Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

Wang Cuiying kept the bowl hidden behind her back and refused to take it out until Zhou Shi said, "Since Qing'er has been eating this since she was little, there shouldn't be any problem. Cuiying, you can give it to them."

When Wang Cuiying heard her mother-in-law speak, she reluctantly handed the bowl to Wang Qing'er.

While the adults were fussing over the mushrooms, the children noticed the rabbits in the bamboo basket and reached in with grass to feed them. Mu Yao said with a grin, "Auntie, Uncle, the rabbits are so cute!"

After Wang Qing'er finished eating and drinking, she also came over to join in and tease the rabbits. "Do you like little rabbits?"

Mu Lin said, "I like my sister-in-law."

Muqin also said, "Sister-in-law, I like them too. Can we keep them at home?"

Wang Qing'er looked at Mu Yao, who remained silent, and asked, "Yao'er, do you want to raise her?"

Mu Yao asked timidly, "Auntie, can we raise one?"

Wang Qing'er played with Mu Yao's braids, "Of course you can, but you'll have to be responsible for the rabbits' food from now on!"

"Okay, I'll cut grass to feed the rabbits after class from now on," Mu Lin said happily.

"I brought back the weeds and unwanted vegetable leaves from the field to feed the rabbits," Mu Qin said enthusiastically.

"My uncle and aunt will cut grass, and I'll feed them." The three children each made a clear division of labor for raising rabbits in the future.

Immediately, the three children happily held hands and circled around the bamboo basket, shouting excitedly, "Oh, we're raising rabbits!"

Wang Qing'er played with the children for a while, then let Mu Lin do her homework, while Mu Qin and Mu Yao helped her clean the mud and debris off the mushrooms.

Wang Cuiying was always worried about her son and daughter-in-law, and would ask them every now and then if they felt unwell.

Seeing that they were both alright, he went to the backyard to tend to the vegetable garden.

Mu Nan then tidied up a small hut in the backyard and put several rabbits inside.

Fortunately, the house was paved with stone slabs, so there was no worry about the rabbits digging holes and escaping.

Wang Qing'er even went over to count them; besides the three big rabbits, there were eight other little rabbits.

"Brother Mu Nan, these rabbits are too small. It's not worth selling them now. Let's keep them for now and sell them when they're bigger."

And that fattest one, I think it's pregnant with baby rabbits, it's such a waste to sell it.

"Okay, I see the other two are male, so we can keep one and sell one tomorrow." After saying that, Mu Nan picked up the dead rabbit and went to the side to skin it.

Wang Qing'er called out to him again, "Brother Mu Nan, try not to damage the rabbit's fur. It would be best if you could peel it clean." She wanted to try making it so she could use it to make leather boots for winter.

Mu Nan looked at her and nodded, "Yes, I know."

Mu Nan knew how to process furs himself. He would keep the furs of the game he hunted for his family to eat, but he would sell them.

Wang Qing'er and the two girls quickly cleaned the mushrooms and laid them out flat in the bamboo sieves, filling three large sieves. Since the sun hadn't set yet, they could dry them for a while.

Seeing that it was still early, and thinking of the shepherd's purse in the field, she picked up her basket and hoe and went out again.

Mu Qin called out to her and asked, "Sister-in-law, where are you going?"

"Oh, I'm going to the field to dig up shepherd's purse, do you want to come?" Wang Qing'er asked honestly, even inviting her to come along.

"If you're going, wait for me. I'll carry a basket too." Mu Qin also picked up her basket and tools.

"Auntie, I want to go too." Mu Yao asked Wang Qing'er timidly when she saw that her aunt was also going.

"Okay, Yao'er will come too." Wang Qing'er thought that since they were on their own land, she would bring Mu Yao along.

There was so much shepherd's purse in the field that Wang Qing'er and Mu Qin soon filled a basket with it.

Xiao Muyao wasn't idle either; she shook off the mud and sand from the shepherd's purse that her aunt and auntie had dug up and put it into their baskets.

"Sister-in-law, are you digging all this to feed the pigs?" Mu Qin looked at the full basket of shepherd's purse, but Wang Qing'er showed no sign of stopping.

Although shepherd's purse can be used to feed pigs, it is so difficult to clean that people generally don't spend time on it.

"Feed the pigs? No way! I'm digging it up to feed people." Wang Qing'er casually said what she really thought.

Mu Qin: "Ah? Sister-in-law?"

"Oh, people can eat shepherd's purse too, it's delicious, and you can even use it to make shepherd's purse dumplings! So tasty!" Wang Qing'er thought it sounded delicious.

"Auntie, what are dumplings?" Mu Yao had never eaten dumplings before.

"Dumplings are made of flour, and they have meat and vegetables inside. They're so delicious!" Wang Qing'er immediately pictured a plate of plump, white dumplings in front of her.

"This contains both flour and meat; we definitely won't be able to afford it at home." Mu Qin shook her head and stopped thinking about it.

"Why can't you eat? Your sister-in-law will cook for you."

The two girls stopped answering and buried themselves in their work.

Wang Qing'er only stopped after filling both baskets; less than a third of the land had been dug up.

I started washing the shepherd's purse as soon as I got home. It's true that this vegetable is delicious, but it's also true that it's difficult to clean.

Besides, she was so engrossed in digging that she didn't notice how much sand and weeds were inside.

If you eat too much mud and sand, it won't wash properly and you'll burp and hurt your teeth. Besides, it's also bad to swallow mud and sand.

These wild shepherd's purse plants are small and even harder to wash. Wang Qing'er washed them more than a dozen times in a large basin before she finally gave up.

She only kept some to stir-fry for dinner, and blanched the rest to make dried plum vegetables.

Shepherd's purse is prepared in the same way as other vegetables, involving three steamings and three sun-dryings.

Actually, you can also directly marinate it in salt overnight and then dry it in the sun, and then steam and dry it three times. This way, the resulting salty flavor will be more intense and the aroma will be stronger.

After glancing at the salt in the Mu family's salt jar, Wang Qing'er decisively gave up.

After preparing the shepherd's purse, it was time to cook dinner.

Mu Nan had already prepared the rabbit, washed it, and chopped it into small pieces.

The rabbit was quite fat with a lot of oil on its belly, but Mu Nan couldn't bear to throw it away. She put it in a small bowl, which was almost half full.

Wang Qing'er poured a bucket of water into the basin containing the rabbit to soak it, washing away the blood and reducing the rabbit's fishy smell.

Wang Cuiying returned from the vegetable garden, washed her hands in a basin, and then carried the rabbit into the kitchen.

Wang Qing'er thought that if she put some mushrooms in the rabbit, wouldn't it be incredibly delicious?

She ran to the kitchen and stood in front of her mother-in-law, trying to please her, saying, "Mom, it would taste even better if we put some mushrooms in the rabbit meat."

"Qing'er, do you really eat this kind of mushroom often at your maternal grandmother's?" Wang Cuiying saw that they were alright, but she was still a little worried and wanted to confirm it again.

"Really, there are many kinds of mushrooms that are edible. I recognize them all. I've been picking them in the mountains since I was a child."

Wang Qing'er spoke with certainty, then suddenly changed the subject, "Of course there are some that can't be eaten, but I recognize them all. Mother, don't worry, I won't pick any poisonous mushrooms to eat."

"Alright then, go wash up." Wang Cuiying finally believed her.