After a while, Zhu's father couldn't stand it anymore. In his simple mind, boys shouldn't get entangled with flowers and plants. They should either study and get a good reputation, or stay at home and farm. Picking flowers and messing with plants is not what a good man does.
"Well, today's harvest is good. Let's go down the mountain." Zhu's father stopped his two sons who were picking flowers with their butts sticking out to prevent them from going astray. "We have to go down the mountain before the sun sets. It's not safe to walk in the forest later."
Zhu Ping'an saw that his small backpack was full of honeysuckle. He gently pressed the flowers. Seeing that he couldn't put any more, he clapped his hands unwillingly and followed his father down the mountain.
On the way back, Zhu's father took the two to the place where they set traps to catch rabbits before coming here.
The first trap was empty and there was no harvest. Zhu Ping'an was a little disappointed.
But then he was excited again, because the next two traps actually had a fat rabbit, still alive.
Zhu's father tied their rabbit legs with wild grass and let Zhu Ping'an touch the rabbits enough before putting them in the basket.
The first time he went into the mountains, he harvested pheasants, rabbits, fish, bamboo shoots, mountain mushrooms and honeysuckle. Zhu Ping'an was full of longing for the future, and even the unbearable pain in his calves didn't matter.
"Oh, the second brother is back."
As soon as Zhu Ping'an and his friends entered the door, Xiao Si Aunt Zhao rushed over in a flash. Her behavior was like a wolf that had been hungry for several days, and her eyes were green.
Even Chen, who had been waiting for her husband and children at the door for a long time, didn't react. Xiao Si Aunt had already gone to grab the basket on Zhu Shouyi's back.
Those who didn't know would think that Xiao Si Aunt was waiting for her husband and children.
Zhu Ping'an stared at the abnormally enthusiastic Xiao Si Aunt in amazement.
"Oh, my second brother also caught two fat rabbits and two pheasants, ah, and so many fish, mother, mother, come quickly..."
At this moment, the fourth aunt turned into an airport security inspector, screaming and rummaging in the basket, screaming when she saw something, for fear that others would not know.
Father Zhu Shouyi looked at Chen with embarrassment, and was so annoyed by the fourth aunt that he didn't know where to put his hands.
Chen looked at the fourth aunt with disgust!
Really, do you think everyone is like you and the fourth brother, hiding things and being stingy!
The fourth aunt screamed, and the grandmother came over briskly. She didn't ask her sons and grandsons if they were tired in the mountains, or if they encountered any trouble or danger, but asked, "You have caught so many, did you drop any in other places?"
Huh?
Suspect hiding things?
"Without my mother, I have harvested so many. With the help of these two, we have harvested a lot more fungus, mushrooms and bamboo shoots than my son's last time in the mountains." Zhu Shouyi seemed not to have heard what Mrs. Zhu was hiding. He answered honestly and helped his son to take credit.
Mrs. Zhu also knew that her second son was honest. As long as it didn't pass through the hands of the second daughter-in-law, there would be no hidden phenomenon. Moreover, the fourth daughter-in-law was supervising, so she was relieved.
However, when she saw the small basket carried by Zhu Ping'an, Mrs. Zhu rubbed her eyes. Why did she see that her grandson was carrying wild flowers?
Mrs. Zhu reached into Zhu Ping'an's small basket and looked through it. It was really full of wild flowers.
"You silly child, why are you carrying so many flowers?" Mrs. Zhu thought that her grandson's brain was not normal. It was okay for a girl, but why were you carrying so many flowers for a boy!
"Sell it for money!" Zhu Ping'an answered straightforwardly.
The afterglow of the setting sun hit Zhu Pingan, and his white teeth were shining brightly, just like a fool who was obsessed with money.
Puff
Aunt Si laughed so hard that she couldn't stand up straight, and coughed repeatedly, "Haha, what Xiao Zhu said really made me laugh to death. This wild flower can also be sold for money, hehe, second sister-in-law, didn't you say that?"
Mrs. Zhu looked at Chen when she heard it.
Chen wanted to slap Xiao Zhao's smiling face with a big slap! Fanning the flames and causing trouble. The fourth family can't be quiet for a moment!
"It's not what my mother said, I think it can be sold for money." Zhu Pingan said before Chen got angry.
Mrs. Zhu was right in front of her. If her mother and Aunt Si quarreled, it would definitely not end well.
"Haha, Xiaozhu must have gone crazy from climbing the mountain. If you want to sell wild flowers, everyone in our village will be rich. If you can sell them, the sun will rise from the west."
Aunt Xiao Si is not a good person. She is vicious and bitter. She is two-faced. She smiles on the surface but trips people up. She is a pot of fire in the open and a knife in the dark.
"How can you talk? Do you know how to talk? You are the one who is crazy from being tired!"
Chen was not happy at all. She could scold her own son, but she couldn't let others say a word! Just now, the old lady said that my son was fine, but you still said it! Although she also thought that her youngest son's behavior of picking a basket of wild flowers was weird, but others said it was not okay!
"Okay, stop arguing, all of you go help the second son to put things away." Grandma only had things in her eyes. She waved her hand and asked Chen and Xiao Zhao to follow Zhu Shouyi to put things away. As for the wild flowers in Zhu Ping'an's backpack, grandma didn't care at all. What use could a few wild flowers be? Pigs wouldn't eat them. "Little pig, keep the wild flowers for yourself."
It seems that no one in the village can discover the value of honeysuckle, which is a bargain for me.
Honeysuckle can be said to be the easiest Chinese herbal medicine to prepare. Put the flower buds on a reed mat or spread them on a bluestone slab and dry them for a day or two. The only thing you need to pay attention to is not to turn them over when drying, otherwise it is easy to break the stamens.
Reed mats are impossible. Grandma won't give them to me. Then I can only find a place to dry them. The ground in the yard must also be cleared. I am worried that the chickens at home will cause damage. Well, then put them in the small shed in the pigpen.
Zhu Ping'an took his short legs and stepped on a small stool to successfully dry the honeysuckle above the pigpen.
Looking at the flat honeysuckle, Zhu Ping'an seemed to see copper coins running towards him.
This is hope!
It was his mother Chen's turn to cook dinner. Zhu Ping'an followed her to light the fire, and Chen couldn't chase him away. Because Zhu Ping'an had just heard his grandmother ask him to make fish soup for dinner. Although he also ate fish in the mountains at noon, the seasonings were not complete and the cooking method was rough, so the fish's delicious taste could not be fully brought out.
Chen was a good fish cooker. She removed the scales and gills of the fish, cleaned the internal organs, and then rinsed the whole fish with clean water, then put it in the pot and added water. Then she put the bamboo shoots and dried mushrooms at home into the pot, raised the fire and slowly stewed it. Slow work makes fine work. The fire turned from high to low, and it didn't take long for the pot to emit fragrance.
Chen looked at her second son who was staring at the pot, and couldn't help but smile, "Look at your greedy look, come, you taste the saltiness of the fish soup for me." She picked up a piece of fish and put it in the bowl, carefully removing the fish bones.
She said she wanted to taste the saltiness, but in fact, she was cooking for Zhu Pingan.
"Well, then I'll try it." Zhu Pingan washed his hands in the basin beside him, waved his fat paws reluctantly, but the way he drooled still made Chen very amused.
The soup was fresh and delicious, and my mother's cooking was a hundred times better than what my father made at noon. I almost swallowed my tongue into my stomach, it was so delicious that I wanted to cry.