Chapter Fifteen: Prelude to the Century Egg (Two)

  After lunch, Xi Mei whispered to Zhang Zishang: "Shang brother, have you ever been on a mountain trip since you were little?"

  As expected, the single-celled kid took the bait. He complained, "Sister, how did you know? I'm telling you, blah blah blah blah."

  Xi Mei pretended to listen very seriously, occasionally nodding her head. Zhang Zi saw Xi Mei cooperating and became even more enthusiastic in his speech, asking "You think so too, right?" Xi Mei's face gradually couldn't hold back a smile.

  "Brother, haven't you ever been to the mountain? Today, let's ask my big brother and second brother to take us there, okay? I'm telling you, there are many fun things on the mountain. There are rabbits, squirrels, and if we're lucky, we can even see monkeys! They'll imitate whatever you do, it's so much fun!"

  "Really? Really? You say there really are monkeys? They'll even learn our ways, so if I do a flip, they will too?" Little Overlord asked with shining eyes.

  Of course, you are all of the same kind and can communicate with each other, Xi Mei said sarcastically. But on the surface, things still need to be kept good. "Of course, it's fun, whatever you do, they'll do too, without any repetitive actions."

  "I'm going, I'm going, I'll go find Rui Xuan to take me, let's go up the mountain and see the monkeys." Zhang Zishang ran off with a bounce.

  Seeing him run far away, Xi Mei finally let out a sigh of relief and thought to herself: Sorry, I can only let you take the lead. She had just returned after being missing for a while, and her parents would not have let her go under any circumstances. Now she could only use his desire to play as an excuse to go up the mountain.

  Her mother treated guests today and almost spent all the money she made from selling eggs for the past two days. Now Xiao Bawang is at her house, and her mother is serving him well with good food and drink. She took a look at the jar of white flour and saw that it was almost empty.

  I remembered my elder brother heard Xiaobao say something about what happened in school, although he didn't say anything but his expression showed that even a fool could tell. My three sisters all looked pretty good but none of them had intact clothes and they were malnourished with yellow hair.

  Now it's time to make money, not for herself but for her loved ones. She wants her brother to be able to go to school, her sisters to have beautiful clothes to wear, and her mother to stop secretly crying at night. And also thoroughly cure her grandfather's illness.

  Currently can only think of making preserved eggs, making preserved eggs requires quicklime, but she didn't see that thing at her house. Can only go up the mountain and try my luck. Hope to find limestone, I can also calcine it myself. Anyway, this time must be successful.

  A comforting voice came from the room, "Don't tell me you didn't see that I'm still busy? I won't be able to accompany you today, go find Ruihao instead."

  Xiao Ba Wang walked out with his head hung low, looking dejectedly at Xi Mei. Xi Mei pointed to her mother's room with a small hand, and Xiao Ba Wang suddenly understood, rushing into the room like a cannonball.

  After a while, she heard her mother say: "Alright, alright, stop making trouble. Can't I let you go? Later, I'll get your father to take you there."

  "Wow!" The cheers came from inside the house, and his younger sister also jumped up excitedly. Now that he's going, her second brother will definitely go, and her third sister will also shout to go, leaving only herself. After thinking for a moment, she got up and ran towards the kitchen.

  After a while, sure enough, some of the entourage members were there. I was just about to say that I would go too when Zhao interrupted her, "Xǐmei, today I want to make you a pair of shoes. Look, we even need to measure your feet. You can take a look later and decide what kind of flowers to embroider on them, and then do it with your mother at home."

  You really treat her like a child. You think you don't know that the shoes are already made and put on the kang in your room? Thinking about it, if I insist on going to her mother, she will definitely not agree.

  He nodded and leaned against his mother's leg, waving at his father: "Dad, you go, I'll be good and listen to mom."

  As soon as Chen Tian turned his head, he saw that his poor little daughter was staring at him with her big bright eyes, which had lost their usual luster. Her small face, usually rosy and smiling, now looked dull and tearful, with long eyelashes still wet from crying, and tears welling up in her eyes, ready to fall at any moment.

  His heart suddenly softened, and he bent down to pick her up. "Let's go, Daddy will take you there. Don't cry anymore, my dear daughter. If you cry again, Daddy's heart will break." Zhao saw this scene and nodded helplessly: "Go ahead, I guess your father can't bear your tears either."

  It's heartbreaking just to see her, let alone his father who loves her like his life depends on it. Alas, looking at the joyful sister-in-law who drugged her in her husband's arms, she had doubts in her heart - how could this little girl look so...so...like she had planned everything and succeeded? No way, she's still so young, if that's really the case then this little girl is truly a fox spirit.

  Shaking his head with a smile, he sighed that he had thought too much and turned to busy himself. The group of people went up the mountain happily.

  When they walked to the foot of the mountain, Chen Tianfa turned his head and said to several children: "Be careful when you go up the mountain. There are traps dug by hunters here. Be careful not to fall."

  "Got it." The children chimed in unison. Chen Tianfa, the big guy, was embarrassed and squatted down to piggyback Xi Mei. "Let Dad carry you instead, or else when we get home, you'll be crying about sore feet again, and your mom will scold me."

  Sister Xi looked at her own short legs, nodded resignedly, and after climbing onto her father's back, she wrapped her small arms around his neck like a lotus stem and exclaimed excitedly: "Giddyup, horse! Let's go!" Her high-pitched voice startled the birds in the nearby tree into flight.

  Everyone walked forward, Zhang Zhen was like a monkey entering the mountain, looking around and touching things. Unconsciously, he bumped into a small squirrel on the tree and exclaimed in surprise: "Look quickly, this is, this is a squirrel!" His stunned expression was far from his usual overbearing manner.

  When they walked halfway up the mountain, Xi Mei saw something familiar. "Dad, put me down quickly, I want to play with that stone."

  Chen Tianfa followed her finger and looked over, "Isn't that limestone? What are you doing with that, dear? There's plenty of it, we don't play with that. Later, Dad will get you a rabbit to take home and play with."

  After listening to her father's words, Xi Mei's eyes lit up. It seems that someone has known about this thing for a long time. She pretended to be confused and asked, "Dad, what is the limestone used for?" "Oh, it's used for building houses. If you want to play, your second uncle's house has plenty of them. I'll get some for you when we go back."

  "Hey, you're the father of this little brat, can't you think about what a kid like that would use slaked lime for? If you keep spoiling her like this, she'll become a crazy girl."

  Got it, there's already slaked lime. The pickled egg won't be a problem anymore. Excitedly, she pulled her father's ear, "Dad, I'm hungry, let's go home."

  "Are you already tired of playing just after coming up? Who was it that wanted to make a fuss just now? Alright, if you say go back then we'll go back. Let's call your sister and head back."

  "Hey, what are you two digging wild vegetables for? Are you going to feed the chickens?" Zhang Zishang asked.

  As expected, I received a white eye from Ji Mei, "You're just feeding the chickens, and at night you want to eat wild vegetable dumplings. Such tender wild vegetables, Sanmei and I dug up half a mountain to get them. If you have the ability, don't eat at noon."

  Xiao Ba Wang could only touch his nose with a hint of embarrassment. Although he was somewhat disappointed, the sky was indeed getting late, and Ruihao pulled him down the mountain with a sulky expression.