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Wan Chunmei, listening to Tan Xiaomei, was momentarily stunned. After a long pause, she asked, “You mean we can really sell our pickled vegetables in the capital?”
Tan Xiaomei chuckled and pulled her close. “My dear sister-in-law, just trust your Erqian. If he says it will sell, it will sell.”
Wan Chunmei stood there, smiling foolishly, clearly overjoyed. “That’s fantastic! Xiaomei, quick, quick! Let’s finish up and start making the pickled vegetables.”
“Yes! sister-in-law!” Tan Xiaomei cheerfully responded.
The two continued to work diligently, quickly organizing the new house and preparing the items. With babies on their backs, they worked efficiently to clean and process the vegetables that Tan Yiliang had brought back the previous evening.
The snow had been falling for several days, and in the bitter cold, the cabbage and large white radishes in the fields were dwindling. It was clear they would soon run out.
Tan Yiliang had been busy as a top these past days, either tending to the vegetable garden or the lingzhi mushroom patch.
Fortunately, the crops he had planted were thriving, growing tall and robust. However, he hadn’t anticipated needing such a large quantity of vegetables for pickling, so he hadn’t planted enough.
Sitting by the garden, Tan Yiliang was deep in thought, trying to figure out what to do. It seemed too late to plant more vegetables now.
Just as he was growing anxious, Little Black, the dog, wagged its tail energetically, looking quite anxious.
Tan Yiliang found it odd and asked, “Little Black, what’s wrong?”
Little Black immediately bit Tan Yiliang’s pants and tugged at him, its tail wagging furiously.
Tan Yiliang stood up and followed. “Little Black, what are you doing?”
Little Black pulled at his pants, leading him to the far left of the garden, an area overgrown with weeds.
Tan Yiliang was puzzled but followed, and as they arrived at the spot, Little Black suddenly let go of his pants and began frantically digging at the soil with its paws.
Tan Yiliang was startled and realized, “Little Black, are you trying to show me there’s something in the soil?”
It seemed Little Black understood, as it quickened its pace, digging away with intense focus. The little dog’s head bobbed and its tail swished with purpose.
Tan Yiliang hurried to fetch a small hoe from the garden and knelt down to help dig.
Before long, the topsoil was cleared away, revealing a batch of plump, red-skinned radishes buried beneath the surface.
Tan Yiliang stood frozen in shock. This patch of land had been covered by weeds and snow most of the time, and he hadn’t realized there were so many wild red-skinned radishes growing there.
He couldn’t help but smack his forehead. “Ah, ah, Yiliang, how did I miss this?”
Little Black moved a little further and continued digging. Soon, it uncovered another cluster of red-skinned radishes.
Tan Yiliang was too surprised to waste time in awe, quickly joining in to pull up the radishes.
Together, they managed to harvest two large baskets of red-skinned radishes from the plot.
Tan Yiliang hurriedly slung the baskets over his shoulder and began heading home, instructing Little Black to stay behind and guard the remaining radishes.
At home, Wan Chunmei had nearly finished preparing the vegetables she had picked a few days ago and was ready to start cooking.
Because it was a newly constructed stove, she wasn’t used to it yet, and it took quite some time for the firewood to catch.
Little Qiyue, who had been resting on her back, grew a little tired and wiggled her arms.
At that moment, Tan Sanyuan returned home. He quickly walked over and said to Wan Chunmei, “Mother, let me hold Little Qiyue.”
Wan Chunmei, hearing this, untied the string from her waist and carefully let Little Qiyue down.
Tan Sanyuan stepped forward and took Little Qiyue in his arms. He found a stool and sat down with her.
The new house had a separate kitchen, unlike before, when the kitchen was connected to the main room. The new setup was much more spacious.
After holding Little Qiyue for a while, Tan Sanyuan could no longer manage and carefully set her down, allowing her to hold onto the stool to stand.
At this stage, Little Qiyue could stand on her own while holding onto the stool. She seemed quite pleased with herself and even raised her little hand to clap.
Tan Sanyuan heard the sound and quickly looked down in surprise. “Mother, Mother, come see!” he exclaimed.
At that moment, Wan Chunmei’s fire had finally caught, and she wiped her hands and looked up at them. “What’s going on?”