Chapter 103: Digging Winter Bamboo Shoots/Wet Shoes

Shen Lie not only hid his bow and arrows well, but he also hid the bamboo tube that Sang Luo brought him in the morning very well. Now, after tidying up his things, with the bow and arrows properly stored, the first thing he did was to wash the bamboo tube clean. Then, he casually washed the backpack and hung it in the courtyard.

When he returned to the kitchen with the bamboo tube, he saw Sang Luo lighting the fire at the stove, which puzzled him. Why was she starting a fire at this time?

Then he remembered that he had just mentioned killing a mountain chicken for lunch today. Ah, she must be boiling water to scald the chicken.

He placed the bamboo tube back on the wooden rack and was about to take over the fire, which was smoking heavily. “Let me do it.”

It was originally meant for him to eat, so Sang Luo didn’t stand on ceremony. She got up and handed over the task of starting the fire to him.

Shen Lie fiddled with the freshly lit and still smoking stove fire, skillfully igniting it. Just as he was adding more firewood, he saw Sang Luo carrying a pottery pot and placing it on the stove.

The pot was used for steaming things, with a pot on the bottom and a steamer on top. He asked in surprise, “Isn’t it for boiling water?”

Sang Luo smiled, “What’s the water for?”

Thinking along his lines, he asked, “To scald the chicken?”

Shen Lie was asked these two questions by her, and the next question seemed difficult to answer because it definitely wasn’t for scalding the chicken.

Seeing Shen Lie’s hesitation, Sang Luo’s eyes curved up. “It’s not necessary to scald the chicken so early. I’m warming up your lunch.”

She looked at Shen Lie and continued, “We usually eat three meals a day at home. I’ve prepared lunch for you. You’ve been walking in the mountains for half a day, aren’t you hungry?”

“Hungry!”

How could he not be hungry!

The bread they brought in the morning wasn’t much, and Chen Dashan had grabbed half of it. Although it wasn’t time for dinner yet, Shen Lie’s stomach was almost empty.

He originally thought it was to boil water to scald the chicken, but it turned out that she was warming up his meal. His lips couldn’t help but curve up, and they couldn’t come down.

Sang Luo couldn’t help but look at him a few more times. Teenagers really loved to smile. He had nice features, dense eyelashes, and when he smiled, his eyes curved up, and there was even a small dimple…

She couldn’t help but smile a little more herself.

She looked away and moved the pot with two large bowls of rice and a shallow bowl of vegetables aside. She scooped two spoonfuls of water into the pottery pot before putting the pot back on and covering it.

“Keep an eye on the fire yourself. Don’t add too much firewood. When it’s heated, you can eat.”

Saying that, she went out.

Shen Lie tilted his head and watched her leave. Then he turned his head back and couldn’t help but take another look. When he withdrew his gaze, he smiled with curved eyes, and then looked at the pottery pot with anticipation.

In less than half a moment, steam finally rose from the pot. Shen Lie silently counted the time and waited a while longer before reducing the fire. Then he went to lift the lid of the pottery pot.

Without even using a piece of heat-insulating cloth, he directly used his hands. If Sang Luo were here, she would probably silently praise him for his heartless iron hands.

As soon as the lid was lifted, a burst of steaming heat rose. When the steam dissipated, Shen Lie finally saw what Sang Luo had left for him inside.

A bowl filled with rice and a shallow bowl of vegetables. Ah, stir-fried leeks with dried tofu, and stir-fried shredded turnips.

He took both bowls out, didn’t go back into the house, grabbed a pair of chopsticks, and ate heartily in the kitchen.

The rice was cooked fragrantly, and the vegetables tasted good. Shen Lie cherished and enjoyed every bite. Perhaps he even tasted a kind of happiness and satisfaction.

Sang Luo went out of the kitchen, looked at the partially melted snow in various places in the courtyard, and then took a moment to grab a hoe and a dustpan before heading out.

Outside, Shen An and Shen Ning watched her carrying a hoe and asked where she was going. Seeing the two little ones still feeding the chickens and ducks, Sang Luo smiled and said, “I’m going to see if I can dig up some winter bamboo shoots to stew with chicken tonight.”

Upon hearing that she was going to dig up winter bamboo shoots, the two little ones wanted to follow. Sang Luo waved her hand, “Don’t follow, if your shoes get dirty, there won’t be any thick shoes to change into. I’ll go alone.”

Otherwise, later on, all three of them would have to dry their shoes together.

Shen An and Shen Ning were filled with regret, but what the big sister-in-law said was right. Ever since it snowed, no one had been going outside because of this.

“Then big sister-in-law, be careful.”

They could only watch Sang Luo go alone towards the mountain with the bamboo forest on the side.

…

After Shen Lie finished eating and washed the dishes, he returned to the house. Shen An and Shen Ning were already inside practicing calligraphy. Shen Lie looked for a while and asked Shen An about some characters he didn’t recognize. After a while, he couldn’t help but ask, “Where’s your sister-in-law?”

There was no sign of anyone inside or outside the courtyard.

Shen An replied, “Sister-in-law went to the bamboo forest to dig bamboo shoots. She said if she can find some, she’ll stew chicken with winter bamboo shoots tonight.”

“Bamboo shoots?” Winter bamboo shoots were not easy to find. Shen Lie glanced in the direction of the bamboo forest outside the house. “I’ll go take a look.”

Shen An, who had been focusing on writing, glanced at his brother and said, “Sister-in-law didn’t let us go. She said if our shoes get wet, we won’t have any replacements.”

Shen Lie moved his feet. “Mine are already wet, so it doesn’t matter.”

Shen An and Shen Ning both looked down and saw that their big brother was wearing a pair of straw sandals. After spending most of the day outside, they were already wet.

Shen Ning urged, “Big brother, change them and warm them up. Your feet will freeze.”

But Shen Lie didn’t mind. Having lived in places with much colder winters for the past two years, he was more resistant to the cold than others. “It doesn’t matter. Keep writing. Winter bamboo shoots are not easy to find. I’ll go take a look.”

He picked up the stone hoe that Sang Luo had made initially and went out.

Indeed, winter bamboo shoots were not easy to find. Spring bamboo shoots would sprout above the ground, but winter bamboo shoots were completely hidden underground, especially with the remaining snow.

However, that might be true for others.

As for Sang Luo, having lived in the mountains for so many years, even if it wasn’t for making videos, she wouldn’t miss out on such good food. She had encountered setbacks before, but there were resources to check and learn from, thanks to Baidu and the internet.

Back then, she had put in some effort and gradually learned how to find winter bamboo shoots relatively accurately.

When Shen Lie arrived, Sang Luo already had two trophies in her dustpan.

He was quite surprised. Could this be luck? Many people might have to dig all morning in the forest to find something.

When he saw Sang Luo squatting accurately next to a bamboo with relatively intact leaves, checking the bamboo nodes, he inexplicably looked at Sang Luo for several more glances.

When he was in his teens, he had searched for these things in the mountains because of a lack of money and to secretly bring more food for Shen An and Shen Ning. He relied on the mountains for sustenance, and these mountains were the only source of income for him.

At first, like most people, finding these things in the forest relied on luck, but luck didn’t always favor him. The most desperate thing he had done was to turn over an entire bamboo forest…

Later, he gradually searched for patterns and gradually figured out the growth pattern of winter bamboo shoots and learned to judge the direction of bamboo roots, among other small experiences.

But how could Sang Luo do it?

By the time Shen Lie arrived, Sang Luo had already heard the noise. She had seen him earlier but had just found a bamboo that should have winter bamboo shoots, so she only asked now, “Why did you come over?”

Shen Lie replied, “I came to help you. I saw you seemed to be good at finding winter bamboo shoots?”

He had stood beside her for so long? He had discovered it so quickly.

Well, she was also an expert.

Sang Luo said she had learned those recipes from the family’s collection of books. At that time, her tone and words were no different from Shen Lie’s.

“Because I was speaking from the heart. But it’s still impressive that you can use what you’ve read from books.”

She smiled and said, “Let me help you find them too, so we can finish quickly.”

With that, she picked up the stone hoe and started searching in the bamboo forest. When she found a possible spot for winter bamboo shoots, she directly used the hoe to dig.

The stone hoe was naturally not as good as an iron hoe, but it didn’t affect Shen Lie’s ability to find winter bamboo shoots. He dug up the soil, revealing the winter bamboo shoots. He called out to Sang Luo, “There are three over here.”

Then they moved to the next spot.

This time, Sang Luo was convinced. How did he know so much…

Shen Lie found five or six spots, and in one bamboo, he dug up a nest of winter bamboo shoots, with six large and fat ones inside.

Seeing the one dustpan Sang Luo had brought already full, he stopped searching. He walked to Sang Luo, who was still digging bamboo shoots, and said, “Take a break. I’ll take over.”

Digging winter bamboo shoots required breaking them off from the bamboo root. Shen Lie indeed had more strength, and his accuracy should be much better than hers. Sang Luo didn’t refuse and handed him the iron hoe directly.

Shen Lie was efficient. Sang Luo watched as the same hoe in her hands and in Shen Lie’s hands had completely different efficiency. The soil had been dug open by him with the stone hoe earlier, so with the iron hoe now, it was one shoot after another. She felt relieved just watching him.

While Shen Lie dug up bamboo shoots, Sang Luo had nothing else to do. She followed him with the stone hoe and dustpan. When the dustpan became heavy, the items would be transferred directly to Shen Lie’s hands without her having to carry them.

With one full dustpan, they had collected twenty-two large winter bamboo shoots. It was indeed a big harvest.

Shen Lie turned to Sang Luo and asked, “Is that enough? If not, I’ll take these back first, and I’ll come back later.”

Sang Luo calculated silently, “It’s okay to find some more. Let’s get another dustpan full. We should be able to sell them all in the county tomorrow.”

In winter, there weren’t many vegetables available, but winter bamboo shoots were a delicacy. Coupled with mountain chicken, Dongfu Restaurant would be able to buy them all.

Shen Lie smiled and agreed, “Okay.”

The two returned together. Sang Luo’s shoes were a bit wet, so she changed into a thinner pair, ready to boil water to scald the chicken. It was perfect; she could also dry her wet shoes by the stove.

Shen Lie carried the winter bamboo shoots to the stove, took another empty dustpan, and was about to go out. As one went out of the stove, the other was about to enter. They bumped into each other, and Sang Luo noticed that his shoes were wet. It wasn’t until now that she realized he was still wearing a pair of straw sandals, and they were already soaked.

It was true that after spending so long in the mountains, not turning into a wild person was already an accomplishment. It was also her carelessness. After staying in the mountains for most of the day, how could her shoes still be dry?

Sang Luo felt a bit embarrassed. When Shen Lie took a few steps forward, she hurriedly called out to him, “Shen Lie.”

This was the first time she had called out Shen Lie’s name. Before, she either spoke directly or addressed him as “you.” Shen Lie stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. “What’s up?”

Sang Luo said, “I’ve been thinking. We only have four wild chickens to sell tomorrow, and this dustpan of winter bamboo shoots is enough to sell as well. If we manage to catch more wild chickens next time, we can dig more bamboo shoots to sell. They’ll still be fresh.”

Shen Lie furrowed his brows. “You don’t want to dig anymore?”

Sang Luo shook her head. “No need. Can you help me boil some water? We’ll need it to scald the chicken later.”

Whatever task there was to do, it was all the same to Shen Lie. As long as she was willing, he nodded. “Sure.”

He turned and carried the empty dustpan back to the corner of the stove room. Then, he went out to wash his hands, returned to the stove room, and promptly put the clay pot on the stove. He scooped enough water into it before going to the backyard to fetch firewood.

When he returned with the firewood, he noticed a small wooden stool placed next to the wall near the stove. On the stool sat a pair of simple yet delicately elegant shoes, clearly belonging to Sang Luo.

The shoes were slightly damp, as if they had been soaked by snow. They seemed to have been wiped with a damp cloth.

They were placed here, not too close to the stove, but the heat from the stove could still reach them. Was she trying to dry them by the stove?

Shen Lie glanced down at his own wet straw sandals, suddenly understanding why she had changed her mind halfway and told him not to dig any more winter bamboo shoots.

A faint touch brushed against his heart, and a strange and indescribable feeling surged in his chest.

He wanted to grasp it, to understand it better, but the feeling came suddenly and disappeared just as quickly. He placed his hand on his chest, feeling only a lingering trace of palpitations there.