Chapter 8 Shepherd's Purse

Chapter 8 Shepherd's Purse

"What are you doing!" A roar sounded in the distance.

The paddy field owner had already rushed over angrily.

"Run!" Dani picked up her shoes with one hand and ran away holding Yingbao with the other.

Yuanbao followed closely behind, and the three children ran away in an instant.

"Look at you coming here again, I'll knock your legs off! You little bastard!"

The owner of the field didn't really chase him, he just wanted to drive these naughty kids away.

How many monkeys in the village and outside the village don't have a group of monkeys crossing the border? How can you beat him every time you catch him?

They are all the children of fellow villagers, and there are not many troublemakers in any of them.

Yingbao ran home with her cousin and got a small handful of water chestnuts.

Her eyebrows curled with joy, and she secretly sent a few into the space to be used as seeds, and gave the rest to her mother-in-law.

Chun Niang reluctantly took it and scolded: "Why did you go to the paddy fields? What if you trample on someone else's seedlings?"

Ying Bao said proudly: "It was not trampled."

Chun Niang sighed, took the water chestnuts and washed them, picking away the black, rotten and shriveled ones, leaving only a dozen or so that were fresh and edible.

At this time, Dani and Yuanbao had returned home with their trophies. Yingbao divided a dozen small water chestnuts into three parts, one for her father, one for her mother, and one for herself.

It is impossible for Chun Niang to ask for her daughter's snacks. She just refuses to say that she doesn't like it and lets her keep it for herself.

Ying Bao didn't force it. After eating one of the sweet treats, she took the rest into the room and placed it on the bed.

He kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the kang, closed his eyes, and entered the cave with his consciousness.

I saw a pile of dirt piled next to the pool, and a lot of earthworms crawling outside the pile, all heading towards the pool. It looked so scary.

What's going on?

Why would the earthworms in the dirt pile run into the pond? It would be terrible if the water was polluted.

Ying Bao quickly picked up two tree sticks, picked up earthworms, and put them all into a mostly broken clay pot.

She picked this thing up from outside. Although it was broken, it was still usable and she kept it in the cave.

I originally expected to use it to scoop water, but now it comes in handy.

Soon after the earthworms were picked up, Yingbao shoveled a little more soil and pressed it into the pot to prevent them from running out.

After thinking about it, he pulled out another earthworm, picked out a little Wudingzhi from the stone wall, crushed it and spread it on the earthworm.

For a long time, the earthworm showed no reaction or struggle.

It can be seen that this thing is not poisonous, but I don’t know if people can eat it.

You might as well take some out for the hens to try tomorrow.

A while ago, she only gave the hens water to drink from the pond. She did not feed Wudingzhi, but gave them some shepherd's purse that grew in the cave.

She picked up the shepherd's purse seeds from outside and sprinkled them on the black soil. Unexpectedly, within a few days, a large patch of green and tender plants grew out, each one larger than her head.

Seeing that shepherd's purse was almost filling up the black soil beside the pond, she had no choice but to shovel some out and secretly feed them to the chickens.

Judging from the recent frequency of hens laying eggs, the vegetables produced in the black soil should be good.

So she always likes to sneak out alone when she has nothing to do, and when she comes back, she brings half a basket of shepherd's purses to her grandma.

Chun Niang was surprised at first, why her daughter could always find such fresh and plump wild vegetables.

You know, it's summer now, most shepherd's purses are blooming and producing seeds, and the stems and leaves are so old that they can't be chewed, so they can't be eaten at all.

And my daughter always brings back half a basket of plump and tender shepherd's purses, which is really impressive.

Fortunately, Chun Niang didn't think too deeply, and she had no idea that there was such a thing as the Golden Finger of the Secret Cave in the world. She just thought that her daughter was smart and clever, and had better luck than other children.

Inspired by the shepherd's purse, Yingbao focused on the rocky clearing beside the pool.

She wants to spread the soil here and plant various vegetables.

Although perennial fruit trees do not grow very large, this one-and-a-half-year green leafy vegetable can grow normally and very quickly.

When the vegetables grow and people can’t finish them all, they can be used to feed chickens, sheep and pigs.

Next spring, she will let her hens hatch some chicks and feed them with Dongfu crops.

In this way, the younger brother will have a lot of eggs to eat when he grows up. If he can't finish eating, he can take them to the market to exchange for money.

So these days she collects various things.

Like shepherd's purse seeds, horsefly seeds, dandelion seeds, mustard seeds, etc., they all came and picked some, and put them on the broken pottery pieces they picked up for later use.

Unfortunately, there are very few vegetable varieties in small mountain villages. There is nothing else in the villagers' vegetable fields except amaranth, greens, winter melons, kohlrabi, etc.

Unlike in Fucheng, where rich families have a wide variety of vegetables on their tables, some noble families also have varieties from foreign countries in their farms.

Those foreign crops were rare and precious, and ordinary people had no access to them. Ying Bao could only think about them in her heart.

Ying Bao squatted down and shoveled a few shepherd's purses. She estimated that there would be enough for the family at noon tomorrow, so Ying Bao stopped.

Then he scattered the newly collected water chestnuts on a piece of black soil and poured enough water.

Feeling a little tired now, Ying Bao quickly left the cave and fell into sleep.

When I woke up, my father was already back. Aniang had just made dinner and was about to call her.

"Bao'er, get up and eat."

Ying Bao turned over and sat up, rubbed her eyes, turned around and slid down the earthen bed.

After putting on her shoes, she reached out to hold Grandma and walked out of the house with her.

The sun was in the west at the moment, and there was a gentle breeze outside, which was much cooler than inside.

The dinner table was placed in the center of the yard. There was a large pot of amaranth and corn porridge on the table, as well as a pile of black flour pancakes and a plate of pickled shredded kohlrabi.

Jiang Sanlang washed his hands and face, hung the sweat towel on the hanging line, walked to the table and sat down.

The family of three sat around and started eating.

"Sanlang, are you going to hoe the fields tomorrow?" Chun Niang asked.

Jiang Sanlang shook his head, "Our family's bean field has been hoeed. The eldest brother's family still has two pigs, but he doesn't need my help."

The three Jiang brothers are divided into separate households and farm their own fields. However, because their parents are still there, the Yongye field and the Koufen field of the second elder belong to Jiang Dalang, so when the farming is busy, the brothers have to help.

Jiang Sanlang drank vegetable porridge from a pottery bowl that was bigger than his head. He took a few mouthfuls while grunting, then stuffed a few pickles into his mouth and chewed slowly. "I'm going to Beishan tomorrow. I think I can cut ramie."

Ramie is harvested three times a year, and the end of July is the time for the second harvest, so we can’t delay.

"There is a lot of hemp grown in Beishan, can you do it alone? Why don't you ask your eldest and second brothers to help?" Chun Niang felt that her husband was working too hard, but she couldn't do anything to help, and she was a little worried.

Jiang Sanlang shook his head, "There's no need to invite them. I'll do it alone. It'll be done in just a few days."

Ying Bao blinked and looked at her father, and suddenly said: "Dad, I will go tomorrow too."

There are many wild fruit trees in Beishan. Even if those fruit trees cannot bear good fruit, it has black soil. You can cultivate them first and then move them out to try.

Jiang Sanlang reached out and pinched her little nose, and said with a smile: "What are you going to do? Dad has to do some work, so he can't take you with him."

Ying Bao wrinkled her nose and muttered: "Bao'er wants to go. Bao'er doesn't need dad to take care of him."

"Hey! You've got the patience." The father rubbed his daughter's little head, "Be obedient, and I'll bring some apricots for you to eat when I come back."

After finishing the meal and clearing away the dishes, Jiang Sanlang boiled water for the family to wash. By the time they were all done, it was already dark.

Jiang Sanlang used a cattail leaf fan to drive away the mosquitoes in the linen tent, put down the tent door, and the family of three went to the kang to rest.

Ying Bao slept in the innermost room, close to her mother, dozing off with her eyes closed, but her ears erect, listening to the whispers of her parents.

I couldn't help it, I slept for a long time in the afternoon, and I was a little excited at night and couldn't sleep.

"Is Bao'er asleep?" Father Jiang asked.

Yingbao didn't gnaw and pretended to be asleep.

She knew that whenever her father asked this question, he just wanted to tell her something that he didn't want her to hear.

In the darkness, Aniang touched her eyes with her hands.

"Asleep." Chun Niang said: "She is probably tired today. She and Dani went to the paddy field to pick up water chestnuts at noon, and she said she would leave them for you. After dinner, she played with her two apple seedlings, watered them and cultivated the soil. I was afraid that the chickens would peck me, so I looked around for a basket to cover it with."

Jiang Sanlang chuckled twice and asked, "Where did you get the apple seedlings?"

"It's the apple you brought back last time. Bao'er left the seeds. Tsk, I don't know how she planted it, but she actually grew two seedlings."

Chun Niang sighed: "You think she is so young, but she knows how to leave a seed for seed, and she actually planted it."

Jiang Sanlang was silent for a long time before saying: "Chun Niang, don't say these words to others in the future."

Chun Niang sensed something was wrong in her husband's tone and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Did anyone say anything?"

"Yes." Jiang Sanlang said, "I met Second Aunt Wang today. She said that people in the village say that Yingbao is a boy who gives away children. I'm afraid that some people have unscrupulous intentions."

How can a child be so young and take on these titles? If the news becomes more and more outrageous, they will not be able to protect their daughter based on their status as a couple.

Chun Niang also fell silent.