The next morning, Gu Mingyue pushed her family's bicycle out the door, with a small blue cloth bag tied to the back seat.
"Wanwan, come up here. Today I'll take you to the county town for a stroll and let you try the local specialty, mixed rice noodles."
Lu Wanwan laughed and jumped onto the back seat, her hands tightly gripping Gu Mingyue's clothes.
The bicycle rolled along the country road, and the two chatted idly.
Gu Mingyue told stories about the military compound, while Lu Wanwan talked about interesting things happening in her hometown. Before long, they arrived in the county town.
Head straight to the state-run restaurant, pay the fare, and you can quickly get your food.
Rice noodles are one of the staple foods of the locals. A bowl of plain rice noodles is topped with pickled cowpeas, minced meat, and chili oil.
Lu Wanwan slurped up the rice noodles, sticking out her tongue because of the spiciness.
Gu Mingyue handed her the water bottle and smiled as she wiped her mouth, saying, "Take it easy, no one's going to take it from you."
The two also ordered golden-fried sugar cakes and flavorful braised tofu, filling the small table to the brim, and they ate until they were warm all over.
After finishing their meal, the two went to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Although the selection on the shelves wasn't as extensive as that of the Beijing Supply and Marketing Cooperative, it still had a lively atmosphere.
Lu Wanwan couldn't tear herself away from the small department store counter. She picked out a box of clam oil printed with winter plum blossoms and two colored glass marbles, intending to bring them to Xia Qinghe's little one to play with.
I stared at the plastic hair accessories in the display case for a long time before finally choosing a red plum blossom style one, which I pinned in my hair and smiled at myself in the mirror.
Gu Mingyue stopped in the fabric section, touched a piece of light gray corduroy, and thought about making a new vest for Lu Lin.
She picked out a piece of cotton fabric with small floral prints, turned to Lu Wanwan and smiled, "This fabric is perfect for making a little dress. I'll cut it for you when we get back."
The two put the items they had chosen into their cloth bags and headed home.
Back in the courtyard, Lu Wanwan had just put the small items from her cloth bag on the kang (a heated brick bed) when she approached Gu Mingyue with bright eyes and asked, "Sister-in-law, besides beachcombing, are there any other fun places to visit on the island?"
Gu Mingyue was braiding her hair when she heard this. She looked up and smiled, "Of course! The wild fruits on the back mountain are almost ripe. There are hawthorns, wild dates, and sweet and sour wild grapes. After you rest for a couple more days, we'll invite Xia Qinghe and Qin Hongmei to go up the mountain and pick them together."
"Can we really pick wild fruits?" Lu Wanwan perked up instantly. Back in her hometown, she had only picked jujubes from the yard and had never gone up the mountain to pick wild fruits.
Just imagining the mountains and fields covered with red and purple fruits is exciting.
Just then, Qin Hongmei came to borrow a sewing machine and immediately chimed in, "Sister-in-law Gu is right! My husband was patrolling the mountains last week and said that the wild fruits on the back mountain are all ripe and red, sweet and sour, perfect for this season."
Lu Wanwan swallowed hard, then grabbed Qin Hongmei's hand and asked, "Is it easy to walk up the mountain? Will there be any bugs?"
Qin Hongmei patted her chest and assured her, "Don't worry, I know the way well. I brought some mugwort rope to repel insects, so I guarantee you'll pick as much as you want."
Gu Mingyue put down her needlework and smiled as she finalized the decision: "Then it's settled. After Wanwan has rested for three days, we'll prepare bamboo baskets and small machetes and meet up on the mountain early in the morning."
Lu Wanwan nodded quickly.
The day before setting off to pick wild fruits, Gu Mingyue rummaged through the woodshed and found two old bamboo baskets, intending to weave them more sturdily.
Lu Wanwan came over and, imitating her, picked up a bamboo strip and clumsily tried to wind it, soon turning the bamboo strip into a tangled mess.
"Don't rush, hold the edge of the basket with your left hand and slowly wrap it around with your right hand." Gu Mingyue taught her step by step, her fingertips carrying the fragrance of bamboo strips.
Lu Wanwan followed along and slowly learned, and finally managed to weave the bamboo strips smoothly. Although the stitches were crooked, she became more and more enthusiastic as she wove.
Just as we were busy, Qin Hongmei came with a cloth bag slung over her shoulder and a handful of dried mugwort in her hand: "I brought the mugwort rope to repel insects. Let me tell you some tips for picking hawthorns. When picking hawthorns, choose the ones that are fully ripe. Hold the stem and turn it gently so as not to break the branch. Mountain grapes grow in the cracks of rocks, so be careful of the moss under your feet."
She squatted in the yard, helping to arrange the mugwort ropes as she spoke enthusiastically: "Last year, my son was chasing a little squirrel and almost fell into the grassy slope. It was Commander Lu who helped him up."
Lu Wanwan's eyes widened upon hearing this, and she quickly asked, "Are there squirrels on that mountain? Can I see them?"
"If you're lucky, you'll see him." Xia Qinghe nodded with a smile, glancing at Lu Lin sitting on the threshold.
He was holding a whetstone and sharpening their machetes, the blades making a soft, scratching sound as they rubbed against the stone.
"Commander Lu is very thoughtful. Knowing that you were going up the mountain, he specially sharpened his machetes until they were shiny."
Lu Lin laughed and said, "There are many rocks on the mountain, so a sharp machete is better for digging up wild fruit roots."
Lu Wanwan looked at the machete in her brother's hand, then glanced at the half-finished bamboo basket in the yard, her heart filled with anticipation. Tomorrow's fruit-picking trip up the mountain would surely be even more exciting than beachcombing.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Gu Mingyue woke up Lu Wanwan.
The courtyard was already bustling with activity, and Xia Qinghe and Qin Hongmei stood smiling at the door waiting.
The morning mist on the back mountain had not yet dissipated, and the grass and trees carried a damp coolness.
Xia Qinghe tied the mugwort rope to the handle of each person's bamboo basket, and the refreshing fragrance that repels mosquitoes slowly wafted out.
They hadn't gone far when Lu Wanwan spotted several red, agate-like hawthorns hanging in the bushes by the roadside. Excitedly, she grabbed Gu Mingyue's hand and exclaimed, "Sister-in-law, look! They're hawthorns!"
"Slow down, don't fall." Gu Mingyue followed with a smile, teaching her to hold the hawthorn fruit by the stem and gently twist it, so that the bright red fruit would fall into her hand.
With her sharp eyes, Qin Hongmei spotted a patch of wild grapes under an old tree, the fruit hanging on the vines and exuding a sweet aroma.
"Come here quickly! There's something good here!"
As soon as she shouted, several people gathered around.
Lu Wanwan stood on tiptoe to reach the grapes, but she always missed. Seeing this, Gu Mingyue reached out and pulled the vine down for her: "Be careful, the branches will prick your hands."
Lu Wanwan's bamboo basket was soon more than half full.
Around noon, everyone gathered on a flat area in the valley to rest.
Qin Hongmei, with her sharp eyes, spotted the grass at the bottom of the slope and slapped her leg, shouting, "Look at that patch of green, it's shepherd's purse! Dig some up to make dumplings, it's so fresh!"
Lu Wanwan had never seen shepherd's purse in the wild before, so she squatted down next to Qin Hongmei to take a look.
With a small shovel, Qin Hongmei gently lifted the shepherd's purse from its roots and dug out the tender seedlings covered in soil.
"Choose leaves that are tender and haven't bloomed yet, so that the filling will be more fragrant."
Lu Wanwan picked up the machete and tried it, just like Lu Wanwan had done.
Gu Mingyue squatted down next to her and taught her how to find the veins of the shepherd's purse: "Look, the edges of these leaves are serrated. First, loosen the soil around them, and then insert the shovel at an angle into the roots."
Lu Wanwan tried it herself and successfully dug up a whole shepherd's purse. She held it up to show Gu Mingyue: "Sister-in-law, I dug one up!"
Xia Qinghe didn't join in digging, but instead helped them wash the wild vegetables they had just dug by the stream nearby.
She washed the mud off the shepherd's purse and then sorted them by type into baskets.
Xia Qinghe was searching for bitter herbs nearby, digging as she said, "Blanching bitter herbs and dipping them in sauce is good for cooling down! I'll dig up more later."
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