When Pei Yao climbed down the tree, she found that many saplings had grown around the base of the tree, and the leaves on those saplings looked very similar to those of the big lychee tree.
Could this be a lychee sapling?
Thinking this, Pei Yao picked up her machete and dug up two relatively sturdy saplings, which she carefully tied together with straw and hung next to her small basket.
If this really is a lychee tree, I can take it home and plant it in the yard, so that I can eat lychees in the yard when it grows up.
However, after mentioning dried longan, Pei Yao started to think that there were probably still longan trees on the mountain. If she remembered correctly, longan was also from the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, and it was around the same season as lychee.
There's no time to search slowly today, and even if I found it, I couldn't carry it. I'll have to wait until next time I go up the mountain to look for it.
Besides, they picked so much fruit today that it will last them for a while.
When the two returned, they passed by the spot where they had previously placed the kiwis. The grass had not been disturbed and remained exactly as it had been.
The two found the kiwis, picked them up, and continued down the mountain. Pei Yichen was already carrying a basket on his back, while Pei Yao carried the heavy bag of kiwis herself.
The food at home has been good lately, and Pei Yao has been doing chores a lot, so she's become stronger than when she first arrived, no longer as weak as she was at the beginning.
It is said that going up a mountain is easy but coming down is difficult, let alone for the brother and sister carrying big bags and small bags. They are now walking in the mountains in a very sorry state.
Fortunately, this mountain is not particularly high.
The two walked and rested intermittently, and finally made it home before dinner was ready.
"I'm so tired!" Pei Yichen cried out as soon as he entered the courtyard. He put the things he was carrying on the table in the courtyard, then unloaded the things on his back and collapsed onto the ground. Pei Yao followed him in.
Yunniang, Chen Fang, and Pei Xuan were preparing dinner in the kitchen when they heard someone howling in the yard. The voice was very distinctive and could be identified as Pei Yichen's.
The two siblings had been gone for most of the day, and they've finally returned.
"Yunniang, I think I heard Xiaochen and Yao'er's voices." Chen Fang looked at Yunniang uncertainly, after all, she had only heard one sentence and then there was no sound.
Yunniang nodded, "I heard that too..."
"Xuan'er heard it too, it's my older sister and cousin coming back." Little Xuan'er waved her little hand happily and ran out first.
The other two hurriedly followed. Chen Fang saw Pei Yichen sitting on the ground, her lips twitched, and she looked at her silly son covered in dust with some disgust: "You brat, lying on the ground again, don't you feel sorry for your mother who has to wash clothes?"
Although Chen Fang said this, she felt sorry for her son. Judging from his appearance, he must have been tired from climbing the mountain.
Pei Yichen glanced at his mother, stood up and grabbed a few lychees for her. He grinned and said in a very good mood, "Mother, try them! We picked a lot of wild fruits today, and they're all delicious."
Chen Fang glanced at the things on the table. She couldn't see what was in the burlap sack, but she could see what was in the frame, though she didn't recognize it...
She glanced at the red fruit Pei Yichen had given her, unsure where to begin. Pei Yichen noticed her mother's confusion, took one, peeled it open, and gave it to her.
"This is peeled, Mother, you can eat it directly."
Yunniang also came out and took the bag of kiwis from Pei Yao's hand: "Yao'er, are you tired? Come in and rest for a while."
Pei Yao wiped the sweat from her forehead and took the basket hanging from her waist off and put it on the table: "It's okay, I'm not too tired. I'll take a shower and change my clothes first, they're all soaked with sweat."
Pei Yao was completely soaked in sweat, and her clothes were sticky and uncomfortable to wear.
Moreover, kiwifruit has a lot of fine fuzz on it, which can stick to sweaty skin, making it uncomfortable and itchy.
The front of her hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to her forehead in strands, while the back of her hair was messed up by the wildly growing branches in the mountains, looking like a chicken coop.
Yunniang looked at her, her eyes and heart full of heartache: "Okay, you rest for a while. There are a few buckets of water drying in the yard. I'll go get you the new clothes I made today. You can wash them directly later."
Pei Yao was indeed exhausted from carrying so many things down the mountain. When she stopped, she felt like her legs weren't even her own anymore, and she was trembling as she stood there.
"Okay, then thank you for your trouble, Mother." Pei Yao said somewhat embarrassedly. She was still a little unaccustomed to being taken care of like this, but she was indeed too tired to fetch water at the moment.
Pei Yichen is a boy, and most of the boys here go directly to the stream at the entrance of the village to bathe.
It's not only convenient, but it also cleans very well.
Yunniang went to fetch water and find clothes for her, while Pei Yao and Pei Yichen rested in the courtyard. Chen Fang poured two glasses of water for her.
"Yao girl, have some water first." Chen Fang handed water to Pei Yao, and then gave a cup to Pei Yichen.
Pei Yichen took the water and drank the whole cup in one gulp. He choked and coughed incessantly because he drank it too fast.
Chen Fang patted his back tenderly: "You child, no one is taking it from you, why are you in such a hurry?"
Sitting next to Pei Yao, Pei Xuan held a small palm-leaf fan that Pei Yao had bought for her before, and used her two small hands to hold the handle and fan her older sister.
"Sister, let me fan you so you won't be hot anymore." Little Xuan'er looked at Pei Yao with her eyes crinkling. This little girl has been sticking to her older sister lately, and she always smiles whenever she sees Pei Yao.
Pei Yao was also happy to see this. She reached into the basket behind her and grabbed a few lychees. She peeled one, and the translucent flesh exuded a rich, sweet aroma.
"Little Xuan'er, open your mouth and eat a lychee, it's so sweet."
Upon hearing this, Pei Xuan immediately opened her mouth wide, waiting for Pei Yao to feed her.
Pei Yao smiled and put the fruit into the little girl's mouth. The little girl's eyes narrowed with delight.
"Big sister, this lychee is so delicious! It's so delicious that Xuan'er doesn't want to swallow it!" The little girl squinted her eyes, tucked her little nose in, and looked very happy. Her tone was soft and cute.
Pei Yao was amused by her smug look and reached out to gently pinch her little nose: "Come on, have another one."
After saying that, he peeled a few more for her, and also removed the lychee pits from them, before giving them to her.
Children are most afraid of getting lychee seeds stuck in their throats when eating lychees; it's no joke.
Pei Xuan only has two small hands, so she can't hold that much. Her mouth is also stuffed full. Pei Yao looked at her like a little hamster, smiled, and went to the kitchen to get a bowl, putting the peeled food into the bowl.
"No rush, eat slowly, there's still some left in the bowl."
Meanwhile, Pei Yichen was teaching his mother how to eat lychees. It was the first time Chen Fang had ever eaten such a delicious fruit, and she ate several more than she could eat.
Yunniang carried the bucket of water heated in the sun to the back of the house, where it was enclosed by a bamboo curtain. She then placed the new clothes she had made for Pei Yao next to it. After getting everything ready, she came over to call Pei Yao.
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