Chapter 25 If your family hadn't run out of food, why would the old lady go up the mountain?
Chen Chunhua and Lin Guoqing were walking home with their children after work. From time to time, people would greet them and say,
"Hey, Guoqing, your mom went up the mountain today?"
"Chunhua, your mother-in-law said she went out to pick mushrooms?"
"Guoqing, did your family eat meat yesterday? I saw your mother carrying such a big basket, and her face was not red and she was not out of breath. Didn't she say she had no strength to hold on to the hoe?"
"Chunhua, what's wrong with your old lady today? Do you want to take her to the hospital... Don't say I'm foul-mouthed, but if this is a last-ditch effort, it's too late!"
Chen Chunhua & Lin Guoqing: ...It’s not that exaggerated.
Halfway through, Chen Chunhua saw Lin Fuqiang riding a bicycle towards them, and he braked and stopped in front of them.
"Guoqing, my mom said your family is out of food? Didn't I send you meat and eggs yesterday? Are you out of rice? I still have two food coupons here, why don't you use them to exchange for food? Do you have money? If not, I still have some..."
Lin Fuqiang was about to take out his pocket as he spoke. He had just finished work early and went home to see how Erniu was doing, but his mother came over and said that Lao Li's mother next door went to the mountain to dig bamboo shoots after a nap and met Liang Shengdi, who was picking mushrooms!
If Lin Guoqing's family wasn't running out of food, would he have sent this old lady out?
Lin Guoqing quickly stepped forward and held Lin Fuqiang's hand.
"No, no, Captain, you're too polite. We're not out of food, really!"
Lin Fuqiang looked at them in disbelief. "Don't be polite to me, you two. We are all relatives, so it's only natural for us to help each other... Your mother has gone up the mountain. She must have been out of bed for several days... Why didn't you tell me yesterday so I could have brought her here together..."
…
In the end, it was only after Chen Chunhua and Lin Guoqing swore to heaven and earth that they had not run out of food, and they were just about to take him to see their own rice jars, that Lin Fuqiang finally believed it.
"...Okay then." Captain Lin climbed back onto his bicycle and turned back towards his home.
"It's good for your mom to get out and move around, right?"
"Ah, yes, yes, you still need to move around when you get older..."
The two of them smiled and sent the person away, then continued walking forward. The third brother held Lin Guoqing's hand and blinked his big eyes as he walked.
"Dad, what happened to grandma?"
Lin Guoqing: "...your grandma suddenly loves to work."
"Then why is our family still out of food?"
Chen Chunhua shook her daughter on her back. Little Shumei was like a parrot, calling "Grandma" all the time.
"How could our family possibly run out of food? Your grandma has started working, so we won't be running out of even eggs in the future."
As a result, they met Lin Yulan again, who was running towards them with a basket not far from their front door.
"Sister, why are you here?"
"National Day, I heard your family is out of food? Mom went up the mountain to pick mushrooms?"
Chen Chunhua & Lin Guoqing: ...So this old lady's actions have a huge impact on the village!
Lin Yulan even brought a basket of rice. Thinking about the fact that there were so many mouths to feed in their family and they still had to send rice to their own family, Chen Chunhua and Lin Guoqing were really moved and ashamed.
"Sister, take it back quickly! How can we not be short of food at home? If you don't believe me, come with us inside and take a look at the rice jar!"
Lin Yulan really didn't believe it. After all, she had never seen her mother go up the mountain since she was a child. It should be said that the old lady had not even left the village many times, and the most likely reason she went out was to attend a banquet.
By the time the three adults and two children pushed the door open and walked in, Liang Shengdi, Lin Shuying and Lin Shu had already poured out all the mushrooms in the baskets and divided them up.
When she saw someone coming back, she ignored her own son and daughter, pulled Chen Chunhua over and pointed it out to her.
"Here, I've divided them in half. The pile on the left is the best, not broken at all, and still has its roots! The pile on the right is a little broken, and we can eat the more broken ones ourselves. As for the less broken ones, it's up to you how you deal with them."
Then he looked at Chen Chunhua with shining eyes and asked again.
"Today we're having braised bamboo shoots and stir-fried meat with mushrooms, right?"
Chen Chunhua put down the backpack, took her little daughter out, and nodded with a mixture of laughter and tears. "Yes, yes, yes, braised bamboo shoots and stir-fried meat with mushrooms. I'll make all the meat. I promise not to cut corners."
After that, he stuffed Lin Shumei into Liang Shengdi's hands.
"Mom, please help me look after the kids while I go cook."
"Oh, okay, okay, go ahead!"
Lin Yulan was shocked. Is this her mother? Her mother had never even taken care of her own daughter and son, yet she could be so obedient in taking care of her grandchildren?
"Mom?" Lin Yulan called out cautiously.
The old lady was a little surprised to see her, "What's wrong? Why are you here at this time? Don't you have to cook at home?" Her voice was full of energy and she didn't sound sick at all.
Lin Yulan was also impressed. Why did she suddenly go to dig mushrooms? And why did she dig so many?
She looked at the mushrooms spread out on the ground and asked out of pure curiosity, "Can your family eat all these mushrooms?"
The old lady's face tightened. "How can we not finish them? The mushrooms are only that big after they've been blanched. Two chopsticks per person can eat them all. It's not enough to satisfy your hunger. If you want to eat more, why not ask your daughter to go up the mountain to pick some?"
She was so tired today! She had run up the mountain twice! This was all the result of her hard work. If it was just Lin Yulan who wanted to eat, she would have given her a little. But Lin Yulan had so many children, and there were more than a dozen mouths to feed at home. Even if she ran up the mountain twice more, it wouldn't be enough for her family.
If you don’t give it to me, pick it yourself if you want to eat it.
Lin Yulan was so angry at the old lady's stingy look that she almost rolled her eyes to the sky.
It was Lin Guoqing who stepped forward to smooth things over. "Mom! What are you doing? My eldest sister was worried that we would run out of food, so she kindly sent us some rice. What are you saying? She's pregnant!"
Thinking that her daughter was a pregnant woman, Liang Shengdi felt that she had gone a little too far, and her tone and attitude softened a little.
"There are so many people in your family, so don't give out the rice carelessly. Save some so you can have more to eat when you give birth."
After thinking for a moment, she took the small basket she had woven that morning, pointed to the small pile of mushrooms on the right, and said to Lin Guoqing, "Give your elder sister some to take away. This is my share. If there are more, they will be gone..."
Chen Chunhua had already picked out most of the finest mushrooms from the pile and put them into the kitchen to cook. The rest were the mushrooms that would be recorded in Liang Shengdi's account later.
Fortunately, Lin Yulan was her daughter, otherwise she would not be so generous. The old lady pointed at the pair of mushrooms with a trace of pain on her face.
Lin Yulan was so angry that she laughed, but she knew very well what kind of person her mother was, so she was not too sad.
Anyway, it's good that my brother's family has not run out of food. Lin Yulan waved to Lin Guoqing and was about to say goodbye.
"Don't pick them up during the National Day holiday. My family doesn't eat mushrooms, and I'm in a hurry to get home to cook!"
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