Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Gudududu~
As they approached the snow-capped mountain, Luo Yin didn't rush to climb it.
Instead, they first made sure Big White was well-fed with fresh grass, and then helped Ani control the flock with his second brother.
The lambs were somewhat flustered, running around aimlessly as if they couldn't find their way. Only after the brother and sister herded them together several times did the lambs gradually calm down and begin to graze.
Meanwhile, Ani had already taken her tools and headed towards the snow-capped mountain.
"Ani, why did you leave first!"
As soon as Luo Yin turned around, she saw that Ani had already set off, so she quickly pulled her second brother to follow.
"Second brother, hurry up, or Ani will have dug up all the cordyceps!"
The second brother nodded vigorously, "Yes, let's run faster, speed up!"
The two quickly caught up with and overtook Ani, and the brother and sister burst into laughter at Ani.
Seeing this, Ani was not in a hurry. She walked uphill at a steady pace, glancing at the ground from time to time.
Luo Yin found a spot and squatted down to search.
Cordyceps on the grasslands are actually very hard to find. When Luo Yin successfully dug up one for the first time, it took her a full half hour.
She couldn't see them at all; instead, Ani dug them out one after another.
Her second brother was a bit stronger than her, but still not as good as Ani.
So the brother and sister decided to compete against each other, two against one, to see who was stronger.
Cordyceps are mostly hidden in the soil; you need to find its head to dig it out by the roots. But the grassland is mostly covered with grasses of all sizes, as well as various brightly colored plants.
Often, Luo Yin would be searching for cordyceps one moment, and then be captivated by beautiful flowers and little insects the next.
I have no recollection of the match with Ani; I was just squatting there having fun.
Mu Ren was lucky today, digging up several trees; when he turned to look for his younger sister, he saw her climbing on a slope, seemingly having discovered something.
"Huahua, how many have you found?"
Luo Yin didn't respond!
Mu Ren saw Ani standing nearby, ran over to peek, and found that Ani had more than him.
So they hurriedly continued their search.
When the two were quite tired, they decided to take a break.
They noticed that Luo Yin was holding something and was walking towards them.
"Ani, second brother, look what I found!" Her tone was filled with joy, as if she had found some treasure.
Mu Ren wiped his sweat and walked over to her.
Ani sat on the grass to rest, glancing at the sheep every now and then.
"Hehe, second brother, look what this is!"
Luo Yin was extremely proud and pointed out the small particles in her hand to him.
Seeing the dirt on her hands, Mu Ren assumed she had been catching insects again.
So, without much reaction, he said, "You went to catch some bugs. What kind of ladybug was it this time?"
He leaned closer to see how many stars it was.
To everyone's surprise, Luo Yin paused, then stomped her foot. "It's not a bug, Second Brother, take a closer look."
She stretched out her palm, and Mu Ren had already realized it wasn't an insect, because it didn't move at all. He pinched it with his hand and found that the soil could be removed.
Soon, the small particles revealed their appearance.
Yes, sparkling eyes!
Golden!!!
"Little sister~"
Mu Ren shouted at her in a very high-pitched voice.
Ani, who had just taken a sip of water, choked and began coughing violently.
"Cough cough cough, cough cough cough!"
"Ani!"
"Ani, are you alright?"
The two of them, disregarding everything else, rushed over to pat his back and soothe him.
After waiting a while, seeing that his complexion had improved considerably, the brother and sister breathed a sigh of relief.
Ani paused, tears welling in her eyes as she coughed. She watched the two of them, sighing with a mixture of helplessness and despair.
But after holding back, he still reached out and tapped Mu Ren on the head, "You brat, what were you yelling about just now? You almost scared me to death!"
Mu Ren was in pain from the blows, but dared not flinch.
He rubbed his head and apologized to him sheepishly, because he had indeed frightened Ani.
Seeing the guilty look on her grandson's face, Ani didn't pay much attention.
His gaze was fixed on Huahua, as if asking, "Is the competition going to continue? Where are the cordyceps you dug up?"
But when he saw her covered in mud and her little face covered in smears, he was speechless.
When Loin saw Ani ask, he quickly took something out of his pocket.
Mu Ren, who was standing next to her, explained, "Ani, Hua Hua found something good. The shiny stuff is gold."
"Pfft, what?"
Ani was shocked as he picked up the water pouch again and took a sip.
Ani looked intently at Loin, and at that moment, Loin's hand was outstretched.
Ani looked at the few sparkling little particles, picked them up, and examined them closely against the sun.
The brother and sister saw Ani looking left and right, and even seemed to smell her.
The two little ones didn't understand; they just watched curiously.
Then I heard him say, "It really is gold!"
Luo Yin cheered instantly, "Oh, oh, oh, it's gold! I've found gold!"
She jumped and skipped around, grinning happily.
Mu Ren, too, imitated her movements and did somersaults.
Ani smiled, but quickly stopped. She then pulled the two of them over, looked around, and whispered to them, "Muren, Luoyin, Ani has something to ask you."
Seeing how serious he was, the brother and sister immediately stood at attention.
They tried to keep a straight face like adults, but their eyes betrayed their joy.
"Loin, especially you, where did you find those things?"
When Luo Yin heard her name called, she quickly looked up at Ani, then thought for a moment and said, "In the soil, I found it in the soil."
She pointed to the grass, then to another spot.
Seeing that she couldn't tell which way to go, Ani felt a little relieved, but still gave her some advice.
“When the gold is discovered, Ani needs you two to keep it a secret. No one else can be told except the three of us, including your father, mother, and elder brother.”
The brother and sister were dumbfounded, not expecting Ani to say that.
"Not even my mother?" Luo Yin asked, puzzled.
"no!"
Muren didn't really care, but he had a vague feeling that Ani wasn't happy.
"You're both still young. It's not a good thing to get some things too early." Seeing the puzzled looks on their faces, Ani didn't say anything more, but simply returned the item to Luo Yin.
He then reminded her to put it in the small box at home.
Luo Yin nodded, put it in her pocket, and patted it again.
This trip to the snow-capped mountains ended abruptly after the discovery of gold in Loin.
Even the matter of digging for caterpillar fungus came to nothing.
What Loin didn't expect was that while the brother and sister were playing on the grass, Ani quietly went to the spot where she had been and cleaned up the marks on the ground.
After that, he didn't appear here for a long time.
Luo Yin was naturally unaware of these things.
After all, going out to herd livestock with Ani meant going to different places every time.
Then, when her father returned, Luo Yin's attention was diverted.
Bart returned one afternoon, arriving at his doorstep in a car as usual.
The family members were all inside when they heard the noise and ran out to see what was happening.
Everyone looked delighted when they saw their father get out of the car.
"Father, you're back!"
"Father, what good things have you brought back?"
The brother and sister rushed towards him, while the driver unloaded his belongings from the car and watched them with a smile.
Bart laughed and carried the two men on his back, then greeted his family.
After thanking the driver, the family headed home.
Bart finally settled down, sitting in his familiar spot and drinking his familiar milk tea.
He then began distributing items to everyone, all of which he had selected in the capital.
This trip allowed Barth to see a larger and wider world, and its influence on him began from there.
I brought Ani a limited edition bottle of Moutai liquor. "This is Moutai. Try it first. If you like it, I'll buy it for you next time."
Ani's eyes were almost closed from laughing; he held the bottle as if he could smell the aroma of the wine.
"Urina, you've been working so hard taking care of the family these past few days. Here's a red scarf for you. You've been asking for one, so take a look and see if you like it."
Urina's face flushed, especially with so many people watching.
She accepted it somewhat shyly, but immediately fell in love with the color.
She wrapped it around her neck, the bulge obscuring half her face. "The color is beautiful, I love it. Thank you, Bart!"
Upon seeing this, Luo Yin clapped her hands and praised, "Mom, you look so good wearing it!"
Urina's smile deepened. "Thank you too, child."
Mu Ren, who was waiting impatiently beside him, stared intently at Bart.
Seeing this, Bart pulled out a long bag and handed the contents to him.
"Muren, this is one I picked out specially, take a look."
"Thank you, Dad, I really like it." He said excitedly, quickly unpacking it and discovering that there were actually two rackets.
He didn't recognize it. "What is this?"
Bart laughed heartily and began to explain. "This is a sport like football, called badminton. You three siblings can play it when the weather is nice."
Upon hearing this, Mu Ren simply said "Oh!"
He doesn't seem to like this much.
Luo Yin noticed her second brother's unhappiness and tugged at him.
"Second brother, it's okay, we'll try again when eldest brother comes back."
"All right."
Having amused the people enough, Bart started taking things out again.
"Alright, the one I bought earlier was for the three of you. This one is just for you, Muren!"
Mu Ren's eyes widened, and his expression instantly changed from gloomy to sunny.
What is it?
Bart took out two small boxes. "The blue one is yours, and the pink one is your sister's."
"What's this?"
Luo Yin went to look at the pink one, took it and examined it, and found that it had little figures printed on it, and they were in color.
I was immediately drawn to the pictures above; they're so beautiful!
"This is a pencil case. You'll be going to school tomorrow, so you'll need one."
Upon hearing this, Mu Ren's lips curled up in a continuous upward motion.
"Hahaha, I'm going to school! I'm finally going to school! Hahaha!"
Hearing that he would be going to school, Mu Ren was inexplicably happy, perhaps because boys grow up and want to play with more friends.
Luo Yin was also very happy because she felt that hers was prettier than her second brother's.
That evening, my older brother returned home and also received the same pencil case.
After everyone had a lively dinner, and once the whole family had gone to bed, Urina finally had a chance to talk to him.
"When is Muren going to school? Didn't you say it would be later?"
Bart listened to her question in a daze and yawned.
"Next spring, when Muren will be nine years old and ready to go to school."
Urina did the math and realized it was true, but considering her family's situation, she still tried to dissuade her. "Why don't we wait a little longer? What will happen to Huahua if both of the children go to school?"
Bart's eyelids kept drooping, and he casually said, "She's not old enough to go to school now."
"That's not what I meant. I meant that they've all gone to school, so Hua Hua is just staying with me?" Urina hadn't really taken care of Hua Hua much. Luo Yin hadn't had any problems growing up with her.
Whether it was his personality or his health, he lived a very stable life on the grassland.
Moreover, with Muren and Hada around, she practically grew up with them.
All Urina needed to do was bring the person to sleep at night and ensure she had three meals a day and clothes.
“I have a lot to do every day, and I’m afraid she might run off if I don’t keep an eye on her.” That’s what she’s most worried about, since she does have a lot of things to do every day.
It's very likely that they won't be able to see that child, Loin.
"Well, tell me, what should we do?"
Urina asked again, and then she heard two snoring sounds coming from beside her.
One snored like a bulldozer, the other a low, soft snore.
Urina looked at Loin on her left and Bart on her right, then angrily pulled the blanket over her face.
Another New Year has arrived, and the yurt is adorned with new blessings.
This was specially prepared by the family. The New Year's Eve dinner was not much different from usual, but Ani had taken a liking to the taste of Moutai liquor.
However, upon hearing that a bottle cost 8 yuan, he quickly declined to buy it.
He saved that bottle of wine for the Chinese New Year before drinking it.
Luo Yin also noted down Ani's fondness for Moutai liquor at that time.
As soon as the New Year passed, the snow on the ground began to melt, and the days grew warmer.
My second brother was taken by my father to register for school in the spring.
Luo Yin begged to go and see, so her older brother took Mu Ren and her father drove Luo Yin to the school.
This was Luo Yin's first time here. She saw a small two-story building standing on a grassland, with several yurts set up next to it.
Luo Yin was dumbfounded!
She had been to town and visited other homes, but she never imagined that the school would be like this.
Once inside, her father stopped the horse, and Loin nimbly dismounted.
I then saw a red flag flying in the sky not far away, and a number of students were cleaning up around the earthen wall.
"Big brother, is this the school?"
Hada nodded, "Yes, this is the only primary school on the Ujimqin Grassland. If you want to go to junior high school, you have to go to the town."
Mu Ren looked around curiously, and when he saw many boys like himself appearing, the tension on his face gradually eased.
"Alright, let's go register Mu Ren first."
The group was led to the office by Hada, while Luo Yin observed each classroom throughout the journey.
Gradually, she lost her curiosity and turned her gaze back to her second brother.
Bart found the primary school principal and explained his purpose. The principal looked at Mu Ren and indicated that he could enroll.
They quickly filled out the forms, paid the fees, and then handed over their lunch to the cafeteria.
He patted his two eldest sons on the shoulder and instructed them, "Be good at school and don't cause trouble, understand?"
"Hada, keep an eye on your younger brother and make sure he comes home on time after school."
Hada looked at Muren, feeling that his younger brother would definitely hold him back.
But seeing his father's sharp gaze sweep over him, he quickly agreed.
"I know!"
"Mu Ren, and you too?"
"I understand, Father. I will be a good boy/girl."
After scaring the two, Bart turned around and pulled Loin away.
Luo Yin looked at her two older brothers, her eyes brimming with tears, and waved to them.
"Big brother, see you tonight, second brother."
See you tonight.
Bart noticed that the little girl was in a bad mood, so he simply reined in his horse and turned to run in the other direction.
Luo Yin was wiping away her tears when she realized she was in the wrong direction.
He hurriedly said, "Father, this isn't the way home."
Bart continued to accelerate, and the horse beneath him, with its strong hooves, became even faster.
"I know, hold on tight. I'm going to speed up!"
Luo Yin could no longer dwell on her sadness; she gripped the saddle tightly and straightened her body.
My whole body was tense, afraid of being thrown off; my father's horsemanship was simply too fast.
After being jostled around for over an hour, when Luo Yin felt her buttocks were almost numb, the grassland in front of her transformed into a completely different scene.
Luo Yin stared blankly ahead, pointing with her finger.
"Father, where is this?"
"How can there be so many trees? They are so tall!"
This was the first time Luo Yin had ever seen a forest. She had only heard from her family that people had tried to plant fruit trees on the grasslands, but they had all failed because of the low survival rate.
Moreover, there are very few trees in the area where she lives.
It's almost all covered in grass, with maybe a few lone trees, but they're all very short.
But Luo Yin couldn't say how much of this forest there was.
She couldn't even see the end!
"Haha, this is the forest area in the eastern part of Ujumqin. Haven't you seen it before?"
"Hmm, this is the first time I've seen that there are actually so many trees."
Bart laughed heartily, led the man down, and then found a place to tie up the horse.
He brought Luo Yin along today to comfort the little girl.
"Would you like some honey?"
"Honey, do you have any here?"
Bart smiled and nodded, then took his tools and led her into the woods.
The two, one big and one small, walked and talked. Bart told her about every plant they saw along the way, which ones were edible and which ones would make her feel sick.
Luo Yin listened and nodded, thinking that her father was the most capable person in the family.
The forest is very humid in spring, and many mushrooms sprout on the ground.
When Luo Yin saw this, she quickly picked a flower and asked him if he could eat it.
Father took one look and smiled. "Okay."
"real?"
"Yes, but only these are edible. You can't eat those that you think are pretty and brightly colored, understand?"
Loin nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "Is it like what Ani said about those colorful snakes being poisonous?"
Bart was impressed by her quick thinking and ability to apply what she learned to other situations.
He didn't offer any praise, simply saying, "That's right, exactly like that."
"Okay, I've got it!"
The two searched for mushrooms while following the directions.
Luo Yin didn't know what was going on and just stayed by her father's side.
Seeing her steady steps, her father nodded secretly, thinking to himself that the past two years of practice had indeed paid off.
The little girl was clearly much better; she didn't complain of being tired even after walking for so long.
The two bypassed a stream, walked through a thicket of thorns, and arrived at a meadow.
Luo Yin looked at the large bag hanging on the tree with some curiosity.
"Father, is this honey? So it grows on trees."
Bart paused, then smiled and explained the situation to her.
Luo Yin was a little embarrassed after making a fool of herself, but seeing that her father was already taking off his clothes and seemed to be about to make a move.
"Father, is there anything I can do to help?"
"No need. Just lie down and don't get up unless I call you."
Bart took off his robe and covered her with it, gesturing for her to lie down.
Luo Yin was dumbfounded, but she still followed the plan, wearing her father's robe and lying on the ground.
"And what about you, Father?"
"I'll go knock the beehive down. Remember to stay hidden, otherwise a wasp sting will hurt a lot."
Luo Yin indicated that she understood, and she held her clothes with both hands, preparing herself.
Bart, wearing only a thin shirt, cut a branch and began to climb the tree.
Luo Yin watched her father climb a large section in just a few moments, and she was very excited. She wanted to clap but held back, and then gently clapped her hands.
Bart climbed a little further and, seeing that he was far enough away, called out to Loin.
"Get ready, you'd better hide, I'm about to start."
"Yes, Dad, I'm hiding now."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Bart thrust hard into her.
Then came two heavy thuds as objects hit the ground, one of them more muffled. Luo Yin wanted to ask her father how he was.
Suddenly, many buzzing sounds appeared all around.
She knew these were the wasps her father had mentioned, and she gripped her clothes even tighter with her little hands.
They braced themselves with their hands and feet, blocking off all sides, afraid of leaving even the slightest gap. At the same time, countless wasps, their home disturbed, angrily charged towards the enemy.
They sounded their horns and searched for nearby enemies, but after circling around several times, they still couldn't find any movement.
So some people searched a wider area, while others went to the vicinity of the nest.
About ten minutes later, when Luo Yin's hands and feet began to tremble, her father's voice appeared.
"Hua Hua, are you alright?"
"It's okay, Dad, I'm fine, I'm perfectly well."
"Can I come out now, Father?"
Bart swatted several wasps and then discovered he had been stung on the face.
He quickly cleaned up the mess, grabbing some herbs as he went. "Wait a minute, there are still some wasps nearby. You can wait here for a while."
"good."
After searching around, Bart successfully retrieved a complete beehive, and a smile finally appeared on his swollen face.
"Hehehe, that's great now."
"Huahua, look what this is!"
He stared at the swollen face and handed the honeycomb to Loin.
Wow, it's so big!
"Yes, let's take it home. There's bound to be a lot of honey in it."
"Okay! But Dad, did you get stung on the face?"
"Hey, it's okay, you weren't stung, were you?" He checked and was relieved to find no injury.
"Let's go down the mountain and go home."
"Time to go home."
"When we get back, I'll ask your mom to make you some milk candy. She'll put lots of honey and lots of milk in it, and that will be milk candy."
"Okay, okay."
The two, one big and one small, rode their horses and quickly disappeared into the forest.
Loin also made a note of this forest and visited it frequently in the following years.
Because of this large beehive, Urina has collected several jars of pure natural honey.
But whenever she saw her husband's face, Urina found it funny; he was just like a child.
However, we're out of sugar at home, so having these will save us a lot of money.
Besides Bat's salary, the family also earns Ani's work points, which can be exchanged for a certain amount of staple food in the village each year.
The rest they would send milk and dairy products to the town to exchange for money.
Every year, the milk delivered to the town is recycled by them, in addition to the considerable amount of wool they can shear each year, as well as the medicinal herbs and cordyceps they dig up.
All of it together is actually enough for a large herding family to live on.
They didn't buy much; mainly necessities like salt and pillows.
They rarely buy oil; they are used to cooking with homemade oil, and most of their meals are boiled. Oil is not even a consumable.
With this thought in mind, Urina felt somewhat at ease.
She just loves to think things through, wanting to save more money so she can buy a lot of food when things get tough.
The herders on the grasslands are well aware of this, and their sense of crisis is much stronger than that of other ordinary people.
Because of the natural environment and her nomadic nature, Urina always liked to hoard food.
Sure enough, their eyes lit up when they saw the mushrooms they had picked.
After carefully selecting the edible ones, she dried them with hay and casually hung them out to dry.
Then she took Luo Yin to collect wild vegetables.
Vegetables are scarce on the grasslands, so they rely almost entirely on what they have on hand. While stationed there, they search for edible wild vegetables in the surrounding area.
Many of the stones had been eaten by sheep, but they didn't mind digging in a different direction.
Luo Yin watched her mother skillfully dig out one plant after another, and it was very comforting to watch.
She followed her example, digging up one tree after another.
When I put them in the small basket, I realized that my hands were covered in juice, which was white and sticky.
She was a little disgusted and wiped it on the grass, but found that it wasn't clean.
He then looked around for a small river, intending to wash his hands clean.
Urina didn't notice any of this. Loin searched around and quickly found the location of the river. She ran towards it.
Meanwhile, downstream from this small river, there happened to be a group of people as well.
Those people were dressed in the same clothes, each carrying large bags and even a number of weapons.
They huddled together in a sorry state, and when they saw the river, they almost burst into tears.
"Waaaaah, finally there's water! I'm finally not going to die of thirst anymore."
Luo Yin found the river and happily ran up to it. She first looked around and, finding no fresh footprints, began to wash her hands.
She should have turned her body to the side, not exposing her back, but Luo Yin looked around and saw no footprints, so she didn't pay any attention.
After washing her hands, she lowered her head and drank a few sips of water, then washed her face, and finally felt better!
Downstream, the crowd rushed to the stream and began to drink wildly.
"Glug glug glug~"
For a moment, all that could be heard was the sound of frantically swallowing.
Some people even choked because they drank water too quickly.
"Cough cough cough cough." A young man's face turned blue and purple from holding it in.
There was a tall guy next to him who slapped him on the back, and he finally caught his breath.
The person's complexion improved significantly instantly.
"Whew, thank you so much, I almost died!"
A note from the author:
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