Chapter 43: My feet and legs are sore, how can I run around? Unless you carry me...
Zhou Ye's expression showed a hint of helplessness. He explained to Lin Shu, "No, chopping wood was just a side job."
Lin Shu stopped teasing him and asked, "You're carrying this full basket of mushrooms, and you still need to chop a huge bundle of firewood? Can you lift it?"
Zhou Ye: "It's okay. Just carry the basket in front and bundle the firewood behind you. That way the mushrooms won't be crushed."
Lin Xiaopu, who was already sitting next to Lin Shu, said loudly, "Sister, you underestimate Brother Ye. Brother Ye can easily carry both of us, one in each hand, let alone a large bundle of firewood!"
Hearing this, Lin Shu's eyes turned and she jokingly said, "Brother Aye, Xiao Pu and I are both tired. Otherwise, when we go down the mountain later, you can carry one of us in each hand and carry us down the mountain?"
Lin Xiaopu covered his mouth and laughed.
If she and her elder sister were really dragged down the mountain by Brother A Ye in broad daylight, the news would spread throughout the entire Tianshui Village within a day.
And even if my sister dares to say it, my brother Aye doesn't dare to do it.
Lin Shu's words were clearly a joke, but Zhou Ye shook his head seriously. "If your legs are really sore and you can't walk, hold onto my arm as we go down the mountain."
Lin Shu's eyes, like two pools of clear spring water, looked at Zhou Ye. Her delicate eyebrows raised vividly, and her pitiful expression suddenly shone with a bright glow. "Brother Ye, I have to support you as you walk. Can't you just carry me on your back? I think we shouldn't chop the firewood anymore. How about you carry a basket of mushrooms in front and a living person on your back?"
Zhou Ye suddenly stopped and looked at her strangely for a long moment. "No, there are a lot of people going up the mountain to pick mushrooms. If they see this and spread the news, those gossipers will probably make up stories about you behind your back."
Lin Shu tried her best to hold back her laughter and nodded obediently, "Brother Aye is right. I'll listen to you. I'll just hold your arm and walk with you. I won't ask you to carry me on your back."
Zhou Ye was silent for a moment, then hesitantly said, "If you're really tired, when you help me walk, you can hang your whole body on my arm, with only your toes lightly touching the ground. That way, others won't be able to tell."
Lin Shu had been teasing him, but she hadn't expected this honest man to come up with a less honest plan. She immediately responded, "Really? Then I'll be rude!"
Zhou Ye nodded, squatted down and put down the backpack, "Wait a moment, I'll be back soon."
Lin Shu sat on a rock, wiggling her ankles leisurely, her posture quite relaxed. "No, do you really need to go chop wood? It just rained, and the grass and trees on the mountain are all wet. The firewood we chop will be wet and won't light. We'll have to put it in the yard to dry it after we bring it back. Why not wait until the branches in the forest are dried by the sun before you chop them?"
Then her eyes turned darkly, and a brilliant smile appeared on her lips. "Brother Aye, if you really want to bring something down the mountain, why don't you go cut some bamboo?"
Zhou Ye turned his head and looked at her. "Sister Shu, what do you want to do with the bamboo? But what about the fence surrounding the fish pond?"
"It's not just the fence around the fish pond. There are so many things I want to make! The big ones include bamboo stools, bamboo chairs, and bamboo lounge chairs. I wonder how many bamboo mats I have at home. I can still bear it now, but in another month, I will be too hot to sleep without bamboo mats, so I will definitely need a bamboo mat. As for small things, I can cut a few sections of bamboo tubes to make pen holders, and I can also make some small flower pots for flowers and plants. Xiaopu doesn't have much to play with, so I want to make some small toys for Xiaopu, such as bamboo dragonflies, bamboo wind chimes, and bamboo balls."
Lin Xiaopu cooperated very well and let out a "wow".
Lin Shu nodded her little nose and continued, "Make me a long-handled bamboo ladle. A long-handled ladle is sometimes more convenient to use than a gourd ladle. Also, a bamboo brush for scrubbing pots. The one that Mother is using is already very old..."
Zhou Ye listened carefully and nodded. "Okay, I'll chop some more bamboo later. But if I do all of this, it's going to cost a lot of money. And Grandpa Gao has a lot of work on his hands these days, so it'll probably take a few days to finish all of this."
Lin Shu curved her eyebrows at him and smiled brightly, "Let's not ask Grandpa Gao, Brother A Ye, you can do it."
Zhou Ye was stunned. "I'm a rough man, I don't know how to do housework."
Lin Shu: "You can't, but I can."
In her previous life, the southwest base she was in lacked everything except bamboo, so all the bamboo near the base was cut down to make bamboo tools. She had made most of the things she had just described to Zhou Ye herself. Now that her immense strength was gone, an ordinary farmer from a book had the same extraordinary strength as her. If she, a woman, could do it, then Zhou Ye, a grown man, would have no problem doing it.
However, before coming to Tianshui Village, she was a wealthy young lady who had never done anything. Lin Shu found an excuse for herself, "When I was in the Marquis' Mansion, I loved bamboo very much. Just like what the Grand Scholar Su said, I would rather eat without meat than live without bamboo. But my love is different from that of ordinary people. Scholars paint bamboo, poets write about bamboo, and I just like to study bamboo utensils made from bamboo."
Lin Shu continued to make up stories without batting an eyelid. "So, I've studied all the different bamboo products in the mansion. Although I haven't made them myself, I've asked the experienced bamboo weavers in the bamboo shop how they're made. I can't make complicated ones, like those that require more than a dozen weaving techniques, but I know the simple ones, like this bamboo mat, and the bamboo stools, chairs, and beds that don't require splitting the strips, quite well."
Zhou Ye was quite surprised to hear this. He really didn't expect that she used to live the life of a rich lady, but she liked to study the work of a bamboo craftsman.
Lin Xiaopu was so excited that she jumped up from the rock. "Sister, then our family can make our own bamboo stools, chairs, and even bamboo beds, right?"
Lin Shu twisted her ankles even more happily, and nodded with a smile, "Brother Aye is a pragmatic person. With my guidance, he will definitely learn it after a few more times."
Zhou Ye hesitated to speak. Lin Shu's words were so firm, but he was still unsure.
Seeing his reaction, Lin Shu couldn't hold back any more and laughed so hard that her body shook. "Pfft, hahahaha... Zhou Ye, do you know that there are four words written on your face: life, no, love! Haha..."
After she had finished laughing, Lin Shu wiped the sparkle from the corners of her eyes with her fingertips. "Don't worry, I won't ask you to make something as complicated as a bamboo mat. Bamboo work is difficult, especially the splitting. Without years of skilled knife skills, you can't split bamboo strips of the same width. Otherwise, wouldn't everyone in Tianshui Village be a bamboo craftsman? And after all these years, there wouldn't be only Grandpa Gao as a bamboo craftsman. This is our first time, so we won't aim for anything difficult. Let's just try making simple bamboo stools and chairs."
Zhou Ye was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go cut some bamboo first. You guys stay here and don't run around."
Lin Shuning looked at him with a smile in her eyes, and said meaningfully: "My feet and legs are sore, how can I run around? Unless someone is willing to carry me down the mountain, I can sit here forever." Zhou Ye had no words to say. He picked up the axe and, relying on his long legs, disappeared in a few steps.
He always walked with big steps like this, but this time, there was a hint of fleeing in his steps.
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The author has something to say: I would rather eat without meat than live without bamboo. —Su Shi, "Green Bamboo Pavilion of the Monk Yu Qian"
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