An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

But when she heard they were going mushroom picking, Qiaoqiao was still tempted. She quickly raised her head to look at the old lady and Zhuang, then at her mother who was working, and even looked at the others, her heart full of hope. Finally, after hearing what Yin and Aunt Zhao said, she dared not say a word.

I continued to embroider the handkerchief.

Her mother told her that the suede boots on her feet were very expensive and asked her to take good care of them, otherwise if they broke, she would have to wear straw sandals like other prisoners, which were not soft at all and were prickly.

She didn't dare play in the water. The feet of the prisoners wearing straw sandals looked terrible. They were soaked in water, frozen red, cracked, and bleeding. The chilblains that developed had to be rubbed with roasted radish at night, which was painful and itchy. Only the men in the General's Mansion wore suede boots, so they didn't smell like the other prisoners, which was covered in the unpleasant smell of roasted radish.

The little girl was still a little scared when she was scolded by her mother. Although her mother was good to her in this family, she was very principled and did what she said in dealing with people. She was clear about rewards and punishments. She was full of awe at such a young age and dared not disobey her mother.

Seeing that the little girl suddenly lost her temper and dared not make any more noise, her little nose was twitching, and it was unclear whether she was really crying or just pretending. Heizi felt a little sorry for her and quickly coaxed her, saying, "Sister, be obedient at home. When I come back, I will catch a little squirrel for you."

While walking these two days, I occasionally saw one or two squirrels jumping on the trees by the roadside. This is the only animal visible in this forest. They look cuter than little rabbits, but they are also very sharp-tongued.

"Really, Brother Heizi, don't lie to me." Upon hearing this, the little dumpling became cheerful again. The little rabbit he had raised had been frozen to death and buried long ago. The little guy had been in a very low mood during those days.

"Yeah! Squirrels can handle the cold."

Heizi's words were very concise, but Xiaotuanzi could also understand that he meant that squirrels are not easy to die and are easy to keep alive.

Grandpa Xiaobei looked at the two little kids and smiled: "Squirrels have sharp teeth and can easily hurt people. I'll make a small cage for you later."

"Haha! Great! We have a little squirrel!" The two children were immediately happy. Little Dumpling even asked her aunt to dress her immediately, as if the squirrel could be caught right away.

Heizi had no objection to going up the mountain with the others. The child was able to endure hardship, had a good foundation and could run fast. He was completely unlike the five or six-year-old children in the city.

Jing Yongcheng also happily encouraged them. If he wasn't old, he would have wanted to go up the mountain with Xiaobei if he had the free time. Maybe they could even hunt some pheasants or roe deer. "Go ahead, Young Master Tao, go too. Maybe we can pick up some frozen prey in the mountains."

In this season, people can freeze to death, and it is possible to capture small animals that cannot run alive.

Seeing that both elders agreed, Zhuang Shi did not want to stop them, but she still gave them a few words of warning: "But you all have to change into straw sandals. Don't ruin your good shoes. There are no such good shoes for sale in the south."

Last time in Yiyang City, she gritted her teeth and bought a pair of suede boots for everyone. Only the two elders were given an extra pair as replacements, as there was no replacement for those who were worn out.

"Call all the children from their families! If there are really so many mushrooms as they say, we can pick some and dry them over a fire. They'll keep for a long time. Adding a few to porridge or stir-fries would make them taste good.

Especially the children from Changming and Changdu's family. I see that they have been eating black flour buns every day for a while now. They don't even cook some porridge or rice. They are so thin.

The old aunt also sighed beside him: "I think his two daughters-in-law do care about their children. It's just that the donkey is too thin and can't carry much, but at least the two youngest ones can sit in the cart."

The two brothers Jing Changming and Jing Changdu are very united. One pulls the cart and the other drives the donkey cart. In addition to the two young children who can sit on the donkey cart, the wives and several older children can occasionally take turns sitting on it for a while.

But because they were reluctant to spend money, they often picked some wild vegetables and cooked them into porridge with a handful of noodles as a snack. But they never complained about the hardship. Even the children were well-educated. They would greet their elders when they saw them, and rarely fought.

Most of the black-flour steamed buns in the General's Mansion were saved for Heizi to share with his mother. Those prisoners were originally young and strong, but now they were so hungry that they were just skin and bones. Along the way, whenever they saw something edible on the roadside, they would stuff it into their mouths without caring whether it was clean or not, but they could not eat enough.

The main consideration was that they had large appetites and no warm clothes, so the remaining black-faced steamed buns were mainly for them. After all, if they were well fed, they could help if there was real danger. However, these were all delivered secretly, and no one dared to let the officials or others know.

After everyone had changed into their straw sandals, Dalang and the others who had gone out to greet people came back and said that the children in those rooms responded very quickly and all wanted to go.

When Jing Yongjian's family heard that they could pick fruits to eat, even his three daughters-in-law were very excited. Except for Daqing's wife who stayed at home to cook, the other two had to go up the mountain with them. Jing Yongqiang's family left the women at home and let the men and children go to pick fruits.

Jing Changming and Jing Changsheng invited the whole family to come along. They couldn't bear to cook anyway, and instead felt uncomfortable at home. The older guys sharing the same bunk bed were always picking on them, and at home, the children would be more likely to be bullied. So, they simply turned a blind eye and went out, hoping to pick more mushrooms to cover their meals.

Except for two little boys who could only look but not go, all the other children in the general's mansion changed into straw sandals, put on raincoats and wore hats.

Although the rain outside is not heavy, it is drizzling. If you are not well protected, you will be soaked in no time.

The women at the post station were all laughing when they saw dozens of people rushing out to pick mushrooms. They didn't try to stop them, but instead said something disrespectful: "Those who know you will say you are picking mushrooms, while those who don't will think you are digging in the mountain!"

If there were no mushrooms on the mountain, so many people could scrape off the skin of that mountain.

After laughing, he instructed them, "Go to the back mountain where the pine needles are thick. Red mushrooms grow underneath the pine needles, there are a lot of them!

If you're lucky, you can even pick some matsutake mushrooms. They're worthless if they're broken apart, but if they're still shaped like hammers, they're incredibly valuable. Seven or eight of them can fetch two taels of silver."

As soon as the old woman said this, the children's eyes lit up, and some of them immediately ran outside. The faster they ran, the more they grabbed, and the more silver was beckoning to them.

The waiter saw that the people from the General's Mansion were holding one or two long bamboo sticks. He nodded and smiled, "You are really smart. You picked mushrooms and skewered them. When you get home, you just rinse them with water and then hang them out to dry. However, you can't dry them in the sun this season. You can keep them by drying them, but they won't look very good. They are very delicious when used in cooking or making soup. You don't have to be so picky when eating at home."