Chapter 5 A Busy Day (Part 1)
No matter what, the children have been brought back, and she has to take good care of them.
She thought for a moment, then pointed to the well in the south and said, "Don't go near the water or the well. I'm busy today. You can rest at home and have fun all day."
Mimiko immediately shook her head.
Nanako stood in front of the house, feeling an indescribable emotion in her heart. The excitement of regaining her new home, the sense of security and the disbelief buried deep in her heart all burst out. Now she just wanted to stay by Gong Zhili's side forever, so she looked up at Gong Zhili pleadingly, not wanting to be separated from her.
"Then follow me, maybe you can help me." Gong Zhili looked at their expressions and knew that leaving them in an empty house was not a good idea.
The two little tails immediately followed her automatically.
Gong Zhili carried the boxes sent by the village chief's wife and others back into the house and put the bundle and the boxes together. He didn't have time to sort them out now, so he decided to do it in the evening.
She changed into the long-sleeved shirt and long pants prepared by the villagers, then went to the warehouse to find a pair of work gloves, took out two somewhat tattered straw hats, and put one on each of the two children.
Nanako took off her straw hat and handed it to her: "Miya-sama, this is for you!"
Gong Zhili pressed her hand: "It's okay, I can weave straw hats, you can wear them today."
Whether it is dry straw in the warehouse or reed stalks by the lake, they are all good weaving materials.
Thinking of this, she said to the two children, "Please help me collect some reeds later. Don't collect too many, and don't go near the water. Can you do that?"
The little girls stood straight like soldiers and said in clear voices: "Yes!"
Gong Zhili carried a backpack and a shovel and came to the place where taro grew by the lake. The sun was out now, drying the dew, and it was a good time to harvest.
She taught the two children how to identify yellow reed stalks. After helping them pick a few reeds, she left them there to play slowly while she shoveled up taro.
When she dug out the first taro, she felt the power fluctuation at that moment in the village chief's house again - something pure was absorbed by her and became a part of her.
If what was absorbed at that time was the so-called "curse spirit", then what is being absorbed now is the power of the land?
Thinking of this, she called the two children to her side and told them: "Watch carefully when I dig out the taro later."
The two children then stared at her movements with serious faces.
Gong Zhili wielded her shovel and dug out another large piece of yam. After clearing away the large clumps of dirt on it, she turned and asked the twins, "Did you see anything?"
The two children looked at each other and remained silent.
Gong Zhili understood: "There is something, right? Because I feel it."
Nanako asked timidly, "Is it something bad?"
Mimiko pursed her lips and said, "I don't want anything bad to happen to Lord Gong."
Gong Zhili put the taro into the backpack and said, "This is a good thing for me." She could feel her physical strength being consumed during the work and then quickly replenished. Maybe she wouldn't feel tired even after the work was over.
After hearing what she said, the two children finally made up their minds and spoke one by one: "When Master Gong swung the hoe, a blue light entered the earth from his body." "When we dug out the taro, the blue light became brighter, and it penetrated from the earth into your body." "Is it really okay?"
Gong Zhili smiled. There was mud on her hands, so she couldn't touch their heads, but her eyes were full of praise: "It's okay, this is a good thing, you guys have helped me a lot." It helped her verify a guess.
It seems that she really wants to work hard on farming in the village and have a good "communication" with the land.
When Nanako heard her say this, the emotions that she had suppressed when she was scolded or cursed by adults could no longer be suppressed. She pouted and burst into tears.
Mimiko's eyes were red, but she was more stubborn than her sisters, and she just shed big tears.
Gong Zhili sighed inwardly, but didn't show it on her face. She took off her gloves and patted them both on the head: "Don't cry, go and help me pick the reeds."
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The taro had grown into a patch by the lake, and she certainly couldn't dig it all up today. She left some taro to dig it all out after the frost. She carried the basket and took the two children home. The water she had boiled when she went out had become warm, just enough to quench their thirst. She wasn't tired, but the two children's faces were covered in sweat.
Seeing that it was not yet eleven o'clock, Gong Zhili decided to prepare lunch first: "After lunch, you can sleep at home at noon. I will go to harvest soybeans. I have a lot of other things to do today."
Nanako immediately said, "We can go together!"
Mimiko: "We can pick soybeans."
Gong Zhili glanced at the powerful sunlight outside. Although the hottest time had passed, the midday sun in early September still required ordinary people to avoid its sharp edge. So she said decisively, "Listen to me. There aren't many soybeans over there. I'll be back soon."
Then she said, "Come and help me wash the rice and vegetables."
They want to prove themselves useful by doing things because they are afraid of being abandoned, so let them do small things.
Whether it was washing rice, washing vegetables, or even lighting the stone stove, after she taught them once, the two children did it very well.
She stood by the stone stove and said, "Once the fire is lit, you don't have to worry about the size of the fire. You can't touch the fire now."
The twins sat obediently on the low stools on the other side of the kitchen and watched her cook.
Just now, Nanako washed the rice, Mimiko washed the cabbage and garlic, and Miya Chiri washed the taro herself - she didn't feel itchy when she touched the taro directly, so children should not touch it for now.
She first put the small taro in the steamer and then started to stir-fry the cabbage. With yesterday's experience, the cabbage she stir-fried today tasted better - she had made a major breakthrough in how much salt to add when stir-frying the cabbage. Next time she might consider adding some vinegar.
After the taro was steamed, she mashed it into a paste, added some glutinous rice flour and sugar found in the cupboard, placed a frying pan on the stove, poured a little oil on it, and started frying taro cakes.
This kind of food, which only requires controlling the heat, can be cooked perfectly on a stone stove. Except for the first pancake which was not turned over at the right time, the appearance of the other pancakes is impeccable.
Gong Zhili proudly brought the taro cakes and cabbage to the living room. She turned a box sideways to serve as a temporary dining table - the furniture for the house had to be purchased as soon as possible. Then she served the rice, and the two children knelt beside the box with their bowls, their faces full of anticipation.
Gong Zhili sat down cross-legged and said to the two children, "We haven't cleaned up the house yet these past two days, so we'll just have to make do for now. Once I fix the fishing nets and raise a few chickens and ducks, we'll be able to cook a lot more."
Hey, she obviously can't cook, but how come she has so many recipes in her head? She also raises chickens and ducks?
Never mind, that's not important. "From now on, you'll be responsible for mowing the grass and feeding the chickens and ducks." Isn't that exploiting the children? Gong Zhili hesitated. If nothing else worked, they could just free-range the chickens and ducks. There were so many terraced fields down below, so he could set aside some space, sow some grass seeds, and let them roam freely...
"We'll do it well!" Nanako's eyes were full of anticipation, "I'll definitely mow a lot of grass!"
Mimiko was also happy: "Raise chickens and ducks!"
This shows that they can really stay and have things they can do!
Gong Zhili smiled and said, "Okay, let's eat."
She picked up a piece of taro cake and bit into the golden, crispy crust. A crisp sound emanated, and the crispy aroma of the crust instantly spread across her tongue, with a slightly burnt aroma, like the warm autumn sunshine. Then she tasted the delicate and dense taro paste, with the unique sweetness of taro. The aroma of the taro paste spread throughout her mouth, gently enveloping her taste buds. The crispy crust and the soft filling intertwined, making her want to devour them bite by bite.
After eating a piece, Gong Zhili couldn't help but let out a sigh of satisfaction: How could she be so amazing!
The two children obviously liked it very much. Their expressions when eating something delicious could not lie. But after they finished a piece, they tacitly started to eat white rice, occasionally picking up their chopsticks to eat some cabbage.
Gong Zhili put down his bowl and chopsticks, crossed his arms and said, "The taro cakes I made are delicious, right?"
Nanako nodded hesitantly.
Mimiko explained quietly, "Miya is very tired, we can just eat rice."
Gong Zhili shook his head: "Eat, I won't treat you harshly with the food, and you did some work this morning, so you have the right to eat."
After saying that, she picked up a piece of taro cake for each of them and took a piece for herself to eat.
Mimiko bit into the sweet taro cake, but her throat felt like it was clogged with cotton, and it was so sour and bitter that she couldn't swallow.
But she still swallowed the food with difficulty. After swallowing two taro cakes, she quickened her eating speed until her stomach was full.
Gong Zhili took them to clean the wood ash from the stove and taught them how to use it to wash dishes. He said, "If the detergent runs out, you can use wood ash soaked in hot water to wash dishes as an emergency. Collect the ash in this bucket. After filling it, cover the bucket and don't let water in."
Nanako and Mimiko listened carefully, afraid they might have forgotten something. Gong Zhili then warned, "Don't collect the ash while the stove is burning. Be careful of burns."
The child wants to work so much that he can be very reckless sometimes.
This was another of her inexplicable experiences.
After leaving her two children to take a nap at home, she picked up her backpack again, put on her straw hat, took her sickle, and went out to harvest soybeans.
There were not many soybeans, and they grew scattered. Gong Zhili felt quite comfortable with the sun shining on her body - as the "Goddess of the Land", it was natural for her to like the sun.
As long as you change your thinking process, everything will become clear.
Along the lakeside, she also picked the last few raspberries that were not eaten by wild birds. Of course, this was because these fruits were hidden under layers of branches and leaves. She grabbed the branches and forced the raspberry branches to move away reluctantly, so that she could pick the remaining delicious fruits.
"If I leave them here, they will just rot on the branches, and there are no wild birds to eat them. Besides, these fruits have grown so well because of me." Gong Zhili said this to the raspberry bush, then walked to the edge of the soybean field with the fruits in his pocket, picked some leaves, and simply made a bag to put the fruits in.
After harvesting the soybeans, she dived into the reeds by the lake, found a few wild duck eggs, dug some wild garlic, and also dug a lot of new dandelions.
After doing all this, the sun was still high above our heads.
The days in early September are still long.
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