In the book, I was fed by my sister

It is now the flood season and the water level of the river is high. There are dragon-bone water wheels available for rent in the village, which can be used to divert river water to the ditch.

"Let's fill the gap first, and then clear out the silt in the ditch bit by bit."

Having made up their minds, the two of them started moving.

They had to ask Grandma Gu how to fill this one-foot-wide gap. After all, people who had walked more roads had seen more than them.

When Granny Gu heard their plan, she asked, "Do you want to fill the pond again?"

"Yes, once the water is well-stocked, we can plant lotus later and raise our ducks in the pond. We won't let them go out into the river. Uncle Tokuda probably has a hundred ducks. If we let our ducks out, they might follow his ducks."

"Then why did you come to see me?" asked Grandma Gu. Usually she went to the city in the morning to wait for letters, and would not return until after noon when the sun was at its hottest. This morning she helped kill ducks at Song Ran's house, and had lunch at her place at noon, so she simply did not go to the city today, and was busy at home weaving bamboo to prepare things for the Qiqiao Festival.

Song Ran said: "Someone dug a big hole in my pond. I wanted to fill it up. I tried it before, but it was washed away by a heavy rain."

"I know a way!" Grandma Gu thought for a moment and said, "Use a bamboo net!"

"Bamboo net?"

Grandma Gu explained: "Use bamboo to weave a net. Place it at the opening and then fill it with mud. Insert bamboo while filling it. This way it will be strong."

"I understand!" After Grandma Gu explained it briefly, Song Ran understood the principle. Putting up the bamboo net was equivalent to connecting the gap with the two dams. Then inserting bamboos would fix the silt.

"Then I'll go back and cut bamboo now!"

"What bamboo do you need me to cut? I have it ready in my yard. Take a few and I'll teach you how to weave a bamboo net."

Grandma Gu stood next to Song Ran and taught her how to weave a bamboo net. This bamboo net is not a delicate job. She demonstrated it twice and Song Ran took it over to try. After a while, seeing that Song Ran was able to do it, she continued to make the frame of the lantern.

Grandma Gu and Song Ran sat under the eaves. The slanted eaves just blocked the scorching sun and kept them in the shade.

Song Li brought a small stool and sat in the sun.

She looked so carefully that in the sunlight she could even see the edges of the hair floating in the air.

Although she was wearing thick gloves, her movements were very skillful and smooth. She rubbed the bamboo strips up and down, removing all the tiny prickly edges. Then she connected the bamboo strips end to end, making four round bamboo strips, two large and two small.

She held the bamboo strips with one hand, and with the other hand, she dipped a thin piece of straw paper in a paste made of flour and gently pasted it on the bamboo strips. After a while, a round spherical lantern skeleton was completed.

When Granny Gu looked up, she saw Song Li, who was absorbed in the study. "You are looking at it so seriously~"

Song Li scratched her head. She was really curious about how it turned into a rabbit.

Grandma Gu fiddled with the bamboo ball and said, "This is the rabbit's body." She then took out two thin strips. She put the middle part of the thin bamboo strips over the candle flame to make it tough, then bent them into rabbit ears and pressed them onto the lantern frame.

"Look! It's an ear."

She pressed her ears on the rabbit, and Song Li thought it looked like a rabbit.

"Finally, we add the rabbit's tail."

"Jiang Jiang~ Do you think this is a little rabbit?" Grandma Gu handed the little rabbit lamp to Song Li, "Take it and play with it."

Song Li held it in her hand and looked at it from left to right. She could imagine what it would look like with paper pasted on it and eyes painted on it.

Song Ran also finished the work at hand and asked, "Do you think this is okay? Is it solid enough?"

"Okay, solid enough!"

Song Ran also saw the rabbit lantern that his younger sister was fiddling with and said, "The lantern is really something. Can you teach me? The sun is high now, so I'll help you make some in the house."

"Okay."

Song Li was wearing big gloves and brushing the rough edges.

The three of them made a small pile of rabbit lanterns in the afternoon.

This lamp is actually not worth the money.

In the city, they charge three cents for each. The shop owner then asks people to paste paper and paint patterns on it. On the day of Qiqiao Festival, the small vendors who set up stalls buy goods from the shop owner.

As for how much the small vendors sell their products for, that depends on their own abilities.

Grandma Gu was just the one who made the least profit among many links. But there was nothing she could do. On the night of the Qiqiao Festival, if you wanted to set up a stall, the stall fee collected that night was also a sky-high price for her.

After coming out of Grandma Gu's house from the back door, Song Ran took a bamboo net, came to the edge of the pond, and compared the size with the gap.

In the evening near the water, there are so many mosquitoes that they can lift a person, especially with the rice fields below.

Now the frogs in the rice fields are croaking like thunder.

A green grasshopper suddenly jumped onto Song Ran's leg

Song Ran was just about to slap the bug away when an idea came to his mind.

"Little darling, help me get the string."

Song Li didn't know what to do with the string, but after hearing her sister's instructions, she ran home happily. After a while, she came out with a roll of fine linen.

Song Ran pulled out a thin thread and tied it to a grasshopper, then put the string into the field and swung it around.

The grasshopper tied to the end of the string kept jumping, and soon the frog was attracted by the noise and bit the twine. Song Ran gently lifted it, and before the frog could react, she caught it in her hand.

"It's really done!"

When she was imprisoned, the jailer who kept watch at night ate frogs.

Listening to the two chatting, there is a small restaurant in the city that specializes in frogs, snails, etc., stir-fried with pickled ginger and chili, which is a good dish to go with wine. The two also agreed to try their luck in the fields on the night they didn't keep watch.

"Little sweetheart, go back and get a sack."

After hearing this, Song Li ran back home and brought the sack with him.

"Just wait and see if you can find any more of these bugs. I'm going to go catch some frogs first, and Xiaoguai can help me keep an eye on them."

Song Li nodded. Catching insects! That was her specialty. Although she didn't know why her elder sister caught these ugly chirping creatures, the things her elder sister actively prepared were usually related to food.

A grasshopper quickly sacrificed its entire body for the frog. Song Li took advantage of the situation and quickly handed the captured grasshopper over.

The two walked around the field for about half an hour.

I walked from the top to the bottom of the nearby fields, then walked back from the bottom and caught a small bag of frogs.

The two men went to find Grandma Gu again, carrying a small bag of frogs.

Grandma Gu had just finished her meal and was washing dishes. She stuck her head out of the window and asked, "Where have you been? You are sweating profusely."

"Go and pick up the stuff." Song Ran lifted the sack.

Granny Gu wiped her hands on her apron and took a closer look. "Oh! Isn't that a frog?"

"I just caught it. I thought you were going to the city early tomorrow morning. Please help me take it to sell it. It's for late-night snacks on Qingyang Road. I'll pay for the ox cart. Do you think it's okay?"

"I just did it for my own convenience. Why should I ask you to pay for the ox cart?"

"Yes! Otherwise I'll go by myself." Song Ran knew that Grandma Gu went to the city every day to keep her promise, but she was reluctant to spend the money for the ox cart. She just did this favor and paid for one person's ox cart.

"Girl, okay, I'll ride on a bullock cart tomorrow thanks to you. Have you had dinner yet?"

"not yet."

"Oh, I don't have much prepared here."

"We can just make a bowl of noodles with the leftover soup from lunch. I'll take the frog back and put it aside for now. Call me tomorrow morning when you leave!"