The next morning, He Zhuzhu left the house at dawn. Before leaving, she stood in front of Wang Shuning's door and said something.
Winter is approaching. When I wake up in the morning, I can no longer hear the birds singing. It seems very quiet instead.
Wang Shuning opened the door and came to the hall. He Guochai and He Guoyue were playing inside. Seeing Wang Shuning, He Guoyue stopped playing with the wooden toy in her hand and said, "Sister Shuning, are you up?"
"Well, have you had breakfast?" Wang Shuning asked.
He Guoyue nodded vigorously. She had already eaten a long time ago. It was almost noon. Goudan wanted to wake up Sister Shuning several times, but he stopped himself every time. His mother said that people in the city were different from them. They could eat enough and didn't have to get up early to work.
Goudan, who was squatting on the ground, said in a childish voice, "It will be lunchtime soon."
Wang Shuning raised the corner of her mouth shyly: "Then sister will make lunch for you."
He Guoyue shook his head: "No, my mother has already prepared lunch and dinner this morning. They are warm in the pot and can be heated up by adding more fire."
"Okay." Wang Shuning returned to the room, washed up, and started making lunch.
A bowl of green pepper and shredded pork noodles with extra stir-fried green pepper and shredded pork was brought to the hall as a side dish for the two children.
The lunch and dinner that He Zhuzhu prepared for Goudan and Mingming were both sweet potato and sorghum porridge, which could be heated up with just some firewood.
"Mingming, your full name is He Guoyue, why is your nickname Mingming?" Wang Shuning asked curiously.
He Guoyue raised his head and answered, "Because my father's name is He Heming, my mother said that my name is to commemorate my father."
So that's how it is. He Zhuzhu used her daughter's nickname to commemorate her deceased husband. She was able to remain a widow for so many years without remarrying. I guess the couple must have been very loving when they were alive.
"Goudan, Goudan." A child's cry was heard outside the house.
Goudan quickly stood up and ran out, "Fengfeng."
There were several children standing behind He Fengfeng, all of them were children from the villagers' families, "Goudan, we are going to the mountains to hunt birds, do you and Mingming want to go?"
There was a flash of excitement in Goudan's eyes. "Wait for me, I'll ask my sister."
"Sister, Fengfeng and the others are going to the mountains to hunt birds. He is waiting for us outside."
He Guoyue: "No, Mom asked us to stay home today while she goes out."
Goudan really wanted to go, he begged, "Sister, there are so many of us together, nothing will happen."
He Guoyue bit her lip and glanced nervously at Wang Shuning. Before her mother left, she told them to listen to Sister Shuning.
Wang Shuning thought for a moment and stood up and said, "It just so happens that I haven't been to the mountain yet, how about taking me with you?"
Goudan was stunned for a moment. Fengfeng and the others were all children under ten years old, but Sister Shuning was already an adult.
He Guoyue agreed very much. Sister Shuning is an adult, and with her around, he can rest assured. "Then Sister Shuning can go play with us."
After locking the door, Goudan ran excitedly in front. He Fengfeng and others who were waiting outside the yard were a little surprised when they learned that Wang Shuning was also going.
Wang Shuning shared the sugar-roasted chestnuts he had made with them.
He Fengfeng peeled the shell and ate it, only to find that the chestnuts were sweet, even the shells were sweet, "Sister Shuning, why are the chestnuts you gave me sweet?"
The children's steps were a little short, so Wang Shuning slowed down and followed among them.
"This is called sugar-fried chestnuts. They are fried with white sugar, and the sweetness permeates into the chestnuts."
Not only Goudan and Mingming were surprised, but even the other children were amazed. Sugar is so expensive. It is not easy to have a bowl of sugar water at home, and yet some people would use sugar to fry chestnuts.
A child eating chestnuts puts the chestnut shell in his mouth and sucks it, determined to absorb all the sweetness inside.
Although it is early winter, the mountains are still green, mostly pine trees, while the bushes and grass have turned yellow.
Many children were holding bows and arrows made of bamboo, with hemp rope as the bowstrings.
Most of the black birds perched on the trees are completely black, and they are generally not shot and eaten. However, Goudan and his friends' target is partridges with gray feathers, which have more meat.
Birds usually perch on high branches, and they are holding very simple bows and arrows, so the success rate is not high. The bamboo arrows fall down in mid-air, just for fun.
Wang Shuning followed behind this group of children. The air in the mountains was much cooler than outside, and it felt more oxygenated, which made people relax.
Every time Goudan and his friends shot an arrow, they had to run a long way to pick up the arrow. After failing many times, they changed the way they played. Instead of shooting birds, they tried digging out squirrel nests.
The noise made by children playing in the mountains would startle the squirrels, and when they saw one they would chase it closely, trying to find the squirrel's nest where it stored food.
A colorful tail flashed in the grass, and Wang Shuning immediately chased after it. After taking a closer look, he found that it was a pheasant.
He Guoyue noticed Wang Shuning's actions and immediately shouted, "There's a pheasant." The children immediately came over to help.
Everyone surrounded the fat pheasant, but the pheasant has wings. Perhaps it was the desire to survive aroused by the crisis, it cooed a few times, and actually spread its wings to try to fly out of the encirclement.
Suddenly, a bamboo arrow flew out and pierced the pheasant's belly.
The pheasant flew a short distance and then fell to the ground. Wang Shuning immediately rushed over and caught it.
The bamboo arrow was halfway inserted and had already started to bleed.
Wang Shuning smiled as he looked at He Fengfeng who was shooting the arrows, "I didn't expect Fengfeng to be so accurate."
He Fengfeng scratched the back of his head shyly. The pheasant didn't fly high, and he didn't expect that he could hit it.
Looking at the pheasant in Wang Shuning's hand, the children looked at each other. The pheasant was discovered by Wang Shuning and shot by He Fengfeng, but they also wanted to eat it, but were worried that it would not be shared with them.
How could a child hide his or her thoughts? Wang Shuning could certainly see it.
She asked He Fengfeng: "What do you want to do with this pheasant?"
He Fengfeng was young and immature, and spoke based on what was in his mind, "Roast it right away and let's eat it together."
Wang Shuning laughed, "There are no ready-made seasonings in the mountains, and we can't gut and clean the pheasant. Aunt Zhu is not at home today, so how about taking the pheasant to Mingming's house and letting her cook it for you?"
"Okay." The children were extremely excited. They had chicken to eat, and it was the result of their own labor.
Wang Shuning returned home with a group of children carrying a pheasant. The kitchen was so small that there was hardly enough space for the children to stand.
The pheasant was particularly fat, so two large plates of it were cooked. Since there were no stools, they squatted on the ground and ate the meat with their mouths full of oil.
He Fengfeng took a large chicken leg and ate the meat. He had made the greatest contribution, so naturally he ate the chicken leg with the most meat. "Sister Shu Ning, why don't you eat it?"
Wang Shuning shook his head, "I ate too much for lunch, so I'm not hungry now."
No matter how big the pheasant is, there are twelve children, and each of them will only get four or five pieces. I have no shortage of meat, so why should I share it with some children?
In just a short while, the two plates of braised chicken were eaten up.
When leaving, He Fengfeng looked at Wang Shuning and said, "Sister Shuning, we will come to see you next time we go up the mountain."
Wang Shuning raised the corners of his mouth and responded casually: "Okay, if I'm free, I'll go with you."
He Zhuzhu didn't return from the county until dark.
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