Chapter 34 Why is it so sweet?
Uncle Xu San took Xu Yu and Xu Minghui into the mountains to chop firewood, and the chopped firewood was then carried back home by Uncle Xu Er and his wife and Aunt Xu San.
Sang Zhixia and Xu Wenxiu were responsible for looking after several children and keeping an eye on the fire in the charcoal pit in the backyard to prevent the firewood that they had worked so hard to get from being wasted.
The old lady wanted to say that she would help at home to make up for the mistake she made yesterday, but before leaving, the old man said, "We old couple will go with you."
Without waiting for the old lady to refuse, he said, "They can't swing the axe or carry the heavy load, so it would be good to pick up some dead branches and leaves on the ground to save them some effort."
It is always a good job to bundle the chopped firewood for easy delivery.
The old lady's smile was a little forced, but she still gritted her teeth and agreed.
Xu Wenxiu distributed the packed water bags one by one, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she saw the old lady being taken away by the old man.
If the old lady really stayed at home, it would be a trouble for them.
It’s also good to take it with you.
Sang Zhixia caught a glimpse of the relief in her eyes, turned around and suppressed her smile, coughed, and then said, "Mother-in-law, I'll go to the back first."
Xu Wenxiu quickly suppressed the look of relief on her face, quickly followed and said, "Xia Xia, wait for me. I'll go with you."
If you want to make high-quality charcoal blocks, you cannot use too thin dead branches, you must use hard and complete round logs.
This kind of good firewood cannot be picked up, so it can only be chopped into pieces with an axe or a hatchet and brought back.
Sang Zhixia felt emotional as she looked at the pile of firewood that had pointed corners.
Fortunately, this was in ancient times when forest resources were inexhaustible.
Otherwise, the logging alone would be enough to keep the whole family employed.
After sighing, she stuffed some dry pine needles into the firewood pile to ignite it. While waiting, she did not just wait by the charcoal pit, but went back and forth between the charcoal pit and the front yard.
The younger ones in the family were also standing on tiptoe to help.
Xu Mingyang could hold five or six pieces at a time, and Xu Yanran also ran very fast with a small basket.
Xu Mingxu was small and had a disadvantage in terms of strength, but his short legs moved very quickly, and he jumped back and forth like a small landmine. Xu Wenxiu could not catch up with him in speed.
As the smoke grew thicker, Sang Zhixia stared at the fire carefully, not daring to be distracted.
If the fire circle is kept in one place, it can be controlled and there will be no problem. But if the sparks fly away and ignite something, it will be a huge trouble.
I can't leave here.
When she heard Xu Wenxiu's cough, she said, "Mother-in-law, I'll just watch over here. You can take Jinxi to the front to rest for a while."
Xu Jinxi was too young. When she saw her brothers and sisters busy, she wanted to jump on the ground and cried anxiously.
But the charcoal pit was scorching hot and people couldn't be careless, so Xu Wenxiu kept carrying the person on her back.
Xu Wenxiu was a little embarrassed as she comforted Xu Jinxi, who was about to cry, on her back: "Your grandfather was really angry yesterday because of the fire. We can't let anything go wrong today."
"Can you just keep an eye on it yourself?"
Sang Zhixia pulled Xu Mingyang, who was too close, back a bit and said with a smile, "I can keep an eye on them. You can take these kids out as well. I'll call you when I need help."
Xu Wenxiu hesitated for a while, then took the little kids away like calling little ducks, and Sang Zhixia also found a suitable guarding position.
She squinted her eyes and looked at the flames leaping up in front of her, with another plan in her mind.
The bitter cold in the northwest is not in vain. There will be heavy snow soon after the beginning of winter, and the duration of the cold winter is unimaginably long.
After the snowstorm blocks the mountain, it will be a pipe dream to cut back large amounts of firewood like today. Without enough firewood, the charcoal business will naturally become a pipe dream.
Burning charcoal is only a temporary solution and cannot be considered long-term.
Before the blizzard comes, we still have to think of other ways...
All kinds of calculations in her mind turned back and forth like wheels for who knows how many times, and the woodcutters who went out finally returned, dragging their tired bodies.
To be honest, chopping wood is not much easier than moving bricks.
But with the experience accumulated from moving bricks some time ago, although the people who came back were all in a mess, not one of them made a sound.
Xu Yu ran to the back without waiting to drink a sip of water. Sang Zhixia was covering the charcoal pit with mud.
He stretched out his big hand, pulled the man behind him, grabbed the shovel and went up himself.
"Go and pour me some water. I'll cover this."
Sang Zhixia's hands were empty, and all that rose before his eyes was the fine mud that Xu Yu had covered with a large shovel.
She curved her eyebrows and smiled silently, patted the mud off her hands and said, "I've dried the osmanthus flowers I picked earlier. Can I add some to make some water for you?"
Xu Yu hummed lightly.
"good."
We definitely can’t afford tea at home right now, but when dried osmanthus flowers are added to boiling water, the taste is surprisingly good.
Aunt Xu was sweating profusely, and her hands holding the bowl were shaking uncontrollably, but she still smiled as she savored the lingering sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance on her tongue.
"This has the elegant flavor of winter plum blossoms in tea."
Aunt Xu, panting like a cow, drank two bowls in a row and said regretfully, "It would be better if there was a little honey mixed in."
It still tastes bland when you drink it this way.
Missing something sweet.
The old lady was so tired that she could barely straighten her back. She stared at the dried osmanthus flowers floating in the bowl and said unhappily, "It's easy to say elegant things, but anything that has anything to do with sweetness isn't expensive."
"The whole family works hard all day, but the income is not even close to the honey pot. Don't think about those fancy things. We don't have the spare money for them."
Everyone knew that she was unhappy, and no one dared to respond the moment she said this.
Aunt Xu put down the water bowl with a guilty look on her face, picked up the firewood rack that she hadn't put away yet, and said, "I'll take this back."
Aunt Xu also stood up silently and said, "I'll go help my sister-in-law look after the stove."
The old lady threw out the explosives fuse but got no response, and she didn't dare to lose her temper in front of the old man. She endured the pain all over her body and walked into the house with a dark face.
At the charcoal pit in the open space, Sang Zhixia looked at the large wet marks on Xu Yu's back and asked curiously, "What's on your clothes?"
I've been drying it by the fire for quite some time, why isn't it dry yet?
Xu Yu wiped the sticky substance from his palm with his backhand, shook his wrist, frowned, and said, "I guess it's the weirdness of the wood."
"Today I found a tree in the woods that was growing well, but who knew it would start to ooze out this sticky juice as soon as the axe fell on it? I guess I accidentally got some of it on me."
Sang Zhixia hummed and said nothing, but when she smelled the scent coming from Xu Yu, her brows slowly furrowed.
Why does it smell so sweet?
Out of curiosity, she couldn't help but take a step forward, reached out and grabbed Xu Yu's soaked clothes and brought them close to her nose.
The sudden intimacy made Xu Yu's back tense silently. He turned around and saw Sang Zhixia putting the index finger that had touched her clothes to her lips. He was so shocked that his ears turned red.
He said dryly, "Zhizhi, what are you doing?"
Sang Zhixia didn't notice his stiffness. She sipped the sweetness remaining on her fingertips, and the firelight reflected in her eyes was faintly bright.
"Tell me in detail, how strange is that tree you cut down today?"
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