Chapter 17 Chapter 17 After a rain, mushrooms on the mountain began to emerge...
Lin Changhai stood in the yard with a sullen face. His head was buzzing when he heard Feng's words. His son stole eggs, and he was completely disgraced. He was also the principal offender and an accomplice! They were all thieves, so what was the big difference?
“That’s enough!”
Looking at her angry husband, Zhang called Lin Jiabao, Lin Jiacai and the other three over.
"Think about it, when did you start taking eggs from other people? Which ones did you take them from? We have to settle the score and return them."
After Zhang finished speaking, she waited for them to speak, but the younger ones bit their lips and secretly glanced at Lin Jiabao. Lin Jiabao also pouted and didn't say anything. Zhang's eyebrows were twitching.
"say!"
Lin Jiabao remained silent. Yang looked at her two sons and snorted coldly.
"Tell your aunt, when did your brother Bao start taking you to get eggs, and which families did he take them from?"
Lin Jiacai pursed his lips, glanced at the adults evasively, and whispered, "It started last year when the wheat was harvested. They took it every other day or two, from three or four families at a time. Except for a few families who raised geese or locked their gates, they've taken it from almost everyone."
It's been about one or two hundred days since last year's autumn harvest. Zhang gasped when she heard this. He looked at Lin Jiabao in disbelief: "So you only eat an egg every other day, right?"
"Sometimes there is no barrier." said Lin Jialiang.
Zhang closed her eyes heavily. Even if she only had four eggs every other day, she would have to compensate Zhang with two or three hundred eggs. Not to mention that there were not so many eggs at home, even if there were, it was impossible for Tian to give them to Zhang as compensation.
Before she could say anything, Tian stopped her in a stern voice.
"Why are you asking these questions now? How can the children remember so clearly?" She turned around and looked at her grandchildren and warned them, "Don't do things like this in the future, or you'll get caught and have your hands and feet cut off!"
Tian’s attitude was very clear: he would not return the eggs.
Zhang stopped talking, and no one in the entire Lin family said anything more.
But she thought about what she had said outside, how could she face people in the future if she didn't pay it back?
But she couldn't blame Tian yet. Lin Jiabao was already sixteen and should have gotten married. Now he had such a reputation. With the speed at which these gossips spread rumors, it would spread around quickly, and then it would be difficult for Lin Jiabao to get married. The money was already in the hands of the old lady. If she offended her, it would only make things more difficult.
She hated Lin Chuntao even more because she was so vicious and had exposed the matter in front of those gossips.
That night, everyone in the Lin family had their own ulterior motives. Not only Zhang thought that it would be difficult for Lin Jiabao to find a wife, but the other families also had the same idea.
The only hope of this family now is to marry Lin Xian'er off. Nearly thirty taels of silver are enough for several young boys to get married.
*
Lin Chuntao returned home and fell asleep before the system calculated her points.
They had to get up in the middle of the night to kill pheasants, thinking that they would get up just before the roosters crowed, so that after killing the chickens she could go pick mushrooms.
This was the plan, but when the time came, Lin Chuntao sat up and only heard the sound of rain outside.
It was raining, and before she was ready to call her sisters to get up, she saw them all sitting up, rubbing their eyes.
"Sister, are we going to kill pheasants?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "I'm afraid we can't go. It seems to be raining."
As she spoke, she felt her way to put on her shoes. When she opened the door, she saw that water had accumulated on the uneven spots on the ground.
After a flash of lightning, there was a rumble of thunder.
The eaves of this thatched house were not long enough, so when the wind blew, the rain came flying into the house.
Just when I was about to call my sisters to go back to bed, Pei Ying from next door poked her head out.
"It's been raining for quite a while now. I guess it will stop soon."
Lin Chuntao looked up and saw that the rain had not subsided and it might take a while for it to stop.
Lin Duoer and the others looked outside with sad faces. They were eager to get up early and kill chickens, but it rained heavily. They were in a terrible mood.
Looking at them like this, Lin Chuntao laughed.
Even Pei Ying, who was standing at the door of the next room, looked at her in confusion.
"Why worry? When this rain is over, the mushrooms on the mountain will be like bamboo shoots after the spring, and they will be everywhere!"
Mushrooms can be sold for money, and money makes people happy, but right now I just want to eat chicken.
Even though there were plenty of mushrooms in the mountains, they still wanted to eat chicken, and Lin Chuntao's words could not alleviate their disappointment.
Pei Ying saw her sisters' emotions.
"The rain will stop soon. I'm sure we can have chicken for lunch today."
Lin Chuntao also said: "That's right. We have to eat it at noon anyway if we kill it now. I'll go into the mountains to pick mushrooms and bring some back to cook in chicken soup. It tastes better than the stir-fried ones we made yesterday."
Lin Duoer and Lin Chunhe became happy only when they heard about something more delicious.
Lin Chuntao thought that if she went to the city again, she must buy a bucket for carrying water so that it would be more convenient to use water.
It was still dark and raining, so Lin Chuntao asked them to go back to bed.
Even if we go into the mountains to pick mushrooms later, the trees will definitely be wet, and we will definitely be soaked when we come out of the forest.
The sisters only had one set of clothes, which were all wet and they had nothing to change into, so Lin Chuntao didn't plan to take them with her.
The rain was still falling, but Lin Chuntao was no longer sleepy.
After sitting at the door for a while, I heard the chickens crowing in the village and the rain gradually subsided.
The system's voice slowly sounded and began to announce the location of the mushroom nest where people had signed in.
Lin Chuntao took the opportunity to check the control panel and found that the points earned yesterday had been credited to her account, with a remaining balance of 312 points.
She saw that the number was 143 the day before yesterday, so by that calculation, there were still 169 yesterday.
"How do you calculate the points? By the number of mushrooms?"
The system slowly replied, "Yes."
Lin Chuntao frowned and started to complain, "Why don't you include what I picked up myself?"
"The number is too small and the location cannot be detected. Check-in is not enabled and points cannot be counted."
Lin Chuntao was a little disgusted, "You are too stupid."
After she finished speaking, the system remained silent for a long time. She thought it was ignoring her, but suddenly a fierce little boy's voice exploded in her mind.
"Impossible! I'm the smartest person in the world! You're not allowed to say that."
Lin Chuntao was stunned for a moment.
"This...you also have a voice changer?"
"Ignorant human, I can have countless voices, all depending on my mood."
Lin Chuntao raised her eyebrows slightly, then smiled and said, "So impressive? Then can you sign in for me anytime, anywhere?"
"That's against procedure. How about this? If you find more than ten mushroom nests, I'll sign you in, okay?"
Lin Chuntao laughed when she heard it, "It's okay."
"What do you mean by barely able to do it? This is a backdoor opened by this system for you!"
"Forget it, this system won't bother with you. Just get going now. The mushrooms will be gone in no time."
Lin Chuntao was in a good mood. She put on the backpack and picked up the small bamboo basket, then told her sisters to take good care of the house.
Pei Ying pondered for a moment and suggested to Lin Chuntao, "I'll go into the mountains with you. Why don't you put the important things in this room? I'll lock it up and the sisters can play over there."
Lin Chuntao was a little worried, so this was a good idea. She quickly moved the things over, told Lin Chunxing something, and led Pei Ying out into the mountains.
There was no moon after the rain, and the road was pitch black. She had the faint light of the system's arrow pointing her way, and Pei Ying was used to walking at night.
The two of them were walking at a fast pace, but unfortunately the road was slippery. To prevent more water from getting their clothes wet, Pei Ying walked in front and used branches to pat the surrounding grass and trees.
With a pat, the sound of branches and leaves colliding and water drops falling can be heard in your ears.
Although it was closer than the previous two times, it still took a lot of effort to find the mushroom nest.
Lin Chuntao skillfully dug out the leaves and soil, and soon the mushrooms underneath revealed their true appearance.
The red caps, some of which are hemispherical and some of which have already extended, are very pleasing to the eye.
Pei Ying squatted down and helped her pick up the mushrooms and put them into the backpack.
"Can we pick mushrooms here all year round?" Pei Ying asked.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "There are more from summer to autumn, but almost none in winter."
"That's pretty good. We can always have mushrooms as vegetables during these two seasons."
"That's right. As long as you are willing to go into the mountains and pick them up, you can pick up as much as you want."
The two chatted intermittently, and before they knew it, the sky was getting light. However, the sea of clouds in the sky had not yet dispersed, so they couldn't tell whether it was sunny or cloudy, or whether it would rain.
Lin Chuntao turned around and said to Pei Ying, "Let's go down the mountain. I'm afraid it will rain again soon and we'll be late for the city."
Pei Ying listened to Lin Chuntao, and the two of them began to walk down.
On the way down the mountain, they picked up some more blue-headed mushrooms and milk mushrooms and put them all in a small bamboo basket. By the time the two of them came out of the mountain, the basket was already full.
In the mountains, Lin Chuntao was afraid that Pei Ying would not be careful enough and damage the mushrooms, so she carried them down the mountain. When they reached the foot of the mountain, Lin Chuntao put down the backpack and switched with Pei Ying. He carried the backpack and she carried the small bamboo basket, and the two walked towards the county town together.
When they arrived at the county town, the sun was out.
The market was as lively as usual, and because of the rain, it even seemed that people at the market were in a much better mood.
There was no straw covering the backpack today. Pei Ying carried it through the market. People looked at the red mushrooms and turned back frequently.
"Oh, so many red mushrooms look so fresh."
"Aren't they said that red mushrooms are poisonous and can't be eaten?"
"It seems so. I often hear about people being poisoned by eating red mushrooms."
When these words were spoken, many people's expressions changed.
Pei Ying didn't know about this situation, and he looked at Lin Chuntao in confusion.
Lin Chuntao said loudly, "Sisters, there are many kinds of red mushrooms. These are non-toxic. Not only are they non-toxic, they are also beautifying and nourishing, and can be used to stir-fry or stew soup."
Pei Ying listened to her words and tried to calm himself, otherwise he might have the same strange expression as the passers-by opposite him.
"Oh, little girl, you can't talk nonsense just to sell mushrooms. This poisoning is no small matter."
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