"Father, why hasn't Grandma come back yet?"
Han Yinan and Han Minghai stood by the river, looking at the Western Hills.
Han Yinan frowned, stood on tiptoe, and craned her neck to see further.
They've been waiting here for quite a while.
Han Shunde led the people who had laid the foundation back, washed up, sat down to rest for a while, and prepared to have dinner.
Zhang Deshui and the others also returned carrying farm tools and covered in dust. They washed up by the river, sat down to chat, and waited for dinner.
It was only then that everyone realized that Li Lanzhen had not yet returned.
Later, Zhang Yuniang said that Li Lanzhen had gone to Xishan.
After waiting for a while, Han Minghai still hadn't seen her return. He got anxious and took his son to the riverbank to see if his mother had come down the mountain.
Li Lanzhen left the space and came to this medicinal field again.
He turned around and looked around, grinning from ear to ear.
He muttered to himself.
"That's so strange, so very strange!"
Even though this medicinal herb field has already appeared in my space, they are still growing perfectly well here.
She clasped her hands together and spoke to the medicinal herb field.
"May all the gods bless me, thank you for your blessings, I will make good use of them."
"Medicine field, oh medicine field, you must grow well."
Just as she was about to turn back, she suddenly realized that she had come down from a cliff.
It would still be very difficult to get up there now.
She wanted to look around the small basin to see if there was a way out.
She walked slowly along a circle of bushes, looking around, and on the east side of the medicinal herb field, she discovered a crack in the cliff, forming a natural exit.
The exit was completely obscured by bushes and thorns.
Li Lanzhen took out two axes and quickly chopped down a clump of bushes.
Then the exit was revealed.
The crevice in this cliff is wide enough for an adult man to easily pass through.
There was an exit here, which put her mind at ease.
Li Lanzhen took out her basket, went to the medicinal herb field to pick some herbs, dug up three ginseng roots, and also prepared a lot of herbs for treating colds and mosquito bites.
Put them in a basket on your back, put them in your storage space, and take them out when you're almost at the bottom of the mountain.
Li Lanzhen gripped the axe in both hands and passed through the opening in the cliff crevice.
The exit of this cliff is about ten meters deep.
After coming out, Li Lanzhen stood by the river.
Looking across the street, Li Lanzhen suddenly smiled; the land opposite was the site where they would build their house and yard.
What a coincidence!
Li Lanzhen thought to herself, "Let's tell the villagers about this little medicinal herb field and treat it as a natural pharmacy in this paradise!"
However, she cannot cross the river now; the river is too wide.
Once this village is completed, a bridge will be built across the river here to facilitate travel in and out of the mountains.
She walked south along the foot of the mountain, intending to cross the natural bridge behind the reeds to return to Eleven Trees.
Seeing that it was getting late, Li Lanzhen quickened her pace and hurried south.
Just as she reached the reed marshes, she heard the children's urgent shouts.
"Grandma~~"
"Grandma Lanzhen~~"
"Grandma, please come home soon!"
Li Lanzhen felt a warmth in her heart and took out a basket from her spatial storage and carried it on her back.
He raised his head and responded loudly.
"Oh dear, Grandma's back, aren't you in a hurry?"
By the river, the children heard Li Lanzhen's answer, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly burst into excited shouts and cheerful laughter.
Han Minghai was relieved and looked at Li Lanzhen with a smile.
Since fleeing the famine, Han Minghai felt as if he had shrunk a lot. He was always very dependent on his mother, and if he couldn't see her for a while, he would look for her with his eyes.
Sometimes I think I'm ridiculous; I already have three children.
Moreover, as the eldest son in the family, and with his father gone, he should have grown up to be his mother's support, but instead, he has become more and more dependent on her.
He smiled and saw Li Lanzhen walking towards him. Han Minghai strode over, took the basket from Li Lanzhen's back, and carried it on his own back.
"Mother, you're finally back! I was so worried, afraid something might have happened to you on the mountain."
You can't go up the mountain alone anymore, we'll all worry about you!
Li Lanzhen looked at her eldest son, who was not tall but loved his younger siblings, respected his parents, and was hardworking and resilient, smiled gently, and patted his arm.
"It's alright. You don't know how powerful your mother is. I'm quite capable, so it's okay."
If I come back late, don't worry, I can protect myself.
"That won't do! We'll be so worried if we don't see you!"
"Hurry up, Mom, dinner's ready. Everyone's back from work, just waiting for you to come home for dinner!"
A group of children immediately surrounded her, chattering away. Some held her hand, some tugged at her clothes, some ran ahead and talked to her, and some followed behind.
Like a flock of cheerful little birds in the forest.
Li Lanzhen smiled kindly, constantly agreeing to this and answering that.
Back at the eleven trees, I saw that everyone was sitting under the trees and had not sat at the table.
Li Lanzhen felt a little guilty; they had worked all day and must be very hungry.
He then addressed everyone.
"You all hurry up and come to the table to eat. I'll come eat as soon as I wash my hands."
Han Yuemei brought over a basin of warm water and said to her with a smile, "Mother, come and wash up."
Li Lanzhen washed her hands and face, patted the dust off her body, and then sat down.
Only then did everyone begin to eat.
Dinner consisted only of fish soup, wild vegetable pancakes, and a bowl of cold wild vegetables.
However, everyone enjoyed the food very much.
Xue Nizi and the children caught a lot of fish today. After cleaning them by the river, they returned to the kitchen, where Li Sanya saw a basket full of eggs on the ground.
"Good heavens, who picked up these eggs? Look, this looks like a chicken egg, yes, yes, a chicken egg, a duck egg, a goose egg."
Wow! There are so many eggs!
No one pressed for details, asking who found the egg or who put it there.
Now everyone in Peach Blossom Spring, young and old, knows about it.
As long as there is food, no matter who brings it, just bow your head and eat.
As long as it's usable, just take it and use it.
Because they all knew that they had a fairy grandmother, Li Lanzhen.
Xue Nizi saw that there were so many eggs.
For dinner, I fried an egg for everyone.
Place the fried eggs in a large bowl, and then start frying the fish.
After frying the fish, divide the fish and fried eggs into five portions, put them in five large iron pots, add seasonings and water, and start simmering the fish soup slowly.
We'll keep the other pot for making wild vegetable pancakes.
Because of the lard, even a bottle filled with wild vegetables becomes soft and delicious.
After arriving at Peach Blossom Spring, Xue Nizi, Tonghua, and Li Sanya felt that they were young, strong, and incredibly powerful, so they wanted to go down to the fields to work.
Several women who were weak and sickly were selected and prepared to cook three meals a day in the kitchen.
But nobody wanted to come.
They all said they couldn't cook for so many people.
The main reason is that they are afraid that they have become accustomed to living a frugal life for many years.
You can't be like those three, scooping a spoonful of lard into every pot of stir-fried vegetables.
It breaks my heart!!
That spoonful of pork, if we kept it at home, would last us two months. What a waste!
But it's just something I think about.
For every meal, the three of them, along with their child, gathered wild vegetables, caught fish, and collected wild duck eggs from the reeds, preparing everything they could.
Even the lard was rendered from the fat of wild boars that Xue Laohu hunted in the mountains, and from the pork fat that Li Lanzhen bought from Youzhou City.
If all you ask them to do is go up the mountain and down the river to find ingredients, they are not afraid of hardship, but they are not willing to take advantage of others.
Seeing the women's persistence, Li Lanzhen made the decision.
Let the three of them continue to cook three meals a day for everyone in the kitchen.
Li Lanzhen knew that preparing three meals a day for so many people was no easy task, as there were too many people, and they also had to solve the problem of food ingredients themselves.
The three of them are busy every single day!
That kind of physical strength is something that most women couldn't handle!
After the fish soup is cooked, sprinkle a bowl of chopped wild scallions into it.
There were plenty of wild onions all over the mountain. After the adults and children dug them up, they handed them over to Zhang Deshui and his family to plant in a special plot of land.
The wild vegetable pancakes, as big as large bowls, were baked and placed in several winnowing baskets.
The daily amount of wild vegetable pancakes is prepared according to the following ratio: four pancakes for people over ten years old and two pancakes for people under ten years old.
Of course, there's always some left over, so if anyone isn't full, they can keep eating.
Everyone was happy at every meal, saying that even in Hanjiacun before they fled the famine, they had never eaten such a full meal or eaten so well every day.
Each person received a bowl of milky white fish soup, topped with a golden, glistening egg and sprinkled with bright green scallions—the colors alone were very appealing.
A sip of fish soup is warm and delicious, and it washes away all the fatigue of the day.
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