Chapter 70 Picking Mushrooms
Shen Ning didn't think there was anything wrong with this. She jumped up with joy, pulled Shen An and ran into the house. When she reached the door, she reacted and pushed Shen An into the house, standing outside the door herself.
"Brother, change quickly. I'll go in and change later."
The brother and sister changed their pants in a short while. The new pair of pants that Sang Luo made was put on Chen Ning. Although they were twins, there was still a little difference in their heights. Sang Luo saw the little girl holding up her trouser legs with both hands when she came out of the house.
She laughed a lot, helped Shen Ning roll up the hem of his trousers, and then tied it up with a thin cloth rope.
Shen An was watching happily from the side. His sister was going today, and it would be his turn tomorrow.
People living in the mountains know very well what good things are available in the mountains at different times of the year. So when Sang Luo was bandaging Chen Ning's legs, the little girl came running over. She poked her head outside the courtyard gate and looked inside. She saw Sang Luo and the others in the courtyard, so she walked in happily.
"Sister Shen, my grandma asked me to ask you if you are going to the mountains today. Grandma, Grandma Lu, and Aunt Shi are going to the mountains to pick mushrooms."
"Go!" Sang Luo responded with a smile, beckoned the little girl in, and asked, "When will your grandma and the others leave?"
The little girl came in with a smile and said, "I'll be there soon. My grandma said if you want to go, just wait at home. She'll tidy up the kitchen and come with Grandma Lu and the others to call you in a while."
Since Sang Luo traveled through time, she has been taking care of her two children to eat three meals a day. She has always had breakfast earlier than other families. She went to bed late today, and after breakfast, she did some needlework. At this time, other families should have just finished breakfast, and they probably have to wash dishes, rinse pots, and feed the chickens before they can go out.
Just as she had tied up Shen Ning's leggings, Sang Luo smiled and said, "Okay, then we'll wait at home."
He asked the little girl to wait and called Chen An into the kitchen to get a tofu dregs cake for the little girl.
When the little girl heard that it was for food, she felt a little embarrassed: "Sister Shen, I have already had breakfast at home. I just came to give you a message and will be back soon."
As he was about to leave, he was stopped by Shen Ning: “It’s made with the same stuff as the fried meatballs last time, but this is a pancake. I made it. Try it.”
Sang Luo found it funny, so she kept the two little girls to talk, went out to wash her hands, and then returned to the kitchen. She filled a bowl with fresh tofu dregs and gave it to the little girl, saying, "Go back and give it to your grandma. Fry it with a little oil, add water and boil it, then season it. It will be a dish. Remember to boil it for a little longer, otherwise you will get a stomachache if you eat it."
The little girl held a golden pancake on both sides in her left hand and a bowl of food she didn't recognize in her right hand. She was a little confused. I just came to deliver a message, why did I take so many things?
Sang Luo felt like laughing when she saw her like this. After thinking for a while, she said, "Aning, please send your little sister off. By the way, tell your grandmother Chen in detail how to make this bean dregs."
The truth was that the little girl was too young, only six years old, and she was afraid that she would not be able to learn to speak completely. If she did, she would eat the bean dregs that were not boiled enough, and the whole family would have stomachaches. Then her good intention of sending the food would become a bad thing.
Shen Ning responded repeatedly, took the big bowl of tofu dregs from the little girl, and went out with his little friend.
The little girl walked outside the yard and said, "Sister Aning, your floor is paved with stones, which is really nice. It won't get your shoes dirty at all."
She looked at her shoes, which were already very dirty from the journey.
But Shen Ning's shoes were still clean.
Chen Ning also felt it this morning. The gravel road in the yard and the unpaved ground outside the yard are really different. Before it rained, he didn't feel any benefit. He just thought it looked good. Only this morning did he truly feel the tangible benefits.
"My second brother said that he would pave the road from the yard to the mountain spring, the chicken and duck coop, and the vegetable garden at the back in the next two days."
They have been picking up stones these days and have accumulated a big pile of them, which should be enough.
The little girl glanced at Chen Ning's pants without any patches: "Are these the new pants your sister-in-law made for you?"
Shen Ning shook his head: "No, I made it for my second brother, but whoever goes up the mountain will wear it. I'm going up the mountain with my eldest sister-in-law to pick mushrooms today, so I'll wear it."
"Your sister-in-law is so kind to you."
The two little girls walked down the mountain chattering.
Li was sweeping the floor in the yard, and from a distance she saw the little girl Shen Ning holding a bowl of something, walking with the little girl from the Chen family, and the granddaughter of Mrs. Chen was holding a golden fried pancake in her hand.
It was obvious that Sang Luo was delivering something to the Chen family.
Bah, you are a traitor.
She spat, thinking this in her heart and cursing out loud.
The sound was not loud, but Shen Jin and others in the yard heard it. Shen Jin was a little surprised and looked outside. He saw Shen Ning and Chen Xiaoya at a glance, especially the two golden cakes in Chen Xiaoya's hand.
The first reaction was greed, and the second reaction was, was it Shen Ning that his mother just scolded? Or was it the eldest cousin's wife?
Shen Jin's face puffed up, and the happiness he felt when he saw the cake seemed to be diluted by five or six points in an instant.
Seeing him like this, Li was annoyed: "What are you looking at? Are you expecting them to feed you?"
Shen Jin glanced nervously at Shen Ning who was walking towards him, fearing that Shen Ning would hear his mother's words. He blushed and said, "Who said I haven't been fed before? My sister-in-law and Shen An have fed me a lot of food."
Li's face turned even darker. "That's right, you are so capable, your family didn't even want you to do heavy work, but you took your two brothers to work as laborers over there! You are really capable of doing this for a little food, why don't you just starve to death."
Shen Ning walked over and happened to hear all of this. She glanced at her Third Aunt and Shen Jin, pursed her lips, and had no expression on her face. She didn't call her Third Aunt either, and followed Chen Xiaoya directly to the Chen family's yard.
Li was very angry. The little girl who used to beg for food from her had become capable now.
She sneered and rolled her eyes at Chen Ning's back: "I don't know who learned this from!"
Shen Ning paused, and was carefully pulled by Chen Xiaoya. He said something and then followed her.
Shen Jin's neck turned red with embarrassment, and he pulled his mother to stop her from saying anything more.
How could Li cooperate? Seeing Shen Ning stop for a step and then continue walking, she felt even more angry.
This anger was accumulated day by day when the eldest son's house was being built, but the Chen family next door cooked meat for every meal. It accumulated until the autumn harvest time when the couple worked so hard that they returned home from the fields only after dark. On the way, the villagers laughed and asked them, "The eldest son's house has wine in the house, but they didn't invite you."
Reached the top.
The rumor that Sang Luo had some recipes and could make some food to sell in the county had actually spread in the village. The three women from the Chen, Shi and Lu families had all gone to the county to set up stalls. They left in the morning and returned in the afternoon. How could everyone not see them?
Think about it, it was Qin Fangniang who followed Sang Luo in the beginning, and later the Shi family and the Lu family helped Sang Luo build a house, and these two families also went there. It's easy to guess the role Sang Luo played.
Li thought that since she was married into the Shen family, she should take care of her own people. But now, she had nothing to do with it. Seeing Mrs. Chen smiling every day, Li felt extremely annoyed.
At this moment, Li Shi disliked the eldest house, the Chen family, the Lu family, and the Shi family. She was even annoyed by her three sons who were disloyal and worked for the eldest house. She couldn't do anything about Chen Ning. Seeing her son pulling her sleeve, she slapped him in the face.
Shen Jin felt pain and withdrew his hand immediately. Shen Ning had left, so he stopped standing in the yard and went back to his room with red eyes.
Shen Yin and Shen Tie followed quietly in: "Third brother, didn't you say that you saw a lot of stones piled outside the second brother's house and said we should pick up some stones and send them there today? Shall we go pick up some stones now?"
Shen Jin pulled a piece of straw from under the mat unhappily: "No."
I'm too embarrassed to go there.
…
Shen Ning didn't take the fact that her third aunt said some sarcastic words to her on the way to work too seriously. She didn't want to make her eldest sister-in-law angry, so she didn't mention it to her eldest sister-in-law and second brother when she got home.
Mrs. Chen and her group arrived very quickly. In addition to Old Lady Lu and Shi Erlang's wife, they were followed by the girl from the Lu family named Da Niu.
Mrs. Chen got a big bowl of bean dregs from Sang Luo, and when she came over, she also brought a cucumber and a cabbage for Sang Luo.
It was a rare rain, and many women from the village went into the mountains to pick mushrooms. Sang Luo followed Old Lady Chen and the others, and met many women from the same village along the way.
The two old ladies led the way and took a path that Sang Luo had never been to. The two old ladies had lived in the village for so many years and were very familiar with the mountains surrounding the village. They specifically took Sang Luo and the others to the place where they had picked mushrooms before.
Because they had snake repellent powder and were traveling in groups, they were able to go a little deeper than the women in the same village, and their harvest was huge.
Oyster mushrooms, matsutake mushrooms, straw mushrooms, black fungus, and the black fir mushroom that Sangluo is thinking about.
Mushrooms grow in long clusters here and there, popping out from under the dead trees and the dry pine needles on the ground after a night of rain.
The group of six felt like they had fallen into a lucky nest and were so happy to pick up the good stuff.
Although Mrs. Chen is old, she is very agile and has sharp eyes. She picked just as many mushrooms as Sang Luo. Mrs. Lu is not much worse off. Even the ten-year-old Lu Danniu and the nine-year-old Shen Ning are quick-eyed and quick-handed. In comparison, Shi Erlang's wife is a little behind.
The two old ladies had gained a lot along the way. They smiled until their teeth were exposed. After picking up one area, they took Sang Luo and the others to another pine forest. When they saw sour dates along the way, they picked a few and stuffed them into Sang Luo, Chen Ning and Lu Danniu: "Try it, it's quite sour, but it's delicious if you eat a few occasionally."
As he said this, he put a handful of them into his backpack, ready to take them back for his grandchildren.
Lu Danniu followed suit and ate some herself, then picked up a handful and put them in her pocket, preparing to take them back home for her younger brothers.
Chen Ning followed suit and filled his pockets. Then he looked at the sour dates that were still scattered on the ground. He felt a little unable to move his feet. He wanted to put them all into his backpack. Only when Sang Luo pinched his hand did he hold back and did not show any strange expression.
Sang Luo secretly noted down the locations of the magic tree, sour jujube and konjac, and planned to bring Chen Ning back again in the afternoon to quietly pick up the sour jujubes and pick some magic tree leaves for tomorrow.
As for konjac, it won't go bad if planted in the soil, and no one wants it. It won't be too late to dig it up after the current wave of mushroom picking is over. Otherwise, this thing is obviously poisonous in everyone's perception, and it would be a bit strange if someone bumped into her while she was digging it.
Led by two old ladies, in just half the morning, the backpacks of each family were full. However, they had already walked deep enough, and neither Mrs. Chen nor Mrs. Lu dared to go any deeper.
Mrs. Lu: "Let's go back. We can't put any more in. Let's go back and clean them and dry them in the sun while there's still sunshine."
Sang Luo raised an eyebrow: "Dry it into dried food?"
Mrs. Lu nodded: "Eat them fresh for one meal, and dry the rest for winter."
Sang Luo thought about the extra many black fir mushrooms she had picked up in her backpack. What a waste it would be to dry them. They tasted much better when eaten fresh than when dried.
She thought for a moment and said, "I'm going to dry the black fungus, but these mushrooms are fresh and should sell for a higher price. I'm thinking of going to the county and asking Dongfulou if they'll buy them."
Wild delicacies. Even the arrogant chef opposite Dongfulou that day could have said that it would be better to give away some wild delicacies when he mocked her. It was obvious that these restaurants charge for these.
After hearing what Sang Luo said, the others all became interested, but Old Lady Chen hesitated, "Dongfulou can't accept so much, right?"
Sang Luo was not sure either, so she could only suggest: "Take it and try. If you can collect it, that's great. If not, let's run faster and take it to the stalls of the aunts who are still setting up their stalls in the market and sell it."
"That's a good idea!" Mrs. Chen decided, "Shall we go now?"
For country people, these things picked from the mountains can be sold for money, so who would be willing to eat them themselves?
When Granny Chen said she wanted to go with him, Granny Lu was ready to follow too: "If we miss it, it will be a waste of half a day's journey. We can just carry it back. It won't be a loss."
Three of the four families went, and Shi Erlang's wife naturally followed. There was no need to go back the same way. Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Lu were very familiar with the road. They led everyone over several mountains and actually found her on the mountain road leading to Sanli Village, and they had already walked half of the way.
It's really in a rush.
Halfway through the journey, they met Chen Youtian and several others who were sending his wife and sister-in-law to the county early in the morning. Each of them was carrying a bag of grain on his shoulder.
The detention center had not been closed yet, so they could not enter the county town. They sent people to the city gate in the morning, and when they saw that the rain had stopped, they walked back to the grocery store in Sanli Village and each bought a bag of food and were carrying it back.
When Sang Luo saw them, she hurriedly greeted Chen Youtian and asked him to tell Chen An on their way back that they were going to the county to sell mushrooms and would be back later.
If she didn't say anything, she was afraid that the boy would be anxious when he saw that they hadn't come out of the mountain for several hours.
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