Lu Xiaomei looked at Xiaoyue with concern, unsure of how to begin, knowing full well that the Ge family members were not so easy to talk to.
Xiaoyue carried the bundles of firewood outside into the basket. The firewood was piled on the west side. She chopped it into 50-meter-wide pieces with an axe and then stacked them neatly side by side.
While Xiaoyue was carrying firewood, she was thinking that she still needed to chop more firewood, enough for at least the winter. At the current rate, it would only last for three days. Tomorrow was the market day, so she had to get up early to go up the mountain to collect linden black gold, and then chop some more firewood. It seemed that morning exercise was not an option for tomorrow.
Lu Xiaomei added fuel to the fire by the stove. When Xiaoyue saw that it was almost done, she helped Lu Xiaomei and called Xiaodouding back to the shack to sleep.
A fierce wind blew through the night, and raindrops pattered down.
Xiaoyue put on her clothes and closed all the windows in the house, but the heavy rain still poured in through the cracks. She moved the things that were afraid of getting wet to places where the rain wouldn't reach them. Then she went to the main room and closed the windows that had been opened for ventilation in the afternoon. She went into the kitchen and saw that the fire was still burning and there was still water in the pot, so Xiaoyue added some firewood, intending to burn off the dampness.
I went into the east and west rooms to check how much rainwater had entered. Not much had gotten in. I touched the kang (heated brick bed) on both sides and it was completely dry.
Xiaoyue looked at the thatched roof of the shack again. Fortunately, the thatched roof of the completed house had not been blown away by the wind, so she felt relieved and went back to sleep.
The next day, before dawn broke, Xiaoyue went up the mountain. The mountain was not too difficult to walk in after the rain. Xiaoyue stepped on the dry branches, carried the basket on her back, and followed the route she remembered, walking and looking around along the mountainside.
Instead of seeing linden tree holes, Xiaoyue spotted elm mushrooms. She circled around the elm mushrooms, noting that both fallen and standing trees were covered in them.
Xiaoyue laughed silently. She was so rich! She quickly put down her basket. The tempting yellow butter covered half of the tree trunk and felt smooth and soft to the touch.
Xiaoyue was extremely excited and picked handful after handful, filling a whole basket. When it was too full, Xiaoyue decided to go down the mountain and come back again.
Xiaoyue placed the elm mushrooms on the wooden bed, checked that Lu Xiaomei and Xiaodouding were still asleep, and quietly left the house. After leaving the house, she ran towards Xiaoma Hutou Mountain, where she met Liang Qi.
Liang Qi was pleased that Xiaoyue had arrived quite early. He heard Xiaoyue say as she jogged over, "Go to your house and get a basket or crate. I found a lot of elm mushrooms on the mountain. I can't pick them all myself anyway. I'll make them into road signs for you."
Liang Qi was overjoyed to hear that Xiaoyue had discovered the elm mushroom and hurriedly ran back.
Xiaoyue called out from behind, "Don't forget to tell Uncle Liang to wait for me to go to town together."
Liang Qi made a hand gesture and dashed back like an arrow.
When Xiaoyue reached the bend, she broke off a small stick and placed it as an arrow. This time, Xiaoyue didn't rush to pick elm mushrooms, but instead looked for linden black gold along the way. After walking for a while, she finally saw the tree with the hole in its trunk.
Xiaoyue picked a large leaf from the side, then reached inside with her hand, grabbing one and breaking it off. With her hand covered in black linden leaves, Xiaoyue filled the bottom of her basket with black linden leaves, then covered it with a thick layer of large leaves.
Xiaoyue returned to the place where she found the elm mushrooms. At this time, Liang Qi also arrived with a large basket on his back. The two of them started picking elm mushrooms one by one. Liang Qi had big hands and worked quickly. Xiaoyue had only picked more than half of the basket when Liang Qi had finished picking the entire large basket. He then came over to help Xiaoyue pick more.
The basket for Xiaoyue was full, and there was still about half a basket left. Since neither of them had anything else to carry, they went home together.
As Xiaoyue walked back, she asked if there were any baskets or carrying baskets left at home, because she had one basket that she couldn't take with her.
Liang Qi smiled excitedly at Xiaoyue, "What time did you get up? That's amazing!"
Xiaoyue scratched her head sheepishly, "I got up before dawn."
"Wait for me to bring the oxcart over. There's a big basket at home, but I didn't take it because I didn't think we had that many." He sighed, "It was my mistake." Then he smiled and said, "Let's sell elm mushrooms together. It just so happens to be market day today."
Xiaoyue raised her head and nodded vigorously, knowing that Liang Qi was grateful that she had pointed out the location of the elm mushrooms and wanted to help her sell them.
When Xiaoyue got home, she busied herself brewing medicine, making some porridge, and washing a handful of elm mushrooms, intending to stir-fry them for Lu Xiaomei and her mother.
The oxcart had arrived at the door, and Lu Xiaomei got up. Xiaoyue told Lu Xiaomei to watch the fire and not let the medicine boil dry, so she hurriedly carried her basket to the oxcart.
Liang Qi drove the cart, which carried a large basket. Xiao Yue hurriedly carried the basket back to the yard and finally picked the elm mushrooms from the wooden bed into the basket. Xiao Yue looked at the basket and saw that it was more than half full. In fact, if Liang Qi had taken this basket, he could have picked them all.
Xiaoyue carried most of the basket of elm mushrooms back onto the oxcart. Liang Qi looked back to see that Xiaoyue was settled, then drove the oxcart to the east end of the village to wait for the other villagers who were also going to ride.
Xiaoyue sat in front, guarding two baskets and a crate of elm mushrooms. Liang Qi handed the cart to Uncle Liang and sat down on the other side of the baskets.
Besides Xiaoyue, Li Shuanshu led Li Qianqian to arrive first. They found a good spot to sit down, followed by Niu San and Niu Lishi. Niu Lishi was carrying a basket of eggs, apparently going to sell them, and sat down next to Li Qianqian.
Xiaoyue was surprised to find that Gao Yu was also taking the oxcart to town, carrying a bulging little bag. Xiaoyue greeted Gao Yu, who then squeezed inside Li Qianqian's group and started talking to Xiaoyue.
Xiaoyue is not good at gossiping. Only if you provoke Xiaoyue will you start arguing like a machine gun.
After greeting Gao Yu, Xiaoyue quietly sat back down. Gao Yu, however, thought differently and whispered to Xiaoyue, "I'm going to deliver food to my brother. They're taking the imperial examinations in the county this fall, so they won't have time to come home."
Xiaoyue responded with a curt "Oh," unsure of what else to say, feeling a little awkward.
At this moment, Hu Zhushi walked steadily to the front of the oxcart with a swaying gait. Seeing that it was already full of people, with only one seat left at the back, she gave Niu San a sweet smile. Without looking at Niu Lishi's ashen face, she said in an affected, trembling voice, "Brother Niu San, people sitting at the back of the cart are afraid of falling off. I have delicate skin and can't take a fall."
Niu Li spat and muttered under her breath, "You vixen, shameless!"
But Niu Li dared not say more, for fear that Niu San would beat her.
At this moment, Gao Yu smiled and said, "You're afraid of falling, but aren't others afraid? Don't be like Monkey Three's wife, seducing people; you'll pay the price."
Hu Zhu glanced at Gao Yu out of the corner of her eye, then stared at Gao Yu and went to her. She put her hand on Gao Yu's arm by the oxcart. Gao Yu was startled and jumped up, saying, "You sit, you sit, I'll sit at the back of the cart."
Hu Zhu jumped off the oxcart and sat at the back. Hu Zhu reached out her hand, wanting Niu Li to help her up, but Niu Li pretended not to see and turned her head away. The men, Niu San and Li Shuanshu, were sitting opposite her.
Hu Zhushi was not popular with women, so in the end she had to climb up the cart shaft herself.
As soon as Hu Zhu got on the cart, Uncle Liang drove the oxcart towards the town.
"Have you heard? The Ge family is fighting. Father-in-law, mother-in-law, son, daughter-in-law, and sister-in-law have been fighting all day yesterday," Hu Zhu said to Niu Li.
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