My humble days in ancient times

Xu Ruyi made chili oil at home every day while Xu Qinghe set up shop. After lunch, Xu Qingyan often dragged her out for a swim. Xu Qingyan had already learned the ropes quite well.

Xu Ruyi asked Xu Qinghe to teach Xu Ruyuan. It was hot out there, and the riverside wasn't as cool as inside. The four siblings decided to go together.

Xu Qingyan swam back and forth in the river. Xu Qinghe taught Ruyuan, and Xu Ruyi listened attentively.

Xu Ruyi soaked in the water, stirred the water for a while, and then went back to make chili oil.

Summer is long and hard.

Passing by many houses in the village, I saw people gathered in groups of three or four under trees, chatting and fanning themselves intermittently with palm-leaf fans, looking listless, like eggplants hit by frost.

Xu Ruyi suddenly wanted to eat cold drinks and watermelon. But it seemed that there was no watermelon in this place!

Oh my god, I have to go to the county town tomorrow to see if there are any delicious fruits.

The next day, we went to the county town. Wow, fruit is so expensive these days. An apple cost ten cents. Xu Ruyi wondered why they didn't sell it by the kilogram.

Peaches rot easily and are therefore cheaper. Fresh ones cost eight cents each. Xu Ruyi bought eight. No wonder the village children love to go to the mountains to pick wild fruits!

There were no grapes, cantaloupes and watermelons in this era.

When they got home, the four brothers and sisters each got two.

Xu Ruyi ate the peach and said with emotion: "It's really delicious."

Xu Ruyuan said, "They taste better than the wild peaches on the mountain."

Xu Ruyi thought for a moment and said, "The wild peaches on the mountain may not be ripe yet. You picked them and ate them. So they are astringent and must not taste good."

Xu Ruyuan nodded and said, "Maybe, but why can't it grow bigger?"

"Maybe it's the different varieties." Xu Ruyi continued, "For example, we're eating peaches now. They're large, juicy, and sweet. The skin is usually pink or light yellow, and the flesh is soft and easy to digest. There are also nectarines, flat peaches, and yellow peaches..."

Xu Qingyan listened curiously: "What kind of peach is yellow peach? Is it yellow?"

Xu Ruyi smiled and said, "You guessed right. Yellow peach is a yellow peach variety. Its skin and flesh are both yellow. Yellow peach tastes sweet and the flesh is soft. However, I still prefer juicy peaches. They are juicy..."

Xu Ruyi bit into a peach, feeling cheerful. Suddenly, she thought, "I didn't buy any watermelon today. Why didn't I go to the seed shop and have a look? Maybe there are some exotic seeds brought from foreign countries!" Her mood darkened again.

Oh, I was so confused at the time. My brain doesn't work at all at the critical moment! It seems I need to go to the seed shop when I have time.

A few days later, Xu Ruyi went to the seed shop on purpose, but found nothing.

Xu Ruyi came out from the seed shop, bought some chili oil ingredients, and then bought some sour plum soup to set up the stall.

Xu Qinghe blushed, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "It's so hot, it seems like the sweat never stops."

Xu Ruyi took out some sour plum soup and said, "Have some. We'll go back later."

"Okay." Xu Qinghe took a few sips of the sour plum soup and said, "It tastes good."

After lunch, I was too hot to sleep, so I decided to go to the hillside. Xu Ruyi saw many children playing on the hillside from a distance.

Da Niu, Da Hu, Er Hu and a group of people also went to the shade of the trees on the hillside early to cool off.

The breeze is blowing, it’s so cool!

From time to time, the melodious singing of birds can be heard in the mountains, accompanied by the faint fragrance of flowers brought by the breeze, which makes people intoxicated.

The cicadas' chirping doesn't seem so annoying anymore.

Big Bull and Big Tiger sat in the shade of a tree, not wanting to move. Erhu and a few of his friends, on the other hand, couldn't sit still, running around in high spirits, making a lot of noise.

Erhu and his friends ran to an open space in the east and found two big pits on the ground. In one of the pits there was a person lying with a lotus leaf covering his face.

Erhu was the first to discover it and was shocked: "Oh my god, there is a dead person here."

After Erhu finished speaking, his companions who had followed him looked at the person in the pit and were also frightened. They turned around and ran.

Erhu was trembling with fear, his legs shaking constantly. It was as if his feet were fixed there by a mysterious and powerful spell, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move an inch. At this moment, his legs felt like they were weighed down by lead, unable to take even a small step. He was extremely anxious. But his companions ran forward one after another, leaving him far behind.

Beads of sweat the size of beans kept rolling down his head, and his palms were also sweating and wet, making his already nervous mood even more anxious.

One of the friends looked back and saw Erhu standing there without running. He ran over, patted him, and said, "Hanzi, what are you doing? Are you going to die if you don't run?"

Erhu's face was flushed red, and beads of sweat covered his forehead. Erhu stammered, "I can't run. My legs won't obey me."

His friend kicked him and said, "If you can do it, I'll pull you along and run."

The friend pulled Erhu and he ran away. Erhu was also wondering why he couldn't run just now.

Several people ran to Da Niu and Da Hu. They chattered non-stop, and Da Niu and Da Hu didn't know who to listen to. But they finally understood what they meant: there was a dead person lying in the east!

Da Niu and Da Hu looked at each other. When they heard that someone had died, their hearts skipped a beat. How could they sleep at this moment?

Erhu said, "How about we go back?"

Daniu asked, "Who discovered it first? Was it from our village? Does anyone know about it?"

Erhu said tremblingly, "I was the first to find out. There was a person lying in the pit with a lotus leaf covering his face. I don't know who it was."

Daniel was also confused: "What should we do? Go see who it is?"

Erhu was so scared that he said, "I'm not going anymore. I was scared to death just now. I'm going back now." After saying that, Erhu ran down the mountain, and several of his friends followed him.

Da Niu looked at Da Hu, and the two of them had no choice but to go down the mountain in a depressed mood.

After Erhu ran down the mountain, he saw Da Niu and Da Hu following closely, so he simply stood there and waited for them.

On the way, I met Xu Ruyi and his four siblings.

Xu Qinghe asked, "Why don't you guys play anymore? Isn't it cool on the hillside?"

Erhu said angrily: "No matter how cool it is, I won't go there to play. There is a dead person there. It's so scary." Erhu pointed to the specific location with his finger.

Xu Ruyi was horrified: "No way, how did he die? Was he killed by someone?"

Erhu said with lingering fear: "Lie in the pit with a lotus leaf covering your face. Your body is very clean."

Xu Ruyi thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll go take a look."

Xu Qinghe pulled her and said, "Why don't we go back? If not, we can call some adults to come over and take a look."

Xu Ruyi thought for a moment and said, "Let's go and take a look together. Those who are scared can go back!"

Erhu and several of his friends ran away immediately.

Xu Ruyi and his two siblings, along with Da Niu and Da Hu, went to find out what was going on.

They headed towards the direction of Erhu's finger, and indeed saw two large pits next to each other not far away.

Everyone held their breath, no one dared to speak. For a moment, the atmosphere seemed a little strange.

Xu Ruyuan and Xu Qingyan were a little scared and stood behind them, refusing to move forward.

In the end, it was Da Niu, Da Hu, Xu Ruyi and Xu Qinghe who walked forward together.

Several people tiptoed forward slowly, step by step closer: "Oh my god, there really is a person lying in the pit. His face is covered with lotus leaves."

Xu Ruyi's heart was pounding with fear. She saw a branch not far away and walked over to pick it up.

She was holding a branch in her hand, ready to remove the lotus leaf from the face of the man in the pit. When the branch touched the lotus leaf, the man on the ground immediately sat up.

"Ahhhhhhh" Xu Ruyi screamed in fright.

Da Niu, Da Hu and Xu Qinghe were also frightened and sat on the ground.

The man lying in the pit asked, "What are you doing? Can you please let others sleep well?"

Everyone then saw his face clearly: Isn’t this Big Bear?

Xu Ruyi felt a little embarrassed and said, "I'm sorry, I thought...I thought you were hurt."

When Xiong Da saw that it was Xu Ruyi, his tone softened and he said, "I'm not injured, that's not the case. I was just sleeping here."

Now everyone understood what was going on.

Xu Ruyi thought: Erhu has a really big imagination.