Chapter 13 Digging for Ginseng
Gu Shengtian took Xiuni and Fubao to the stream, washed the mud off their faces, and wiped the mud off Fubao's body with dry leaves.
Xiuni pouted and said, "My clothes are dirty. I'm going to get beaten when I get home!"
Fubao comforted Xiuni: "Let's wipe it now, and then when it dries up in the sun, we can pick it clean."
Gu Shengtian also felt the same way, but didn't take it too seriously. Besides, getting beaten was nothing. He was a tough kid and had been beaten a lot since he was a kid.
He comforted Fubao: "Don't be afraid. If our mother says anything to you, I will say that I made you dirty. She will definitely not be angry with you."
Fubao didn't worry about this. She frowned and looked at Gu Shengtian distressedly: "Brother Shengtian, you were beaten, does it still hurt?"
Gu Shengtian waved his hand, looking very manly: "That's nothing! It's no big deal, I don't feel any pain at all! Sooner or later, I will make them pay back. A gentleman's revenge is never too late!"
Fu Bao smiled when he heard this and said, "Then let's go to the mountains and pick wild vegetables."
So the three siblings discussed where to pick them. Finally, Gu Shengtian suggested picking them on the north side of the mountain. Xiuni and Fubao of course had no objection, so the three of them ran to the back mountain with baskets.
Although it is winter now, the weather in the mountains comes later than outside. If you pick carefully, you can still find some fruits in the hay, such as seaweed and winter vegetables, shepherd's purse and chives. Occasionally, you can also come across Agaricus bisporus. These are most delicious when picked up and used to make soup.
Gu Shengtian found that they seemed to be particularly lucky today. The children often went up the mountain to look for wild vegetables. Normally, it was difficult to find wild vegetables in the mountains in winter, but today they encountered mushrooms that smelled especially good when cooked one after another. Everyone picked up a lot with a basket, and Fubao even found several bird eggs in the grass nest.
Xiuni drooled at the sight of the bird eggs: "Let's go back and ask grandma to cook them for us."
Gu Shengtian laughed at her: "Look how greedy you are!"
The children continued walking forward. The grass ahead became more lush and the trees taller and stronger. Xiuni shrugged and said, "I've never been there before. Let's not go."
Fubao suggested, "Brother Shengtian, Sister Xiuni, we picked so many mushrooms and wild vegetables today. Maybe it just rained, so there are so many wild vegetables. Let's go over and take a look and pick some more so that we can have enough to eat when we get home."
It seems that the three baskets have picked up a lot, but you have to know that there are twenty-one mouths to feed in the Gu family, which means that one basket has to feed seven people. If seven people share one share, there won't be much left.
Gu Shengtian thought about it and said, "Okay, let's pick more. If grandma is happy, she can cook some bird eggs for us."
Seeing what Gu Shengtian said, Xiuni stopped objecting, and the three children continued to head into the mountain. Actually, the three children were relatively young. Fubao would only be six in a few months, and Gu Shengtian and Xiuni were only seven. But they had all grown up in the mountain village, and they were used to this mountain. They weren't afraid of anything, so they dared to go inside.
As they walked forward on the wild grass over there, the road became gradually difficult to walk on. The branches of old trees on the roadside blocked their way, and they had to be careful of the thorns on the side. However, Gu Shengtian found that the further they went in, the greener the grass became, and they could pick up wild fruits to eat from time to time.
Gu Shengtian was excited: "Let's go inside!"
Who knew that as we were walking, we heard footsteps, as if another group of people were entering the mountain.
Gu Shengtian was wondering when the old branches over there were pushed aside, and he saw the children of the Nie family.
When enemies meet, they are extremely jealous of each other and neither of them is in a good mood.
Shengyin looked at Fubao and sneered in his heart.
As expected, Fubao had to come here to pick mushrooms in this life, so she was lucky enough to find the old mountain ginseng.
Fortunately, I had foresight.
Shengyin whispered to Nie Dashan, "Brother, we came here to pick mushrooms, why are they here too? Are they trying to steal them from us?"
Nie Dashan felt that the voice made sense. He frowned and said unhappily, "Hey, Gu Shengtian, can you please stop trying to follow us around like a little dog?"
Gu Shengtian had never been heard of like this before, and he was so angry that he was about to rush over, but was stopped by Xiuni and Fubao.
Fu Bao looked at Nie Dashan and said, "If you want to go, go ahead. I won't compete with you."
As she said that, she desperately pulled Gu Shengtian away.
Nie Dashan looked at Fubao and felt uncomfortable.
In the past, Fubao would follow him up the mountain to pick wild vegetables, calling him brother all the time and being as obedient as possible. But now he belongs to someone else's family...
Nie Dashan suddenly began to feel uncomfortable.
He had long asked his mother to take Fubao from his third aunt's house. His third aunt didn't want it, so his family wanted it. However, his mother refused, saying that Fubao was the reincarnation of a jinx.
Now, Fubao grabbed Gu Shengtian's hand and walked away without even looking at him.
Fubao didn't look at Nie Dashan again. She pulled Gu Shengtian and ran in front, with Xiuni following behind.
Of course she knew that Nie Dashan was very good to her, but what was the use of being good to her? Now she was the daughter of the Gu family, and she felt uncomfortable when Nie Dashan bullied her brother Gu Shengtian.
She likes her current father and mother very much. Brother Shengtian is her parents' child, so he is her brother. She doesn't like anyone who bullies her brother.
The children ran a long way and finally sat down under an old tree, gasping for breath.
At this time, they looked around and felt a little lost: "Where is this? I think we've taken the wrong road?"
Fubao also felt something was wrong, but after all, she grew up in a nunnery, and the nunnery was in the mountains.
She thought for a moment and said, "It's okay. We're still in the back mountain. If we keep walking in the direction of the sun, we'll definitely be able to get home."
Gu Shengtian thought about it and felt relieved that it made sense.
Xiuni was still thinking about the bird eggs. She kept digging in the basket with her little hands. She wished she could eat the eggs raw.
Fubao rested for a while and then got up. She wanted to see if she could find something else to eat here.
Who knew that as soon as she got up, she saw a tree next to her. The trunk of the tree was crooked, just tilted into the shape of a ladder, which looked very strange.
And right under that tree, there is a touch of green.
Fubao walked over, pulled at the surrounding grass, dug up the soil, and pondered for a while: "Brother Shengtian, come and see what this is?"
Gu Shengtian and Xiuni both ran over and examined it. They thought it was a big radish that didn't look like a radish at all, so the children dug it out with great effort.
"Go back and make soup for grandma!"
After digging out the big radish, Fubao put it in the basket and looked around. Unfortunately, he didn't find another big radish like this. Fortunately, there were some mushrooms nearby. Several children squatted there and picked them until the sun was about to set. They filled their baskets and then went home.
As soon as they reached the foot of the mountain, they saw Gu Weiguo and Gu Weidong anxiously calling their names. They quickly responded, "Dad, we are here!"
Gu Weiguo and Gu Weidong suddenly saw the children and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Gu Weidong stepped forward and grabbed Gu Shengtian: "Where have you been with your two sisters, you little brat? You're making trouble!"
Soon Miao Xiujiu and several daughters-in-law also arrived. Liu Zhaodi hugged Xiuni and cried, and Liu Guizhi hugged Fubao and looked frightened.
Several children were puzzled: "We are just picking wild vegetables in the mountains, but look how much we have picked!"
Miao Xiuju took the basket and rummaged through it. Sure enough, she saw that it was full of delicious wild vegetables and fresh mushrooms. She was immediately happy, but she said, "You little brat, you scared me to death!"
Fubao felt a little strange and didn't know what was wrong with the adults at home, but he didn't dare to ask.
It was not until the adults took the children home that she slowly understood from everyone's conversation.
It turned out that Nie Dashan and Shengyin had gone mushroom hunting in the mountains, but somehow they had wandered deep into the depths and encountered a wolf cub. Fortunately, they ran fast and escaped unharmed. However, they were still terrified and stumbled countless times along the way. Once they reached the bottom of the mountain, they collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
Because of this, the Nie family was terrified and rushed the child to the health center in the commune.
When Gu Shengtian heard this, he secretly snorted: "Serves you right!"
Fubao was puzzled: "How could there be a little wolf cub? We have been there before and have never seen one!"
Xiuni pouted: "Who knows? They are bad guys. The little wolf cub wants to bite them, so they deserve it!"
Fubao always felt that something was not right. Thinking that Nie Dashan was probably scared too, she felt a little worried. She held her chin up and sat on the doorstep, thinking about it.
Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Miao Xiuju exclaim, "What is this? Why is there this? Isn't this old ginseng? It's so big?"
When she called out, everyone in the family gathered around to see.
When Gu Weidong saw what Miao Xiuju was holding, he suddenly remembered: "This is old ginseng, old ginseng, quite expensive!"
Miao Xiujiu also remembered that Lao Wang’s family in the production brigade had dug up one like this in previous years and heard that it was sold for eight yuan. Theirs is bigger than Lao Wang’s, so I wonder how much it can be sold for?
Everyone suddenly became excited, their eyes lit up, and men and women even stopped working to stare at the old ginseng.
"Isn't this a big radish?" Gu Shengtian tilted his head in confusion. "Fubao found it at the time, but she couldn't dig it out. We had to work very hard to dig it out."
When Miao Xiujiu heard this, she was delighted!
"Good Fubao, really good Fubao! I was saying, Fubao is a good name. You found such a big ginseng for us!"
Never mind, tomorrow is the market day, I’ll just go sell it and see how much it’s worth!
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