturally understood that she had disturbed the couple's good time.
I quickly made an excuse to leave: "Lingning, you guys are busy. Put the dumplings in the bowl. I'm leaving."
Shen Lingning quickly brought over a stool and handed it to Aunt Sun, asking curiously, "Aunt, what's the rush? We're not busy. Can locust flowers be used to make dumplings? Can't they only be used to scramble eggs?"
Aunt Sun smiled as she sat down on the stool and said, "Of course, locust flowers can be used to make dumplings. If you have rice, you can also make steamed wheat rice with them. If you want to eat them, I'll teach you how to make them."
Then he invited Shen Lingning: “There is a locust tree forest in the ditch in front of us. The locust flowers have been blooming very fragrantly recently.”
Shen Lingning perked up when he heard this: "Is it the ditch behind the tea mountain?"
As he spoke, Zhou Weiguo also stopped his axe and spoke: "So that tea mountain at the old boundary marker?"
Aunt Sun nodded. "What a pity for that tea plantation! There hasn't been enough food in recent years. How can we continue to grow tea?"
Shen Lingning and Zhou Weiguo looked at each other. Zhou Weiguo saw the persistence in Shen Lingning's eyes and wondered how to help his wife fulfill her wish.
After making an appointment to go pick locust flowers the next day, Aunt Sun did not stay any longer so as not to disturb the young couple from giving birth.
Looking at Aunt Sun's meaningful aunt's smile before she left, coupled with Zhou Weiguo's handsomeness when he was chopping firewood in the afternoon, Shen Lingning couldn't help but blush again.
——
The April wind was still a little chilly, but it carried the sweet scent of locust flowers, blowing into the Songtaogou family compound.
Aunt Sun, carrying a tightly woven wicker basket, knocked on the Zhou family's door. "Lingning, let's go! The old locust trees on the back hill are in full bloom. Come back in time and steam some locust flower rice and buns. They smell so good!"
Shen Lingning was writing and drawing in an old notebook. Hearing this, he immediately responded and neatly put a half-worn smock on Fubao.
He also changed into a pair of wear-resistant dark pants, picked up a cloth bag, put Fubao in the small backpack on his back, and followed Aunt Sun out.
Zhou Weiguo went to the battalion headquarters early in the morning, leaving only the mother and daughter at home.
"Hey, Xiao Shen is going too? He's so delicate, don't let the branches scratch him."
Passing by the door of the Li family, Li Hongmei was cracking melon seeds and looking at Shen Lingning with squinting eyes. The sourness in her tone could be smelled from a long distance away.
Ever since Zhou Weiguo came back and dealt with those who had bullied her and her mother in a swift and decisive manner, the atmosphere in the family compound has changed. However, there are always a few people like Li Hongmei who dare not do anything openly but can't stop saying sour words.
Shen Lingning didn't even raise her eyelids, she just patted Fubao behind her gently: "Mom is going to pick acacia flowers for Fubao, is Nannan happy?"
He didn't respond to Li Hongmei's words at all, as if the voice was just an insignificant gust of wind passing by his ears.
Aunt Sun was not going to tolerate it. She raised her voice and said, "What's the matter? Are you jealous? I envy you for having such a lovely daughter to keep you company! What's the point of just talking?"
Li Hongmei's face froze, she spat at the melon seed shells, turned around and went back to the house.
The flowers in the locust tree forest on the back mountain were indeed blooming like snow, and the sweet fragrance was so rich that it was almost intoxicating.
The sunlight filtered through the layers of leaves and flowers, casting tiny spots of light on the ground.
Aunt Sun was a skillful person. She used a long bamboo pole with a hook and picked out branches that were fully blossomed and in the right position.
Shen Lingning took over from below, and his fingers nimbly put the bunches of white and plump locust flowers into the cloth bag.
Fubao sat on the mat laid by Shen Lingning, picked up the intact flower bunches that had fallen on the ground, carefully put them into his little pocket, and sniffed the fragrance of the flowers with his little nose.
"Mom, the flowers smell so good and sweet." Fubao's voice was filled with pure happiness.
The corners of Shen Lingning's mouth curved up, and his hands kept moving.
As she combed the flowers, she casually surveyed her surroundings: the color of the soil, the growth of the vegetation, the slope and direction... She observed them closely.
"Auntie, the soil on this mountain looks fine, but it's just these locust trees and shrubs growing on it. What a pity."
Shen Lingning spoke as if chatting.
Aunt Sun wiped her sweat and said, "That's right! Some people have thought about clearing some wasteland to grow vegetables before, but it's a bit far from the water source. Carrying water is exhausting, and it's impossible to irrigate the crops, so they gave up the idea.
Only drought-resistant plants like locust trees and wild jujubes can grow on their own."
"What about that sunny slope over there? It seems to have fewer rocks."
Shen Lingning pointed to a gentle slope to the east.
"The soil there is a bit loose, but it still depends on the weather. What do you think, Xiao Shen?"
Aunt Sun stopped and looked at her.
Shen Lingning smiled but didn't answer directly: "I was just looking around, thinking about whether I could find some work. I can't just sit there idle all day. This mountain full of rocks and weeds makes me feel empty inside."
"Mom, plant sweet!"
Fubao suddenly tugged at her trouser leg and pointed to a few wild hawthorn trees nearby, on which were still hanging a few shriveled fruits from last year.
Aunt Sun was amused: "Oh, Fubao still wants to eat Guoguo? This clever little guy!"
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