Traveling through the mountains and farming

Lin Wan came back from Uncle Li's house. As soon as she reached the door, she heard the voices of two siblings talking in the house.

"Brother, why hasn't your sister-in-law come back yet?"

"It should be soon. Do you want to go out and play?"

"Yes, I want to get a piece of cake for Luo Xiaoya and Li Taojie. In the past, they would always think of giving me something delicious when they had it."

At noon, the eldest sister-in-law brought back six sesame balls and six pieces of osmanthus cake. The three of them ate one piece each during their afternoon work. The eldest sister-in-law said it was afternoon tea.

"Wait a minute, when sister-in-law comes back, I'll go with you. Don't forget Luo Xiaoxi, Brother Chong'an, and Chongping."

"But how are we going to divide up the three sesame balls and three pieces of sweet-scented osmanthus cake? We have to leave some for my sister-in-law."

Lin Wan, who was outside the door, listened to the little girl's tone and could imagine that her brows were twisted like a little knot at the moment.

"Leave a piece of osmanthus cake and a sesame ball for sister-in-law. No, two pieces of osmanthus cake. I think sister-in-law likes osmanthus cake more."

When Lin Wan, who was outside the door, heard Li Chongle's words, she smiled unconsciously with her eyes curved. She thought that Li Chongle, this little warm pack, could actually notice that she liked osmanthus cake more than sesame balls under the temptation of delicious food.

How lovely!

In order to prevent the two children from continuing to struggle, Lin Wan walked into the room and interrupted their conversation: "No need to leave any for me, take the rest and share it with your friends."

After entering the main room, I saw the two kids sitting face to face on the new chairs that Old Man Wang had delivered in the afternoon, their eyes fixed on the cakes on the table in front of them.

"Wow, sister-in-law, you're back. Can you let me take all these away?"

As soon as Li Ke saw his sister-in-law come in, he jumped off the chair, ran over with a smile and held Lin Wan's hand.

Lin Wan smiled and nodded, "Yes, I'll find you a bamboo bowl to put it in."

Then, the two siblings took the bowl of cakes and went out.

"Brother, how do we divide this?"

"Take the cakes and go to the crooked willow tree by the stream at the entrance of the village. When you pass by the big tree at the entrance of the village, avoid other people. I will go to their respective homes to call them."

Li Ke picked a large leaf from the roadside to wrap the bowl, then walked towards the stream at the entrance of the village.

When passing by the big tree at the entrance of the village, she saw some children playing there. Among them, she also saw Li Cui and Li Chongsong. Could they be showing off her skirt?

Li Ke went around it from the small path beside, trying not to be discovered.

She walked to the crooked tree and prepared to wait for someone. At this time, she saw some lantern fruit nearby, so she squatted down decisively and started picking them. She thought that picking lantern fruit should not arouse suspicion, after all, many children would pick them for fun.

After waiting for about half a minute, Li Chongle and five of his friends came over through a shortcut.

"Xiao Le, what good news do you have for us? You don't even explain clearly, and just ask us to follow you." Li Chong'an asked while panting, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his hand.

"Here~ This is the good stuff." Li Ke uncovered the bowl wrapped in leaves and reached out to show the pastries in the bowl.

All the children present were instantly attracted by the pastries in the bowl. The sound of swallowing saliva could be heard continuously, and everyone moved closer to the bowl of pastries, staring at it closely.

"Xiao Ke, where did you get this?" Li Tao stared at the pastries, swallowed and asked.

"My eldest sister-in-law went to the city to buy some. These are all that are left. I brought them all here so we can eat together."

Li Ke was very excited, finally she had the chance to share delicious food with her friends, and it was very rare pastries. In the past, they only gave her oil residue or wild fruits from the mountains.

"Sister Xiaoke, can I eat now?" Luo Xiaoya had saliva hanging from the corners of her mouth and she was eager to eat because she had never tasted the pastries in that bowl before.

Li Chongle picked up the osmanthus cake and started to break it into pieces to share with his friends. Although they were all drooling with greed, no one reached out to take it themselves, but waited obediently for Li Chongle to share it with them one by one.

The osmanthus cake was easier to break apart, but the sesame ball was not so easy to tear apart. It looked a bit disgusting after being torn apart by Li Chongle, but none of the friends disliked it. They all ate it with relish. After finishing the last bite, Li Chongping sucked each of his ten fingers one by one.

"What are you doing?" Li Cui and Li Chongsong suddenly appeared.

Hearing Li Cui's voice, those who ate slowly hurriedly stuffed all the cakes into their mouths, swallowed them quickly, and wiped their hands on their bodies.

"Nothing, we're just picking lantern fruit for fun." Li Chongle reacted the fastest, picking up the lantern fruit that Li Ke had picked and shaking it.

"Sister, there is pastry in this bowl, it's very sweet." The short and stout Li Chongsong licked a bamboo bowl, then raised his head and said to Li Cui with a smile.

It turned out that he found the bowl on the ground, ran over, picked it up, smelled it, found it fragrant, and started licking it.

"Okay, Li Chongping, you guys are cheating!" Li Cui pointed at Li Chongping and said angrily.

"Are you going to complain to your father or your mother next? Don't say that this osmanthus cake was bought for us by my sister-in-law. Even if I ate it secretly, I didn't steal it from your house. It's none of your business!" Li Chongle glanced at Li Cui and said coldly.

The friends nearby also said that this was bought by Li Chongle's sister-in-law, and asked Li Cui not to say anything nonsense.

"Brother, is there any more? I want to eat." After licking the bowl, Li Chongsong came over and pulled Li Chongle's sleeve, looking up and eagerly.

"No more." Li Chongle's voice softened a little. If Li Cui had not brought Li Chongsong with him, Li Chongle would have shared it with Li Chongsong. After all, he was only five years old and had never actively bullied or hurt them before.

"Just eat whatever you want. Let's go." Li Cui walked over, knocked the bowl out of Li Chongsong's hand, pulled Li Chongsong over and turned to leave.

After Li Cui left, the other friends were not affected. They played together for a while and then went home. Li Chongle and his sister went to the creek to get the fish basket and then went back.

~

As soon as Li Cui returned home, she immediately complained to Zhang, claiming that Lin Wan bought osmanthus cake for Li Chongle and his friends, and she saw Li Chongle and his sister sharing it with others but did not ask her and Li Chongsong to eat it together.

"That's impossible. If she has money, why would she buy osmanthus cake instead of buying food or repairing the house?" Li Changren, who had just returned, heard Li Cui's complaint and took over the conversation.

"Yes, they have nothing, so they don't have any extra money to buy anything. Those are pastries, which ordinary people won't buy. They might as well buy a few more buckets of grain." Zhang said with a sneer.

"Really? Dad, if you don't believe me, ask Xiaosong. He even licked the bowl." Li Cui said hurriedly, then turned around and asked Li Chongsong behind her, "Is it Xiaosong?"

Li Chongsong nodded in agreement, licked his lips and said, "It's sweet and delicious."

张氏一听，气得“腾”地一下站起来，拉过李崇松按住他的屁股边揍边骂：“你是饿死鬼投胎呀，你还去舔别人的碗，我是缺你吃的了？”

Li Chongsong was beaten so hard that he cried out loudly. Li Changren, who was standing next to him, could not bear to watch any longer and stepped forward to persuade them, "Well, whether they bought cakes or not is none of our business. We have split up the family business anyway, and they have spent the money from the split up. Even if they come to beg for food in the future, we can ignore them."

"Mom, I want to eat cakes too. Li Ke and the others have all had cakes, but I haven't had any yet." Li Cui ran over and shook Zhang's sleeve to beg, pouting her lips as if she was aggrieved.

"Okay, okay, when we sell the grain in autumn and have money, I'll buy it for you, okay?" Zhang helped Li Chongsong, who was still sitting on the ground crying, raised her hand to wipe his tears, then turned her head and smiled as she agreed to Li Cui.