Chapter 34

Ning Shu hadn’t replied yet when Yi Bao glanced at his younger brother, thinking he was so silly. “Dad isn’t home, so he definitely won’t tell them,” he said.

Ning Shu felt relieved; at least Yi Bao and Er Bao had different ways of thinking. But then…

“Will Dad tell them when he comes back?” Er Bao asked again.

Yi Bao hesitated. “…” He didn’t know either.

He looked at his mother for an answer.

Ning Shu calmly replied, “That question should be asked to your dad when he comes back.”

“Okay, I’ll ask Dad when he comes back,” Er Bao agreed readily.

Yi Bao pouted. He had no idea when his dad would come back.

He couldn’t even remember what his dad looked like; he just remembered he was very tall and could lift him up high and let him ride a big horse.

The four buns at noon were for the two boys. Ning Shu still preferred to eat rice during main meals.

The two boys took a bite of the bun and then a sip of the cabbage, tofu, and meatball soup, enjoying the delicious taste.

However, they each ate only one bun, leaving one bun uneaten.

After lunch, the two boys took their baskets and the remaining bun and went to the old house.

Ning Shu changed the water for the snails and then harvested the rice grains from the rice spikes, drying them in the sun. In the past two days, the two boys had collected three or four pounds of rice spikes, mainly focusing on picking snails rather than rice spikes.

With nothing to do in the afternoon, Ning Shu felt a bit regretful about the money she spent in the morning. So, she carried her son on her back, took the basket and a chopping knife, and went up the mountain.

She thought Lin Xiaoshan wouldn’t have picked all the bamboo shoots on the entire mountain, so she decided to go bamboo shoot hunting.

When Yi Bao and Er Bao arrived at the old house, they found the family still having lunch. Lin Mother asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

“We have,” Yi Bao replied, then took out the leftover bun from his pocket and offered it to his grandmother. “Grandma, here…” His clothes had large pockets in the front, a modern design with large pockets on both sides that were interconnected, allowing for the storage of many things.

“I have one too, Grandma. You can have it,” Er Bao also took out his cabbage bun. In fact, during lunch, Er Bao didn’t know that his brother was planning to give the leftover bun to their grandmother.

He just followed his brother’s lead and ate one.

Lin Mother, who was eating, suddenly stopped and her eyes reddened. She hadn’t expected that her grandsons would bring her buns. It touched her deeply to see their affection.

Others noticed when the two boys brought out the buns. The adults didn’t react much, but the children’s eyes were filled with longing.

“Buns are delicious,” Lin Haicai, who had already eaten one in the morning, had the most authority to speak.

However, Lin Mother said, “Grandma doesn’t like buns. You go ahead and eat.”

“We’ve already eaten,” Er Bao replied.

“In that case, save them for when you’re hungry later,” Lin Mother said, accepting the buns. But in this day and age, even a bun wasn’t easy to come by, so she couldn’t bring herself to eat the food saved from her grandsons’ mouths.

Er Bao was puzzled. “Who doesn’t like buns? Buns are so delicious.”

Seeing that Grandma didn’t want the bun, Yi Bao handed it to Lin Fu. “Grandpa, you have it.”

Seeing this, Er Bao’s eyes lit up, and he walked over to Lin Xiaojing. “Auntie, you have it.”

In this family, Grandpa, Grandma, Auntie, and Haicai were the best to them.

They used to share things with them frequently. Since Haicai had already eaten a bun in the morning and Grandma didn’t want it, it made sense to give it to Grandpa and Auntie.

“I also don’t like them. Er Bao, save it for when you’re hungry,” Lin Xiaojing said, moved by her nephew’s gesture.

Although she also wanted to eat the bun, she wouldn’t take it from her nephew, especially since he was so young.

“You don’t like them too, Auntie?” Er Bao was a bit puzzled. “You’re just like Grandma.”

Lin Mother chuckled at his words. “Of course, your auntie was born from me, so of course she’s like me.”

Er Bao immediately boasted, “I was born from my mom too, so I’m as handsome as her. My mom told me so.” There was a hint of pride in his tone, after all, his mom was indeed beautiful.

However, because of his words, everyone looked at him. Lin Xiaojing wanted to say, “Er Bao, you’re not as handsome as your mom.” Even though Lin Xiaojing disliked Ning Shu, she had to admit that she was really beautiful.

As for Er Bao, he was thin and yellowish, except for his bright and lively eyes, there was no resemblance to Ning Shu at all.

Top of Form

“Right, you’re as beautiful as your mom,” Lin Mother pretended to be blind. But she didn’t feel too guilty saying this.

Although her grandson’s skin wasn’t as fair as her daughter-in-law’s, and he didn’t have as much flesh on his body, his features were similar to her third son’s.

It’s just that her grandson didn’t eat well all year round, so he hadn’t fully developed yet. But when he grows up, he’ll definitely be as handsome as her third son.

However, her grandson’s eyes were just like his daughter-in-law’s, as if they were carved from the same mold.

On the contrary, Yi Bao and Er Bao looked alike, but their facial features resembled her third son’s.

Speaking of which, San Bao looked the most like her third daughter-in-law. Their face shape and skin tone were similar, both fair.

“Wow, Grandpa and Grandma don’t look alike. Grandpa ate the bun!” Er Bao exclaimed, as if he had discovered a new world.

Suddenly, everyone looked at Lin Fu.

Lin Fu’s face turned red under everyone’s gaze. “The grandchildren are filial. What’s wrong with me eating a bun?” He then split the bun in half and gave one half to Lin Mu. “The grandchildren are filial. Please eat it.”

Lin Mother didn’t understand Lin Fu’s intention, but since the old man said so, she naturally wouldn’t refute.

Yi Bao was pleased to see his grandparents eat the bun. He smiled happily and sat on a nearby stool, waiting for his siblings to finish eating so they could go snail picking together.

However, Er Bao spoke up again, “Grandma only eats buns when someone feeds her, just like San Bao.”

Lin Mother’s face turned even redder. “You little rascal, go sit aside.”

“Okay,” Er Bao walked over to his brother and sat next to him.

“Er Bao, what did you have for lunch?” Lin Haiwen asked.

Er Bao remembered what his mom said, that they could talk about what they ate but should ask their dad about the money. So, he honestly replied, “Brother and I had buns and rice for lunch, and we also had cabbage soup with tofu and meat in it. San Bao had bamboo tube porridge and egg custard.”

The fancy term “oil tofu stuffed with meat” was something Er Bao couldn’t quite articulate.

The bamboo forest was pockmarked with pits, evidence of bamboo shoots being dug out. While it was indeed difficult to find moso bamboo shoots, there were other types of shoots on the mountain.

Before, Ning Shu had only thought about moso bamboo shoots because they were the most abundant in the bamboo forest. When she lived with her grandmother, they would dig moso bamboo shoots every autumn to make dried bamboo shoots, which were excellent for grilling with meat, or for making braised bamboo shoots, a local specialty dish. So, she had always focused on moso bamboo shoots.

But now, as she ventured into the bamboo forest, she discovered other types of shoots.

There were Autumn Thunder bamboo shoots, slightly larger and longer than moso bamboo shoots, and equally delicious.

Autumn Thunder bamboo shoots were essentially young bamboo shoots, with a diameter of about 5 to 8 centimeters and a length of about 40 centimeters. They were tender and white, similar to arrowroot, and when sliced and stir-fried with oil, soy sauce, and sugar, they were incredibly tasty.

More importantly, Autumn Thunder bamboo shoots were twice as expensive as moso bamboo shoots.

Among the bamboo shoots known to her during this season, moso bamboo shoots were the cheapest but also the heaviest and most challenging to dig.

Winter bamboo shoots and Autumn Thunder bamboo shoots were the most expensive, with winter bamboo shoots being the hardest to find because they were buried underground with only a small tip exposed, and some might not even be visible.

While Autumn Thunder bamboo shoots were relatively easy to find, there were fewer of them.

Winter bamboo shoots and Autumn Thunder bamboo shoots could be sold for around 13 yuan per kilogram through group purchases, which was more expensive and heavier than wild vegetables.

Ning Shu put down her backpack. “San Bao, you stay here and play. If you need to pee or poop, call me.”

San Bao stood in the backpack, holding onto its edge, watching his mother dig bamboo shoots over there. He… really wanted to go out.

Unfortunately, Ning Shu tied the backpack to the moso bamboo, securely fastened to prevent it from falling over during San Bao’s fidgeting.

Ning Shu dug a few Autumn Thunder bamboo shoots and then came over to put them in the small basket next to San Bao. Sometimes, she would also pick him up and carry him while searching for bamboo shoots.

The ground in the bamboo forest was covered with bamboo leaves, and because people often came to the mountain to pick wild vegetables and gather firewood, the ground was quite flat.

Bamboo leaves were excellent for starting fires, so there were always many people in the bamboo forest picking them.

After wandering and searching for a while, it was already time to prepare dinner. Ning Shu put the small basket into the backpack and then lifted San Bao to prepare to go back.

“Huh?!” Exiting the bamboo forest, Ning Shu walked a bit further and was attracted by a certain plant.

Wasn’t this yam? Ning Shu was familiar with yam; she liked eating it, and her grandmother used to grow it.

Many rural households grew various vegetables for their own consumption, and her grandmother was one of them.

Her grandfather passed away early, so her grandmother, a little old lady, liked to tinker in the fields and grow things.

Ning Shu immediately set San Bao down. It was the time for yams to ripen now, and she wasn’t sure if the people in the village knew that yams were edible. Anyway, the original owner didn’t seem to know.

Ning Shu didn’t dig immediately; some yams could make your hands itch, so she needed to go home and prepare a pair of gloves. At the same time, with San Bao around, she couldn’t dig quickly.

So, she couldn’t dig today, but it was okay to carefully dig one to try. After Ning Shu carefully dug out one, she made a mark nearby and then went back.

When Ning Shu returned home, she found that there were more rice ears in the ones drying outside, and there were also more snails in the wooden basin. It seemed that the two boys had come back during the day.

The afternoon was long. Once Yi Bao and Er Bao’s little baskets were full, they went home to unload and then went back to pick more.

They didn’t leave the rice field until the end-of-work whistle blew, reluctantly bidding farewell to the people at the old house.