“Second brother, that’s enough. If Mother finds out you’ve been bullying Xingxing, she’ll definitely give you a beating.” Zhou Dafu shook his head. His second brother was growing taller and becoming increasingly unruly.
Zhou Erfu wouldn't listen to a word and continued laughing and rolling around.
Nobody bothered him anymore; he didn't want to get up, and nobody could pull him up.
Zhou Dafu and Zhou Sanfu, who were just feeling down, are now full of energy. They quickly climb the tree with baskets on their backs and start sweeping up the half-ripe bayberries on the tree.
"Big brother, third brother, why did you pick the unripe bayberries? Don't pick the half-ripe ones. Wait until they're fully ripe before picking them." Zhou Wufu thought his two brothers were being wasteful. The half-ripe bayberries were too sour, and he wouldn't even bother drying them.
"Never mind, we'll just pick some, all the ripe ones, we'll use them very well," Zhou Sanfu said casually.
Zhou Erfu was still acting crazy. He grabbed Xingxing's feet and laughed. Xingxing covered her face and kicked him away. She silently got up and moved away from him, afraid that her second brother's madness would be contagious.
Xingxing walked a short distance with her hands behind her back and suddenly noticed a particularly eye-catching bayberry tree not far ahead. The reason it caught her attention was that the bayberries on other trees were red, but the bayberries on this tree were white.
"Second Brother, get up quickly, stop laughing! There's a tree here that's growing white bayberries, how rare!" Xingxing's voice was crisp and clear.
Zhou Erfu finally finished laughing, jumped up from the ground, quickly patted the dust off his clothes, and strode over to take a look. "It really is a white plum. White plums are rare. I've only seen two in the past two years. With this one, that makes three. White plums taste better than red plums. They're not as sour. Wait here, your second brother will go pick one for you."
Xingxing frowned, looking doubtful. She no longer believed her second brother's words; this idiot was just making fun of her.
The other brothers heard what Xingxing said and came down from the red plum tree to pick white plums. Dafu and Sanfu, in particular, picked them very diligently. For some reason, the white plums ripened faster than the red plums. Almost all the white plums on the tree turned white and didn't taste very sour. The two brothers picked all the white plums off the tree.
Zhou Erfu, Zhou Sifu, and Zhou Wufu picked half a basket of ripe red plums, intending to take them back to dry into dried bayberries. Seeing Zhou Sanfu and Zhou Dafu picking white plums, they didn't try to take them with them.
By the time the six returned home, it was already dark. The villagers who had helped build the house had all finished work, except for Zhou Laoda, who was still working overtime with his tools. Zhao Guihua was cooking dinner in the kitchen, and the aroma of dried meat wafted out.
"Dad, Mom, we're back! My brothers and I picked so many bayberries that all our baskets are full. Xingxing also carried a small basket." Xingxing was also quite tired today because she picked so many bayberries that none of the five brothers could carry her.
She mostly walked on her own, only carrying Zhou Erfu for a short distance when they were on steeper slopes. Sometimes Zhou Sifu would also carry her for a while, but not for too long.
Besides the fact that they were carrying too much weight, the mountain road was really difficult to walk on. They were not very old, and it was okay for them to carry the stars for a short distance, but they couldn't bear it for too long.
Just then, Zhao Guihua scooped the vegetables out of the pot. Dinner was ready. She took the vegetables directly to the main room, glanced at them casually, and exclaimed, "Why did you pick so many bayberries? No wonder you didn't come back until dark. If you want to dry bayberries, you'll have to put them in the backyard to dry tomorrow. There's a lot of dust in the front yard because of the construction."
“Mom, let’s not dry the bayberries yet, we have other uses for them.” Zhou Sanfu’s words were pointed, but no one except Zhou Dafu could understand what he meant.
"What else can you do with bayberries if you don't dry them?" Zhao Guihua didn't take it to heart and just asked casually.
"Let's eat first, I'll tell you after we finish eating," Zhou Sanfu said mysteriously.
Zhao Guihua ignored him, put the dishes on the octagonal table, picked up Xingxing and returned to the kitchen, where she fetched water for the little girl to wash her face and hands.
"Mother, Xingxing walked a lot today; I walked all the paths on the mountain," Xingxing said seriously.
Zhao Guihua's smile deepened, and she teased, "My daughter is amazing! You've walked this entire path, so there's nowhere left for others to go!"
Xingxing paused for a moment, then replied seriously, "They walked the path I walked."
She was serious, because the brothers were worried that if she walked at the back, she wouldn't be able to keep up with their pace, and they were even more afraid that a wild animal would suddenly jump out and carry her away.
So for safety reasons, Xingxing was put in the front. The little girl took small, quick steps with her short legs, while the five Fu brothers followed slowly behind. Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu were right behind her, close enough to catch her with a single reach.
Yes, all five of them were walking behind her, following the path she had walked.
Zhao Guihua smiled even more happily. Listening to her daughter's innocent words always cheered her up, and all the fatigue of the day was swept away at that moment.
After washing her hands, Xingxing came out of the kitchen and sweetly called out to Zhou Laoda, "Dad, dinner's ready! Come and wash your hands. Don't bother, you can do it tomorrow."
"Hey, I'll be right there. Once we've nailed this up, we'll be all done." Old Zhou took the hammer and nailed the window shut with a 'bang bang bang'.
"Dad, you've worked hard," Xingxing said, acting like a little adult. "Sigh, Xingxing has worked hard today too. I bet your feet are blistered. You're so diligent."
Zhao Guihua overheard this. After bringing out the food, she picked up Xingxing and sat her on the bench, wanting to take off her shoes to check the soles of her feet.
After washing his hands, Zhou Laoda squatted down beside his daughter to check if her feet were really blistered.
Xingxing twisted her body and protested, "Xingxing wants to eat first, and then look at her feet. Xingxing is so hungry!"
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