Mao Mao was truly aggrieved. "If I don't tell you, you'll force me to. Now that I've told you, you don't believe me. So why did you even ask me?"
Big Tree still found it unbelievable that such noble people as Madam and Young Master would go fruit picking with Mao Mao? They could eat as much fruit as they wanted, and they had to pick it themselves?
Erzhu usually played with Mao Mao a lot, and seeing that his aggrieved expression didn't seem fake, he asked with some doubt, "Are you sure it's Madam? It's not that Madam sent someone else with you, is it?"
Mao Mao said indignantly, "Do you think there's another wife here? It was Shi Tou who told Grandma to tell me. Do you think Grandma would be wrong?"
When Da Shu and the other two heard their grandmother, they fell silent. Despite her age, she was more efficient than them at work. If it was her who was telling them, then it must be true.
Big Tree and Two Pillars exchanged a glance, clearly both believing it to a large extent. Since that's the case...
The two quickly put on smiling faces and tried to get closer to Mao Mao with cheerful smiles, "So you're going to pick fruit this afternoon? Why don't we go together? The more people, the more fun!"
“Let’s go together, we can pick more. Aren’t there quite a few persimmons ripe now? Since there are many of us going, we can pick several baskets to take home. If we can’t finish them, Grandma can dry them and make persimmon cakes for us.”
The big tree chimed in, "Many of the jujubes are already turning bright red. Let's gather more to take home. If you like fresh jujubes, eat them fresh; if you don't, dry them."
Actually, Mao Mao also felt that the more people there were, the more fun it would be to go out and play, but he still didn't dare to make a decision on his own. He was also pestered by his two cousins, so he had no choice but to say, "Then I definitely have to ask Shi Tou if he agrees, otherwise what if he gets angry?"
Big Tree thought about it and realized that made sense. If they angered the other party, wouldn't that backfire? So he said, "Okay, then you can ask first. Let's get to work quickly, pull up the weeds, and then go home."
Once the idea was made up, not only did Mao Mao pull weeds at lightning speed, but Da Shu and Er Zhu were no exception. Their hands never stopped, and in no time the baskets on the three of them were full. By the time the three of them returned to the village, it was only early morning.
As soon as Mao Mao entered the side courtyard, he saw his grandfather and quickly asked, "Grandpa, have Madam and the others returned?"
Old Li shook his head and replied, "How could it be so early? There's still no movement from the main courtyard, and the lady took some dry food with her when she went out, so she won't be back until the afternoon."
Mao Mao breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to herself that it was good, there was still a long way to go.
Mao Mao followed Da Shu and Er Zhu, carrying baskets on their backs, and walked towards the backyard. The three of them divided the grass in the baskets into several portions, giving one portion to the chickens, ducks, and geese, another portion to the pigs, and the last, smaller portion to the five rabbits.
These rabbits were bought by Dashu and his dad a couple of days ago. Grandma probably hasn't had time to cook them yet, so she's raising them with the chickens and ducks.
After finishing their work, Da Shu and Er Zhu didn't go off to play as usual, but instead continued to follow Ma Mao to see if there was anything he needed to prepare.
"Have you packed all the baskets, hampers, and bamboo poles you'll need for this afternoon's outing?" Big Tree asked as they walked.
"Not yet. Shi Tou said yesterday that he would go out in the afternoon, so I plan to look for someone after I finish my work," Mao Mao replied.
Erzhu suddenly asked, "Is Shitou the boy who often follows Madam around? He looks about your age."
Stone pushed open the door to the storage room and replied, "Yes, he's a year younger than me."
Erzhu looked on with envy, "He's so lucky. He gets to be by the lady's side, not only eating and dressing well, but also having his own pony just like the young master."
Like Mao Mao, Da Shu and Er Zhu were particularly interested in the two exceptionally spirited ponies. They didn't dare ride the big horse, but they would have dared to ride the ponies if given the chance, since ponies were less dangerous, and even if they fell off in an accident, they wouldn't lose their lives.
Moreover, they saw it yesterday evening; the pony runs much faster than a cow or a mule, and it's so beautiful.
As the three searched for suitable tools, they chattered amongst themselves about the two foals, eventually finding a large basket and three small bamboo baskets.
The big basket is meant to be carried by Da Shu and Er Zhu, two people working together. The three newer small baskets are for the lady and her family; if any of them want to carry them, they can.
As for Mao Mao himself, he still plans to carry the basket on his back in the afternoon, but he'll have to wash it later since it's meant to hold fruit.
When Da Shu saw that Mao Mao was going to wash the baskets, he immediately said, "Let's go together. Although these three small baskets look quite new, they've been stored in the storage room and have accumulated some dust. We can take advantage of the strong sun to wash them and then put them in the yard to dry."
Mao Mao hesitated for a moment, "Is there enough time?"
The big tree said confidently, "It's still early, there's definitely enough time. These bamboo baskets and hampers dry very easily."
Erzhu agreed, "We shouldn't delay, let's take it to wash quickly, otherwise it will really be too late."
Seeing his two cousins' confident expressions, and remembering that his grandfather had said that his wife would not return until after lunch, Mao Mao felt that there should be no problem. So he took his things and followed his two cousins to the riverbank.
Seeing the three of them rushing out again as soon as they returned, each carrying a basket or hamper, Old Li called out, "Where are you all going?"
As the tree ran, it shouted back, "Grandpa, we're going to wash things, we'll be right back!"
Seeing this, Mao Mao's mother, who was washing vegetables in the yard, shook her head helplessly. "With so many children, there's never a peaceful day."
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