The Farm Life Of a "Fool"

Chapter 52

Wu Mei and the other two families arrived at Xu Ran's house early the next morning, carrying their children and tools for digging bamboo shoots on their backs.

However, all the children were still obviously very sleepy.

It wasn't good for the kids to have to get up so early, and the weather was already cold in the morning. It would be much worse if they fell asleep in the mountain and caught a cold.

As a result, Xu Ran agreed to welcome all of the children into his house. Tangtang, Guoguo, and Mr. Hu shared a bed with three Ge'ers, while the rest of the Ge'ers slept with Tangtang, Guoguo, and Mr. Hu. And Mr. Hu had gotten up early and stated that he would prepare breakfast for the kids so they could eat it later.

It was highly practical for them to do so. This kind of breakfast was also straightforward. They made some porridge and ate it at home with dried bean curd and pickled radish. Xu Ran agreed and advised Mr. Hu not to be concerned. Then they carried stuff up the mountain on their backs.

They had decided where they would go for the day. Others were in the east, with Liu Tong leading the way and Xu Ran walking last. After leaving, they returned about an hour later.

It was a dense bamboo forest and the ground was full of bamboo shoots. Looking at them gave people the urge to dig them out.

While the other four men went to dig bamboo shoots, the four Ge'ers were busy setting up stoves, frying pots, and packing up the rest of their belongings. Xu Ran had no prior experience with this type of job, so he followed them and attempted a few times before becoming proficient in digging.

The Ge'ers had finished their work by the time the sun rose, and Xu Ran and the others had dug a large number of bamboo shoots. They could go home to eat after packing up, and they could bring their children as well as the elderly with them.

To cook bamboo shoots, water was needed and the person who knew here best was Liu Tong. Xu Ran walked up to Liu Tong and asked, "Tongtong, do you know where there is water nearby?"

In the mountains, there were usually springs. "I've seen a small spring in front of this bamboo forest," Liu Tong said after a moment's contemplation. It contains a large amount of water. Let's go get some water over there later."

Xu Ran smiled and nodded. Knowing there was water made him feel better. At the very least, they didn't have to go all the way down to the mountain's base to get water. "All right, let's go back then," he said. "It's fine as long as we go faster because there are normally no people here."

Thus the group of people started to walk back.

At Xu Ran's house

Mr. Hu had already prepared porridge and fried a variety of foods. The children were currently seated in line, eating. In their pots, they each had egg soup.

Xu Ran went in and felt the aroma of food, "It smells good! Mr. Hu, I didn't expect you to be so good at making egg soup!"

Mr. Hu smiled shyly, "During his postpartum confinement, my late spouse used to love to eat this. This is a recipe I haven't made in a long time. I'm not as skilled as I used to be. I noticed you had a lot of eggs at home that you didn't sell for money, so I used some of them to make soup for the kids."

As for the food, no matter how much it was eaten, Xu Ran would not mind it. He didn't expect to earn much from selling a few eggs, but still Xu Ran joked, "Mr. Hu, they all have egg soup. Why don't we have any?"

"Xu Ran, aren't you ashamed of yourself?" Wu Mei asked before Xu Ran could finish his sentence. You want to scavenge food from a group of kids?" Wu Mei joined in the laughter. Despite the fact that he knew Xu Ran was kidding, he couldn't help but react.