People in the countryside go to bed early, and the Zhou family didn't have money to buy lamp oil, so after dinner they all went back to their rooms.
Although the Zhou family was extremely poor, there was one advantage that Zhou Chenyu was very satisfied with: the house was big enough that he could sleep in a room by himself.
Zhou Chenyu lay on the edge of the bed meditating. The noise from car horns and the buildings outside had disappeared, so the chirping of insects and croaking of frogs around the room were exceptionally clear, like a pleasant lullaby, soothing people to sleep.
She nestled under the soft blanket, feeling the warmth spread through her body, and her eyelids gradually drooped as she drifted off to sleep.
The next day, Zhou Chenyu was awakened by the quacking of ducks outside the window.
On the path behind the house, a middle-aged woman was using a stick to shoo away a flock of ducks. The ducks flapped their wings in panic and flew several meters into the paddy field.
What a plump flock of ducks! They would be so delicious roasted.
Zhou Chenyu swallowed a mouthful of water, closed the window, got dressed, and stepped out of the room. A damp smell wafted over, seeping into her bones through her clothes.
She slept so soundly last night that she didn't even know it was raining outside.
The courtyard ground was wet, and a fine drizzle was falling from the sky. Looking into the distance, the fields and mountains were shrouded in a white mist, like a fairyland in a book.
She stretched, which was noticed by Li Xiuju in the kitchen. "Why didn't you sleep a little longer?"
Zhou Chenyu looked at Li Xiuju. Although she was his mother in name, he couldn't bring himself to say the word "mother." It felt like he had betrayed his own mother.
However, since she can no longer return to the modern world, it's not unreasonable for her to treat Li Xiuju as a family member, after all, they may have to rely on each other for survival in the future.
Being sweet-talking will prevent you from suffering great losses.
"I've slept for two days already, any more and I'll fall apart." She took the soup bowl from Li Xiuju's hand; it was still filled with sweet potato porridge. "Your legs aren't good, be careful not to slip. I'll take it out."
Seeing that Zhou Chenyu's complexion was much rosier and that he was willing to speak, Li Xiuju's worries of the past few days gradually subsided, and she couldn't help but smile.
Zhou Baoyu poked his head out of the storage room, coughing incessantly as he was choked by the dust. "Mother, are you talking about these two baskets?"
Li Xiuju snapped out of her daze and went over to lend a hand. "Yes, I'll take them to the stream to wash them clean later. They'll be perfect for storing bamboo shoots."
Zhou Baoyu shook the dust off his clothes. "Mother, the road is slippery in the rain, and your legs aren't very good. I can go up the mountain by myself later."
Li Xiuju shook her head. "No need. I'm just staying at home anyway. I'll just be careful."
Zhou Chenyu had never picked bamboo shoots before. If Li Xiuju didn't go, it would be so awkward for her to be alone with this old lady.
She answered loudly, "Baoyu, I'll go with you."
"No, you've only been better for a short time, and Mother is worried." Li Xiuju refused without even thinking.
"Grandma, you don't trust me, but I don't trust you either. Baoyu, do you think it's easier to stay with me, or to stay with Grandma?"
Zhou Chenyu winked at Zhou Baoyu, who hesitated for a moment, then immediately changed his mind when he saw his older sister glaring at him threateningly: "Yes, Mother, I'll go with my sister, you stay in the room."
Li Xiuju couldn't refuse the two of them, so she had no choice but to agree.
After breakfast, Zhou Chenyu took the sweet potatoes that Li Xiuju had specially roasted and followed Zhou Baoyu, carrying baskets on their backs, towards the mountains behind the village.
To get into the mountains, you have to cross the stream to the other side, climb the grassy slope, and once you reach the top, a vast expanse of wasteland stretches down to the foot of the mountain.
After the heavy rain, the moss-covered path became slippery. Sunlight filtered through the lush forest, weaving through the trees, and water droplets fell, pattering onto the piles of fallen leaves.
The mountain is covered with dense trees and bamboo forests, blocking the view for more than ten meters. In addition, there are occasional sounds of branches breaking, which seem to indicate the movement of people or unknown creatures.
In ancient times, the development of mountain forests was far less advanced than it is today. If you got lost in the forest, you wouldn't know how to get out. If you were unlucky enough to encounter animals like jackals, wolves, tigers, or leopards, the danger would be even greater.
Zhou Chenyu was afraid to venture deeper into the area, so she cautiously followed behind Zhou Baoyu. "Baoyu, are there tigers in this place?"
"Sister, what are you saying? If there were tigers here, everyone in our village would have been eaten long ago." Zhou Baoyu walked forward and came to a slope. He quickly turned around and handed it to her, mocking, "If I had known you were such a coward, I wouldn't have brought you out."
"Tch, do I need you to guide me?" Zhou Chenyu rolled her eyes at him, grabbed his hand, and kicked up the high slope.
After Zhou Baoyu finished laughing slyly, he continued to lead the way earnestly. The bamboo forest was hidden among the trees and surrounded by dense thickets.
Zhou Baoyu used a wood-chopping knife to cut through the weeds on both sides and rushed in like a monkey.
Upon entering the bamboo forest, they discovered a path at the other end. There were indeed signs of broken bamboo roots, suggesting that it had rained, and many new shoots had sprouted around the area.
The new bamboo shoots grow in the middle of the small bamboo, about the thickness of a thumb and the length of a chopstick. The tender shoots are very crisp and break easily with a snap. However, one must be careful because the shoots are covered with a hard shell that is covered with tiny, prickly hairs.
In supermarkets, a package containing only five or six thin bamboo shoots can cost six or seven yuan.
Here, bamboo shoots are a gift from Mother Nature.
Zhou Chenyu had only ever seen peeled bamboo shoots in supermarkets, and excitedly bent down to break off a stalk.
Zhou Baoyu saw another bamboo grove diagonally above. "Sister, you pick them up here, and I'll go up there. That way we can be faster, and we can go home once our baskets are full."
Looking at Zhou Baoyu's agile figure, Zhou Chenyu thought he was unreliable before coming here, but he turned out to be quite reliable.
"Okay, then be careful."
After he left, Zhou Chenyu snapped off one bamboo shoot after another, and in just a short while, both her hands were already full.
She casually spread the bamboo shoots on the ground, then searched around along the bamboo's growth path, piling them up into a small mountain.
When Zhou Chenyu got tired of picking, he sat on the grass, peeled off the bamboo shoots, leaving only the tender white parts inside, and put them all into his basket.
By noon, the sun was getting stronger, and the water droplets in the forest evaporated.
Having only eaten sweet potato porridge for breakfast, Zhou Chenyu was already very hungry. She was sweating profusely from the heat, so she sat down in the shade of the trees with a roasted sweet potato in her hand and shouted "Zhou Baoyu!" overhead.
Zhou Baoyu scurried down the slope, holding a string of red flowers in his hand. "Sister, try some."
Zhou Chenyu looked at the bright red flower with disgust. "What? Are you trying to poison me?"
"Sister, what are you saying? Would your younger brother harm you?" Zhou Baoyu picked a flower and sucked hard on the stamen. "The juice of this flower is so sweet, it quenches my thirst."
Zhou Chenyu followed his actions, took a sip, and found that although there wasn't much juice, it was really sweet, like drinking watermelon juice, which was perfect for cutting through the greasiness of the roasted sweet potato.
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