The fake daughter married into the mountains and had meat to eat every day during the famine

"Yes!" Xu Wencheng hurried to the house to get the backpack, "Sister-in-law, I'll help you when I come back."

Song Yuntang looked at him anxiously.

"Be careful. If anyone has any unused lotus root nodes, bring them all back for me."

"I know, I will."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man had already run a long way away.

Today is the second day of Jiang's period, so it is not convenient for her to go out and chat with others. She is doing needlework at home. When she hears the noise outside, she puts the needlework in the basket and leaves the house.

"Where has Wencheng been?"

Song Yuntang was busy with his work while saying, "Erniu came to see him and said he wanted to go to the pond near Dashan Village to dig lotus roots."

"Digging lotus roots?" Jiang arrived at the gate and stretched her neck to peek outside. "Your father took the mule out to graze after dinner. He hasn't come back yet. I'm afraid he's gone bragging again."

Song Yuntang smiled and said, "Since there's nothing else to do, I'll just let him play it."

"Your father's temper..."

Jiang shook her head, sighed and went back to the house.

It was not until noon that Xu Yongwang returned with the well-fed mule, but Xu Wencheng had not returned yet.

Jiang was worried that something might happen to him, so she left the food on the stove to keep it warm and asked Xu Yongwang to go to the foot of the mountain in the direction of Dashan Village to check.

Song Yuntang had already made a lot of pills in the morning. Since he had nothing to do now, he took the mule and went with Xu Yongwang.

"Dad, is the pond at the foot of the mountain very big? It's been so dry this year, but it hasn't dried up yet."

Xu Yongwang nodded. "The lotus pond is about two or three mu (approximately 1800 square meters). The deepest part is estimated to be two zhang (6.6 meters). There's a spring at the bottom of the pond, and it's on the shady side. Even if it's dry for two years, let alone a year, it might not dry up."

Song Yuntang understood.

"So that's it."

It's more like a small lake than a pond.

Xu Yongwang looked at her and said, "But the feng shui of that pond isn't very good. Many people have drowned there. Usually, many people don't dare to go near it."

The pond is so deep that accidents are bound to happen.

Song Yuntang was a little worried, "Is Wencheng still running to that pond?"

"Wencheng is a pretty good swimmer. As long as you don't go to the middle, the water around the edges is about half a zhang (1.6 meters) deep, and in some places it's even less than half a zhang, so there shouldn't be any danger."

Having said that, Xu Yongwang also knew that Xu Wencheng was not someone who did not know the seriousness of the matter. He had not returned home yet, and no one knew how he was doing.

"Xu Yongwang, where are you taking your daughter-in-law?"

At a house on the side of the road, an old lady was leaning against the door holding a handful of pumpkin seeds, cracking them and asking questions.

When her eyes lightly swept over Song Yuntang, the corner of her lips raised slightly, and she looked like a coquettish woman. No wonder Xu Yongwang was bragging about her everywhere in the village.

Xu Yongwang has always been a good man without any ulterior motives. When he heard the aunt's question, he smiled and said, "Wencheng and Erniu have gone to the lotus pond to dig lotus roots. Let's go and have a look. We can also ask him to come home for dinner."

Cheng spat the pumpkin seed crumbs in her mouth to the side with a gloating tone.

"Wencheng is not a playful kid. He hasn't come back yet. Could something have happened to him?"

Hearing this tone, Xu Yongwang suddenly became a little annoyed.

"Don't talk nonsense, he will be fine!"

Cheng squinted at him and said, "I just said that. Why are you being so mean to me? Besides, what I said is not groundless. Who knows if your eldest son has taken away your youngest son's luck?"

"I have to find out today which bastard came up with this nonsense."

Xu Yongwang wanted to go up and argue with her, but Song Yuntang grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear.

"Dad, it's important to find Wencheng first."

Once Wencheng is found, the rumors will be dispelled.

Hearing this, Xu Yongwang calmed down, snorted, and quickly led Song Yuntang towards Dashan Village.

Cheng watched the father-in-law and daughter-in-law walk away, put the pumpkin seeds in her hand back into her pocket, and patted the dust off her hands.

"A daughter-in-law who just came into the family can control her father-in-law so well. This is really the decline of morals."

……

Xu Yongwang and Song Yuntang kept walking, and after crossing the hillside along a small path, they arrived at the side where the lotus pond was.

From a distance, Song Yuntang could already see the lotus leaves and lotus flowers in the pond in the distance through the gaps between the trees. Occasionally, when a breeze blew towards him, he could smell the light and refreshing fragrance of the lotus flowers, which was refreshing.

But she didn't have time to pay attention to all this at the moment. She led the mule and followed Xu Yongwang without stopping, and went straight to the lotus pond.

"Wencheng, Wencheng, where are you?"

Seeing Xu Yongwang shouting there, Song Yuntang also shouted, "Xu Wencheng, Xu Erniu, where are you?"

On the other side of the lotus pond, Xu Wencheng raised his hand and greeted the two people.

"Dad, sister-in-law, we are here."

Seeing this, Song Yuntang and Xu Yongwang hurriedly led the mule around the lotus pond and headed to the other side.

When I got closer, I found that they had dug a lot of lotus roots. Not only were the baskets full, but there was also a large pile of them on the ground.

In addition to lotus roots, there are also many lotus pods scattered around.

There are only a few tender ones, most of them are old and black lotus seeds.

When Xu Yongwang saw Xu Wencheng, he stretched out his hand and wanted to hit him, "You little bastard! It's already noon, and you didn't even come home for dinner. You're making your mother anxious and angry at home."

Xu Wencheng, whose clothes were wet and sticking to his body, didn't hide. He just smiled sheepishly, "Dad, I'm sorry. Erniu Changgen and I were so happy digging that we forgot to check the time. I made you, mother, and sister-in-law worry."

In the end, Xu Yongwang didn't have the heart to hit him. He just threw the dry clothes next to the backpack over to him and said, "Hurry up and change your clothes and come home with me, so that your mother won't be worried sick at home."

Xu Wencheng responded and was about to take off his clothes, but when he saw Song Yuntang standing not far away, his face turned red.

"Sister-in-law, can you please...step aside for a moment?"

Song Yuntang realized it later and handed the mule's reins to Xu Yongwang, then turned around and walked away.

"Dad, I'm going to take a walk over there and come back later."

Xu Yongwang was worried that Song Yuntang might be in danger, so he leaned over to urge him, "Why don't you hurry up? If anything happens to your sister-in-law, not only will your father have a hard time, but your mother will have a hard time too."

Xu Wencheng nodded, and while quickly changing clothes with Erniu, he called to Xu Changgen, who was still digging lotus roots in the water, "Changgen, that's almost done. It's noon now, we should go home for dinner."

Xu Changgen responded. Because he was holding a lot of lotus roots of different lengths in his hands, he picked up the last one without even looking at it and went straight ashore.

Xu Erniu put on his clothes, looked in the direction of Xu Changgen, and was so scared that he took a few steps back and almost fell to the ground.

"Chang...Changgen, what are you holding in your hand?"