The next morning, Yang Chunyan got up, packed her things, and left the child to the old man. She, Zhou's mother and father carried baskets on their backs and went to the corn field to pick corn.
Mother Zhou was heartbroken when she saw the corn being destroyed by squirrels and wild animals. She said, "Tell the youngest son to get some traps and kill the creatures that destroyed the crops."
"If we break the corn today and work for another day tomorrow, the harvest will almost be done. Why bother setting traps?" Father Zhou put the corn into a backpack, carried it to the edge of the field, and poured it into the bamboo basket on the chicken cart.
Yang Chunyan: "Next year when the corn is ripe, tell Huai'an to release a few corns, but make sure to mark them. It will be troublesome if someone gets caught in them."
After hearing this, Zhou's mother was a little worried that someone might be hurt. "We'll talk about it when the time comes!"
The three of them spent two hours breaking corn before going home for breakfast. After finishing their housework, the sun came out and they were busy taking the dried red mushrooms out of the drying room and spreading them out on the upper floor of Zhou Huairong's backyard to dry.
When the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law came out, they saw Jiang Yu and others walking towards them, whispering to each other.
"They are probably talking about the Ye family," Zhou's mother said with a sigh. "Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. In just one morning, the whole village knows about it."
"Yeah, who knows where they have so much time to spread gossip about others?" Yang Chunyan felt that the speed at which gossip spread these days was no slower than in later generations. As long as something happened in a family, the whole village would know about it in no time.
Sure enough, when a few people arrived, they started talking about Li Chuntao running away.
Jiang Yu said: "Youngest Ye is also confused. He doesn't even know who Li Chuntao's lover is."
Zhou's mother sighed, "We didn't know each other well before because we lived far away from each other. Now that we live in the same row, I feel that Ye Laoyao is a good person. The bad thing is his leg."
Wu Caixiang nodded, "Yes, a girl can get married even if she is lame or blind, but a man with a little physical defect and a poor family will be a bachelor forever."
Jia Hongchun: "This morning I saw Accountant Ye and his wife. They no longer looked as arrogant as before. Mrs. Ye was even depressed."
Jiang Yu: "They shouldn't have allowed Ye Laoyao to marry that improper woman. Now he can't even hold his head up in the village anymore."
Wu Caixiang: "It's not like he did anything shameless, so why should he be ashamed? I heard from them that Accountant Ye's family is rich, and he can find a new wife for Youngest Ye in less than half a year."
"Yes, Li Chuntao is not the only woman in the world."
As they were talking, they had already reached the backyard. Everyone poured the mushrooms from the bamboo baskets into baskets and picked them out to dry in the sun.
Yang Chunyan picked up the bamboo fungus, black fungus, and sliced big-foot mushrooms and spread them out upstairs to dry.
Zhou's mother said to Yang Chunyan, "It seems that few people came to deliver mushrooms today. It's almost nine o'clock and no one has come yet."
After everyone went back to pick out the red mushrooms and dry them in the sun, He Hongxiu stood at the gate of the courtyard holding the tax-paying book and shouted, "Youngest, the tax-paying day is the day after tomorrow, so you should prepare early!"
Zhou's mother hurriedly stepped forward to take the stack of books, flipped through them and took a look, "Take them out and dry them the day after tomorrow and we can send them over."
"Dry it a little, and remember to bring half a bag of food!" He Hongxiu reminded.
Zhou's mother responded repeatedly, "Yes! Yes!"
"Let's go. I still have to deliver brochures to other families." He Hongxiu took two steps and turned back, "Second sister-in-law, tell the eldest brother that his team leader will also go with us the day after tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll tell him when he comes back!" Zhou's mother smiled and sent her to the gate of the courtyard. "You guys also know about the incident at Accountant Ye's house, right? Have they looked for Datian?"
He Hongxiu spread her hands and said, "There is no way to find her. The Ye family called Datian last night and went to the Li family overnight but couldn't find Li Chuntao. Instead, they stopped us and asked for our daughter. Even the ox cart was confiscated by them.
The Li family also said that the Ye family had murdered Li Chuntao, and they wanted to see her alive or dead. Later, it was Datian who went to find their brigade secretary, and only then did they drive the ox cart back. "
"Tsk tsk!" Zhou's mother smacked her lips after hearing this. "No wonder people often say that when choosing a daughter-in-law or son-in-law, you have to look at what kind of people the in-laws and the mother-in-law are. The Li family was willing to sell their daughter in the first place, so they are not kind people."
"Second sister-in-law is right!" He Hongxiu said with a smile, "Your wives are all good. Please take some time to help my Huaiqing and find him a woman with good character."
After hearing this, Zhou's mother smiled with wrinkles all over her face, "I just asked Sister Liu to help me. It was right to ask her!"
"We also asked her for help." He Hongxiu smiled and said, "I won't say any more. It will be too late to say more."
Zhou's mother said, "When the time comes, you can deliver the grain to the intersection, and ask the eldest brother to deliver it to the grain station together."
"Okay!" He Hongxiu waved her hand and strode away.
Zhou's mother took the public grain book back to the house and handed it to Yang Chunyan, "Look, it's here again. Last year, I was rated as a top-class worker, so I didn't have to pay for it. I don't know if I can be rated this year."
After hearing this, Zhou's father said, "You too, this is a rule that has been in place for thousands of years. Do you still want to escape?"
The old man took over the conversation, "That's right. In the past, landlords also had to pay land taxes. Now it's better than before anyway. It can fill our stomachs by mixing it with grains!"
"Grandpa and my old man are both optimists!" Yang Chunyan thought that there were still more than 20 years before the country would exempt all agricultural taxes by the end of 2005. However, people by then would no longer be satisfied with just having enough food and clothing. They would want more and live a more tiring life.
The old man held little Jiuer in his arms, making him laugh. "Jiuer, how can an old man not be optimistic? Now we have meat to eat every day, and we make new clothes all year round. That was how life was for landlords in the old days."
"Oh oh!" Little Jiuer sucked his little lips and spoke in baby language to his ancestor.
The old man laughed and said, "Kids nowadays are so smart. They want to talk when they are just a little bit old. The eldest one was not as smart as him when he was one year old."
Mother Zhou: "Old man, why don't you think about the fact that Jiu'er has someone to accompany her every day? When the eldest brother and his friends were working, they carried him on their backs when they couldn't sit. When they were able to sit, they put him in the sedan chair when they got home from work. The adults were so busy that they didn't have anyone to talk to them."
Father Zhou nodded after hearing this and said, "Of course they can't be compared. I remember that the eldest child couldn't even walk steadily, so he had to take care of the second child."
Old man: “That’s true!”
Mother Zhou looked at the alarm clock on the oven and said, "It's already nine o'clock! Your uncle and his family haven't brought the red mushrooms yet. Are they not coming today?"
Yang Chunyan looked at the scorching sun and said, "It hasn't rained for half a month. It's too dry to pick the fruits."
Mother Zhou thought of the mushrooms they had picked up from the big pit and asked, "Why don't we go to the big pit and take a look?"
"Okay, go pick some fresh mushrooms and bring them back for soup tonight." Yang Chunyan went to get some household items and said to the old man, "Grandpa, Jiuer is hungry, make him some rice noodles."
"Okay! It's hot and there are old shuttlecocks in the woods, so be careful."
"Hey!" Yang Chunyan agreed and walked towards the back mountain with Zhou's mother.
Yang Chunyan and her daughter-in-law walked down the path. Zhou's mother pointed to the cliff in the east and said, "Look, the dendrobium that Huai'an cut has sprouted again."
"Yes! As long as we don't pull them out by the roots, we can harvest them once every two or three years."
Zhou's mother turned her head and looked at her, whispering: "This big pit bag is worth the money, just like picking up money."
Yang Chunyan nodded, "I never dreamed that there were so many dendrobiums down there."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, leaning on their hoes, walked all the way to the place where they had picked mushrooms a few days ago and stopped. They found that it was much cooler and more humid below than above, not as dry as the forest on the mountain.
Zhou's mother saw several Alstroemeria with their caps already in full bloom and said, "This is great. It's perfect for making soup."
"I picked up chicken mushrooms as soon as I opened. Today's harvest should be good." Yang Chunyan picked up a crowbar, tapped the mushroom cap, pried up one, and put it in the basket.
Zhou's mother laughed and said, "I ate chicken mushrooms twice this year when mushrooms first came out, and I haven't tasted them properly yet!"
Yang Chunyan thought of the chicken mushroom oil and said, "Let's talk to my brothers. How about collecting some to make chicken mushroom oil?"
One pound of chicken mushrooms can almost buy one pound of meat. Zhou's mother shook her head without hesitation, "Forget it, it's not very tasty to eat with other things except cooking noodles, and it takes a lot of oil to fry it!"
Yang Chunyan recalled the mushroom sauce she had eaten before, "Use mushrooms, big-foot mushrooms and pork belly to fry mushroom sauce. It doesn't use a lot of oil and tastes good when cooked with noodles."
When Zhou's mother heard that it didn't require much oil and didn't use the very expensive chicken mushroom, she nodded and said, "Let's try frying some after we finish breaking the corn."
"That's right!"
After the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law picked up all the chicken mushrooms, they stood there and looked around, and found that some of the mushrooms had already withered.
After walking a few steps forward, Yang Chunyan soon made a discovery. She walked to some low bushes and saw a touch of turmeric. When she got closer, she saw a small fat flower hidden inside.
"Bigfoot mushroom!" As usual, he patted the cap and pinched the stem, shook it left and right a few times, and pulled it up with a little force.
She turned her head and saw a young couple huddled together next to her. She picked it up and walked a few steps, then saw a big porcini mushroom that was bigger than her palm. This was a typical fat man.
She slapped the mushroom cap several times and pried it up with a crowbar. "Mom, how many did you pick up?"
"I picked up a few blue-headed mushrooms and milk mushrooms." Zhou's mother pointed ahead and said, "We also found a lot of cow dung mushrooms here."
Yang Chunyan became interested when she heard this. "Cow dung mushroom, old or young?"
"Tender!" Zhou's mother said as she picked up one. "Look, it's white and tender, just like a freshly-risen steamed bun."
"This soup is delicious. It's like eating tofu when it's cooked." Yang Chunyan said as she walked over to her and saw a large nest of cow dung mushrooms. They were all white and tender, and they were delicious.
Cow dung mushroom, scientifically known as puffball, is also called gray bag, gray horse bag, and horse fart bubble in some places. It belongs to the Lycopodiella family of the Basidiomycetes.
The Chinese medicine puffball is the dried fruiting body of the plants of the Lycopodiella family, including the big puffball, the purple puffball, and the peeling puffball. It is also a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine. In rural areas, especially in mountainous areas, it is used as a hemostatic medicine for external injuries.
Puffball: pungent, neutral, non-toxic. It can treat sore throat, loss of voice and long-term cough, and has certain hemostatic and antibacterial effects. It should not be used by people with cold, fatigue, cough and loss of voice. (End of this chapter)
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