He drove his car around the yard, went to the county town, and bought tools and ingredients at the supermarket.
Come back and park the car in the yard.
"Where are we going for a picnic?" Chen Man asked Xu Xingzhi and Leng Leng.
Leng Leng looked at Xu Xingzhi.
Xu Xingzhi: "The river across the street is clean and has water."
The river opposite is the one where Chen Man and Xu Junyang went up the mountain to pick raspberries last time.
Chen Man and Leng Leng wanted to help carry the things, but Xu Xingzhi stopped them.
"You and Leng Leng go up the mountain and pick some mountain tofu leaves. By the time you come down, I'll have almost finished the bottom."
Leng Leng: "Where is it?"
"Just go that way, you can smell it on the side of the road."
Leng Leng smiled at him and said, "That's fine."
Xu Xingzhi handed her a knife. Leng Leng took it, took Chen Man's hand and walked into the yard, crossed the ridge of the field and went up the mountain.
"What is mountain tofu, Leng Leng?"
Leng Leng had to keep an eye on Chen Man while walking, fearing that she would fall. In front of Chen Man, she found that she had a strong desire to protect her.
"Use a kind of green tree leaves, crush them, add some charcoal ash, and then let it stand and solidify, and then it's done."
Chen Man: "Ah, it sounds so simple. But is it edible? It sounds a bit like dark cuisine."
Leng Leng: "I just like to make it. I don't like to eat it. It has no taste."
There was no rush for a picnic, so the two of them walked slowly and looked around slowly.
Most of the flowers on the mountain have fallen, and the leaves that were fresh and tender when I came last time have turned green.
But Chen Man still likes it very much and can always discover something new.
Leng Leng picked a pink and purple flower from the ridge and handed it to her. The flower looked like a Christmas hat with a pointed end.
"Bite off the tip here and suck it. There's sweet juice inside."
Chen Man took it in surprise, "This, are we drinking honey?"
Leng Leng laughed, "No, we drink nectar from flowers, not bees."
Chen Man smiled and nodded, "Yes."
Chen Man bit the tip of the flower, pursed it with her lips, and a sweet taste entered her mouth.
"So sweet, Leng Leng." She looked at Leng Leng with joy.
Leng Leng handed her a string.
This flower is somewhat similar to the bell-like flower that she and Aunt Nana picked in the mountains before.
They are all on a pole, with the flowers side by side.
The two men picked a handful of flowers and inhaled them as they walked.
As she walked, Chen Man smelled a very refreshing scent.
"Leng Leng, do you smell anything?"
Leng Leng nodded and pointed to the green plants on the roadside. "This is what we are looking for. It's the material for making mountain tofu. It smells very good."
This smell is really refreshing and comfortable.
Chen Man looked at it carefully for a few times, but didn't see it blooming. She didn't know where the fragrance came from.
Leng Leng chopped off a bundle with a bold stroke.
Chen Man:...
The people in this Jade Village do things in this way, well, how can I describe it.
It’s the feeling of doing something very fulfilling, rather than having too much or too little.
Last time Xu Junyang cut a bunch of flowers, and this time Leng Leng cut a bunch of leaves.
Chen Man was stifling amusement.
Leng Leng handed the knife to Chen Man, who immediately asked, "Will you chop a bundle for me?"
"Just get down the mountain safely and don't fall."
Chen Man:...
"I'm not that weak, am I?"
Leng Leng: "When we were little, we walked to and from school. We were small, had small steps, and walked slowly, so one trip would take nearly an hour."
"After I came back, I put down my schoolbag and carried a backpack up the mountain to collect firewood."
"We've plucked up all the firewood in these mountains. The mountains are completely empty, and we've raked every last clump of leaves."
"It's vacation time. We have to help with planting rice, threshing grain, digging sweet potatoes, and breaking corn. No one can escape."
"Look around us, most of the land is now barren. My family's land is on the top of this mountain. In the past, I followed my grandparents and carried baskets of corn and sweet potatoes down from there."
"We are used to walking this way. You have never experienced this before. I am worried about you carrying things in your hands."
Chen Man really didn't expect that Leng Leng's childhood was like that.
It doesn't sound like it belongs to her age, but more like her parents' age.
"Okay, then I'll take this knife." She didn't dare to cause trouble for Leng Leng.
"I never thought your childhood life was like this. I thought you would go up the mountain to herd cattle, sit on the hillside with your friends to enjoy the breeze, and then go home after the cattle were full."
Leng Leng: "We have to herd cattle. When I was a child, my family had cattle. At that time, I would herd them with my friends. But we still had to carry a backpack on our backs. When the cattle were eating grass, we would collect firewood."
“Sometimes when there was no firewood on the ground, we would climb up the trees and get the dry ones down.”
"After we collect firewood, we'll find a tree and play hide-and-seek in it."
Chen Man:?
"What? What are you playing in the tree?"
Leng Leng smiled and said, "Hide and seek."
Chen Man:...
"Will he be beaten to death if his parents find out?"
"No, they generally can't see it."
"Won't it fall off?"
"Yes, one fell down and lost his front teeth."
Chen Man: “Puff~~~”
"Do you still dare to play?"
"He didn't learn his lesson. He went home crying. We changed the tree and continued playing."
Chen Man: "Hahahahahahaha, you guys are so naughty."
Leng Leng told her stories about his childhood as they walked.
"The things I feared most back then were cows fighting. Sometimes they would go crazy and it was really scary. Another thing was if I wasn't careful and the cows ate someone else's crops. Not only would I be scolded by the owner, but I would also be scolded by my family when I got home."
"But there were also fun things back then. Xu Xingzhi's family was the only one in the village who had a TV. As soon as we came back from herding cattle, we would rush to his house to watch TV."
Chen Man: "What were you watching at that time?"
Leng Leng: "Journey to the West, My Fair Princess, and so on."
Chen Man: "It's nationwide. We watched it when we were little. I also loved watching Teletubbies back then."
The two chatted about their childhood and unknowingly walked down the mountain.
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