Chapter 44 Big Brother is Back
After sending Xiaodouzi away, Zhao Zhilan was about to take Baoya home when she suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at her from behind.
She looked back and around, but saw nothing.
Baoya looked up at her curiously: "Grandma, what's wrong?"
Zhao Zhilan shook her head: "Nothing, grandma must be dazzled."
At this time, Yun Chenglu came out of the main room with a slingshot, glanced around, and suddenly grinned.
He reached out and touched Baoya's little head, then glanced at Zhao Zhilan and said, "Grandma, Baoya, watch me! I'll show you how to shoot birds with a slingshot!"
As he spoke, he picked up a small stone from the ground, put it on the slingshot and tightened it, then let go.
With a whoosh, the small stone shot out and hit accurately the elm branch protruding from the courtyard wall of Chen Xiaojuan's house opposite. The branch shook and dead leaves fell to the ground.
Baoya giggled: "Second brother, what kind of bird are you shooting at? It's not accurate at all!"
“Ouch!”
But immediately afterwards, there was a muffled thud and a clear scream of pain came from the Chen family courtyard opposite.
Yun Chenglu put away the slingshot and hugged Baoya in his arms: "Second brother hit the peeping bird this time!"
Zhao Zhilan's face beside her also darkened. After yesterday's incident with the river clams, she thought the Chen family would be quiet for a few days.
But who would have thought that this girl Chen Xiaojuan could not sit still for a moment. She had her hand pinched while stealing river clams yesterday, and today she was lying on the wall of her own yard to peek at them selling tofu.
"Let's go," she said to Baoya and Yun Chenglu, "The Chen family isn't a good bird. Let's close the door tightly and don't let them fly in."
"Yeah!" Baoya and Yun Chenglu nodded vigorously.
After breakfast, the family went about their own business. Baoya, Yun Chenglu, Yunhua and Yunyue played in the yard.
Yun Chengfu is on leave today and should be back.
Five large river clams were placed in two large basins, with fine sand at the bottom and some clean water.
Four children gathered around the basin and stared at the clams inside.
"It's been several days, and they haven't spit out any pearls." Yun Yue squatted on the ground, staring at the big river clams in the two basins, feeling worried.
"Maybe it's time to plant the core." Baoya said.
"Seed core?" Yun Yue looked curious. "What is a seed core?"
Baoya didn't know much about it either. It was her eldest brother who told her, so she shook her head.
As he was speaking, a clear and melodious voice suddenly rang out from above his head: "You need to grow nuclear river clams to produce pearls. I will teach you later."
Hearing the voice, Baoya looked up suddenly and said happily: "Brother! You are back!"
Yun Chengfu stood behind them, carrying a book basket on his back. Seeing the four children looking up at him, he smiled and said, "You're back! Big brother brought you some goodies. Come inside first."
Several people stood up at once and supported Yun Chengfu to go to the main hall.
Wang Cailian was cooking. When she saw Yun Chengfu coming back, she quickly put down her work, wiped the food on her clothes, and went to greet him.
"Son, you're back!"
Yun Chengfu nodded: "Mother."
"Come on, you guys go play in the room. Mom made braised pork with bean curd threads and some leavened bread."
"Well, mom, don't worry about us." Yun Chengfu smiled and went into the house with his younger brothers and sisters.
In the west room, Yun Chengfu took out four calligraphy books from his book basket and distributed them to the four people: "Bao Ya, the youngest one, will be five years old by the New Year. It's time for you to learn calligraphy, so the best gift I can give you now is the calligraphy books."
"What's the point of practicing calligraphy?" Yun Yue tilted her head and looked at him.
Yunhua reached out and touched the blue-covered calligraphy book: "If you practice calligraphy, you can write your own name."
"You can also write other people's names." Baoya said.
When she said this, she was thinking of Brother Xiaojing.
Xiao Jing's brother's name is Jingzhen, which sounds very nice. She wants to know what these two words look like when written.
Seeing Baoya's serious expression, Yun Chengfu smiled and said, "Whose name do you want to write, little Baoya?"
When Baoya was asked, her face turned red with embarrassment and she sucked her fingers: "Just a good friend."
"Baoya has made a friend? Who is it?" Yunyue asked curiously, and Yunhua also leaned over.
Only Yun Chenglu gave her a meaningful look and changed the subject, saying, "Brother, stop talking about this and teach us how to plant the seeds!"
Yun Chengfu didn't ask any more questions. He changed his long gown into a short jacket, took out a small cloth bag from the book basket, and took the four children to the yard.
Yun Chengfu opened the cloth bag beside the copper basin, revealing what was inside: a small blade and several silver needles shining with a cold light.
Baoya, Yunyue, Yunhua and Yun Chenglu all opened their eyes wide, very curious.
"Brother, do we need these things to plant the seeds?" Baoya asked.
"Yes," Yun Chengfu nodded. "To grow the core, you need at least two river clams. One is used to cut the flesh membrane attached to the shell, and the other is used to grow the core."
As he spoke, he took out a river clam from the basin, pried open the shell, peeled off a piece of the flesh membrane attached to the shell with a blade, and then cut it into small pieces the size of a fingernail. He cut a total of five pieces and placed them in a small bowl filled with clean water next to him.
After a moment, he took out a small piece from the bowl, picked up a silver needle, pierced the center of the piece, and rolled it into a small ball.
Then pick up another river clam and pry open a small gap, use a needle to pierce a small hole in the membrane attached to the shell, and then stuff the previously rolled ball into the small hole to prevent it from falling off easily.
He rolled the five small pieces into small balls and stuffed them into another clams. After finishing, he placed the two clams in basins of clean water.
"It's like this. The clams that have been seeded and the clams that have had their membranes cut must be kept separately to avoid contaminating the wounds."
Yun Chengfu said as he washed the blade and the silver needle in clean water and placed them on the cloth bag. "Do you know how to do it?"
Yunhua and Yunyue both shook their heads: "It's too difficult, big brother, this is delicate work."
"Then I'm even less capable." Yun Chenglu scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.
Yun Chengfu saw Baoya lowering her head, concentrating on the remaining clams in the basin. He reached out and touched her head: "What about Baoya? Have you learned it yet?"
"Yeah, I think I can do it." She nodded and said, "Brother, how about I try the remaining three?"
Yun Chengfu was a little surprised that the little girl dared to try it out after just one look. He nodded and said, "Okay, then you try it. I'll watch you."
Baoya rolled up her sleeves in a very professional manner, revealing her two snow-white wrists. She also ran to wash her hands, and then picked up the blade to operate.
Cutting the membrane, slicing, rolling, and implanting the core, the two little hands moved deftly and soon the remaining three clams were all done.
Since there were three clams left, Baoya used one to cut the membrane and kept the remaining two to grow the nuclei. She put five nuclei into each of the two clams.
After finishing, she imitated Yun Chengfu and placed the three large river clams in separate basins, putting the three with nuclei together and the two with membranes cut together.
Yun Chengfu watched her finish and smiled with satisfaction: "Very good, our Baoya can now start her apprenticeship."
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