On this side, Lin Guoqing was wandering at the foot of the mountain carrying a rechargeable lamp.
Just as Chen Chunhua had expected, there weren't many bamboo shoots left at the foot of the mountain. The few that were left were just the roots left behind by others. It was still early, and if she went to Su County and then back to her home county, she'd probably have to sit there for hours.
Lin Guoqing gritted his teeth, found a branch of appropriate thickness and length nearby, cut it down, and carved it into a stick. Then he threw the small basket into the big basket, held the lantern in his left hand, and waved the stick downward with his right hand, sweeping it like a blind man tapping the ground, and walked up the mountain little by little.
It is very cold in the mountains in early spring, and it is so quiet in the middle of the night that even the birds are barely singing.
Lin Guoqing carefully observed the ground around him with the help of the light, while mumbling a song to himself to cheer himself up.
"...the collective economy is booming, and the members are filled with joy. The commune is like a red sun, and the members are like sunflowers...the seeds of happiness have sprouted..."
The singing suddenly stopped, and Lin Guoqing felt that the wooden stick had hit a sharp protrusion. Although it was very slight, he still felt it.
When the lantern was shone, Lin Guoqing grinned broadly. Hehe, he was discovered!
The rechargeable lamp was placed on the ground, with the light facing the tip of the bamboo shoot. Lin Guoqing took a hoe and carefully dug the soil around it.
I want to sell this for money, so I can't dig it up.
Although the tip of the bamboo shoot had just emerged from the ground, it was not buried very deep. Lin Guoqing dug it out in full force after a few tries. He aimed at the root and gently dug it up with the hoe. The bamboo shoot, as long as his forearm, was in his hands.
He gently placed the bamboo shoots into the backpack, and then quickly filled the dug soil back along the bamboo shoot holes.
These are all gifts from God, we cannot let others destroy our rice bowl.
After digging one, I walked upwards along the direction of the bamboo whip and checked on both sides. Sure enough, there was another one after a few steps.
After digging this one, there is another one on the right, and after digging this one, there is another one above the right.
Lin Guoqing got excited while digging and walked step by step into the mountain.
After digging for about an hour, his small backpack was full and heavy.
Lin Guoqing still felt a little regretful. If he hadn't remembered to go to Su County with an empty backpack, he would have had to dig all night.
He was about to pack up his hoe and leave when the light of the rechargeable lamp suddenly caught something. He held the lamp and swept it under the tree. When he looked closely, he was so scared that he broke out in a sweat. The cold wind blew and he became stiff.
The black triangular head and the upturned snout clearly told Lin Guoqing that it was a highly poisonous pit viper, commonly known as the five-step snake.
Their mountains are not high, and the most common one is the five-step snake.
It's barely been a week since Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects), so it's time for those hibernating reptiles to wake up. However, March temperatures are often volatile. It might seem warm today, but tomorrow I'll need to put on two cotton-padded jackets.
The temperature changes too much, even if the five-step snake wakes up, it will not stray too far from the nest it found during hibernation. Once the temperature drops suddenly, it will quickly return to the nest and continue lying down.
For example, these past two days, the wind felt like it could crack his face when he stood in the fields during the day. Now it was late at night, and he was on the mountain. He wore a cotton jacket and dug bamboo shoots for a long time without feeling hot. He estimated that the temperature was not below zero, but at least one or two degrees Celsius.
The snake didn't even coil up its body, just lying there motionless under the tree. Lin Guoqing suspected that it had gotten up and run too far, and couldn't turn back halfway, so it froze to death here.
So, are snakes also divided into stupid and smart ones?
He shook his head, threw away the useless things, then swallowed his saliva, held the hoe and walked carefully towards the snake, and began to encourage himself.
"It's frozen to death, it won't move... Where is its weak spot... It should be here..."
As he spoke, he raised the hoe and hit the snake on the seven-inch spot he had counted. Not feeling satisfied, he hit it a few more times. Almost half of the snake's body, which was as thick as the child's wrist, was broken. Only then did Lin Guoqing take a breath and sit down on the ground.
Less than three seconds after sitting down, I quickly stood up and brushed my butt out of worry. Although I knew that my luck was not that good, what if?
What if you sit on another snake and wake it up?
He looked up at the sky. It was pitch black. There was not even a moon today, and he couldn't tell what time it was. Forget it, he decided to hurry down the mountain.
He picked up the snake that was almost broken into two pieces, and for a moment he didn't know where to put it.
Both baskets are meant to hold food. If you put a bloody, gooey snake in there, who would dare to eat your food? Even if it's dead, it's still disgusting.
He was afraid that if she wasn't dead yet and bit him, what would happen to the family? He was afraid that Chen Chunhua would really have to jump into the river with her four children.
Take off your clothes and wrap the snake? In this temperature, not only the snake will freeze to death, but people will freeze to death too.
As he was thinking, he almost reached the foot of the mountain with the snake in his hand. Finally, Lin Guoqing gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, put everything on the ground, and began to untie his belt...
***
When he arrived in Su County, the village at the foot of the mountain where he secretly grew his own vegetables was now pitch black without even a street light.
He straightened his clothes and lifted the backpack, which had been gradually sliding down due to his fast walking, onto his shoulder. The big basket was placed inside the small basket, and the red cloth bag on the top of the small basket was also shaking.
He walked carefully along the village wall, holding a rechargeable lamp. As soon as he turned a corner and reached the edge of the field, he bumped into a man climbing up from the ridge. Both of them were startled.
One of them was carrying a short hoe, the other was carrying a long hoe, and they both had a flashlight, so they couldn't open their eyes because of the flashlights.
"... Friend, please turn off the flashlight... I can't see anymore." Lin Guoqing spoke first. After all, his purpose for coming here was not pure, but at least he hadn't done anything, so he could feel at ease.
The man carrying the hoe across from him was silent for a long time, but still didn't turn off the light. "...Why don't you turn it off first?"
Lin Guoqing responded by turning the light of his rechargeable lamp towards the ground. It was pitch dark, but he still had to shine some light.
Seeing that Lin Guoqing was quite straightforward, the person opposite also moved the flashlight to the side.
The two men could see each other clearly. The man who had climbed out of the field looked to be in his forties, much older than Lin Guoqing.
Lin Guoqing came out of the field carrying a hoe in the middle of the night. He didn't think that there were people here with such high ideological awareness that they would stay up late at night to work overtime in the public fields.
Lin Guoqing was carrying a short hoe and a large basket on his back. The basket looked heavy. He was not from the village, so the person opposite him would not think he was a serious person.
"You..." The man with the long hoe was about to ask where you were from and what you do, but was interrupted by Lin Guoqing's grin.
"Brother, I have a large family and not enough food. I want to come to my fellow villager's house to exchange some food."
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