Chapter 586 A Dream of Youth 118
"Mother! My baby!"
A shout came from afar, startling a flock of birds. Xie Qi ran towards them carrying two rabbits, followed by Mo Qi. Then, with a "whoosh," a huge white ball pounced over.
"Snowball!"
Seeing Xueqiu and Xie Ning rolling around in a ball, everyone burst into laughter.
Xie Qi handed the rabbit to the servants, telling them to skin it and roast it by the stream.
"Mother, am I amazing!" Xie Qi raised his chin, looking like he wanted praise. Chen Wan Niang quickly handed him a handkerchief.
"Wow, that's impressive! Go wash up by the stream, look at all that sweat on your face."
Xie Ning climbed out from under Snowball's belly, his hair quite disheveled. He grabbed Snowball's ear, ready to scold it, but then he saw the little guy whimpering and rubbing against his leg. Xie Ning's heart softened, so he had someone pour a bowl of water with some ice for it to drink.
He tapped Snowball's head and laughed, "You have so much fur, and it's so hot, you can't pounce on me again next time, I'm suffocating."
"Waaah—"
Xie Ning also ran to the stream to wash her hands.
The stream is shallow, and sunlight filters through the leaves onto the water's surface. A summer breeze blows, creating shimmering waves. White butterflies flutter among the flowers blooming from the cracks in the rocks along the stream, seemingly enjoying the summer day as well.
Xie Ning was drying her hands after washing them when she noticed that the water wasn't rushing and that she could clearly see small fish swimming below through the clear surface. A thought suddenly struck her.
Xie Ning wrapped her fingers with a handkerchief and folded a few slender leaves into her hand.
"call out--"
The stiffer stem part in the middle of the leaf shoots out like an arrow and disappears into the water. Soon, several fish float on the surface.
The children behind were dumbfounded.
"Sister, you're amazing!"
Qingli had already excitedly run down to catch fish. Xie Ning turned around and saw several children following Xie Qi. He couldn't help but smile and ask, "Brother, who are they?"
“They are children from nearby farms. They helped me when I was catching rabbits. One of them hurt his hand, so I asked them to come here to get some medicine to apply and have a drink of water.”
They said they were just offering water, but of course they couldn't just give them water; they brought lots of plum juice and other chilled drinks for their spring outing.
There were three children in total, two boys and one girl. The girl looked about eight or nine years old and was carrying a basket on her back with some grass and mushrooms.
Two boys were also carrying baskets on their backs; one was thirteen or fourteen years old, and the other was only five or six.
At this moment, the little one excitedly ran to Xie Ning's side, his eyes sparkling, "Sister, can you teach me how to catch fish? Just like that, whoosh, a fish in a flash."
"Just think about it, this technique isn't something you can learn so easily. I tried to learn it when I was a kid, but I never mastered it."
Xie Qi muttered to himself, then leaned over to see clearly the fish that Li had wrapped in taro leaves. They were all palm-sized, perfect for grilling, and would surely be very delicious.
Just thinking about the sizzling, oily look of grilled fish made Xie Qi swallow hard.
"It's okay, take your time, you might be able to learn it eventually." Xie Ning broke off a few leaves to teach them.
Xie Qi also touched a few leaves, and then ran to a place a little higher to fish. The result was obvious; only a few leaf stems floated down from above.
The children below hadn't learned it either, but after some chatting and instruction, everyone became less reserved.
Xie Ning glanced at the mushrooms in the girl's basket, and only felt relieved when he saw that there were no poisonous mushrooms. Then he asked, "Do you grow your own land or rent land from others?"
Seeing that Xie Ning was handsome and kind to her, the little girl felt a little closer to her. "My family rents land from Master Xie."
Then, glancing at the other children, he added, "Their family rents land from Master Lin's family."
Because they don't own any land, they can only rent land from others to farm.
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