Behind the thorn jungle.
Zhao Chunhua showed an expression of disbelief.
She turned around and ran down the mountain.
Mrs. Sun dug half a basket of wild vegetables and was about to change places when she saw her eldest daughter running over in a panic.
"What are you doing? There is a ghost chasing you from behind?"
Zhao Chunhua said out of breath: "A-aunt, she, she dug something good!"
Mrs. Sun quickly stood up: "What good thing?"
Zhao Chunhua didn't know what it was, but it was white and clean. She wanted to take a bite when she looked at it. It would definitely be edible.
She hurried over with her mother.
Cheng Wanwan dug up two lotus roots and left. The main reason was that her hands couldn't withstand the abuse and she was afraid she would get blisters if she dug any more.
"Right, right here!"
Zhao Chunhua jumped down from the lotus pond, pointed to the mud that had just been dug up, picked up a small shovel and continued digging, and soon she found a long and thin thing.
Sun opened the lotus root joints with force, smelled it, and then carefully took a bite.
Her eyes lit up. This thing was pink and tasted sweeter than sweet potatoes. It felt edible, but she didn't dare to eat it blindly. She vomited after taking one bite.
"Let's go back and ask your grandpa."
Mrs. Sun pulled two broad leaves to cover the dug soil. This was something her daughter found and could only belong to the Zhao family.
Sun and Zhao Chunhua hurried down the mountain.
It was the end of Chenshi, and it was the time for the morning meal. Old man Zhao had just returned from going to the fields, sitting under the big locust tree to enjoy the cool air and smoke a dry cigarette.
Old Mrs. Zhao was cooking wild vegetables in the kitchen. When she turned around and saw Mr. Sun coming back with half a basket of wild vegetables, her face suddenly darkened: "Two people went up the mountain to dig so few wild vegetables, but they all know how to be lazy every day." Eat white rice..."
"Grandma, my mother and I found something edible!" Zhao Chunhua quickly took out the lotus roots from the basket on her back, "Grandpa, Grandma, look at it, what is this?"
Old Mrs. Zhao took a look and saw that the thing wrapped in mud was black. After washing off the mud, the thing showed its original light yellow color. When she cut it with a knife, it turned out to be white and clean inside.
She handed the thing to Old Man Zhao: "What is this?"
Old man Zhao held the dry tobacco in his mouth, frowned and picked up the lotus root joint. He put it to the tip of his nose and smelled it. He took a bite and tasted it. His cloudy eyes were bright: "This is, it's a jade bamboo shoot!"
In the early years, Mr. Zhao traveled extensively and worked as an apprentice in the south, where there were jade bamboo shoots.
Jade bamboo shoots are a good thing. They are dug out every year and sent to the capital at high speed. Even the locals can only eat the rotten jade bamboo shoots.
He had the good fortune to eat a few times, stewed jade bamboo shoots with big bones, and took a sip in the snow. The taste was something he would never forget.
Jade bamboo shoots are no better than wild vegetables. They can fill their stomachs. When there was a famine in the south, many people relied on this to fill their stomachs, which is similar to sweet potatoes.
Old man Zhao asked with burning eyes: "Chunhua, where did you dig this thing?"
Zhao Chunhua danced with joy: "It's on the mountain, very deep in the mountain, there is a large area, many, many..."
Old Man Zhao made a quick decision: "Chunhua, call your father and uncle back, as well as Dawang and Erwang. Hurry up and fill your stomachs, and the whole family will go up the mountain."
Old Mrs. Zhao understood that this jade bamboo shoot was something that could save lives.
She turned around and went into the house and divided the cooked wild vegetable paste into twelve bowls and brought them out. The prime-age labor force in the family had one full bowl, the second daughter-in-law and the third daughter-in-law each had half a bowl, and the children had only half bowls. That's all. , also used two kilograms of buckwheat flour and three or four kilograms of wild vegetables.
After finishing the meal, Mrs. Zhao stayed at home to guard the house. In fact, she was guarding the food hidden in the house, while everyone else went up the mountain.
These days, there is no rain, and there is actually not much work to do in the fields. Many men from the family also go up the mountain to cut firewood and dig wild vegetables. It is not unusual for so many people from the Zhao family to go up the mountain together.
Keep walking deep into the mountains, keep walking, and then pass through a broad-leaved forest and thorny field, and you will see a valley.
Dry ponds are filled with dry broad leaves.
"This is a lotus leaf!" Old Man Zhao said firmly, "This thing will bloom and grow lotus seeds. The lotus seeds are more precious than jade bamboo shoots. Only the high-ranking officials in the capital can eat them."
Zhao Dawang said with admiration: "Master, you know so much."
"Humans, as long as you travel more places, you will naturally know more." Old Man Zhao stroked his beard, "There is a saying that reads thousands of books, it is better to travel thousands of miles. This is why I don't let you study. s reason."
The corner of Zhao Er's mouth twitched: "Dad, are you sure it's not because our family doesn't have money to study?"
Zhao Dawang and Zhao Erwang laughed.
Old Man Zhao glared at them fiercely, then jumped off the lotus pond while holding on to the big tree on the side. He walked from one side of the lotus pond to the other. It seemed like he was walking, but in fact he was measuring how many acres there were here.
After walking around, Old Man Zhao knew in his mind that the yield of a four-and-a-half-acre pond would definitely not be abundant due to insufficient rain. One acre could produce about seven to eight hundred kilograms, which is close to two to three thousand kilograms.
The soft silt in the pond has turned into hard mud. Digging for jade bamboo shoots is not an easy task. It would take at least half a year for a family of more than a dozen people to dig.
Old man Zhao stood on the shore and said slowly for a long time: "Dawang, go and ask Li Zheng to come."
"Dad, you don't want the whole village to come dig jade bamboo shoots, do you?" Zhao San frowned and said, "Our family discovered this first, and it belongs to our old Zhao family. Why should we tell others!"
"Such a large pond, with thousands of kilograms of grain, can't be eaten or dug by more than a dozen members of our family." Old man Zhao said disapprovingly, "Another one, if Chunhua can find it here, so can others, here Going down the mountain to the west is Guihua Village. If people from Guihua Village discover this pond, nothing will happen to Dahe Village."
Zhao San looked unconvinced, and Sun didn't say anything, but her pursed lips revealed her inner emotions.
Old Man Zhao sighed: "That's all, just dig it first, and I'll bring Li Zheng over tomorrow morning."
Mr. Sun breathed a sigh of relief.
She also wanted to hide some and send it to her natal family. Her natal family was from Guihua Village. If she had revealed the information in advance, her family would not be hungry.
The eleven members of the Zhao family began to dig jade bamboo shoots.
Here Cheng Wanwan took her four children down the mountain.
It happened to be noon, so she handed two lotus roots to Wu Huiniang, washed them and cut off a small piece, and walked towards Li Zheng's house with the small piece of lotus root.
Along the way, there were dry fields, and those farmers in their prime sat helplessly at the edges of the fields, sighing.
Cheng Wanwan also sighed, but drought is a natural disaster that cannot be reversed without human intervention.
She could only try to ignore these things and move forward.
"Dashan Niang, why are you here?"
Li Zheng's wife was sewing in the yard, and her eyelids twitched when she saw Cheng Wanwan approaching.
Zhao Cheng came here last year to ask Li Zheng to preside over the family separation. There was a lot of commotion at that time, but now that he is here, he doesn't know what trouble he is going to make.
Cheng Wanwan walked in with a smile: "Aunt, is Uncle Li Zheng here?"
"Went to town." Li Zheng's wife sighed, "It hasn't rained for a month or two, and the county magistrate's hair has turned gray due to worry. Today, I have summoned all Li Zheng to discuss matters, mainly to ask about things in the fields. Your Uncle Zheng was so worried that he couldn't sleep well for more than half a month."
The implication of this is that Li Zheng is very busy and has a lot of things to worry about, so please don't bring up those trivial matters of yours, Mr. Zhao Cheng.
"Then I'll come back later."
Cheng Wanwan didn't say what happened, turned around and left.
