I asked you to dig wild vegetables to pay off your debt, not go up the mountain to pick up money!

When he trotted to Song Erhe's house, many people had already come to the yard, mostly men, who were talking about taxes and spring plowing. Seeing Song An Ning coming, they felt a little uncomfortable.

At this time last year, they were still chatting and talking with Brother Afeng in this courtyard. Only a year later, the Song family has become like this, relying on a half-grown child to take charge.

"Aning, just take the two kids and wait at the door. There's nothing to do here."

Song Erhe has many sons and grandchildren in his family. He got up early and discussed with his wife and decided to let his eldest grandson help Aning get things.

"Second Grandfather, I have something to tell you..."

After listening to Song An Ning, Song Erhe was also a little surprised, and he also knew the seriousness of the matter. He said to Song An Ning seriously: "Don't worry and go back. This matter is very serious. I will definitely give instructions one by one.

Once we get to the mountain, the group will disperse to dig bamboo shoots. You should take good care of your mother and the two children. Your brother Tianbao will help your family get the supplies. Go back and get ready. We'll set off soon."

After hearing what the old man said, Song An Ning felt relieved. After thanking him, he trotted back.

Wang Ying'er had already prepared breakfast, which consisted of the duck eggs that grandma had given her two days ago, as well as the scrambled eggs left over from yesterday, mixed rice porridge, and pancakes.

Song An Ning didn't care whether she was losing weight or not. She sat at the table and ate as much as she could. Going up the mountain was a physical job, and she couldn't dig bamboo shoots if she wasn't full.

"Sister, is mother going up the mountain with us?"

"I asked Second Grandpa to tell the villagers. Just pretend nothing happened. Act more naturally in front of Auntie."

The two little ones nodded obediently, buried their heads and bit their dry food in big mouthfuls. They must work harder and dig more bamboo shoots today.

Not long after they finished eating, many people were already waiting at the foot of the mountain. When they saw Wang Ying'er, they were stunned at first, then remembered what their boss had said, and greeted her nervously.

"Sister-in-law, are you bringing your two little ones up the mountain? My kids were clamoring to come with me, but I didn't bring them. They couldn't walk halfway and had to be carried on my back."

"There's no one at home, and I'm worried about the two of them being at home, so I just took them both with me and treated them as fun."

Wang Ying'er replied calmly, not looking sick at all. She washed herself clean last night and changed into clean clothes that were neither new nor old this morning. She looked no different from before.

After hearing what she said, everyone understood what was going on. They chatted with her about family matters, not mentioning Song Feng and Song Zeyu at all.

Song An Ning stood behind Wang Ying'er and nodded gratefully to the women. There were still many good people in the village. Although they were a bit talkative, they could all tell the difference between right and wrong when it came to major issues.

"Let's go up the mountain."

When the crowd had almost gathered, Song Erhe stood on a high point and shouted, "Keep an eye on your children. Women and children should walk in the middle, and men should walk in a wave in front and a wave in the back. Talk less on the road and be more vigilant against wild animals."

After he finished speaking, he fixed his gaze on Wang Ying'er and shouted loudly, "The villagers of Banyue Village are going up the mountain..."

The villagers lined up and followed the village head, shouting loudly: "Let's go up the mountain..."

This is the tradition of Banyue Village. When they take collective actions, they will shout a few times towards the mountains. This is to show their respect for nature, to live off the mountains, and to thank the mountains for feeding generations of people.

Secondly, after living in the mountains for a long time, one is bound to encounter strange things such as mountain spirits and ghosts, or wild beasts such as wolves, insects, tigers and leopards. The shouting of the crowd can scare away the wild beasts and also seek the favor of the mountain god.

Wang Ying'er carried a large backpack and led A Yue in front, while Song An Ning followed behind with Song Zeyuan. The team did not walk fast as they had to maintain their strength to dig bamboo shoots.

After two days of going up the mountain to dig vegetables, Song An Ning's physical strength has improved significantly. After walking for half an hour, he only sweated slightly.

When we reached a gentle slope, we heard a voice from the team ahead, asking everyone to rest in place.

The children in the village were used to running up the mountain, and none of them complained of being tired. Her two little ones drank some water, their eyes shining, and surrounded Wang Ying'er, asking how big the bamboo shoots would grow.

Song Anning remembered that freshly dug bamboo shoots were sold at two cents per pound in the town. It was not a good price at that time of year, so many families dried the bamboo shoots and stored them for sale in autumn.

However, it rains a lot in Banyue Village in summer, and the fruits will grow mold in a few days, so most people choose to dig them out and sell them.

"Xiangxiang, the bamboo shoots should be red grade, right?"

"Yes, thirty cents a pound. The more the better."

"!"

Thirty cents... She remembered that those hilltops were all bamboo forests. If each family dug a piece, they could dig up two or three hundred kilograms. They would be rich, rich...

"Your eyes are wide open. What are you thinking about? Your father is not at home this year, so you are not allowed to be lazy."

Wang Ying'er tapped her eldest daughter's nose and always felt that Song Anning seemed like a different person. She used to be a little spoiled and willful, and would act like a spoiled child beside her for half a day in order to avoid working. Now she is more likely to be silent and do her own things.

"Mom, I'm thinking we should split into two teams. You take Ayuan, and I take Ayue. We two will be responsible for digging bamboo shoots, and the other two will pick them up."

The reason why she brought A Yue with her was because Song Zeyuan was too smart and delayed her from collecting bamboo shoots in the system. A Yue was not so cunning. When she was asked to do work, she would just sit there obediently and would not get up even if she was tired.

"No need, Auntie will dig the bamboo shoots, and you guys can just pick them up behind."

Wang Ying'er smiled with relief. Aning had grown up and knew how to help with the housework. But in her eyes, even grown-ups were still children, and she couldn't bear to let her daughter do such tiring work.

"I'll take Ah Yue and dig slowly. We won't get tired."

After repeated requests, Wang Ying'er reluctantly agreed and nagged her many times not to run around and to dig slowly.

She looked very much like Song Anning's own mother. She seemed to see her mother's appearance in this woman.

After a short rest, the team continued to move forward, and it was quiet along the way.

After walking for more than an hour, we crossed the valley and arrived at the edge of the bamboo forest. The eyes were filled with emerald green bamboos, which swayed in the wind, making moving sounds.

In her previous life, she was from the north and had never seen large areas of bamboo, so she couldn't help but feel a little bit of anticipation in her heart.

The village head asked everyone to rest for a while, and he took a few people to divide the territory.

There are more than ninety households in Banyue Village. There are five hills in front of us, and each family can get a large piece of land.

Everyone is not picky, and there are endless bamboo shoots to dig every year. If you dig too many, you can’t take them back.

The location we were assigned was neither good nor bad, it was next to my grandma and second uncle's house.

The family ate some dry food and drank some water on the spot. Song Dashan gave them a few more instructions and then walked towards the bamboo forest.

Song Anning was more excited than ever before. Hehehe, she was happy that she could finally dig bamboo shoots like in the video.

Dig, dig!

Little Bamboo Shoots, here I come...