Dreaming of Lion Rock: Recipe in Hand

The next day, before dawn, Chunni and her brother woke up early. Today they had to help their grandfather harvest rice.

They are all in their teens and twenties. Even though they stayed up late last night, they still have endless energy today.

"It's great to be young!" the old lady couldn't help but sigh.

"Haha! Auntie, you are full of energy, just like any young person!"

"Old, old."

"Not old, not 70 or 80."

The voices gradually faded away. Wang Lamei watched them leave the house and hurried back to wash the dishes. Although she stayed at home, her work was not easy. She had to take care of two little kids, cook, and help dry the millet.

Although she was busy and tired, she felt at ease. For people who have experienced famine, nothing is more important than having enough food.

God was merciful and smiled for a few days when the rice was harvested, so that every household in Lion Rock was able to dry the rice.

During this period, Qiuguo boarded the train to Chengdu again, and Donglin officially started his second year of junior high school.

When it rained again, it was already the tenth day that Xue Shaohong and his sister had come to Lion Rock.

Seeing that the rain was subsiding, Chunni invited the brother and sister to go up the mountain to pick mushrooms.

Xue Shaohong was eager to go up the mountain! When Chunni mentioned it, she immediately agreed.

The old man was a little worried and insisted on going up the mountain with them.

After a night of rain, the sky became particularly clear. Large white clouds seemed to be dotted in the blue sky, floating around Lion Rock.

Liu Chang took a deep breath and sighed: "Oh, the air on Lion Rock is so clean. It smells so fresh and comfortable."

Xue Shaohong would go over to smell the wild flowers on the roadside whenever she saw them: "Oh, the fragrance of these flowers is so good, it even has the fragrance of soil."

Chunni teased: "Oh, where did these two bumpkins come from? Doesn't it look like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden?"

"Okay, you dare to laugh at me, I'll punish you!" Xue Shaohong said, and chased Chunni. However, because she was wearing boots, she couldn't run fast at all, and she almost fell down, and Chunni laughed at her fiercely again.

"Hahahaha, Shaohong, you run like a duck!" Chunni was already very familiar with the mountain road and ran very fast.

The early-rising Lion Rock was filled with the sound of a girl's silver bell-like laughter, awakening the entire mountain range.

The old man asked Liu Chang to go forward and kept asking about his son Yang Bangming. Liu Chang was not impatient at all and the two of them had a pleasant conversation.

When the sky cleared up after the rain, many people were picking mushrooms, so Chunni took Xue Shaohong and his sister to a secret hideout she knew.

"Wow! How big is this mushroom!"

"This is Boletus, a type of boletus, and it's delicious!"

"My dear mushroom, wake up, wake up, and come home with me quickly!" Xue Shaohong patted the mushroom gently and invited it to go home with her. She was very happy.

"Oh my, this mushroom looks like an umbrella!"

"This is the Alpinia hortensis. You ate it when you first arrived."

"This is delicious! I want it!" Xue Shaohong took out a sickle and carefully dug up the mushrooms.

"This one……"

"Don't pick this up, you can't eat it!"

"This mushroom is red. It must be delicious."

"Don't pick this up, even though it's pretty, it's poisonous!"

Xue Shaohong's startled voice could always be heard in the woods, and she sounded very happy.

Liu Chang and Yang Andang are men, a little more stable, but they also looked happy when they picked up mushrooms.

After picking up almost all the mushrooms, Chunni took Xue Shaohong and his sister to visit the cave they had seen last time. They were full of praise for the coolness in the cave and were even more amazed by the stalagmites inside.

Liu Chang said: "It is natural and without any decoration. It is really a masterpiece of nature!"

Yang Andang is also proud of his hometown for having such a beautiful view. He said: "Chun Ni, you don't know, I heard that there is a big cliff on the top of Lion Mountain. I heard the villagers there say that there is a fairy living on the big cliff. Even if you accidentally fall off the cliff, you will be blown up by the wind."

Chunni thinks this is a bit mysterious.

Unexpectedly, Xue Shaohong was very interested and said, "Let's go and take a look someday."

Yang Andang waved his hands and said, "No, no, we can't go into the deep mountains of Lion Mountain. The last time villagers went in was 60. The people suffered a lot in those years. There was drought and locust plague, and the crops didn't grow at all. In order to survive, some people went into the mountains to find food. At that time, even the place where we picked mushrooms didn't grow grass. The villagers stripped the tree barks and ate them. It's good that we are close to the mountains. I heard that in some places, the people can only eat Guanyin soil. After eating that, they can't defecate, and their stomachs are bloated. Many people suffocate to death."

It was the first time that Xue Shaohong and his sister heard of such a tragic thing, and they were immediately filled with sorrow.

Yang Andang felt an inexplicable sense of accomplishment when he saw how interested they were. He was also a person who had experienced things. He continued: "When the locusts first came, we locked the house tightly for fear that the locusts would get into the house and the food at home would be lost. As for the crops still in the field, the locusts really passed through. Not only the crops, but also not a single blade of grass was left."

Chunni asked curiously, "Are there really so many locusts?"

Uncle Yang nodded vigorously and said, "A lot, of course not a lot, we can hear the sound of locusts gnawing on the sweet potato vines at home, the sound is so loud, I won't stop."

Chunni was once again grateful that she lived in this stable era where she had food and drink.

Xue Shaohong felt very sorry. She became interested in the cliff and said, "Oh, I really want to go there and take a look."

Liu Chang was more insightful and said, "Your Lion Mountain is cool in the summer, with beautiful scenery, and there are all kinds of caves of various sizes, plus the magical cliffs, which are not much worse than those famous scenic spots. Who knows, someone may take a fancy to this land and develop it into a tourist attraction."

You see, we must never underestimate anyone, especially this young man who was worth a lot of money in the early days of the country's reform and opening up. It is not difficult to see his sharp vision and predictive ability.

As the sun gradually rose higher, the few people no longer lingered and slowly walked down the mountain.

"Chun Ni, the view here is so wide. Hey, why is there a house here? Has no one lived in this house for a long time? It looks like it's about to collapse." Xue Shaohong is really a baby with a million questions. He asks about everything he encounters.

It turned out that they had come to the former educated youth settlement, which had been deserted since the educated youth left, and the rows of houses had collapsed.

Yang Andang had a good impression of Xue Shaohong and her brother and sister. When he heard her question, he quickly answered: "This is the educated youth settlement. In the past, the educated youth who went to the countryside lived here. Now that they have left, the house is empty and has slowly deteriorated."

Chunni looked into the distance through the collapsed houses. The view here is very good and the land is flat. If the land was not too barren and a little far from the village, many villagers would have come here to open up wasteland and cultivate the land. As Chunni thought about it, an idea suddenly flashed through her mind. Since Liu Chang and He Yanqing both said that Lion Mountain could be developed into a tourist attraction, could she buy a piece of land and build a farmhouse? Well, this piece of land is very good.

Seeing Chunni nodding continuously, Xue Shaohong asked curiously: "Why are you nodding? Are you thinking about your boyfriend again?"

Chunni smiled as if to hide her mistake and said nothing.

Because of the arrival of Xue Shaohong and his sister, and the slack season, Li Shuhua and Wen Laosan, who had known them there for a long time, and Sun Ping and Han Xueping, who had also come to Chunni's house to join in the fun. It goes without saying that there was a lively exchange of greetings.

Sun Ping also asked Liu Chang about the Zhujiang Hospital. Knowing that the hospital had opened, he decisively decided to take Han Xueping with him and follow Liu Chang all the way south. He was determined to cure Han Xueping.

Wen Laosan also planned to go south, he wanted to build a new house. He brought some money back from the last trip south, but he didn't use it at the Wen family, and it's not a good idea to use it now. What, Li Shuhua is rich, yes, she works at Chunni Hotel and gets paid about 60 yuan a month, but Wen Laosan never thought of using her money. He is a man, how can he always use his wife's money. Besides, he is married, and there will be children in the future, and each of them will cost money! There are also two sisters-in-law who are about to get married, and as their brother-in-law, he will have to give them some dowry when they get married. In addition, the sickly mother-in-law often takes medicine. Oh, now it seems that he is short of money everywhere!