Chapter 9 Falling
"This is the leaf of the mulberry tree. It is the most common one in the pig grass we collect every day. This is goose intestines, which can often be seen at the foot of the mountain and at the edge of the field. This is morning glory, which both cows and pigs like to eat. This is wild rapeseed, which is more common in crop fields, but also in other places. Wild rapeseed is not only eaten by pigs, but we also eat it. If you come across wild rapeseed, you can put it aside and take it home to have as a dish in the evening." San Ya said, putting the wild rapeseed in her hand into the bamboo basket.
Lin Qi understood. No wonder these children not only carried a backpack but also a bamboo basket. It turned out that they were used to carry wild vegetables.
Seeing Lin Qi staring at her basket, San Ya explained, "We can earn two work points a day by cutting grass for pigs, and we have to cut at least 50 kilograms of grass a day. If we finish cutting 50 kilograms of grass ahead of time, we can finish work and go home early."
The fifty kilograms here refer to the raw ones, not the dried ones.
If you count it this way, the task isn't that difficult.
"I'll go this way and you go that way. When I call you, you have to gather here, okay?" San Ya pointed left and right, and then pointed at the big rock under her feet.
Lin Qi nodded, "Yeah."
People often come to the foot of the mountain, and small paths trampled by people can be seen everywhere. Lin Qi guessed that there are not many animals here, especially large animals, otherwise the people in the team would not feel at ease with these children coming here alone to cut grass for pigs.
It seems that hunting is not feasible for the time being. Lin Qi couldn't help feeling a little regretful, as the last time she ate meat was a month ago.
However, although you can’t eat meat, you can pick more wild vegetables.
As a wood-type supernatural being, it was easy for Lin Qi to find a few plants in the mountains. Compared with San Ya and others, they said they were cutting grass for pigs, but in fact they didn't have a sickle, so they could only fold, pull, and tear with their hands, which required a lot of effort. But she could control the vines to entangle those leaves and put them in the backpack.
In just less than an hour, Lin Qi's backpack was filled to the brim with all kinds of pig grass, and it didn't dent even when pressed hard.
Although the speed of harvesting pig grass is fast, Lin Qi has to endure a lot of suffering. Once she uses her special power, her whole body will cramp and the pain will be unbearable.
However, she also discovered that the more frequently she used her supernatural powers, the more beneficial it would be for her to completely control this body.
Lin Qi carried a backpack and walked slowly towards the place she had agreed to meet with San Ya. On the way, she saw a wild rapeseed plant, so she took the opportunity to grow a small patch of wild rapeseed, picked two large bundles, and tied them up with straw ropes.
I took one bundle back to the educated youth camp and cooked it tonight. I gave one bundle to Sanya as a thank you gift for showing me the way and introducing pigweed to me.
When Lin Qi returned to the agreed place, San Ya had not arrived yet. The sun was shining brightly, the hottest time of the day.
I don’t know whether Ming Kangjian and the others have ordered food from the educated youth, cooked and eaten, and whether they will leave some for her.
Thinking of food, Lin Qi's stomach rumbled. She was so hungry that her stomach was sticking to her back. She looked at the scorching sun above her head and her eyes went dark.
You have to find a cool place to hide, otherwise you will get heatstroke.
Lin Qi hid under a big rock. There was a little shade under the rock, which barely protected her from the sun.
Is this taro seedling?
Lin Qi's eyes fell on a small seedling in the crevice of the rock and she couldn't move her eyes away.
"Lin Qi——"
Sanya put her hands to her mouth in a trumpet shape and shouted.
"well!"
Lin Qi hurriedly pulled up the seedling and stuffed it into her clothes.
"Lin Qi, let's go back. The sun is too strong." San Ya wiped the sweat from her face and neck with her little hands, and pushed aside the wet hair on both sides of her cheeks, revealing her sunburned face.
The little guy was very tired.
Lin Qi handed over the bundle of wild rapeseed in her hand and said, "Here you go."
"Give it to me?" San Ya was unsure. She took it only after she saw that Lin Qi still had a bundle in her hand. She said happily, "Thank you, Lin Qi. I was just worried that the wild vegetables I picked today were a little insufficient."
“No need.” Lin Qi tied the wild vegetables to the backpack and carried the basket on her back.
"Wait, I'll lead the way." San Ya was carrying a backpack and a basket. "I'll show you the way, and then you can come by yourself. After you know the way, I'll go with Sister Hongmei and the others. I'm afraid Sister Hongmei and the others have already arrived home..."
After coming down from the mountain, San Ya took Lin Qi directly to the pigpen.
"The pigsty and the cowshed are here. Aunt Tao is responsible for raising pigs and cleaning the pigsty and the cowshed. She earns eight work points a day. My grandmother said that her job is easy, but no one else can do it. Only Aunt Tao can do it. Aunt Tao's family used to help people herd cattle, raise pigs and sheep." On weekdays, San Ya is the youngest in the team. She can only listen to the older children in everything and has no say. Now Lin Qi has joined, a fool who seems to know nothing, making San Ya feel like a big sister. Whatever she encounters along the way, she shakes out everything she knows like a sieve.
Seeing that Lin Qi was listening attentively, San Ya looked satisfied.
"Have you seen the straw shed over there on the cowshed?" San Ya asked in a low voice.
Lin Qi looked in the direction of her hand and saw two dilapidated thatched sheds.
"Bad people live there, don't go there, and don't go there."
Aunt Tao is responsible for collecting pig grass. Before collecting, she will check the quality of the pig grass, pick out the unqualified ones, and weigh it after confirming that there is no problem. If it is more than 50 kilograms, two work points will be recorded.
"Is this the fool?" Aunt Tao looked at Lin Qi. She was originally dissatisfied with the fact that a fool came to her team, but when she learned that this fool played a key role in saving people the day before yesterday, her mood became complicated.
"Lin Qi is not a fool, she knows that two plus three equals five." San Ya helped Lin Qi clear her name.
Lin Qi: “….”
Aunt Tao was surprised. "You can actually do arithmetic. Is that true?"
"Really." San Ya nodded and turned to ask Lin Qi, "What is three plus three?"
Lin Qi: “Six.”
"See, she can." San Ya looked proud.
Aunt Tao also laughed, "Okay, as long as she's not stupid. Now I'll check the grass she cut for the pigs. It's not enough to know arithmetic. If she cuts the grass wrong, I won't admit it."
"I taught her, it should be correct." San Ya was not very sure.
The pig grass Lin Qi picked were relatively tender. If there were none, she would force them to grow tender ones. She would not pick the old, withered and yellow ones. So when Aunt Tao turned her backpack upside down and saw the various pig grasses inside, she was stunned, "Not bad, all good, no yellow ones, and not a single weed!"
"Lin Qi, your pig grass is better than mine." San Ya praised.
Lin Qi was ashamed, she cheated.
"There's no problem with the quality. Let's look at the weight. Sixty-eight!" Aunt Tao was surprised. Generally speaking, the backpacks of these children would only weigh sixty kilograms when fully filled. But Lin Qi actually filled it with sixty-eight kilograms. Did he use a lot of force to compact it?
Aunt Tao's eyes changed when she looked at Lin Qi. Although she was a fool, she worked hard.
Besides, she only earned two work points a day, so she couldn't take much advantage of the team.
After handing over the pig feed and the backpack, Lin Qi walked along, rubbing her sore shoulders all the way.
"hiss--"
Sanya, who was walking in front, gasped, "My shoulders must be red again."
As she spoke, she opened her clothes to check. Lin Qi behind her lowered her eyes and saw the little girl's bloodshot shoulder at a glance. After just one glance, she silently looked away.
"Your shoulders are probably red too. Go back and apply some cold water to them. When you carry them more often and calluses form, they won't hurt anymore." San Ya continued.
Lin Qi just hummed.
San Ya suddenly stopped and said nervously, "Old Xu!"
On the slope ahead, an old man with ragged clothes, gray and dirty hair staggered towards them.
Lin Qi couldn't see the old man's face clearly, but she smelled a familiar scent, which was the smell she smelled every day in her previous life - the smell of death.
This is a dying man.
"Let's hide aside and wait until he leaves, then we can go." San Ya grabbed Lin Qi's hand and pulled her into the bushes without saying a word.
This is a road trampled by everyone. The road surface is not flat. There are rocks, tree roots and weeds. It is not easy to walk on. It is even more difficult to go down the slope.
Lin Qi's eyes fell on the old man's weak steps and trembling legs, and she had a bad feeling in her heart. Before she could make a judgment, she saw the old man's legs soften and he rolled down the slope.
"ah--"
San Ya screamed in shock, "It's dangerous over there!"
The old man, who was supposed to go straight downhill, rolled into the weeds and rolled to a lower place where there was a small bamboo forest. The bamboo forest had been cut down not long ago, leaving sharp and pointed roots. If the old man hit it, the consequences could be imagined.
By the time Lin Qi came to her senses, she had already moved. She grabbed the weeds on the roadside and, where no one could see, the weeds instantly turned into a straw rope in her hand and silently tied a loop around her head.
Before San Ya's voice fell, the grass ring in Lin Qi's hand had already been put on the old man's feet and tightly wrapped around the old man's feet.
"What happened?"
Aunt Tao ran over from the pigpen. She was the first to spot Lin Qi and San Ya in the bushes. She saw the ropes in their hands and followed the ropes to see the old man lying on the slope.
At this time, the old man was hanging upside down on a steep slope, rolling down with weeds pressed down along the way. Aunt Tao could understand what was happening without Lin Qi and San Ya explaining it.
Without saying a word, she walked quickly towards the old man.
However, at this moment, a figure was faster than her, rushing down the slope, and in the blink of an eye, he came to the old man and picked him up, "Grandpa——"
The old man kept his eyes closed and did not respond.
The boy's eyes immediately turned red. "Aunt Tao, I'll take my grandpa home. Can you help me get Doctor Ma to come over?"
Seeing the young man's pleading look, Aunt Tao couldn't refuse, "I'll go get you one right away."
Aunt Tao left in a hurry, and the boy then noticed the straw rope on the old woman's feet. Almost subconsciously, his fierce eyes shot straight towards San Ya and Lin Qi.
"If we hadn't tied his feet, he would have rolled down." San Ya said loudly.
The young man pursed his lips, and it was hard to tell whether he believed Sanya's words or not. He stared straight into Sanya's eyes, like a man-eating wolf. Sanya's body shrank and she hid behind Lin Qi.
Now, the boy who couldn't see San Ya turned to look at Lin Qi, but at this time Lin Qi was in a daze with empty eyes.
Why did she go to save the old man?
If she saw it correctly, the old man rolled down like that on purpose. He must not want to live anymore!
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