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Chapter 65: Light Pink, Like a Shy Young Girl
The mother and her two children returned home.
Jiang Rou did not rush to sort out the wild vegetables and bamboo shoots they had brought back. Instead, she first pushed Zhou Xiaochuan into the washroom.
The rooftop water barrel had been basking in the sun all day, and the water was still hot, so there was no need to heat it.
“Xiaochuan, go take a bath quickly. Remember to use warm water and soap, and rinse twice. You must rinse twice—don’t forget. I’ll keep track of the time for you. You must wash for at least twenty minutes. You’re not allowed to come out before then. Oh, and wash your hair too. Don’t forget to use soap on your hair as well.”
Jiang Rou pushed Zhou Xiaochuan into the washroom.
If it weren’t for the inappropriate relationship between a stepmother and a stepson, she would have wanted to wash him clean herself.
Still worried, she continued to remind him.
“Just throw your dirty clothes on the rack. You don’t need to wash them—I’ll do it later. Clothes must be washed with soap, or they won’t be clean.”
“You just recovered a few days ago. Don’t be afraid of the heat. Hot water is good for your body.”
Zhou Xiaochuan held his change of clothes in his arms, listening to Jiang Rou’s repeated concerns.
His lips tightened, and he awkwardly turned his face away. “I got it.”
He turned around, walked into the washroom, and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Oh~
The little wolf cub was shy~
After “teasing” Zhou Xiaochuan, Jiang Rou grabbed a small stool and started sorting through the wild vegetables and bamboo shoots they had carried back.
She emptied the bamboo basket, spilling them all over the ground.
Seeing Jiang Rou sit down, Zhou Xiaohua mimicked her actions, dragging over her own little stool and sitting closely beside her.
She looked absolutely adorable.
Jiang Rou picked up a wild bamboo shoot and placed it in Zhou Xiaohua’s hand.
“Xiaohua, look at this. This is called a wild bamboo shoot. When it grows up, it becomes bamboo. Bamboo is used to make things and can’t be eaten, but wild bamboo shoots are edible.”
“Look here… and here… Wild bamboo shoots are long and slender, with many, many leaves growing on them, layered one over the other, wrapping the shoot inside.”
“So what we need to do now is peel off all the leaves… Just like this, one pull, and it comes right off.”
Next—
Jiang Rou continued demonstrating while Zhou Xiaohua watched intently, her eyes wide with focus.
Zhou Xiaohua’s small hands could just barely hold a tiny wild bamboo shoot.
The little shoot had so many leaves, and with her tiny fingers, she carefully pried them apart, peeling them off layer by layer. It took a great deal of time.
At her pace, even if she worked until nightfall, she might not be able to peel more than a few shoots.
Jiang Rou never expected Zhou Xiaohua to help with the work.
She simply wanted to give her something to do to make her feel involved.
While Zhou Xiaohua busied herself peeling the bamboo shoot, Jiang Rou methodically sorted through the wild vegetables they had gathered that day.
She neatly categorized them all and placed them in a cool, ventilated area.
The weather had been fairly mild lately, so they could be stored for another two or three days without issue.
Finally, it was time to deal with the wild bamboo shoots—
Jiang Rou returned to Zhou Xiaohua’s side, picked up a shoot, and began peeling as well.
However, unlike the slow method she had taught Zhou Xiaohua, she had her own, much quicker way.
Holding the shoot in her left hand, she pinched the very tip with the fingers of her right hand and gave it a twist—
The slender bamboo shoot spun around her fingers several times.
With a rustling sound, all the layers of leaves peeled away in one go.
Her technique was similar to the domino effect.
The leaves on a wild bamboo shoot were layered in an overlapping pattern. The slowest way to peel them was to start from the outermost layer and work inward.
Jiang Rou, however, took the opposite approach.
From the very tip of the wild bamboo shoot, starting from the innermost layer, she swiftly peeled all the way to the outermost layer.
She had not been born knowing this technique.
It was something she had learned during a visit to the countryside when she observed the elderly villagers peeling wild bamboo shoots in this manner.
Fast and convenient.
Though it did result in a slight loss of the tender flesh at the very tip of the shoot, the spring mountains were covered with wild bamboo shoots. A small amount of lost tender flesh was hardly a concern.
Just like that—
Jiang Rou had only been sitting for a minute, yet she had already peeled four or five wild bamboo shoots in one go, without pausing even once.
Zhou Xiaohua, sitting beside her, stared in dumbfounded amazement.
Huh?!
How was this even possible?!
The little girl’s dark, shiny eyes darted between the bamboo shoot in her own hands and the ones in Jiang Rou’s.
So far, she had only managed to peel a single one.
The difference was just too great.
Although Zhou Xiaohua was still young, she had a competitive spirit.
She observed Jiang Rou’s movements a few more times, silently trying to learn.
Then, mimicking the technique exactly—
Starting from the very tip, the narrowest part, she twisted the bamboo shoot around her finger.
Twisting… twisting…
Ah!
Zhou Xiaohua’s finger got tightly stuck between the layers of the bamboo shoot, yet none of the leaves had been peeled off.
“Haha…”
Jiang Rou burst into laughter beside her.
She quickly reached out to rescue Zhou Xiaohua’s small finger, gently rubbing the reddened spot.
With a warm smile, she said softly: “Xiaohua, this method requires strength. Only adults can do it. You’re still too little—learn it when you’re older. For now, just peel them slowly.”
Zhou Xiaohua felt a little dejected and discouraged, but she had no choice but to accept reality.
She pouted, looking aggrieved, and nodded.
However, as she continued peeling the bamboo shoot leaves, she became even more determined.
You can do it, Xiaohua!
That day,
Zhou Chongshan did not have to be on duty at the Military Unit, so he returned home earlier than in the past few days.
As he pushed the door open, he heard the sound of rushing water from the washroom and Jiang Rou’s voice chatting with Zhou Xiaohua in the courtyard.
This lively atmosphere of coming home was something he had never experienced before.
He stepped inside.
“I’m back.”
Hearing Zhou Chongshan’s voice, Jiang Rou and Zhou Xiaohua both looked up.
A beautiful woman and an adorable little girl, both gazing at him with bright smiles.
“You’re back.” Jiang Rou said.
Dad, you’re back!
Jiang Rou had not expected Zhou Chongshan to return so early and spoke up.
“Today, I went up the mountain with the sisters from the compound to dig for wild vegetables. Xiaochuan and Xiaohua came along too. There were so many wild vegetables on the mountain! Look… we gathered so much!”
She eagerly pulled Zhou Chongshan over to see her harvest.
Her eyebrows lifted with delight, and there was a hint of quiet pride in her expression.
She had secretly compared her harvest to the others’. Apart from Zhao Guifen, the most capable among them, none of the others had gathered as much as she had.
Not only did she collect a large quantity, but she also picked a wide variety.
“Look, this is Chinese toon—we’ve had it before… This is water celery—so fresh… And these are pea shoots! I love these… Oh, and here’s cudweed and mugwort. Qingming Festival is just a few days away, so we can use these to make qingtuan and Qingming cakes…”
As Zhou Chongshan listened to Jiang Rou’s cheerful voice, his gaze landed on her bright, smiling face.
Even though she had worn a sun hat, she had been outside all day, and her face carried a faint sun-kissed flush.
A soft, pinkish hue—
It looked just like the delicate blush of a shy young girl.
stillnotlucia[Translator]
Hi~ If you want to know the schedule of updates, please visit the Novel's Fiction Page and look at the bottom part of the synopsis! Thank you so much for reading my translations! ૮꒰˵• ﻌ •˵꒱ა