Looking up briefly, I saw that the kid who was digging the hole had used too much force and ended up flipping himself over and landing hard on his bottom.
The hillside was covered in soft soil, with not a single rock in sight. Jian Dan wasn't worried at all. Watching her child struggle to his feet, pouting, he was clearly defiant.
She picked up the shovel and tried again, angry. She didn't have much strength left in her hand, and with one shovelful, she dug down to the ground without even realizing it. She just yanked it out, and as a result, a shovelful of dirt flew all over her head.
Jian Xin was stunned.
Jian Dan quickly turned around, covering her mouth to stifle her laughter, but her shoulders still trembled uncontrollably.
When she finally composed herself and turned around, she found that Jian Xin had changed her strategy and was now sitting on the ground, where there was a small pile of small garlic cloves that had been dug up, though it was a bit messy.
Some have no head, some only have a head, and the stems on top have been chopped off.
However, Jian Xin's serious little face was full of earnestness.
Simply watch quietly without making a sound.
She also noticed that when this child does something, she becomes very serious and focused. Like now, if she isn't called upon, she can concentrate on doing it for quite a while.
The children were working so hard, so Jian Dan felt embarrassed to slack off. However, she didn't go far. She stayed around the children, digging up whatever she could find. Ji Xiang and Xi Le had long since run off to play somewhere, but Jian Dan didn't care. Wildness is an animal's nature.
There weren't many wild vegetables to begin with, and in no time, this small patch was almost completely dug up.
Jian Dan had just dug out the last willow shoot when the little girl came over carrying a small basket already covered with a layer of leaves. Her face was covered in sweat, but she couldn't hide her pride.
When they got close, she twisted her body to show the small basket on her back to Jian Dan.
"Look, I dug up so many, I'm giving them all to my sister."
Wow, Jian Dan felt a moment of joy. Had she already begun to enjoy her child's filial piety?
This child really put in a lot of effort; not only were his little hands covered in mud, but even his fair face had streaks of dirt on it.
"Awesome! My older sister didn't find this, look!"
The little girl actually stood on tiptoe and took a look, her eyes shining.
"Really? The ones my sister dug up were all different, they all, um, had leaves."
"Yes, yes..."
Jian Dan reached out and wiped the dirt off her face. Li Yanming and the others also came over carrying baskets. Clearly, that area had been completely dug up, and their hair was a little disheveled.
"Shall we go further up?"
Among those most familiar with the area on this mountain, Jian Dan is the most familiar, followed by Lin Dongfang and Ling Weidong. They came up together earlier, but separated when they got to this area. The men went further in and haven't returned yet.
He looked around and simply pointed in one direction.
"Let's go that way. The water where we caught fish last time is over there. You guys go dig for vegetables, and I'll go see if I can catch any fish. If we do, we don't need to rush back. We can have fish for lunch on the mountain, how about that?"
What else? If you can eat fish, why be picky?
Li Yan almost immediately started swallowing.
Jian Xin also clapped and jumped.
"We need to catch fish, we need to catch fish."
Now that you mention it, the fatigue I felt earlier seems to have lessened considerably.
To be honest, digging for vegetables isn't that tiring. Aside from the ups and downs of the mountain, you have to keep moving your waist and legs, which is unavoidable. You have to keep bending over and stretching your legs.
Children as young as Jian Xin can sit on the ground without caring about their image, which adults usually wouldn't do. Children are slow to work, and once they sit down, they don't need to move for a long time.
But given their hand speed, that's obviously unrealistic.
My back ached after this trip. My hunched posture meant my thighs had to be tense, and it was especially uncomfortable at night.
They walked uphill for a short distance to a grove of trees, where clusters of green buds were peeking out from under the dead leaves. Further ahead was the place where they had their picnic last time. Li Yan and her friends were reluctant to give up, so once they had confirmed their destination, they put down their baskets and started working.
Jian Dan led the child straight uphill. Once they were out of the woods, the view opened up, and little Jian Xin's eyes couldn't take it all in. Her little mouth chattered away, and Jian Dan occasionally gave a reply.
"So many trees!"
"Sister, where is this? Are there any wild vegetables here?"
"Sister, where are the fish? I want to catch fish so I can feed them to you."
"Wow, this place is so big, sister! Is this on a mountain?"
"Yes, this is on a mountain, but children can't come up here by themselves. There are snakes and wild boars."
"Oh? A snake?"
The little girl immediately jumped up, spinning around in place while looking at her feet.
"Are there snakes? Are there snakes?"
It was just a simple joke, so I quickly grabbed the child.
"No, no, don't get confused."
My sister is saying that there are snakes in the mountain that can bite people and are very dangerous.
Therefore, children must never go up the mountain alone. If they go up with an adult, they must never run around, understand?
"Yes, yes, I'll be good and won't run around."
As they walked, they saw some familiar wild vegetables and picked them up casually. Before they even reached their destination, they saw two dogs running down from above, wagging their tails wildly. They turned straight towards them, clearly enjoying their exercise today.
This winter, Jian Dan herself didn't like to move around much, and she only went out a limited number of times. Moreover, she never even left the village. The dogs were also very cooped up, so once they came out, they really ran wild.
Soon, they arrived at the water source they had visited before.
"Wow, there's water? Are there fish here?"
As soon as he turned the basket upside down, he heard the little girl exclaim "Ah!"
"You've fallen into the water! Jixiang, Xile, come up quickly! You can't play in the water, you'll drown!"
Jian Dan's heart leaped into her throat, then sank back down. She glanced at the two little ones thrashing about in the water, then at the anxious child who was about to jump in to save the dogs, and suddenly felt a headache coming on.
"Why are you crying? Dogs can swim, they won't drown,"
That's what she said, and she was glancing at it out of the corner of her eye, but the water wasn't deep, so she figured it wouldn't be a big problem and wasn't too worried.
"ah?"
Tears streamed down the child's face, and the child looked on in surprise.
"Can swim? But, but, Jixiang is like this and that,"
"It's okay, it's okay,"
It's just doggy paddling, right? These two dogs were small last year, and this is their first time in the water this year. I guess they're a bit rusty with the skill, because they looked a little messy as soon as they got in the water.
Besides, this is a stream, and the water only reaches up to the little girl's belly at most.
Sure enough, after coaxing Jian Xin, when we went to check on them, the two were already playing happily, and the nearby shore was covered in water.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
