Chapter 58 Going into the Mountains

  Thank you Fire Dance LHH2012, May sister and everyone dear reward, Da Ni will continue to work hard.

  "Dinner's ready, kids! Come out quickly!" Zhao stood at the kitchen door and shouted.

  "Alright, got it, mom. We're coming right out." Lao Da Rui Xuan stuck his head back in the direction of his mother and called to several younger brothers and sisters to come eat.

  Several children came out of the house one after another, like a bunch of radishes. Ruihao ran excitedly to Zhao's side, poking his head to look at the table "Mom, are we going to eat chicken for lunch today? I smelled the delicious smell from far away." After finishing speaking, he looked at Zhao with his eyes, and his paws were itchy to move.

  "Stop thinking of using your paws to steal food, go wash your hands and call your brother over. Let's move the table under the tree and have a meal outside while the weather is good."

  "Alright." The mischievous one made a hand gesture to his mother, rolled up his sleeves and picked up the table to move it outside. Zhao's wife reminded him from behind, "Be careful, don't bump into yourself."

  Watching him leave, Zhao Shi finally scooped out the chicken meat that had been stewed in the pot for a long time. In an instant, Ruihao ran back like the wind, "Mother, I'll carry it, I'll carry it." After finishing speaking, he actively took away the things in Zhao Shi's hands and trotted into the courtyard.

  In the courtyard, Xi Mei was watching with great interest when she saw her second brother walk in. Without hesitation, she raised her thumb and praised him, "Second Brother, you're really diligent."

  Being praised by his own sister like this, Ruihao scratched his head in embarrassment, "I'm not diligent at all, it's my older brother who is diligent."

  After finishing speaking, he ran back to the kitchen to fetch other things. Although Ruihao moved quickly, Xi Mei still discovered that her second brother's face had turned red.

  Children are like that, no matter how rough they behave normally and how careless they seem about things, but in their hearts, they still hope to get affirmation and praise from others. Isn't her second brother a good example?

  "Now that everyone is here, Chen Tianfa invited Zhao's wife, 'The children's mother, don't bother anymore, we have enough to eat, come and eat quickly, the kids are all waiting for you.'"

  This father, who was clearly heartbroken over his wife, instead used them as a shield. Zhao smiled and said, "It's okay, there's still a soup in the kitchen, I'll bring it out and we can eat."

  "Mother, I'm coming, I'm coming." Ruihao, who had just been praised, was eager to show off, but Zhao pressed him down on the stool, "Alright, alright, I know you're diligent, but this one you really can't touch, or what will happen when it scalds you?"

  After finishing speaking, she went to the kitchen to ladle out soup. Actually, Zhao's family was originally planning to have a casual meal today, but thinking that it's not often that they can all take a break together, how could they not treat themselves well? These past few days have really exhausted everyone.

  Because this pickled egg is not like others, the ingredients are simple and can be seen at a glance, so I'm afraid of leaking the secret recipe, and I don't dare ask anyone for help. The whole family has to work together, even the youngest sister Xi Mei hasn't been idle, she helped a lot in the past few days.

  Yesterday, the first batch of pickled eggs was finally sold out, and the family also received the deposit, which was a whole ten taels of silver. Adding up the money she earned from selling at the stall in the past few days, she now has twenty taels of silver in her hands.

  In the past, when our family had no money, the children dared not say they were hungry for meat. Now that we have a bit of spare cash, how could she be stingy with such a small amount of money?

  After finishing this batch of pine nut eggs, she and her husband planned to send the old man to a better hospital in town for treatment. Although the master didn't say it, Zhao knew that he had been thinking about it all along.

  Thinking of this, Zhao's mood got better and better. With such a prosperous life at home, Xi Mei was indeed a blessing. No wonder when she was young, fortune tellers all said that she would bring good luck to the family, it was a sign of prosperity for both her father and husband. Now thinking about it, it really wasn't wrong. However, it wasn't just Xi Mei, Zhao looked at each of his children and felt that they would all have great prospects in the future.

  Hello, it's really like an old woman selling melons and praising them herself.

  Enjoying the care of her family, Xi Mei suddenly remembered that she didn't know how the person on the mountain was doing now, or if he was dead. Pfft, what's it to me? Forget how they treated me!

  After comforting herself, she thought of the person who had saved her life and felt uneasy about leaving them to fend for themselves. Gradually, her movements while eating slowed down, and she was still biting on a chopstick unknowingly.

  Ji Ju saw it and considerately gave her a piece of chicken, asking: "Sister Ji, what are you thinking about? If you don't eat the meat soon, it will get cold."

  "Oh, okay, I'll eat right away." She buried her face in the bowl and started shoveling rice into her mouth with lightning speed.

  On the table, Chen Tianfa drank two mouthfuls of wine and raised his legs, feeling extremely comfortable. Zhao's wife discussed with him: "Dad, look, we still have a batch of pine eggs that will be ready soon, and our jars at home are not enough. You go to town later to buy a few bigger ones back."

  Chen Tianfa burst out laughing, "Alright, is this hard to handle? I'll go after dinner, Xi Mei are you going with your dad?"

  Still in a daze, Xi Mei stared blankly and muttered, "Huh? What?"

  Chen Tianfa repeated in a good temper, "I said, I'll go to the town later, do you want to go?"

  Hesitated for a moment, Xi Mei firmly shook her head, "Not going, I still want to go find Er Ya and the others to play in a while."

  Chen Tianfa shook his head, "This little girl, once she has playmates, she forgets about her father."

  Seeing her father's disappointment, Xi Mei quickly explained, "Dad, I didn't mean it that way. You're going there this afternoon to take care of things, and I'm not going to bother you, am I? I didn't go because I didn't want to trouble you."

  Watching her father still not speaking, Xi Mei was anxious and sweating, "Dad, I'm really..."

  She was interrupted by Rui Xuan before she could finish, "Silly sister, Dad is teasing you, how can you be so easily fooled?" Indeed, looking at Chen Tianfa again, he found that the other party was still shrugging his shoulders with his head down. Oh no, fooled again.

  It's rare to see Xi Mei eating so happily, the Chen family couldn't help but laugh out loud, even Xi Mei herself couldn't help but smile, her mood lifted. Forget it, forget it, one step at a time, what's the point of thinking so much?

  Besides, can't give up halfway, right? So in the afternoon she still has to go up the mountain to take a look, or else if someone really died, she will never be at peace afterwards.

  After the whole family finished dinner and cleaned up, Chen Tianfa borrowed a neighbor's ox cart to go into town. Zhao took advantage of the rare free time to make clothes for the children. Seeing no one was paying attention to her, Xi Mei secretly took out an earthenware jar, blew off the dust on top, washed it clean in a basin, and put it upside down to dry.

  Take out another piece of cloth, put your own small handkerchief inside, wrap a few small paper bags with salt, Sichuan pepper, scallions, ginger and garlic, and finally secretly take a few eggs and wrap them inside.

  After thinking for a while, she realized that something was still missing. She ran into the house and rummaged through her old quilt, packed everything up, and then quietly stepped on a stool to retrieve a spoon from the cupboard that Chen Tianfa had specially made for her.

  After putting all these things away, Xi Mei wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a sigh of relief. It was exhausting! Taking advantage of no one noticing her at home, she secretly hid the items in a haystack outside the yard, then turned around to sneak back for dinner.

  Bending over, in the kitchen of her own home, she rummaged through the cupboard with her younger sister, taking out a dried-up clay pot and stuffing it with a lot of rice. She poured the leftover mushroom stewed chicken from noon into it, the chicken was tender and the fragrance of the mushrooms pierced straight into her nostrils, making her feel like eating.

  This girl, how can she be hungry again just after eating?

  Suppressing the desire to eat, Xi Mei picked up the earthen jar and hid it outside before greeting Zhao Shi, "Mother, I want to go out and play for a while, is that okay?"

  "Alright, go ahead. Remember not to fight with other kids and come back early."

  She hadn't finished speaking when the person ran off without a trace, only leaving behind a soft and childish voice responding to her with "Got it..."

  Ran to the side of the thatched cottage, put the packed things on her back, and held a basket of food in her hand. The little girl started her heroic journey into the mountains...