Chapter 110 Little Bitter Gourd Enjoys a Happy Outing
The next morning, the sky was a clear blue and the sun was shining brightly, as if the previous typhoon had never happened.
Wow, the sun is out!
Seeing the long-lost warm golden beams of light shining into the house, Ning Jia was instantly moved to tears!
She truly understands why people in Scandinavia feel depressed; it's really hard to stay happy when you don't see the sun for years.
The little ones were all overjoyed, running to the windowsill and basking in the bright sunlight, their faces beaming with happiness!
He Meng asked impatiently, "Ning Jia, when can we go out?"
Right, the flood control equipment at the entrance hasn't been removed yet.
Ning Jia immediately realized what was happening and said, "Wait a moment."
Once Ning Jia removed the flood control gate barriers and sandbags, revealing the undamaged threshold, and said, "You can come out now," everyone dashed out like wild horses.
He Meng and the others ran the fastest, while Guo Guo and Xing Xing ran slowly behind, hand in hand, the bows on their little heads bobbing up and down. Tuan Tuan, Meng Meng, and Luo Luo also followed behind, bouncing along as they tried their best to run.
Wow, it's sunshine! Wow, what a beautiful day!
The little ones who ran into the yard all stopped in their tracks, tilted their heads back, and let the beautiful sunlight streaming down from the sky gently envelop them.
He Meng then immediately ran to the wall to check if the vines on it were alright.
More little people went straight to the persimmon tree in the corner of the yard, looked up at the unharmed tree with their little heads, climbed up in a few quick steps, and checked the surviving persimmons on the branches up close.
Ning Jia then took a trash bag and began picking up fallen branches and fruit from the ground.
It's such a pity that so many fruits have fallen to the ground prematurely.
Or, why not just throw them all into the compost bin and let these fruits make one last use?
Ning Jia glanced at the long-abandoned flowerbed, and her desire to plant vegetables rekindled.
She looked at the little figure sitting on the persimmon tree branch, swinging its tiny feet, and suddenly said:
"I saw online that autumn is the best season to plant lettuce."
Daoya tilted her head, the memory of her previous failure suddenly flooding back. She shook her head:
"I don't want to grow vegetables anymore."
Ning Jia assured her, "I'll plant it with you this time. If it doesn't grow well, then... it's all my fault!"
Ning Jia then pulled Shi Ying over as well:
“We have an old saying here: if you fall down, you should get up from there. Are you really willing to spend your whole lives never being able to eat vegetables that you grow yourself?”
Shi Ying hesitated for a moment, then pulled up licorice, sappanwood, and mallow, "Why don't we all plant them together?"
Seeing so many workers arrive, Ning Jia immediately made a promise:
"If this grows edible lettuce, I'll make another barbecue for everyone—pork belly, chicken legs, steak, anything goes!"
Wow—really?
“Really,” Ning Jia said confidently, “If I’m lying to you, I’ll eat only vegetable leaves three times a day.”
Wow, that's a really vicious oath. The villains didn't hesitate any longer and all nodded in agreement.
Canglan, standing to the side, smiled and stroked her chin, saying, "Learning to grow vegetables is great! When the children go on long journeys in the future, they can take some seeds with them and they'll survive."
Bai Su, standing next to Cang Lan, lit up her eyes and quietly asked:
"Chief, we can't bring food on our training trip, but can we bring seeds?"
Canglan shook her head ruthlessly, "Anything related to food is off-limits."
She saw through Bai Su's little scheme at a glance and laughed, "These vegetables have such a long growing period. Even if you take them to plant, you'll be back before they even grow, so you won't be able to eat them at all."
Bai Su smiled slightly, her fair and rosy cheeks looking especially lovely in the sunlight:
"I may not be able to eat it, but the people who come after me can."
"You silly child!"
Canglan patted Bai Su's head. "You were the first one to go out. Weren't you scared?"
“Of course I’m scared,” Bai Su admitted, her big eyes sparkling. “But I want to grow up faster.”
Canglan was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say, and just gently patted her little head again.
The courtyard was filled with a joyful atmosphere at that moment.
Under the persimmon tree nearby, He Meng and Xue Cao were standing on a branch, staring wide-eyed at the persimmons on the tree, discussing when they could eat persimmons.
The little dumpling helped Ning Jia pick up the fallen leaves on the ground while playing a "shadow tag" game under the tree.
Rice Sprout, Quartz, Orange Leaf, and others stood by the bare flowerbed, chatting enthusiastically about growing lettuce.
Before long, Daoya stood at one end of the flower bed, while Shiying ran to the other end. Juye handed one end of the soft leather measuring tape to Daoya, then hugged the other end and ran towards Shiying's side.
As the measuring tape slowly unfolded, glistening beads of sweat glistened on her small face, along with a bright, radiant smile.
As for the middle-aged children, led by Canglan, they had already found a quiet corner to sit cross-legged, facing the dazzling sunlight, ready to begin a new round of divination by the sun god.
Autumn is such a wonderful season.
Ning Jia, Cang Lan, Bai Su... such thoughts flashed through everyone's minds, and then they smiled brightly under the bright sunshine.
...
After going out for some fresh air in the courtyard, everyone enjoyed a warm bowl of red bean porridge before returning to their rooms to tidy up the rooms they hadn't stayed in for a few days.
Ning Jia hurriedly rode her bike out with a few shopping bags, not going directly to the market, but instead going to Plum Blossom Park first.
She stood at the tightly closed park entrance, peering inside for a long time, pondering whether to try and scout it out, when suddenly someone stood at the guardhouse window and reminded her:
"The park is closed today, but it will open tomorrow."
"Oh, thank you!"
Ning Jia looked at the gatekeeper, intending to subtly inquire about the situation inside the park, when the gatekeeper glanced at her and suddenly said:
"Girl, why haven't you brought your rabbit to graze lately?"
He whispered to her again:
"Our park has limited funding, so the workers rarely come to weed. There's plenty of grass over there, so feel free to eat as much as you like."
Ning Jia looked completely bewildered: Huh? What rabbit? Where did she get a rabbit?
But she reacted quickly, immediately smiling and nodding in thanks:
"Thank you, sir! It's been quite hot lately, and my little... rabbits don't like going out, so I didn't bring them along."
I also asked the other party about it:
"Grandpa, are the trees and grass in there alright during these past few days of the typhoon?"
The old man thought for a moment, "It seems like nothing's wrong?"
"People from the forestry bureau came over before and installed a lot of those typhoon protection supports. I heard that one or two small trees fell down, but they were all saved."
He said with a laugh:
"Don't let the fact that our park looks ordinary fool you. The woods over there have been around for a long time. They've weathered many storms. A typhoon won't scare these old guys."
Ning Jia was secretly delighted to hear this:
"That's good! Those big trees are growing so well, it would be such a pity if they were destroyed by the typhoon."
She suddenly remembered the image she projected in the old man's eyes and quickly added:
"The grass under those big trees is especially lush; my little rabbit usually likes to eat grass there..."
The gatekeeper chuckled, "This rabbit has a good eye, it's such a clever little rabbit!"
Ning Jia nodded, suppressing a laugh, "She is indeed quite clever!"
After saying goodbye to the gatekeeper and leaving the park, Ning Jia felt at ease.
It seems the little people's previous residence is fine, at least Bai Su and his group won't be without a place to stay while they come to train.
Having resolved the matter at the park, Ning Jia immediately turned her bike around and rode towards the market.
Today's market was as lively as ever, or even more so.
Ning Jia greeted the familiar stall owners as she quickly walked to the pork stall, her first words being:
"Boss, do you have any fresh pig's trotters?"
Yes! Absolutely fresh!
While pondering how many children could eat one pig's trotter, Ning Jia held up five fingers to the stall owner:
"Give me five front hooves!"
The stall owner looked at Ning Jia with some surprise, but didn't ask any more questions. He quickly weighed the pig's trotters and said, "It'll be 143 in total... I'll just say 140."
Ning Jia paid the money very readily, then asked the owner to chop up all the pig's trotters. She also bought soybeans, eggs, some vegetables, and fruit from a fruit shop before returning home with her purchases.
After putting the groceries home, Ning Jia went to the two-dollar supermarket again and saw that the owner had put out a lot of new cotton cushions for chairs. They felt quite thick and had no odor, so she immediately bought a bunch of square, rectangular and round cotton cushions.
Besides the cotton mat, she also bought some small cardboard DIY desktop organizers, as well as some small hooks, paper cups, balloons, and so on.
She had originally intended to buy a hole punch, but then suddenly remembered that she should have one in her quartz toolbox, so she put it down.
Wait, this enamel mug only costs one dollar?
Ning Jia stopped in her tracks, carrying a heavy shopping basket.
Although the cup was really too small, about the size of a liquor glass, and could only be used in coffee shops to hold condensed milk, it was just right for Ning Jia.
As the weather gets cooler, the little people are gradually getting used to drinking warm water, but holding a small cup without a handle is still a bit inconvenient...
Ning Jia thought for 0.5 seconds, then quickly bought one cup for each person, practically buying up all the small cups on the shelf.
She got more and more carried away with her shopping, so she went to the jewelry section and picked out a few pretty hair clips and a box of colorful hair ties. She then went to the toy section and grabbed a few boxes of Lego-like plastic building blocks and a box of board game cards.
That's enough!
Ning Jia snapped out of her daze and quickly reminded herself to grab the basket and pay the bill, to prevent herself from putting anything else in the basket...
"Long time no see, are you doing alright at home during the typhoon?"
The supermarket owner, the middle-aged woman with permed hair, greeted Ning Jia with a beaming smile, as she was a regular customer who had visited the store several times before.
"Thank you for your concern. It's nothing, I just stayed home for a few days."
"Peace and safety are all that matter; nothing else compares to being safe and sound."
The shop owner chatted casually while scanning the QR code. When he saw the boxes of building blocks, a look of surprise flashed across his face, and he even asked:
"Did you buy this for yourself or as a gift?"
Seeing that Ning Jia didn't say anything, she quickly explained:
"Miss, please don't misunderstand, it's like this..."
She pointed to the outer packaging of the building blocks:
"There's an even cheaper version of these building blocks, but the packaging is a bit cheap, so it's not really suitable as a gift. But if you're just playing with them yourself, the contents are exactly the same."
Ning Jia's eyes immediately lit up. "Thank you for reminding me. Please replace them all for me."
She wasn't worried about the boss trying to fool her. According to Song Ling, the shop had been open for many years and many of its customers were elderly. If the boss dared to deceive customers, he would have closed down long ago.
Ning Jia often comes to this store to buy small items because she finds the products to be of good quality and reasonably priced.
After Ning Jia happily rode away on her electric scooter, carrying two large bags of things, the shop owner stood at the shop entrance, watching her disappear into the distance, and suddenly sighed:
She bought so many chair cushions alone. I wonder how many people are in her family. It's not easy for her to be so frugal.
...
Ning Jia, who is seen as "frugal and simple" by others, is placing a large pile of newly purchased items in the living room and is excitedly heading to find Chief Canglan.
Turning her head, she saw that He Meng and the other young people were all listless and looked preoccupied. Looking at Bai Su, she saw her sitting on the sofa, holding her notebook and writing and drawing seriously.
Seeing this, Ning Jia understood everything and immediately asked:
"Has the time for your training trip been decided yet?"
"Um."
The little figures all nodded, remaining somewhat silent. Bai Su then raised her head and said in a relaxed tone:
"Ning Jia, starting tomorrow morning, I'm going to live in the park."
Ning Jia quickly told them the news she had just learned, and also said encouraging words to Bai Su:
"Bai Su, keep it up! I think you can definitely do it!"
Bai Su smiled sweetly at her, then lowered her head and started scribbling in her notebook again.
He Meng, with a droopy face, looked like a little bitter gourd as she tried to coax Ning Jia:
"Ning Jia~ Could you cook more meat these next few days so I can have enough to eat? I'll help you in the kitchen!"
Before Ning Jia could agree, her phone suddenly rang.
After she finished the call, she immediately said:
"The delivery guy will be here soon. Everyone, please be careful not to come into the yard, or appear at the door or window."
The children were no strangers to sending packages, and upon hearing this, they calmly ran into the living room.
Ning Jia quickly moved the cardboard boxes from the living room to the yard.
After the deliveryman rode away on his electric tricycle, carrying away the mountain of packages, Ning Jia wiped the sweat from her brow and was about to go to the bathroom to wash her face when her gaze suddenly stopped—
Little Bai Su was standing in the corner of the living room, looking at the huge, bulging package that was taller than her, with a look of utter despair on her face.
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