Mu'er took the fork handed to her and began to eat in small bites.
Seeing her brother eating so happily, Ze'er couldn't help but start eating too.
"Take your time eating, don't eat too much, lunch will be served soon."
The two brothers, without even looking up from their food, replied, "Yes, Mother."
Grandpa Zhao, who was standing nearby, chimed in, "Go ahead and do your thing, I'll keep an eye on them."
Upon hearing this, Xu Han ignored it, turned around and left the kitchen to continue frying sweet potato balls.
Just as they finished frying all the sweet potato balls, Han Qi returned with a few girls after picking dates.
After all, the girls were still young, and in ancient times, people were expected to avoid suspicion between men and women, so Granny Zhao went along as well.
Several people carried baskets filled with dates on their backs. Because the dates had been drying for a long time, many of them had changed color and were wrinkled, looking like they had lost much moisture.
Granny Zhao put the basket on the ground and asked, "Madam, all the dates have been harvested. I'll put them out to dry while the weather is nice."
Xu Han poked her head out from the kitchen and said, "Okay, there are winnowing baskets in the tool shed. Go get them and spread the dries on them. While you're at it, see if there are any fresh ones left, and pick some out for the children to eat."
Seeing Zhu Dahu and Zhu Erni returning from picking dates, he continued, "I fried some sweet potato balls. You two go wash your hands and come over to eat them in a bit."
The two siblings looked at their aunt, and after Zhu Chunmei nodded, they ran to wash their hands.
Before leaving, he didn't forget to say, "Thank you, Madam."
"Haha, don't be shy." Xu Han turned around and said, "These are freshly fried sweet potato balls, you should wash your hands and eat them too!"
Zhu Chunmei replied, "Yes, madam. We'll put the dates out to dry and then we'll go."
Seeing this, Xu Han ignored them and casually picked up a handful of dates to wash them clean, so the two children could eat them after class.
At noon, the girls in the family helped Xu Han prepare lunch. Since it was the busy farming season, Xu Han didn't cook anything complicated. She simply stir-fried a few home-style dishes and made a big pot of loofah soup, which was served with mixed grain rice. Everyone ate very well.
After lunch, we rested for a while, and when the sun wasn't so strong, everyone went back to the fields to continue harvesting sweet potatoes and potatoes.
The Taoist priest went hunting in the mountains early in the morning, and in the late afternoon, Lu Chuan also took Han Qi into the mountains.
The three waited until the sun had set and it was almost completely dark before entering the house one after the other.
The Taoist priest was the first to return. During the hunt, he accidentally shot and killed a rabbit. As soon as he got back, he had Wang Lin take it to be disposed of, and they ate braised rabbit meat that night.
Fearing that one rabbit wouldn't be enough for so many people, Xu Han had another one slaughtered so that more side dishes could be added when cooking, allowing everyone to have more to eat.
Just as the rabbit was being cooked, Lu Chuan returned. Xu Han heard the sound and quickly came out of the kitchen, wanting to see what Lu Chuan had hunted.
"Why are you back so late today? What did you hunt?"
Lu Chuan shook the basket on his back and said, "You'd never guess what it is."
Xu Han saw that it was inside the basket and wanted to reach out to open it to take a look, but Lu Chuan noticed her movement and pulled her back.
"Be careful, he's still alive!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Han became even more curious. "What is it? Why are you being so mysterious?"
Lu Chuan opened a small gap, allowing Xu Han to see clearly: "A snake, a large cabbage snake, still alive, but not poisonous, though it's quite big."
Xu Han had never been afraid of snakes, but seeing such a thick and long snake still made her feel a little creeped out. She immediately thought of the snakes she had encountered when she was digging for ginseng, and quickly stepped back.
He waved his hand and said, "You'd better go and deal with it quickly, don't let it get away."
"Haha, okay, I'll go get it right away. I'll also ask Grandpa Zhao if he wants some snake gall."
Grandpa Zhao came out from the backyard when he heard the noise. He overheard Lu Chuan's words and asked, "You wanted to see me? What's wrong?"
Lu Chuan brought the basket closer. "I caught a big snake today. I was just about to ask if you wanted its gall bladder."
Grandpa Zhao opened the basket and glanced inside. "Wow, it's quite big. It's not a poisonous snake, but snake gall can be used in medicine. Keep it for me."
"Alright, I'll go take care of it." After Lu Chuan finished speaking, he called Han Qi, and the two of them went to the backyard to deal with the snake gallbladder.
Seeing this, the Taoist priest who was sitting nearby also went to join in the fun.
After a long while, Lu Chuan came over carrying the snake, which had been chopped into pieces, and asked, "Is dinner ready? Do you want to eat this snake?"
Xu Han glanced at the large basin full of snake meat and said, "Let's not eat it today. We've already slaughtered two rabbits. Let's save the snake meat for tomorrow. It's not hot at night, so it'll be fine to leave it until tomorrow."
"Okay, then I'll put it in the storage room first."
Xu Han instructed, "Okay, but remember to lock the door properly. You absolutely can't let the dogs eat it."
"Okay, I'll lock the door in a bit."
After dinner, Lu Chuan inquired about the sweet potato harvest that day.
Zhu Qiang was the first to answer, "We've harvested more than half of the sweet potatoes today. There's only a little bit left in the field. We'll finish harvesting them all tomorrow morning."
After breakfast, we can start digging potatoes; it takes about a day to dig them all up.
Xu Han then asked, "Have all the sweet potatoes been put over in the valley? Is there enough room for them?"
Zhu Qiang continued, "They've been placed in the valley, and right now they're all piled up in the yard. Tonight, a few of us will take turns keeping watch to prevent the sweet potatoes from being ruined by the small animals in the mountains. After drying for two days, they'll be fine when we put them in the room."
Lu Chuan said a few more words after hearing this, "Okay, but you must not fall asleep while you are on night watch. When you leave, take Hei Feng and Hei Dian with you."
Those two are the smartest; it's safer with them around.
"Okay, we'll take them with us in a bit."
Xu Han continued, "Tomorrow, everyone should harvest everything in the fields. Zhou, you should take a few people and tidy up the vegetable garden as well."
The weather is getting colder, and it's time to plant vegetables in the garden. We should cultivate more cabbage seedlings, and also clear out some open space in the valley to plant winter vegetables.
"With so many of us, the vegetables we grow in our current garden definitely won't be enough. If you open another vegetable garden over there, it will be more convenient for you to get vegetables later."
Madam Zhou nodded. "Yes, Madam. I was discussing this matter with Granny Zhao and Granny Ma just a few days ago, and I was just about to tell you. I didn't expect you to be so thoughtful."
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