Hearing the crying, Yuan Doudou rushed outside and saw Anji covering his eyes and crying sadly.
"Anji, what's wrong?" Yuan Doudou squatted down and hugged Anji.
Angie sobbed and couldn't utter a word.
Yuan Doudou looked out the door and saw a boy dressed in dark blue cloth clothes. He was not tall, rather fat, and had a fierce look on his face.
It is my second uncle's grandson, Anbao, who is seven years old this year. He has been spoiled since he was a child and has caused trouble in the village, often getting into conflicts with others.
"Anbao, come here. Did you hit Anji?" Yuan Doudou carried Anji to Anbao and questioned him sternly.
An Bao rolled her eyes, completely unafraid of Yuan Doudou. "So what if I hit her? What can you do to me?"
Despite his young age, he speaks with a rather arrogant tone.
Yuan Doudou's face turned cold, and she commanded in a deep voice, "I want you to apologize to Anji."
Anbao's mouth twitched, "Dream on, what if I apologize?"
Wang Qiqiang, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward to scold, "Anbao, it's one thing for you to bully others, but how come you're even bullying your own cousin now?"
Anbao made a face at Wang Qiqiang, saying, "Mind your own business and you'll eat more farts."
Yuan Doudou could no longer tolerate it. If her parents wouldn't teach her, then she would let outsiders teach her.
She grabbed Anbao's wrist and slowly applied pressure until his legs went weak from the pain and he knelt on the ground.
"Apologize or not?" Yuan Doudou asked coldly.
Anbao was in tears, clenching her teeth, unwilling to admit her mistake.
Yuan Doudou grabbed his wrist with her other hand, making him unable to move.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!" Anbao pleaded, "Can you let go first?"
Yuan Doudou did not let go; instead, she increased her grip, leaving him no room to back down.
“Apologize to Angie right now.”
At a command, Anbao stammered, admitting his mistake: "Anji, I'm sorry."
"The sound is softer than a mosquito's hum, who could hear it?" Yuan Doudou retorted sharply.
Despite the pain, Anbao shouted, "I'm sorry, Anji!"
The sound echoed throughout the courtyard. The Wang family members were all watching, and they looked at Yuan Doudou with new respect. She was such a gentle and kind person, yet she had such a decisive side.
Wang Qiqiang's heart raced, and he instinctively pressed his hand to his chest.
“Brother, a beautiful lady is the object of every gentleman’s affections, but are you sure you can handle it?” Wang Qisheng raised an eyebrow. He could imagine that if his elder brother married Yuan Doudou, none of the three brothers would have an easy time.
Wang Qiqiang glared at his second brother, his audacity growing as he dared to tease his elder brother.
Wang Qisheng slunk away into the house.
Seeing An Bao obediently apologize, Yuan Doudou knew he wouldn't stop. "An Bao, you better remember this: if there's a next time, I'll cripple one of your hands."
Now free, Anbao only wanted to get away from this place, so she nodded and bowed, saying, "I understand, I won't do it."
Anji hugged Yuan Doudou's neck and watched Anbao run away before his heart calmed down.
"Anji, tell your mother if it hurts anywhere." Yuan Doudou looked at Anji's face with heartache, where there was a clear handprint.
Anbao will definitely be a menace in the future.
Yuan Doudou's good mood vanished, and she took Anji home.
That evening, when Wang saw the red mark on Anji's face, she anxiously asked Yuan Doudou about the situation.
Yuan Doudou was afraid that she would worry, so she brushed it off lightly, and Wang Shi did not ask any further questions.
The next morning, Yuan Doudou washed her clothes, hung them on a wooden frame, packed her things, and went into the mountains.
Wang was worried and told her to bring a small machete, just in case.
This time, Yuan Doudou quickly found a place where mushrooms grew, mostly oyster mushrooms, but also some with red stems and white caps.
Thinking about purchasing from restaurants, she plans to make oyster mushrooms her main source of income, as relying solely on the bounty of the mountains is not sustainable.
Looking at the oyster mushrooms growing by the tree roots, Yuan Doudou remembered a farming blogger who had a video about growing shiitake mushrooms.
Shiitake and oyster mushrooms belong to the same species and are cultivated using largely the same methods.
Thinking of something and acting on it, Yuan Doudou picked almost all the oyster mushrooms on a patch and hurriedly walked back. She was walking too fast, lost her footing, and fell headfirst forward.
"careful!"
Wang Qiqiang grabbed Yuan Doudou's arm and pulled her to steady her feet.
Yuan Doudou clutched her chest in fright and let out a long breath, "Thank you, Brother Wang."
Wang Qiqiang was holding a pheasant, which was bleeding.
Yuan Doudou recalled that day when she was waiting for the bus, the sack next to Wang Qiqiang was also covered in blood.
"When you went to town last time, were you selling game?" Yuan Doudou asked, pointing at the pheasant.
Wang Qiqiang nodded, "Last time it was two wild rabbits."
Hunting was his hobby. Whenever he had free time after finishing his work in the fields, he would run up the mountain.
"By the way, last time you fell into the animal trap I dug, you came out as soon as I arrived. I've always been curious, how did you get out?"
Yuan Doudou didn't say anything, and turned to walk down the mountain.
“I’m not prying into your privacy. If you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask.” He thought of Yuan Doudou’s attitude towards An Bao yesterday, which was not like the weak and helpless Yuan Doudou of the past.
Yuan Doudou stopped in her tracks, her starry eyes sparkling. "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's that you wouldn't believe me even if I did."
Wang Qiqiang nodded, assuming she was telling the truth.
The two descended the mountain together. Passing by a stream, Yuan Doudou bent down to wash her hands. Her face was reflected in the water. It must be said that the original owner had a youthful face. If she had gained some weight, she would have been even more beautiful and charming.
Wang Qiqiang stared at her retreating figure, completely mesmerized.
"Sister An." Wang Qiqiang's mouth was dry.
Yuan Doudou stood up and said reproachfully, "Just call me by my name. Calling me 'sister-in-law' feels awkward."
I told him beforehand not to call her "sister-in-law," but to just call her by her name.
Wang Qiqiang's face turned red, and after a long while, he blurted out, "Doudou."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Doudou got goosebumps. She thought it would be better to call her "sister-in-law," as the name suggests.
They're not close enough to call each other by nicknames yet.
"Yuan Doudou, I..." Wang Qiqiang stammered for a long time without getting to the bottom of it.
Not far away, Li Xueqing was dressed in pink, with a bright red rose in her hair and thick rouge on her face.
Seeing Yuan Doudou seducing Wang Qiqiang, she was furious. Everyone in the village knew that she liked Wang Qiqiang, and yet this widow Yuan Doudou was trying to steal her man.
She suffered a loss last time and has nowhere to seek redress.
Yuan Doudou didn't know what was wrong with Wang Qiqiang. She had a lot of things to do, so she waved and headed home.
Once home, Yuan Doudou first cleaned the oyster mushrooms. After cleaning them, she fried them as usual, sprinkled them with seasoning powder, and let them cool before using them.
Yuan Doudou picked out the largest oyster mushrooms for Li Cai tomorrow and set them aside.
After finishing these tasks, Yuan Doudou continued to work on the soil she had brought back from the mountains. It was mixed with sawdust and withered grass, and the humidity was just right for fungal growth.
Tear the fresh oyster mushroom into eight strips along the grain, pick out a piece of flesh about the size of a grain of rice between the stem and the cap, put it into a ceramic jar filled with soil and wood, wrap it with a layer of cotton cloth to ensure it is as airtight as possible.
The inoculum needs to ferment for seven days to become a culture, which makes it easier to cultivate in large quantities.
Just as Yuan Doudou put the pottery jar down, she heard someone shouting outside.
"Yuan Doudou, you vicious woman, get out here right now!"
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