From Baishawan to Jinsha Village, Li Shiqiang and the others walked all night again. It was not until lunch the next day that they had just reached the foot of the mountain.
"Er baby, give me your stuff and I'll carry it!"
Although it was a slightly cold day in early March, there were still beads of sweat on Li Shiqiang's forehead.
He raised his head and wiped the sweat, shook his head and said: "It's okay, just point the way."
"Bring it here."
Li Nongchang walked directly behind Li Shiqiang, picked up the bamboo basket and said: "Look at you like that, I'm really afraid that you dropped the thing after spending so much money on it!"
Starting yesterday, Li Shiqiang and his old man took turns carrying bamboo baskets, and there were already bloody marks on their shoulders.
Although Li Shiqiang still wanted to hold on, after all, his body had just grown up and he was so tired that he couldn't even tell.
He reluctantly picked up the bamboo basket and let the old man Li Nongchang carry it on his back, then followed behind him, holding the bottom of the bamboo basket with one hand.
"Humph, you are really young. Eat more bowls of rice from now on."
After Li Nongchang carried the bamboo basket, he still had some energy to speak.
Li Shiqiang shook his head weakly, having no energy to talk back.
When the father and son finally arrived at the door, Chen Xianglan, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately came out and said, "What's going on this time? Why are you coming back just now? Don't you usually get home in the morning?"
The father and son didn't speak, they just walked towards the house.
Chen Xianglan also suddenly noticed the bamboo basket behind Li Nongchang: "Ah! Why did you buy so many things!"
The father and son still didn't speak. They sat down on the steps in front of the hall, stretched out their hands on their legs, and breathed heavily.
Chen Xianglan came to the bamboo basket with shuffling steps and looked at the things in the bamboo basket with a joyful expression: "Ah! Didn't you just eat meat two days ago? Why did you buy this meat? Why did you buy rice! Why did you buy this meat?" There is oil! And cloth..."
Chen Xianglan looked at the things in the bamboo basket. She was very happy at first, but when she looked at more and more things inside, anger suddenly appeared on her face. She slapped Li Nongchang behind him and cursed angrily. Said: "It's hard to put away the money you earned! Is this how you spend it?"
"There is so much meat hanging in the kitchen, and there are sweet potatoes and cornbread on the roof. Who asked you to buy rice? You also bought white flour!?"
"You still have money to buy cloth and wool!? Do you have too much money? Who told you to buy these useless things?"
"..."
Listening to his mother's scolding at the old man, Li Shiqiang suddenly felt like laughing.
This is how he was scolded by the old man yesterday.
"Shut your mouth! Why are you talking so much? I didn't buy these things!" Li Nongchang weakly stretched out a hand and waved it, and said impatiently.
"If you didn't buy it, who else could have bought it? Could someone else have given it to you?"
"Erwa bought these all!"
"Second baby!?"
Chen Xianglan turned to look at Li Shiqiang with a surprised look on her face, and asked with some confusion: "Second baby? Did you buy this?"
Li Shiqiang put one hand on the ground, turned around and said, "Mom, I sold the herbs and mountain muntjac bark I dug to the county town for two hundred yuan!"
"Yeah! How much did it cost?"
Chen Xianglan looked ecstatic, clapped her hands on her thighs, and continued to ask quickly: "Er baby, are you real or fake? Are your herbs and mountain chamois leather so valuable?"
Li Shiqiang raised his chin and glanced at his old man: "Really! I gave all the money to the old man!"
"Give!"
Li Nongchang also took out a large amount of unity from his pocket at the right time: "The money is all here!"
"Ah! There is so much money!"
Chen Xianglan quickly grabbed the money in her hand and started counting it with saliva.
"....One hundred and eighty, one hundred and ninety, two hundred!"
"Just two hundred!"
After Chen Xianglan happily counted the money, she suddenly realized something was wrong. She glanced at the contents of the bamboo basket, frowned and asked, "It cost two hundred yuan, so where did you get the money to buy these things?"
"Well...."
As soon as he said this, Li Shiqiang immediately understood that the matter might not be hidden.
He glanced at his old man and found that he was wiping the sweat from his forehead with a guilty look on his face. He opened his mouth several times but couldn't think of anything to say.
Chen Xianglan's face suddenly tightened, and she asked with some fear: "Li Nongchang, where did you get the money from selling the bamboo this time? Don't you say that you bought these things with public money?"
"How can it be!"
"Every time I sell bamboo, Accountant Wang's son takes the money. I haven't even touched a penny!" Li Nongchang spread his hands and said angrily.
"Then these things..."
"Mom, bring me a bowl of water. After walking all night, I'm hungry and thirsty, and I'm carrying so many things. Look at how worn the old man's and I's shoulders are!"
Chen Xianglan glanced down and immediately saw the bloody shoulders of the father and son.
She quickly got into the kitchen and brought out a small bowl of tea oil.
"What are you doing with this!?"
"Shut up if you don't want to wipe it. I'll wipe it for Erba."
Chen Xianglan rolled her eyes at him angrily, dipped some camellia oil in her hand and wiped it on Li Shiqiang's shoulder. As she wiped it, she said distressedly: "Why buy so many things? There is no shortage in the house. It's hard to make some money." Why don’t you keep the money until you get married?”
Li Shiqiang grinned and said nothing, obediently enjoying his mother's care.
When Chen Xianglan gave Li Nongchang the matcha oil, she suddenly noticed the little flower lying at Li Shiqiang's feet, and said curiously: "Whose dog is this? Why is it not tied up, and it came to our house?"
Li Nongchang smiled and said: "The second baby brought a wild dog back from the county town and followed him all night. The second baby said he needed a dog for hunting, so he followed him back to the house."
"this..."
Chen Xianglan looked hesitant, but in the end she didn't refute, but after applying the tea oil, she immediately walked into the kitchen: "You guys sit down for a while, and I'll get you some food. I won't go to work this afternoon, so I have a rest." Down."
Li Nongchang hesitated for a while, but finally said nothing.
Li Shiqiang stood up and walked to the main room, pouring two bowls of water for himself and the old man.
"Old man, drink water."
Li Nongchang took the peeling enamel jar, took a deep sip and said, "What kind of herbs are you selling? Why did you sell it for so much money?"
It was difficult to ask outside. Li Nongchang kept this doubt in his heart. When he got home, he could finally ask.
"Ebei, an herb that relieves coughs and reduces phlegm, was a tribute in the past. I was lucky enough to encounter one in the mountains. I didn't expect that one plant could be sold for 180 yuan."
"One hundred and eighty pieces!? So expensive?"
Li Nongchang took a breath of cold air and asked again: "Then next time you go to collect herbs, you will be able to dig up that clam, right?"
"Roughly the same."
Li Shiqiang nodded and calculated in his mind: "But even if you don't dig up the Hubei, you can still sell it for more than ten or twenty yuan at a time."
"That's not a lot!"
After Li Nongchang exclaimed in surprise, he finally gave up on his plan to let his son follow him to cut bamboo and earn centimeters.
