Wang Guihua stopped what she was doing and thought for a moment.
"That's right, it's been eight years."
Eight years? Upon hearing this word, even the older ones remembered...
"You mean, Zhu Zi is gone? That can't be, can it?"
"It's not that he's gone. When his father passed away, he specifically asked Second Aunt not to separate from Zhuzi and not to kick Zhuzi out. At the time, we all thought it was because Second Uncle couldn't bear to see his child suffer. Now look, could it be that it wasn't meant that way in the first place?"
"What could that mean? A mother and son shouldn't separate. Does it mean the mother should take care of the son, or the son should take care of the mother?"
Upon hearing this, everyone present paused, and the speaker immediately waved his hand.
"No, no, I was just making it up."
The others continued working, however,
"Maybe you'll guess right by accident?"
"You mean Uncle Er thought of a way to have Zhu Zi support Aunt Er back then?"
"Think about it? What was his family like before? Was Second Aunt a childcare worker? Back then, it was Second Uncle who took Zhu up the mountain, and Second Aunt didn't even work at home,"
"But my second uncle has been gone for eight years. At that time, Zhuzi was only eleven or twelve years old. How could an eleven or twelve-year-old child be asked to take care of his mother, who was an adult with hands and feet?"
What was Uncle thinking? Did we misunderstand something?
"I don't know, but back home, my second uncle always doted on my second aunt. When Zhu Zi was born, maybe three or four years old, he was already feeding the chickens."
"But when Second Uncle first left, Second Aunt wasn't this unreasonable, was she? I remember back then, Zhu Zi worked every day and was looking forward to coming home."
"So how did it turn out like this?"
"My second aunt kept hoping that my second uncle would come back, but he never did. Later, there were no more letters. I guess she still harbored resentment?"
"Oh, poor Zhu Zi. Do you think Second Uncle knew his wife and children's temperament, which is why he said those things?"
"Oh my god, is he prioritizing his wife over his children?"
"If that's the case, then Zhu Zi is too pitiful. He has a mother who beats and scolds him all the time, and a father who schemes against him."
Seeing that the conversation was going off on a tangent and becoming increasingly absurd, Wang Guihua quickly interrupted.
"Alright, alright, just listen and that's enough. Hurry up, how many haven't been dug up yet? Those who went back will be back soon."
"Hurry up, how much is left over there?"
"Sister-in-law, hurry up! After you finish over there, come over and take a look around. There's some here too, don't forget anything."
"Okay, I got it."
After briefly listening to the gossip and mentally ranting about it, I put it out of my mind and started digging along the edge of the land with a stick.
After all, it was deep in the mountains, so there were quite a few things we could use. Not far ahead, we could vaguely see what looked like red flashes on the trees. When we got closer, we found that they were bunches of red berries. It was a pleasant surprise; we didn't expect there to be hawthorns in the mountains.
The tree isn't tall, but its branches and leaves are quite lush, with clusters of brownish-red fruits hanging heavily on it, making it quite a beautiful sight against the backdrop of green.
She estimated the height of the tree and her own height, and felt that it wouldn't be a problem. She could reach the lower branches with her hand. She reached out, hooked the branch down, held it in place with her left hand, picked the branch with her right hand, and then threw it directly from her shoulder into the basket.
I circled around the tree and tried it out, but I'll need to find tools for the ones above.
There were plenty of tree branches around here, so I found a forked branch nearby. The branches on it were quite strong, and I bounced around and tried several times before I could barely reach the tips of the leaves. I held onto it with one hand and reached for the hawthorn with the other. When I used too much force, the whole branch shook, and leaves and dust flew up.
"Ugh, ptooey, ptooey!"
By the time Li Yan and her companion arrived, she had already picked all the best-looking ones from the top of the tree and slid down.
"Why are you two here? Is everything done over there?"
"Yeah, they took everything they dug up. They even did a final check to make sure nothing was missed. You can climb trees?"
Li Yan was quite surprised when she helped her remove the leaves stuck to her clothes.
"I never knew you could climb trees."
I quickly wiped my face; my head and face were covered in leaves and dust from climbing the tree.
"Haha, I know a lot more than this. This is just a basic life skill. Look, isn't this a useful one?"
Where are your baskets?
Lin Zhaodi pointed to the spot where they had just been.
“They’re still over there. The village chief said they’ll come down the mountain after they’re done exploring. We came here to find you.”
I simply grabbed two handfuls of hawthorns and stuffed them into their pockets (their tops all had two large pockets, which were very practical).
"Try it, it was picked from the tree, I don't know if it's sour or not."
Seeing that Jian Dan had already deftly slung the basket over her shoulder, the two men swallowed back any words of refusal they might have said and instead helped her straighten the basket.
"Let's go back, it will be dark by the time we get down the mountain."
The villagers were all overjoyed. When they saw Jian Dan return, the village chief was beaming. This little lucky star was someone they couldn't afford to offend.
"Little Jian Dan, are you tired?"
"Uncle, is everything collected?"
"Yeah, it's a good thing you have good eyesight, otherwise you would have missed so many. Thinking about it, I want to punch myself."
"Village chief, go ahead and hit me, I promise I won't stop you."
The villagers nearby were all amused.
"Hurry up, go back and eat, then divide it up yourselves. You can pack it up yourselves when you get back, I won't be watching over you."
The sky was getting dark, and the man carrying his load moved quickly through the mountains. Even during the day, the mountains were fraught with danger, let alone at night.
Everything went smoothly until they were about to leave the deep mountains, when a few faint roars came from the woods behind them, making the villagers, who were walking quickly, tremble.
"What's that sound? Is it...is it a wolf?"
These words startled many people.
The village chief, who was bringing up the rear, urged them on.
"Hurry up, hurry up, don't make a sound."
Actually, his voice trembled slightly.
Li Yan and Lin Zhaodi were also trembling with fear. Lin Zhaodi even mingled in the crowd of villagers, staggering as she followed along.
Jian Dan seemed a little excited. This voice wasn't unfamiliar; they were friends in a past life.
After several trips up the mountain, we didn't encounter any wild animals even once, which was a bit of a regret for Jian Dan.
Upon first hearing that wild sound, the excitement in my blood began to stir.
In their haste, but quick on their feet, the villagers made it back down the mountain safely, each one feeling fortunate.
"Hey, was that a wolf's howl just now? Luckily we moved fast!"
"Yes, it's really not safe up in the mountains at night. If we go up again tomorrow, we'll have to come back earlier."
Liu Weimin was also a little scared. On this mountain, if nothing happens, all is well, but if something does happen, it can cost lives.
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