12dz Chapter 11 The Scent of the "Fugitive"
Chapter 11 The Scent of the "Fugitive"
"An hour?" Gao Mengli frowned.
It means it takes more than two hours to walk there... that's quite a long time...
What to do? She really wants to give up.
Lin Xi turned her head and saw Gao Mengli looking constipated, and almost burst out laughing.
He quickly came out of the kitchen and gently patted her shoulder.
"It's time for my wife to get some work done!"
After Lin Xi finished speaking, she covered her lips with her hand and laughed happily.
Gao Mengli was even angrier and glared at him.
Gao Mengli: Still laughing? Their house is so poor that even rats pity them. They try to earn some money so they can avoid eating coarse food.
Lin Xi: I understand, I understand. We can take an oxcart; we won't walk.
With years of tacit understanding, the two know each other very well, and there is no problem communicating with each other through eye contact.
It must be tough on Da Niu; I wonder what his parents are trying to communicate with through their eyes.
Lin Xi handed the basket on the ground to Da Niu, "Go with your mother and pick some elm seeds. We'll try selling cornbread in the county town tomorrow."
Da Niu's eyes lit up with joy. He felt that the cornbread was a delicacy, and it would be a waste not to sell it and make some money.
He quickly took it and obediently followed behind Gao Mengli, who was carrying a basket on her back.
The two wandered around for a while, until they arrived at the small hill behind, where the elm seeds were growing very well.
He didn't know before that these tree leaves were edible!
Every household just gathers wild vegetables from the fields, because their parents gamble and drink, making them the poorest family in the whole village.
Even with the drought, every household still had some stored grain, so it wasn't time to eat tree leaves yet.
Otherwise, if even one villager hadn't succumbed to the poison and had tried eating the elm seeds without collapsing, then that patch of elm seeds wouldn't have been left, and his family wouldn't be in this situation now.
At home, we bought two and a half pounds of wheat flour. We used half a pound, so we have two pounds left. They need to eat breakfast tomorrow morning and dinner tonight. It seems like we only have about one pound of wheat flour left, which is enough for about 30 elm seed steamed buns.
Gao Mengli pondered this in her heart, feeling somewhat ashamed.
The business started in a somewhat comical way, but something is better than nothing.
She quickly put down her basket and began picking elm seeds.
Gao Mengli deftly picked elm seeds, quickly placing clusters of tender green seeds into her basket.
As she picked elm seeds, her thoughts drifted.
Da Niu didn't slack off either, and diligently followed Gao Mengli's movements to pick elm seeds.
Before long, the basket on her back was full, and Da Niu's hand basket was also full. Gao Mengli straightened up and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"That's enough, stop picking. We'll pick more when we're done using them," Gao Mengli quickly called out to Da Niu, who was still picking elm seeds.
Da Niu felt it was a bit of a pity, but thinking that the elm seeds wouldn't run away, he had no choice but to stop.
Gao Mengli carried the basket on her back. The mountain path was uneven, so she reached out her hand to Da Niu, afraid that he would fall while carrying the basket, and prepared to lead him home.
Da Niu stared blankly at Gao Mengli's outstretched hand, who was carrying a basket on her back, and couldn't believe it.
Does his mother mean to lead him by the hand?
He shook his head vigorously; it couldn't be that. He couldn't have misunderstood.
He simply handed the basket full of elm seeds to his mother.
Gao Mengli felt a sudden weight in her hand and quickly grabbed it.
Turning her head, she saw that her adopted son had hung the basket on her hand.
She was exasperated. Oh well, let her bring it up. It's better if her son comes down empty-handed.
She carried a basket and a slung over her shoulder, and walked back without saying a word.
Seeing Gao Mengli like this, Da Niu breathed a sigh of relief; he had guessed his mother's thoughts.
But he also felt a pang of regret; he longed to take his mother with him.
When the two returned home, Lin Xi had already washed the clothes in the yard and hung them on the rope.
Meanwhile, the other person was cleaning the kitchen. After cleaning the kitchen until it was spotless, he nodded in satisfaction.
Hearing the commotion in the yard, he quickly came out of the kitchen and took the basket from Gao Mengli's back and the carrying basket from her hands.
This thing was quite heavy; he almost couldn't catch it.
"Honey, go and rest for a bit. I'll make dinner."
Gao Mengyao nodded and decided to go inside to "lie dead".
Lin Xi looked at Da Niu, whose face was covered in sweat, and felt a little sorry for him. "You should go too!"
"Dad, I'm not tired, I'll wash with you!" Da Niu replied obediently, placing a large basin next to the well water, ready to help.
Seeing that he was determined, Lin Xi didn't make any further demands. It's only right for a boy to do more housework.
The father and son then emptied half of the elm seeds from the basket.
Then start washing and draining the water.
For dinner, Lin Xi took out the fish and made fish soup.
The milky white fish soup simmered in the pot, emitting an enticing aroma.
When loading the package, some scallions were added. The aroma was so enticing that Da Niu wished he could drown in it.
The aroma, like a fugitive, wafted out of the kitchen, then out of the yard, and into the presence of everyone in the old house.
Like a charming woman, she kissed and winked at everyone in the old house.
Lin Yong, who was doing woodworking in the yard, could hardly stop drooling from his mouth. "What is this eldest son's family stewing? It smells so good!"
Jiang glared at him, "What do you care what those two good-for-nothings are stewing?"
She said that, but she couldn't help but take a few deep breaths, letting her nose "eat" its fill first.
Lin Yong shrank back after being glared at by Jiang, but his eyes still kept glancing towards Lin Xi's kitchen.
The aroma was so enticing that he couldn't concentrate on his woodworking at all.
Seeing that the whole family was standing in the corner of the courtyard, Jiang quickly asked her third daughter-in-law to help set out the meal.
She also stewed fish today. Although it tasted a bit fishy, the aroma coming from next door made it very appetizing.
Her third daughter-in-law heated up the elm seed buns that Da Niu had brought over and gave each person a small piece.
When they tasted the elm seed steamed buns, they realized that this was a top-notch delicacy. The unique texture and fragrance were a taste they had never experienced before.
Lin Chi, the third oldest, exclaimed in surprise, "This is so delicious! How can my eldest brother have such amazing cooking skills???"
He ate the small steamed bun, which was only the size of a thumb, bit by bit, as if afraid it might be the last time he would ever taste this delicacy.
"I guess they learned it somewhere when they were fooling around in the county town." Although Jiang didn't want to admit that Lin Xi was her son, she couldn't resist the delicious food after taking a bite.
The whole family simply moved the table in the yard closer to Lin Xi's house. They ate a bite of coarse rice and smelled the aroma wafting from next door, which made the meal taste exceptionally delicious.
In the evening, the two of them, having finished their meal, washed up and went back to their room to sleep.
Da Niu cleared away the dishes and noticed a little fish soup floating on the bottom of the pot in the kitchen. He quickly scooped it out with a small spoon and put it in his mouth, squinting his eyes happily.
These past two days have felt like a dream!