Chapter 8 Digging Bamboo Shoots

It was originally just a minor conflict, but it escalated as soon as the village chief arrived.

Hu Tou Niang was a little afraid of the old village chief, so she pulled her son and wanted to slip away, but they were blocked on the road by the villagers who were watching the excitement, and they could not move forward or backward.

"It's you again, Tiger Head Mother! How many times has this happened this year? If you keep making trouble for Tiger Head Father, you won't be allowed to go out to sea with the ship. You should stay at home and teach your wife and children."

This threat is huge, because the Hutou family does not have their own fishing boat. Hutou's father works on the village's fishing boats, and most of the family expenses depend on him.

"Look at what you have done to a good child. You will regret it someday!"

The old village chief felt a little sad. He liked Hutou very much when he was a child, but his personality became more and more crooked as he grew older.

Several times, I saw him bullying the kids from the same village, snatching their food and toys, and even lying on the ground and rolling around, learning his grandma's tricks perfectly.

Looking at his current condition, you can imagine what Hutou will look like when he grows up. It's such a pity.

The old village chief scolded the man for a long time before he drove him away. Jiang Wan's family was not scolded but they were not in a good mood. After all, in the eyes of the old village chief, anything that affects the harmony of the village is unpleasant.

Jiang Wan and her family were not worried. After all, they still had a long time to live here, so there was no need to rush.

After lunch, it was very hot outside, so the whole family stayed at home and slept soundly for half an hour.

When he woke up, Yin Huaixi decided to go to the mountain to take a look. On the one hand, he wanted to pick some wild vegetables to eat, and on the other hand, he wanted to see if there were any herbs that could be used.

When they followed the ox cart to the village, she estimated that it would take at least four hours to walk to the city, which was too difficult.

If someone in the family has a headache or a fever, it is extremely inconvenient to get medicine. It is better to do it yourself and have enough food and clothing.

"Little sister, you want to go up the mountain? Then let's go together."

Song Wenhui wanted to go to the mountain to pick up more firewood. She felt uneasy at home. It was a good opportunity to take her daughter out for a walk.

Both the aunt and the sister-in-law wanted to go up the mountain. Yin Huaishan was worried and wanted to go with them, and the two little girls and their families were all out.

However, after a while on the mountain, the family separated and took different paths. Because the two younger ones were not physically strong enough, they could only climb the mountain slowly.

"well……"

"Cousin, what's wrong with you?"

"I feel so weak that I feel like a piece of trash."

I get tired after walking a few steps, and I get out of breath after climbing a little hill. I am even more exhausted than Lin Daiyu. Given the current conditions at home, I don’t know how long it will take to recover my physical condition.

"Cousin, can you still walk?"

Yin Ning was silent. She seemed unable to crawl anymore. It was really useless.

The sisters' enthusiasm for climbing the mountain was greatly reduced due to lack of energy. Seeing that the adults were almost out of sight, they simply found a place out of the sun to stop and rest.

Just after they sat down, they saw someone walking up the mountain along the path. They were a big man and a small child, and they looked like a brother and sister.

My sister is probably the same age as Yin Ning. Her clothes and shoes are very worn out, but strangely, she doesn't look thin, but rather a little plump.

The little girl had an old cloth wrapped around her forehead which looked faintly blood red. The little boy next to her was even better-looking and one could tell from his face that he came from a well-off family.

What was still out of place was his clothes and shoes, which looked as if he was wearing rags.

The brother and sister also saw their cousins ​​resting under the tree. The little boy looked at them curiously for a few more times but was immediately pulled back by his sister. It was obvious that she didn't want to have any communication with the sisters.

Jiang Wan is not a person who doesn't know how to read people's faces, but when she sees some things, she can't help but remind them.

"Well, girl, your pants..."

The girl must have had her private parts stained on her pants, but she continued to walk up the mountain without realizing it. If she was seen walking down the mountain by many people, she would be embarrassed.

This place is not like the modern times. If people see it, they will just think it is a trivial matter.

Here, Guishui is an unclean thing, and some people even regard it as an unlucky thing. If a girl does not clean up, being disliked is a small matter, but the most fearful thing is that her private matters are discussed, and no girl can stand it.

Lian Yinzhu didn't turn around at first, she didn't think he was calling her. It wasn't until her brother pulled her and said her pants were dirty that she turned around to take a look.

Her neck was quite flexible, and I could see some behind her butt. But because her pants were dark, I took a quick look and thought it was mud from sitting on the ground, so I didn't take it seriously.

"It's nothing, just a little dirt."

Lian Yinzhu touched her brother's head and turned back to look at the two frail girls, forcing a smile and thanking them. It wasn't that she disliked the two girls, she just wasn't in the mood to talk to them.

Seeing that she turned around and was about to leave without taking it seriously, Jiang Wan and Yin Ning had no choice but to chase after her.

"Girl, your pants are dirty, don't you understand?"

Many girls are confused when they get their first period, including herself.

Jiang Wan recalled the time when she had her first period, and it was just after class. When she stood up after school, her male classmate suddenly pulled her and wouldn't let her go. He blushed and asked her to look at the stool, then lent her his school uniform.

When she saw the blood on the bench, she was so scared that she started crying. She called her mother and listened to her mother explain it several times before she finally understood. In the end, she just walked out of the school gate with her school uniform wrapped around her and her legs tucked in.

I even took a physiology class at that time, but I still forgot it in the end. In ancient times, girls had no education in this area and relied entirely on their elders to teach them, and most of them didn't understand it.

So Jiang Wan suspected that the little girl in front of her didn't understand what it meant to have dirty pants.

"Look carefully, there's blood on the pants."

"What?!"

Blood!

Lian Yinzhu was startled. She turned around and pulled up her pants to take a closer look. She wiped it with her hand and it was still wet and it was indeed blood.

The blood-red glare made her eyes go straight, her face turned pale like a ghost, and she murmured, "Am I going to die soon? What about Jinbao? What about Jinbao?!"

Xiao Jinbao had already started crying. He still remembered that his mother died from excessive bleeding.

"Sister, please don't die! Wuwuwu..."

"Jinbao! Wuwuwu..."

Jiang Wan & Yin Ning: "..."

"Don't cry beforehand. It won't kill you."

Jiang Wan tugged at Lian Yinzhu and whispered something into her ear without letting her brother hear.

Lian Yinzhu's ears turned red enough to bleed after hearing this simple physiological knowledge.

"Ah, this, this, so that's how it is..."

Lian Yinzhu was embarrassed and ashamed, but fortunately she was facing two girls so she didn't make a big fool of herself.

"Thank you so much! My name is Lian Yinzhu. Are you new here yesterday?"

Jiang Wan nodded, introduced herself and her cousin.

"Yinzhu, go back and change now while there's not much mud on you. Put some mud on your pants and loosen up the backpack so nothing can be seen."

Lian Yinzhu nodded. Now that she had arrived at Kuishui, she no longer had the heart to go up the mountain. She quickly followed Jiang Wan's instructions and then took her brother down the mountain.

The two sisters were in a good mood after making a small contribution. They felt that they had rested enough and slowly started to walk up the mountain. Not long after they walked, they saw a large bamboo forest.

Jiang Wan's eyes were bright, "Bamboo forest, bamboo forest, the bamboos are full of treasures!"

Bamboo can be made into a variety of daily necessities and handicrafts, and bamboo shoots are a nutritious food.

In modern times, bamboo fibers can be made through physical and chemical reactions and used as textiles, such as towels and clothes. Bamboo can also be made into bamboo charcoal by baking.

Of course, the current environment is not used for a wide range of purposes. It is mostly used to build sheds, brooms, tables, chairs and beds. It is also used to weave baskets, backpacks, vegetable baskets, bamboo mats, etc.

In short, this bamboo forest is full of treasures.

It's a pity that this bamboo forest is not wild.

The village has a rule that each family can only cut two bamboos for free, and if they want to cut more bamboos, they have to pay. This is why the bamboo forest is so lush, otherwise it would have been cut down long ago.

Jiang Wan noted the location. She had to ask her uncle to cut the bamboos from both houses. There were too many things missing at home. If she had four large bamboos, she could make several pieces of furniture.

Now, she is not in a hurry to cut the bamboo. She wants to know if there are any bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest.

Different species of bamboo will produce bamboo shoots at different times. Some are best eaten around the Qingming Festival, some are not too late to be picked in May or June, and some can even be eaten in October.

She was not greedy. She just wanted to give her a few bamboo shoots so that her family could get through the most difficult days.

"Cousin, let's go! Let's go over there and see if there's anything to eat."

Yin Ning looked in the direction her cousin pointed and saw a bamboo forest. She frowned. What could be eaten in a bamboo forest?

Thinking this way, she asked.

Jiang Wan: “…”

My cousin is really a fairy who doesn't care about worldly things. She doesn't even know about bamboo shoots.

"Cousin, what kind of books do you usually read?"

"I read The Instructions for Women and Four Books for Women. Sometimes I also read some storybooks. Don't you read these too?"

Jiang Wan smiled dryly. That was for the original owner to see, so she didn't want to read these.

Good girls are all framed by reading these books. This exile is not entirely a bad thing. At least my cousin can live more freely.

"Cousin, I have stopped reading those books. I usually read travelogues and gossips. We will be village girls in the future, so you should forget about books like "Nu Yi" which are used to instruct young ladies from noble families."

Yin Ning was stunned. She actually felt that what her cousin said made sense. She even felt a little excited.

Before she could figure out what was going on, her cousin had already dragged her into the bamboo forest.

"Cousin, bamboo shoots are the young stems of bamboo that can be eaten as vegetables. Let's look carefully, there should be bamboo shoots in this season."

As Jiang Wan spoke, she dug out two slightly thick wooden sticks from the ground, holding one for herself and giving the other to her cousin.

There are a lot of fallen leaves piled up in the bamboo forest. It would be very difficult to dig out the bamboo shoots with your hands, but it would be much easier with this stick.

"Cousin, I have never seen bamboo shoots. Have you seen them?"

"Of course I have seen it. I have even eaten it. Bamboo shoots are small and look a bit like pagodas. The outer shell is mostly dark brown and hairy. It is very itchy when it is touched. You can just use this stick to scrape it."

Jiang Wan had never dug bamboo shoots herself, but she had seen bloggers doing it in many videos. Lacking practical experience, she could only give orders verbally.

The two sisters were very lucky. After digging with sticks for a while, they found a few fat bamboo shoots under the bamboo leaves.

"cousin!"

Yin Ning's cheeks turned red with excitement, and he almost couldn't help but pull it.

She knew exactly how much food there was at home, and it would take at most two days to eat it all. She was panicking when there was no food in the jar, and she was really scared of being hungry during the exile, so she was so excited when she saw the bamboo shoots as thick as her arms.

If you save some, this bamboo shoot can feed your family for two days! !

"Don't touch it with your hands, cousin. The hair on the shell will make your hands itchy."

Jiang Wan took a wooden stick and started to dig around the bamboo shoots. Fortunately, the soil was not very hard, otherwise it would take all her strength to dig out one.

"Cousin, it's still that long under the soil!"

Yin Ning held her cousin's hand tightly. Now they could have enough food at home for three days!

The girl's thoughts were written all over her face, and Jiang Wan felt sad. Her cousin's age would still be a junior high school student in modern times, but now she has already experienced family changes, imprisonment, broken engagement, and exile.

It's really heartbreaking.

"Cousin! I found another one!"

“Here it comes!”

Jiang Wan put away her messy thoughts, picked up a stick and went to help her cousin dig. The two girls were like hamsters, running around in the bamboo forest collecting food. When Yin Huaishan came, they had already dug out seven or eight bamboo shoots.

The knowledgeable Lord Yin was dumbfounded again.

"What is this?"

Yin Ning felt more balanced when she heard this. It wasn't that she was ignorant, her father didn't know either.

Jiang Wan on the side didn't know what to say.

"Uncle, you don't know about bamboo shoots either?"

"Ahem... I know about bamboo shoots. I've even eaten them before. But I've never seen them freshly dug like this."

Yin Huaishan squatted down and looked at the little fat guys over and over again. Before Jiang Wan could stop him, she saw that her uncle's hands were stained with a lot of bamboo shoot hairs.

In just a short while, red spots appeared on Yin Huaishan's hands, and they were very itchy.

Lord Yin was having a headache while blowing the bamboo shoots. It was not easy to carry these bamboo shoots down the mountain without a backpack at home.

"Uncle, when we were going up the mountain just now, we saw a few trees with particularly large leaves. Let's go pick some leaves to wrap bamboo shoots."

Jiang Wan knew that it was a palm tree but it was not appropriate to say it directly at this moment, so she could only remind it.

Yin Huaishan had no doubts. After all, he had never seen leaves that big before, so he was quite impressed. He quickly went back and pulled two large leaves back.

"I didn't look closely because I was far away. This leaf is really good."

Jiang Wan agreed with this statement.

The leaves of the palm tree are not a whole piece, but are composed of many leaves. Its leaves are very tough and can be used to replace ropes. They can also be used to weave baskets, straw hats, raincoats, etc., which are very useful.

Considering how poor my house is now, I will have to collect more leaves to bring back later.

The uncle and nephew thought of the same thing. After Yin Huaishan tied up the bamboo shoots and carried them back, the whole family picked a lot of leaves and took them down the mountain.

After returning home, Jiang Wan subconsciously went to look for her mother, but no one was at home.

"Where are my mother and aunt? Have they come back?"

"No, your mother just made up her mind. She said she knew a lot of herbs and took your aunt with her and left without paying any attention to me."

Lord Yin sighed, he had no idea what to do with his sister and wife.

"They said they were going to get some wild vegetables, but in the end they didn't get much."

Jiang Wan smiled awkwardly and didn't dare to answer.

Ask her mother to pick herbs, wild vegetables are really difficult to pick.