"I am willing. I am not afraid of hardship, as long as it can give me and my children something to eat..."
Xia Hong looked tenderly at the baby who was as skinny as a monkey in her swaddling clothes. Tears fell down her cheeks. When she raised her head again, her face was full of determination, "I will do it even if I have to go up mountains of swords and seas of fire." .”
Zhan Qingyue nodded and shouted to Brother Zhan: "Brother, go and serve a bowl of porridge for mother and son."
Brother Zhan was stunned for a moment, and then he said "oh oh oh" hurriedly, ran to the fire pit, took an earthen bowl, and poured out a bowl of steaming porridge from the pot.
"Sister Xia Hong, eat something quickly, you must be starving."
Xia Hong held the earthen bowl, and the steaming heat made her eyes redder.
Although this was just a bowl of porridge with wild vegetables and whole grains, it was dozens of times better than what she had eaten before.
There are few wild vegetables in the bowl, but more miscellaneous grains. There are even oily flowers floating on it. It is so thick that the soup is not visible. When you take a bite, it is salty and sweet.
"Son, we have something to eat, we have something to eat."
Xia Hong wiped away her tears and fed the soft porridge into the child's mouth. The child smacked his mouth and ate deliciously.
After eating a bowl of porridge, Xia Hong finally felt that her stomach no longer ached.
After resting for a while, Zhan Qingyue was ready to enter the mountain.
Seeing this, Xia Hong quickly tied the child on her back.
"What are you doing?" Song Cuihua said angrily: "My family, Yueyue, took you into the mountains to find food. We occupy so many people in the house, and we still can't see a little baby?"
As she spoke, she reached out and untied the child from Xia Hong's back.
"Auntie, how can this happen? I'm here to work, how can I have the nerve to ask my employer to help me take care of my children!"
Xia Hong wanted to resist, but was afraid of hurting Song Cuihua, so she froze in place and didn't dare to move.
"Niece Xia Hong, don't worry, my child. Follow Yueyue and work hard. You two will not be hungry."
Xia Hong bit her lower lip tightly and nodded, her eyes filled with mist, and she secretly made up her mind to repay Zhanjia well.
Seeing that Xia Hong was ready, Zhan Qingyue led people up the mountain.
Hunting a pheasant and hare in the surrounding woods is a luxury, but you can still collect some medicinal materials.
"Miss Yue, what kind of medicinal materials did you collect? Let me help you."
Zhan Qingyue nodded, without being polite to her, and immediately took out two medicinal herbs from the bamboo basket.
"This is Bupleurum, and this is Gentian. There are a lot of them around. Just watch and pull them out."
Xia Hong carefully took the Bupleurum and Gentian plants and started looking for them nearby. She also didn't let go of edible wild vegetables when she came across them.
Zhan Qingyue observed in secret and saw that she didn't find the wrong thing or be lazy, so she didn't care anymore. She carefully observed the surrounding environment, picked up a stone, and knocked it out steadily.
After a while, a bird fell from the tree.
Before he could step forward to pick it up, Zhan Qingyue hit a few more rocks, and a few more birds fell down. It was a perfect shot.
It's just that the birds fell a little far away, and it was still a steep downhill slope. If they were not careful, they would fall down.
As soon as Zhan Qingyue took a step forward, Xia Hong hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Miss Yue, let me pick it up. I can't catch the bird, so it's okay to pick it up ready-made."
She said, putting down the bamboo basket and walking down the slope.
Zhan Qingyue glanced at her bamboo basket. The medicinal materials were put aside in bundles, a lot of various wild vegetables were dug, and there were also a few small sweet potatoes wrapped in leaves.
She also had an idea in her mind. It seemed that Xia Hong was a down-to-earth and hard-working person. She didn't cheat or cheat. Just by taking the initiative to go downhill to pick up birds, she was also willing to contribute.
"Miss Yue, you are so powerful. You shot several birds with one shot."
Xia Hong came back with a bunch of birds in her clothes, her face full of joy.
Zhan Qingyue smiled helplessly: "It's a pity that there are only a few birds in this forest, not even a rabbit or pheasant."
She was still a little disappointed with today's harvest. The weather was so dry that even the forest was too dry to support animals.
Xia Hong didn't know how to comfort her, so she had to shut up and dig up wild vegetables more diligently.
On the way down the mountain, Xia Hong specially put the contents of Zhan Qingyue's bamboo basket into her own.
"Miss Yue, the road down the mountain is difficult. I'll carry more."
"Well, then you should be careful,"
Zhan Qingyue accepted it with peace of mind. She was here to do temporary work, not to be a young lady. There was no need to mix human feelings when talking about interests.
After returning to the camp, Song Cuihua and Zhang took the initiative to take the bamboo baskets on their backs.
"Hey, you two have dug so many wild vegetables, and the trees have withered a lot. I'm afraid it won't be easy to dig, right?"
Mrs. Zhang was concerned, and Song Cuihua also looked at the two of them carefully, and was relieved when she saw that they were safe.
"It's all dug by Sister Xia Hong."
Zhan Qingyue was not greedy for credit at all. She explained to Xia Hong and took out a few konjac from the space under the cover of a coarse cloth bag when no one was paying attention.
"Sister Xia Hong, this is your reward for digging wild vegetables today."
Xia Hong carefully held the konjac. The konjac was as big as a clay bowl and was enough for the two of them to eat several meals.
With tears filling her eyes, she knelt down towards Zhan Qingyue.
"Thank you! Thank you, Miss Yue."
Some villagers saw Xia Hong coming back with konjac, and their thoughts started to change.
Zhan Qingyue looked at the villagers gathered at her residence with cold eyes, feeling an unknown anger in her heart.
"Uncle Zhan, we have a lot of strength, and we can do no more work than that Xia Hong. We will never let you suffer, just give us some food."
"Uncle Zhan, we are all from the same village. You can't just sit back and do nothing. We are all willing to help your family. You can't help but lend us food, right?"
How can one fail to see that these people in the Khantang who are in great need are acting rogue? The workmanship is fake, but the forced borrowing of food is the real thing.
"Dear uncles and brothers, our family doesn't have much work for you to do."
Zhan Qingyue had a sullen face and unceremoniously rejected the group's unreasonable demands, and then dragged out a bamboo basket from the side, which was full of wild vegetables.
"Sister Xia Hong dug this on the mountain. It's on the mountain next to it. As long as everyone is diligent, you can always find something to eat."
Everyone looked at the wild vegetables and swallowed their tough attitude just now.
Seeing everyone's reaction, Zhan Qingyue felt very disdainful. She took the pot directly from the fire pit and opened it in front of everyone. She saw a pot of wild vegetables that was so green that it was not much better than others. .
"Everyone, please be diligent. There is always something to eat from the leaves of the wild vegetable trees. My family has no food. I only have one piece of advice, and that is: be diligent and you will never starve to death!"
Everyone felt wrong and had no choice but to leave angrily.
Zhang Lizheng, who had been secretly paying attention to the Zhan family, was very happy when he saw everyone making trouble.
But seeing everyone leave obediently, I felt an unknown anger rising in my heart. I didn't expect Zhan Qingyue to have such an ability to deal with Zhou Xiang without being alarmed! What's even more upsetting is that these untouchables actually listen to her words.
If this continues, where can he find his rightful place in the entire team?
