After the two finished speaking, Cheng Yue busied herself with germinating the seeds.
After processing the seeds, Cheng Yue cleared a small plot of land next to the vegetable garden. She didn't feel comfortable planting strawberries and watermelons outside, since no one came up the mountain and there were all sorts of birds, right?
Don't let the birds eat it all before you even get a taste.
Planting it in your own yard means at least someone will be there to look after it.
Fortunately, it's just a few kinds of vegetables and fruits, which can be planted in the yard. Potatoes can't be planted at home, so they can only be planted in the dry land outside.
After finishing these tasks, it was soon noon. Cheng Yue put down her hoe and called to the men outside to hurry home for lunch.
Everyone here is a straightforward person; if we didn't shout, they'd probably still bend over and work hard.
The group said goodbye to Cheng Yue and went down the mountain together, saying they would come back up after dinner.
Although I did hard work, I was given sweet water to drink, which made me feel sweet inside and out, and gave me inexhaustible energy.
After watching the men leave, Cheng Yue lingered at the door for a while longer. It was already noon, and the children still hadn't returned.
Normally, they would have gone home by this time, since they live on the mountain and have enough wild vegetables to dig nearby, so they wouldn't go far.
Cheng Yue took a deep breath, feeling somewhat stuck in a rut.
Seeing Cheng Yue standing at the door for a while with a worried look on her face, Chen An could only comfort her, "A-Yue, don't worry, they can't have gone far. They probably spent a lot of time digging wild vegetables today, which is why they were delayed."
Hearing Chen An say this, Cheng Yue calmed herself down. Their mountain was low and there weren't any large wild animals around, so nothing should happen.
Just as Cheng Yue was about to turn around and go into the courtyard, she saw several figures helping each other down the mountain. Two of them were limping, indicating that they had fallen!
Thinking of this, Cheng Yue quickened her pace and hurried over.
"Mother, Aunt Cheng Yue~"
Chen Lin stood aside, pursing her lips and saying nothing. Chen Tong and Chen Ning pouted, their eyes brimming with tears. Even Cui Cui called out to her, her voice filled with grievance.
Of the four children, Chen Lin was in slightly better shape, though his clothes were a bit disheveled. The Chen sisters, Chen Tong and Chen Ning, both had limps, and their clothes looked like they had been torn by tree branches.
Two of the four baskets she was carrying were missing, and one was empty. Moreover, there were several scratches on the exposed part of Cui Cui's arm, so she definitely didn't fall down!
"Xiao Lin, carry Xiao Ning on your back. Xiao Tong, get on up here. Cuicui, come home with us too. Let's see the village doctor first. We'll talk about it later."
No matter what happened, the child's health was the most important thing, so Cheng Yue carried Chen Tong on her back and rushed home.
Chen An, who was waiting at home, was startled to see that Chen Lin could still run and jump, and hurriedly called him to call the doctor.
The doctor examined the patient and said that no bones were broken, only the leg was bruised, and it would be fine after a few days of rest, so he did not prescribe any medicine.
Although the village doctor can only treat minor injuries, he can still tell whether the injury has broken the bone.
Upon hearing this, Chen An finally felt relieved. It was good that no bones were broken, otherwise it could have caused a serious problem.
After the doctor left, Cheng Yue checked several people's bodies again to make sure they only had scratches. Seeing that they were indeed alright, she took a deep breath and asked in a low voice, "Who bullied you?"
"Mom, it's Grandma! We just finished digging for wild vegetables and were heading home when Grandma suddenly appeared out of nowhere and snatched our basket and the vegetables!"
"She said that since there was no food for the pigs and chickens at home, we should give her the wild vegetables. When we didn't, she cursed us for being heartless and ungrateful!"
My second sister and I tried to block the basket, but Grandma just started hitting us, causing us to fall. My older sister, Cui Cui, tried to protect us, but Grandma scratched her too!
With tears welling up in Chen Ning's eyes, Chen Lin pursed his lips and whispered, "It's all my fault for not protecting my sister!"
I was far away, and by the time I ran over, Grandma had already snatched the basket. I chased after her, and she threw stones at me!
Chen Lin lifted his pants and sure enough, there was a bulge on his calf, which was already faintly bluish.
"Why didn't you say so just now? Even when the doctor came, you didn't let him take a look."
Chen An felt a pang of guilt. It was all his fault for being careless and thinking that Chen Lin was alright, which led him to run off to call a doctor.
Chen Lin shook his head and said, "It's nothing, Dad, I'm not in pain. I had forgotten about it just now, but I remembered it when we were talking about this."
He's a real man, he has to be strong, so a minor injury is nothing to complain about.
Cheng Yue touched Chen Lin's leg and found that it didn't seem to have any serious problems, so she was relieved and told him to just apply some safflower oil that night.
Right now, the important thing is to find the Zhao family!
That shameless old hag not only sneaks up to her family's mountain, but also bullies her children and even steals their wild vegetables!
Since her pigs and chickens have no food, she'll do her a favor!
Cheng Yue said angrily, "Let's go settle the score with your grandma!"
As she spoke, she pulled Chen Lin and Cuicui to leave. The Chen sisters, Chen Tong and Chen Ning, had injured their legs, and Chen An was also an injured person, so they couldn't go.
Cui Cui timidly raised her head, "Aunt Cheng Yue, I think I won't go. I'll be fine."
She was an outsider, and she hadn't suffered any serious injury—just a minor scratch on her wrist—so it was a bit unreasonable for her to be dragged off to demand an explanation from Zhao.
Cheng Yue snorted coldly, "She scratched you, how can you not compensate her? Come with me, don't be afraid, your aunt will get justice for you!"
Cui Cui's eyes were glazed over, then suddenly lit up again.
She felt that her mother was already quite shrewish, but even after they separated from the family, she didn't dare to openly confront her grandparents.
Aunt Cheng Yue is no longer just shrewish, she's domineering!
Chen Tong and Chen Ning shouted in unison, "Mom, we can walk, we want to go too, and bring back the baskets and wild vegetables!"
They must personally avenge the grievances they suffered!
"Let's go, let's go together!" Chen An's voice was deep. Although he had injured his leg, he couldn't bear to see his child being bullied like this, especially by his own mother.
Cheng Yue paused for a moment, then nodded. Since it was his mother, she would let him say it himself.
After the family finished speaking, they descended the mountain. They were initially in high spirits, but the presence of three injured people who were limping lowered the overall morale of the group.
He slowed down, but the anger on his face didn't diminish.
The villagers were stunned. "Chen An, what happened to you guys? How come both girls have injured their legs too?"
"Yes, why didn't you stay home to recover? Going out like this might have made it worse!"
Before Chen Anchengyue could speak, Chen Tong choked up and said, "I know Grandma has never liked us. We used to do all the dirty and hard work. We always respected her as our elder. She never let us have enough to eat, but we never complained!"
But why does Grandma still dislike us? Today she even came to the mountain to steal our wild vegetables and tried to kill us. Does she only feel satisfied if we fall off the mountain and die?
The little girl sobbed, tears streaming down her face. The villagers, seeing this, felt deeply distressed.
No wonder the child was lame. It turns out that Zhao, the wet nurse, pushed the child down the mountain to grab some wild vegetables. What deep-seated hatred could she have that she didn't care about the child's life or death?
How could the Zhao family be so vicious?!
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