Chapter 276 Encounter in the Mountains
Xu Zhichun had some free time, so he wanted to go for a walk in the mountains. That morning, he took Nanny Qin Qing and Muxiang with him. The three of them carried small backpacks and hoes and prepared to go up the mountain to try to dig winter bamboo shoots.
It's a pity that after traveling through time for so long, Xu Zhichun has not yet climbed a mountain easily. It's a good opportunity to appreciate the pristine green mountains and clear waters and gold and silver mountains.
It's a pity that she doesn't know how to hunt and has no fighting skills, so she doesn't dare to go too far. She can just wander around the nearby mountains.
The lushness of the mountains and forests in this era is truly remarkable. It's said that a few years ago, someone who ventured a little into the mountains was killed by a tiger. One winter, it was so cold that even wolves howled in the dead of night.
Anyway, scary.
Xu Zhichun and Qin Qingma had no idea how to do such a technical job as digging winter bamboo shoots, so they could only take their chances and treat it as stretching their muscles in the mountains. Unexpectedly, Muxiang was actually good at it.
Muxiang went up the mountain, as if she had arrived at her own vegetable garden. No good things escaped her eyes. She pointed to an ordinary place and said that there were winter bamboo shoots underneath. Under the skeptical gaze of Xu Zhichun and Qin Qingma, she waved her hoe and easily dug up the surface soil. After a while, she saw the light yellow bamboo shoot shells.
Thanks to the wood fragrance, they had a good harvest and soon dug out more than a dozen plump winter bamboo shoots in their small backpacks.
Xu Zhichun and Nanny Qin Qing were amazed and impressed.
"You seem to be quite clever, but I never thought you had this ability. I still don't understand how you figured it out."
Mu Xiang was a little embarrassed by the praise and smiled, "I don't know either. Maybe I went up the mountain to look for it so many times before, so I learned it as I went along."
"Oh," Nanny Qin Qing felt as if she understood, "Practice makes perfect."
Mu Xiang smiled and said, "Probably."
Xu Zhichun smiled and shook his head: "Not entirely. There are people in our village who dig winter bamboo shoots, but I've never heard of anyone who has this ability. I think you are smart."
Aunt Qin Qing also laughed: "Yes, our Muxiang is smart."
Muxiang was so pleased with the compliments that she smiled happily.
She couldn't remember how old she was when she began searching the mountains for food, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. She especially dug bamboo shoots in the winter, mushrooms in the spring and summer, and yams year-round. If she couldn't find anything in the mountains, she would starve or be scolded or beaten. Over time, she learned to find food whenever she went.
Later, when she grew up a little, she understood that she couldn't find too many, otherwise her father and grandmother would force her to find more.
She didn't tell Xu Zhichun or Aunt Qin Qing about this. It was all in the past. Anyway, the "past" had nothing to do with her now. She didn't want to talk about it, and even hoped to quickly forget all of it.
Muxiang was in high spirits. She was unwilling to dig more winter bamboo shoots for her father and grandmother, but was willing to dig some for her wife and Nanny Qin Qing.
Xu Zhichun stopped her with a smile: "We've dug up quite a bit, that's enough, let's dig more next time."
A dozen plump and tender winter bamboo shoots are enough for them to eat for three or four days.
Muxiang said "hmm" obediently, glanced around nonchalantly, and her eyes lit up: "There are yams up ahead, ma'am, let's go dig some yams. Yams are delicious too."
"Really? Okay!"
Xu Zhichun happily let her lead the way.
Wild yam is snow-white, soft and sticky, with a natural fragrance of wild plants and trees. It is far from comparable to artificially cultivated ones. You can tell the difference immediately after taking a bite.
Seeing her happy, Muxiang was also very happy. She led the way with brisk steps. When she reached the wild yam, she bent down and swiftly pulled out the weeds and vines beside it while pointing to Xu Zhichun: "Madam, look, this is the yam vine."
Xu Zhichun was very accustomed to eating yams, but this was the first time he had seen a yam vine. He reached out and touched it, saying with a smile, "This is a wild yam vine."
Muxiang looked at her puzzledly and said with amusement: "Look at what Madam said, aren't all these yams wild?"
Xu Zhichun was stunned, then smiled and nodded: "Well, you are right."
It seems that she needs to be more careful and vigilant in the future. Muxiang is a child and doesn't pay attention, so Nanny Qin Qing won't think too much about it. But if she says something wrong about something else one day, she doesn't know if she can make up for it.
Wild yams have very deep roots and especially like to grow in the cracks of rocks - probably to better protect their tubers, so they are very difficult to dig.
Muxiang was obviously experienced. She swung the hoe neither too fast nor too slow, with a rhythm and melody, and a sense of leisure.
Soon Xu Zhichun took the initiative to reach out: "Let me dig for a while."
Master and servant are master and servant, and she couldn't bear to enslave a little girl.
There was no need to count on Nanny Qin Qing. She had never walked on such a mountain road or been to such a forest. It would be good enough if she could catch her breath and not fall.
Muxiang dodged with her hands, "I'm not tired, just let me do it, Madam, don't hurt your hands."
"It's okay, we'll take turns."
"No need, ma'am! I can do it."
As the master and servant were talking, they suddenly heard a short, sharp sneer.
The two of them and Nanny Qin Qing looked in the direction they were looking for, and saw who else but Liang Cui'er on the slope in the woods not far away.
Liang Cui'er met Xu Zhichun's eyes and glared at her fiercely.
Madam? A servant? This woman is so shameless. Now that she has some money, she has imitated the city people and bought servants to pretend to be a madam. Does she deserve it?
Liang Cui'er seemed to want to say something, but before she could open her mouth, the woman beside her waved and smiled at Xu Zhichun, "Madam Xu, hello!"
The woman smiled and pulled Liang Cui'er down the hillside.
The woman also carried a medium-sized basket on her back, and Liang Cui'er was holding a hoe in her hand.
People who come to the bamboo forest at this time of year are all digging winter bamboo shoots.
The woman looked into Xu Zhichun and the others' backpacks with a familiar look, and said with envy, "Madam Xu, you guys are so lucky to have dug up so many yams. Unlike us, we wandered around in this forest for a long time and didn't find a single one."
Xu Zhichun looked her over, hesitated, and asked politely, "Excuse me, who is this sister-in-law?"
She really didn't know him, but she was sure he wasn't from Liangjia Village.
Xu Zhichun was a little cautious: she would definitely be wary of anyone who was on good terms with Liang Cui'er.
The woman laughed and said, "I am Han Fengshi, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Han family, who live west of the neighboring Quanshan Village. No wonder Madam Xu didn't recognize me. If you see me more often, you will recognize me, just like me and Cui'er, haha."
It was hard to describe the feeling. Xu Zhichun didn't like Han Fengshi, so he didn't respond. He just nodded and said, "So it's Han Fengshi's sister-in-law."
Han Feng exclaimed happily, "Hey!" and immediately laughed, "Are you digging yams? Madam Xu is so lucky! This is your maid Muxiang, right? The little girl has thin arms and legs, so she probably doesn't have much strength. Let me do it, I'll help Madam Xu!"
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