Traveling through the mountains and farming

Lin Wan took the two siblings for a walk on the country road, thinking about asking Li Chongle about the Luo family's situation before going out.

Like the Li family, Aunt Luo and her husband fled famine and settled in Quanshui Village.

At that time, besides Aunt Luo and her husband, the only ones left were their eldest son Luo Dashan and his daughter-in-law Gao.

After settling in Quanshui Village, their daughter-in-law Gao gave birth to two grandsons and a granddaughter. Their eldest grandson was also conscripted to serve in the army and was in the same camp as Li Chongwen.

At present, in addition to farming, the Luo family mainly relies on hunting in Luo Dashan to make a living.

"Sister-in-law, Grandma Luo's house is just ahead." Li Chongle reminded Lin Wan.

"Let's not go into the house for a while. Let's hand the things to Grandma Luo in the yard, because we are in a hurry to go to our great-aunt's house." Lin Wan instructed the two siblings.

The three of them arrived at the gate of Luo's house. At this time, Grandma Luo was turning over and drying wild vegetables. The little girl next to them saw them first, and immediately ran over to open the gate, smiling sweetly and greeting them, "Mrs. Li, Brother Xiaole, Sister Xiaoning, you are here."

When Aunt Luo heard her granddaughter's voice, she looked up and saw three people standing at the door. Each of them was holding two bamboo tubes. She walked towards them and asked, "Why are you here?"

Lin Wan handed over the two bamboo tubes in her hand and said with a smile: "I made some new food and brought it to you and your family to try."

Aunt Luo was thinking that the person who got only half a bag of rice when he divided the family property was embarrassed to accept the new food that was sent to her.

She lowered her head to look at the contents of the bamboo tube. There were pieces of milky white fruit-like stuff soaking in the water, but she couldn't tell what it was.

But no matter what it was, as long as it was food, she absolutely could not accept it, so Aunt Luo waved her hand and declined, "How can I take your food? Keep it for yourself and give more to the two children."

Lin Wan kept passing things over, still smiling and saying, "I mainly want to thank you for saving my life this morning. I don't have anything good at home, so I just picked some new food from the mountains and wanted you and your family to try it. This is the craftsmanship of Xiaole and his sister!"

"Grandma Luo, please accept it. We have to send some to my great-uncle's house later." Lin Wan continued to persuade her and gestured to her to look at the bamboo tubes in the hands of the two siblings.

Seeing that Lin Wan was sincere in giving the money, Aunt Luo decided not to refuse any longer. She then looked at her little granddaughter who was drooling when she heard Li Chongle and his sister say how delicious and sweet the new food was, so she reached out and took the two bamboo tubes.

Lin Wan then said a little embarrassedly: "Grandma, I heard that Uncle Dashan often goes up the mountain to hunt. I wonder if he has any snake and insect repellent powder at home. I want to buy some from you."

Seeing that Aunt Luo looked a little confused, she explained: "You know, we live at the foot of the mountain and want to sprinkle some medicinal powder around the house. With the medicinal powder, we can also safely go to the outside of the mountain to find wild vegetables."

After hearing this, Aunt Luo suddenly realized what was going on and said hurriedly, "Yes, come in and sit down. I'll get it for you now. These are made from herbs I picked from the mountains. They're free."

As he said this, he placed the bamboo tube on the table in the yard, and then went into the house to get the medicine powder for Lin Wan.

Lin Wan and the others did not go into the house, but waited in the yard, while the three children next to them were still laughing and talking about the new food. Mainly the two siblings were describing to their little sister how delicious the new food was.

After receiving the large bag of medicine powder from Aunt Luo, the three of them expressed their gratitude and continued walking towards Uncle Li's house with their things.

When the three were about to reach the gate of Grandpa Li's house, they saw three children, about eight or nine years old, squatting or kneeling on the ground at the gate, staring at something.

When Lin Wan and the others came closer, they could see clearly that they were playing with grasshoppers.

The older boy was the first to see Lin Wan and the other two. He then turned around and shouted into the courtyard, "Grandma, my cousin's wife and Xiaole and Xiaoke are here."

After hearing their brother's call, the other little boy and girl quickly picked up their own grasshoppers, then stood up and trotted towards the three people.

At this time, Aunt Li, her second daughter-in-law Wang, and her youngest daughter-in-law Chen were preparing dinner in the kitchen. Hearing the noise outside, she put down the vegetables she was picking and walked out.

She saw Lin Wan, who had just entered the yard, holding two bamboo tubes in one hand and a machete in the other. The two siblings following behind her also held a bamboo tube each, and were being welcomed into the yard by her three children.

She hurriedly came over and asked, "You're here, why are you bringing things?"

"Great aunt, we are here mainly to return the machete. We are worried that you might need it urgently." Lin Wan put the machete next to the dining table in the yard and said.

Then she put the two bamboo tubes on the table and said, "These are some new foods I made. I wanted to bring them for you to try."

The two siblings who followed behind also put their bamboo tubes on the table. Then, Li Ke said proudly, "This was made by my brother and I. My sister-in-law taught us."

Li Chongle nodded vigorously and said, "Try it quickly, it's really delicious, sweet and sticky."

Hearing the two siblings praising how delicious the food was, the three children nearby drooled with envy and stared at the bamboo tubes.

Li Chongping, the youngest grandson of Aunt Li, has cleverly taken a spoon, ready to try the delicious kudzu nut syrup that Brother Xiaole mentioned.

Aunt Li saw that her children were staring at the food on the table, waiting for her to start eating. Seeing the happy looks in their eyes, she couldn't bear to refuse and disappoint them, so she agreed:

"I'll accept it this time. Don't send us food anymore. Eat more on yourselves. Your aunts are cooking now. You can go back after you finish your meal." She wanted to keep Lin Wan and the others for dinner so that they could save some food.

When Lin Wan heard that Aunt Li wanted to invite them to dinner, she suddenly realized that it was the dinner time in ancient times. She waved her hand and refused, "No, we had already eaten before we came.

According to her understanding, every household in the village is now tightening their belts to make ends meet. The daily food ration is fixed. If they eat, others will have to eat less.

Lin Wan quickly changed the subject: "Grandma, have we completed our household registration?"

"Okay, I'll get it for you right away." When Aunt Li was interrupted by Lin Wan, she forgot about keeping the meal for her and turned into the house to get her household registration.

The children next to them were very sensible and just gathered around a bamboo tube to share the food. They chattered while eating and agreed with Li Chongle and his sister, describing how delicious the new food was.

After getting their household registration, Lin Wan and her friends refused Aunt Li's invitation to stay for dinner again, and walked towards the small river on the other side of the village with the medicine powder given by Aunt Luo in their hands.

Li Chongle, who was following behind, was holding a wooden barrel in his hand.

As the sun sets, the clouds in the sky are dyed red by the sunset, and people working in the fields begin to return home.

Lin Wan strolled along the country road, looking at the beautiful sunset.

For a moment I felt dazed and like I was taking a walk on my own farm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

The sound of gurgling river water brought Lin Wan back to reality. The brother and sister beside her were still discussing how many fish the fish basket could catch. As soon as they arrived at the river, the two little ones excitedly wanted to rush into the water. They wanted to know whether the fish basket woven by their sister-in-law was really that amazing.

"Sister-in-law, I'm going to get the fish basket."

"Sister-in-law, I want to go too."

The two little ones were vying to pick up the fish basket.

Lin Wan thought that as long as the fish were put into the fish basket, they would not escape easily, so she agreed to their request.

Li Chongle attentively helped his sister into the water and assisted her in carrying the fish basket ashore.

The two siblings held the fish basket and shouted excitedly: "So many fish, sister-in-law, there are so many fish in this basket."

Lin Wan walked over and looked into the fish basket. In the basket was half a basin of fish of all sizes. Most of them were the small fish called "lazy fish" in her hometown. They were only the size of a finger, had no bones, and tasted very delicious.

Li Chongle quickly poured the small fish into the wooden barrel and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, let's put this fish basket down again. There will be fish again tomorrow morning."

No wonder he borrowed a wooden barrel from his great aunt when he went out just now. It turned out that the little guy had thought of it already.

"Okay, let's go back along the river and find a suitable place to put down the empty fish basket." Lin Wan replied with a smile.

After a pause, she continued, "Look along the creek for flat stones. We'll need them for cooking later."

Finally, after discussion among the three, it was decided that Li Ke was too weak and would be responsible for finding a suitable place in the creek to put the fish basket and find stones with Li Chongle.

The wooden barrel was carried by Lin Wan. She could also give them guidance and advice on the shore and pick some wild onions along the way. The temperature in the mountains was relatively low, so wild onions could still be found here even in summer.