After filling their stomachs and taking a short rest to dry off their sweat, they continued picking bamboo shoots.
Zhou Baoyu was above the trees, while Zhou Chenyu sat below.
She arrived in the morning full of energy, thinking she would definitely fill the basket today. However, she overestimated herself and rested for a while before starting work, when she was completely exhausted.
Looking at the basket that was only half full of bamboo shoots, Zhou Chenyu sat down weakly and said listlessly, "Baoyu, I have no strength left."
Zhou Baoyu stopped, vaguely seeing the shadows below, and shouted, "Sister, if you're tired, find a cool place to sit down and rest. Leave the rest to me."
This child is so filial.
"Oh dear." Zhou Chenyu sat comfortably in place and waited for about an hour. Just as she was about to doze off, Zhou Baoyu rushed out carrying a heavy basket of fresh bamboo shoots. "Sister, it's going to rain again soon. Let's go back."
"Alright, finally I don't have to sit here feeding the ants anymore." She readily picked up the basket and slung it over her shoulder. She didn't expect that the basket, which was only half full of bamboo shoots, would be so heavy that she couldn't even stand up.
"Sister, let me go first, you go ahead."
Seeing that he was covered in sweat, while she herself looked no different from when she arrived, Zhou Chenyu realized that she had already been slacking off all afternoon and it wouldn't be right to continue like this. "You pick a few over, I'm sure I can manage."
Baoyu scooped up a handful of bamboo shoots and stuffed them into his arms, while Zhou Chenyu, carrying his belongings, leaned against a tree to stand up and gritted his teeth as he walked down step by step.
The first few steps were quite difficult, but after getting used to it, she walked downhill smoothly. When she was close to the flat wasteland, she got too excited and didn't pay attention to braking, and she fell straight down into the mud.
Oh my god!
"Sister, be careful!" Zhou Baoyu cried out from behind, but it was too late to save her.
Zhou Chenyu screamed, expecting to fall flat on her face, but when her face was still a hand's width away from the ground, the basket and she were lifted up like a chick and made to stand still.
Zhou Baoyu slid down the mud and gravel, asking, "Sister, are you alright?"
The man picked up the bamboo shoots scattered on the ground. "Girl, these are your things."
Zhou Chenyu took the bamboo shoots and put them into the basket, remembering how embarrassing he had been.
She looked him over carefully. He was dressed in coarse linen clothes, had a dark and shiny complexion, a strong physique, thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a set of white teeth when he smiled.
She smiled shamelessly: "Thank you so much for saving my life, sir. May I ask your honorable name?"
“My name is Chen Tongsheng.” After answering, the man looked at Zhou Chenyu and couldn’t help but chuckle. He added, “But what kind of young lady calls herself a dog? You’re quite witty, young lady.”
Zhou Baoyu recalled yesterday's events. "Humorous? Brother, you're mistaken. You've never seen my sister when she gets angry. She's like a tigress, it's terrifying."
"Your sister?" The man's eyes widened slightly, and Zhou Chenyu smiled. "Zhou Baoyu, last time you said I was sick, this time you called me a tigress. Do you really think I wouldn't dare to hit you?"
That familiar smile! Zhou Baoyu rolled up his trousers and ran.
"Hey kid, stop right there! Brother Chen, we're on our way now, bye-bye."
Chen Tongsheng smiled as he watched the siblings run away, "Looks like they're from Zhoujia Village."
Zhou Chenyu chased after Zhou Baoyu, bickering and joking all the way back home. Once inside the courtyard, the siblings unloaded their baskets and collapsed onto the low stools in front of the main room, panting heavily from exhaustion.
Li Xiuju handed them two bowls of cooled water. Looking at the two full baskets of bamboo shoots, she was happy: "It's getting late. You two have rested enough. Go wash up quickly so you can eat."
"Sister, you go first." Zhou Baoyu turned her head away, while Zhou Chenyu slowly drank her water, pretending not to see.
Zhou Baoyu sighed, got up, carried the bucket into the kitchen, and saw a large bowl of meat on the cutting board. He exclaimed, "Mother, we're having meat tonight?"
Meat?
Zhou Chenyu's eyes lit up, and she felt that even the water in the bowl tasted sweet.
Li Xiuju scooped out some fresh bamboo shoots and smiled slightly: "Yes, your cousin Xiulan from the next village got engaged. She had two tables set up and there were still some left over, so she brought some over to us. We'll stir-fry them with the bamboo shoots later."
After Zhou Chenyu finished bathing, Li Xiuju poured the fresh bamboo shoots into a pot of boiling water and simmered them over low heat. Once the pot was cooked, she had Zhou Baoyu take them out and soak them in water.
With nothing to do, Zhou Chenyu moved a small stool to sit in front of the stove and added firewood.
Li Xiuju sliced the cooked meat into thin slices and put them into a hot pan. The fatty meat was fried until it turned golden brown, and the sizzling lard made a crackling sound.
The Zhou family hadn't eaten lard for a while, so Li Xiuju fried the meat into cracklings, scooped out the oil in a bowl, and then added the chopped bamboo shoots, wild scallions, and chili flakes to the pot. She stir-fried them together with the cracklings until they were well-seasoned, and the aroma of the meat and the fragrance of the bamboo shoots wafted out of the kitchen.
It smells so good.
Zhou Chenyu's stomach was growling loudly. Li Xiuju heard the noise, smiled, scooped up a piece of food, and handed it to her. "Are you hungry? Try it and see if it's fresh."
Zhou Chenyu had just been thinking of waiting for the food to be cooked so she could sneak a couple of bites.
She rubbed her hands together with a smile, took the bamboo shoot, and put it in her mouth. After eating bland porridge for several days, she was so excited to taste a fresh bamboo shoot full of meaty flavor, which she had picked herself. She almost burst into tears. "Mmm, delicious."
Zhou Baoyu followed the smell into the kitchen and saw his mother, looking at her expectantly. Li Xiuju scooped the vegetables out of the pot and handed them to him, saying, "Don't you dare eat any."
"Mother, you gave my sister some to eat first." Zhou Baoyu lowered his eyebrows, looking aggrieved.
Seeing her son's anxious look, Li Xiuju teased him deliberately, "Chenyu, have you eaten?"
Zhou Chenyu, seeking revenge, blinked innocently, "I didn't eat it."
Zhou Baoyu returned to the main room with the dishes, feeling dejected. Zhou Chenyu and Li Xiuju exchanged a smile, realizing for the first time that their relationship had become a little closer.
As evening approached, a few rays of sunlight shone into the main room and landed perfectly on the dining table.
Tonight's dishes included stir-fried bamboo shoots with sliced pork and a plate of stir-fried wild greens. Because of the oil, the stir-fried greens tasted better than last night's.
Zhou Chenyu and Zhou Baoyu climbed the mountain for a whole day. They had big appetites and ate one bowl after another, not even noticing the rice stains on their lips.
Li Xiuju cooked less food tonight because she felt sorry for her two children and didn't want them to see that she was reluctant to eat, so she ate slowly and carefully.
After the two dishes were almost finished, Li Xiuju looked at her daughter in front of her, examined her closely, and murmured, "Chenyu, speaking of which, your second cousin is about your age. I wonder if you still remember her."
Zhou Chenyu found those distant relatives and aunts annoying; maintaining them was extremely troublesome.
She burped and said, "I don't even remember you and Baoyu, let alone my cousin. You can point them out to me when we meet again."
“We’re all cousins, but we rarely see each other. It doesn’t matter whether we recognize each other or not.” Li Xiuju suddenly stopped speaking and gave her a meaningful look. “Mother just thinks you’re getting old.”
Zhou Chenyu frowned uneasily, recalling the opening remarks and his accumulated experience, and instantly became extremely alert.
Is the old lady going to pressure me to get married?
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