Farmhouse Green Plum

At that moment, the three of them took Song Yuan, who had short legs, and crouched down along the path, bypassing the pine forest slope, and went to another moist valley.

"Today, the medicine boy at the clinic taught me another herb - plantain. I'll identify which one it is later. Let's pick some. The medicine boy said that the purchase price of plantain is high these days."

Lai Di was anxious and said immediately, "Then let's all pick plantain!"

"No, I have to be careful that I remembered it wrong. Let's focus on the ground tiger. I'll go back to the clinic and pick more plantains after I confirm that they are correct."

"Will the price come down?" Lai Di was a little worried.

Daya said seriously: "It's better to lower it and make less money than to make a mistake and work for nothing."

Lai Di thought about it and said, "Let's pick them as soon as possible and sell them in the county."

Speaking of this, Daya added: "I thought about it and it's too dangerous to go to the county with the adults. I still have to go to the county privately to sell herbs."

Xiaoxiang was in a dilemma: "If we don't follow them, how will we have time? Besides, I only know a short section of the road out of the village to the county."

"I know the way roughly. If things don't work out, I can always ask someone. I can only squeeze in some time."

"Next time we go to the county, you go, Daya, and Xiaoxiang and I will help you get your pine needles." Lai Di gritted her teeth, "Don't worry, I will definitely get as much as you usually do."

Daya was a little skeptical about her efficiency, but she had no other choice but to nod in agreement, and added: "And Song Yuan, you have to help me keep an eye on him."

Song Yuan didn't like what he heard. He raised his hand and assured, "Sister, I don't need anyone to watch over me. I won't get into trouble."

Daya thought, am I afraid that you will get into trouble? I am afraid that something will happen to you.

But he said, "I didn't tell you that you're in trouble, but we have to hide it from grandma and the others. If you run all over the mountains and someone sees you and tells grandma and the others, won't they ask me to keep an eye on you? If they ask me not to show up, won't they be exposed?"

"I understand!" Song Yuan said with a stern face, nodding seriously, "Don't worry, I will follow Sister Lai Di and Sister Xiao Xiang obediently. No, I have to help you shave the loose hair!"

Daya winked at Lai Di and Xiao Xiang, indicating that they should pay more attention. Looking after Song Yuan was the most important of all her jobs, and if something happened it would really cost her her life.

As she scanned the area, she suddenly caught sight of a green plant on the roadside that was almost sunk into the mud. "Hey, this looks like plantain!"

She squatted down, wiped the dust off the leaves and examined them carefully, recalling the medicine boy's description, "It's true!"

Lai Di and Xiao Xiang quickly squatted down to memorize it. Lai Di couldn't help but mutter, "Why is this plantain growing on the roadside?"

Xiaoxiang said, "There are some in the fields. I encountered them before when I was weeding. I really hated this kind of grass at that time. It clung to the ground and was very difficult to remove."

Daya took out a sickle and dug out the whole plant of plantain. "I don't remember where to find a large piece of this herb. We usually pay attention and pick it when we see it. The whole plant can be used as medicine, so we can dig it out as a whole..."

For the rest of the way, they kept their eyes on the roadside, digging plantain as they walked. When they arrived at the place where the ground beetle grew, the sun had already set. They hurried to pick it, and then went to the pine forest slope in the dark to get some pine needles to take home to deal with.

When Daya arrived home, Yang had already driven the ducks back home. She did not complain about her coming home late, but only told her, "Go and help your grandmother light the fire."

After saying that, she and Uncle Song put the dried millet into baskets and carried them into the house.

As usual, it was clear porridge with pickles. Song Tian couldn't help complaining after eating it, "The grain has been harvested, when will we have rice?"

Li glared at him and scolded him, "You just had steamed buns at noon, and now you're craving for rice. All you do every day is eat, eat, eat. Are you a starving ghost reincarnated?"

Song Tian was not convinced: "I ate it at noon. It's dark now. Isn't it normal for me to be hungry?"

Glancing at Li's increasingly ugly face, Yang shouted, "Don't talk back to your grandmother."

She smiled and said, "They say that a little boy can eat his father out of money. Tianwa is in the period of growth. When we were his age, we were also greedy for food."

After explaining, she said to Song Tian: "I will have a meal after the autumn grain is delivered in two days."

Every year after the millet harvest, it is the custom of the Song family and the entire Xinghua Village to use the new rice basket to cook dry rice.

Daya and her friends had been looking forward to this meal since the millet was not yet ripe. It was a rare meal that would allow them to have a full stomach.

"Use bacon." Song Tian requested, "I haven't eaten meat for a long time."

Li glared at him unhappily, then turned to Yang and said, "Pick two pieces, one fat and one lean, and you don't need to add extra oil..."

Daya swallowed her saliva when she heard this. She seemed to have seen the rice grains coated with oil and smelled the aroma of bacon.

Benedict! Benedict! Benedict!

There were three rhythmic knocks on the door, and then the voice of Xu Yulan's mother Chen sounded, "Aunt Li San, Sister Yang Er, it's me, from the Xu Er family."

Daya hurried to open the door, and Xu Yulan and her family were standing outside.

Yang came over a step behind her and greeted her with a smile: "Come in and sit down."

"No, we have to go to Sister Meihua's house soon." Chen shook her head and handed a bag of sugar to Yang. "Thanks to your family's ox cart and your daughter for helping us identify the ground tiger a few days ago."

Daya felt a little guilty after hearing this, and was afraid that Yang and others would associate it with other things.

Yang didn't take the sugar, but pretended to be angry: "We are all from the same village, and everyone needs help. You seem unfamiliar with each other like this."

After that, he asked Xu Dahe with concern: "Is your wound feeling better?"

"Much better." Xu Dahe smiled and stretched out his legs to move them back and forth. "I can walk now. I should be completely well in two days."

He then motioned to Chen to put the sugar into Yang's hand again and said, "Helping is helping, but we must be polite. Today we only know how to ask for help but don't know how to return the favor. Who will be willing to help us in the future?"

"Second Brother Xu, what are you saying?" Yang shook her head and looked stern, as if she was a little angry. "Are we helping you just for a bag of sugar?"

"He doesn't know how to talk, dear sister-in-law, please don't argue with him," Chen held Yang's hand, "I am really very grateful to you this time. Without your ox cart to pull Dahe to the county in time, I don't know what would happen to our family now.

You must accept the sugar and don't despise it. You know, our family is poor and we can't even afford medicine, let alone other good things. I went to the county market today and bought two bags of sugar.

If you accept it, we will feel better, and next time we encounter problems, we will have the nerve to trouble you again."

Yang couldn't refuse, so she had to accept the sugar and said with a smile and a bit of helplessness: "You two are very polite."

At this time, Mrs. Li and Uncle Song also came out and warmly invited the three members of the Xu family to come in and sit down. "Oh, you are rare guests. You hardly come to our house all year round."