Liu Sitian didn’t need anyone to carry her; her short little legs scrambled incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye she had lunged a great distance away without even showing signs of tiredness.
It quite terrified Grandma Liu and Li Sufen, who kept shouting from behind.
Ultimately, Liu Mancang couldn’t bear to watch further, fearing she was overreaching and would tire herself out, so he scooped her up into his arms in one movement.
Li Sufen also held her for a little while during the journey. Because their pace was swift, they arrived at the pine forest in less than half an hour.
“Wow, Grandma, look quickly, so many mushrooms.” Liu Sitian had sharp eyes and spotted them just as they entered.
These three types of mushrooms were easy to recognize, and their area didn’t have that many poisonous mushrooms. The names given to them were also simple and direct: the yellow ones were yellow mushrooms, and likewise, the grey ones were grey mushrooms.
The only difference lay with the sticky bun mushrooms.
The stem of the sticky bun mushroom was yellow, while its surface was a bit red. The mushroom cap was dark red, yet the underside of the cap was pure yellow.
The surface of the mushroom was sticky; it felt tacky to the touch and had many pine needles stuck to it. When eating them, the thin layer of skin on top had to be peeled off.
The texture was smooth, fragrant, tender, and delicious.
Liu Sitian was a Northeasterner in her past life. Although her memories of the countryside weren’t deep, every autumn the morning and night markets in the city still sold these, so she remembered clearly.
“Oh, there really are quite a lot, growing in patches.” Grandma Liu leaned closer to take a look, and sure enough, it was true. “The mushroom harvest is bountiful this year.”
Squatting beside her granddaughter, the grandmother and granddaughter began placing them into the basket one by one. In no time at all, they had gathered half a basketful.
Everyone else had also gathered quite a large amount.
Their hands and feet were much more nimble.
“The mushrooms are growing really thick this year. Look at these little mushroom buds, they must have come out in just one night. We truly picked the right day to come today.”
“Exactly. This year mushrooms have even grown inside the soybean fields and along the roots of the fences at home. Last year wouldn’t do; last year there weren’t many on the mountains at all.” Li Sufen stood up to straighten her waist and said with a smile.
“Your Auntie Qi in the village is in poor health and can’t go up the mountain, so she just gathers some along the roots of people’s fences from house to house, and no one is unwilling.
When we go back, you go deliver some more to her.”
Li Sufen answered crisply.
Liu Sitian knew about the Auntie Qi that Grandma Liu spoke of; she was a recipient of the five-guarantees support in the village and was also a woman of a bitter fate. It was said that back in 1959, when there was truly not much food left at home, her son carried her on his back to look for food in the mountains.
During that era, the tree bark, tree leaves, and grass roots on the mountains were all gone; if one wanted to find food, they had to go into the deep mountains.
The deep mountains held wild boars and wolves, and it was said they were even wolf packs.
The neighboring production brigade happened to experience wolves coming down the mountain and being raided; it was heard to be quite miserable. Not only were the domestic poultry all eaten, but even a few commune members who didn’t manage to run back home in time were harmed.
When animals grew frantic from hunger, they would come down the mountain.
She had heard her grandma instruct her grandpa to by all means build the front gate of their house tall, large, and sturdy, not like the old Chen family in the neighboring Hongxing Production Brigade.
The whole family hid inside the house, yet they were still raided by wolves, and the elderly person in the house was directly lost.
When it came down to it, wasn’t it just being too lazy?
The front gate they built wasn’t sturdy at all, being low and thin; a strong man could kick a hole right through it.
Even the house was low, squat, and exceptionally flimsy.
It was heard that if the brigade leader hadn’t led people there in time, the entire Chen family would have been finished.
To return to the main point.
The Qi family’s son went into the deep mountains to look for food. Food wasn’t found, but he encountered a wild boar. Fleeing frantically, his foot slipped, and he rolled down into a mountain hollow.
He injured his waist and lost quite a lot of blood from his leg. By the time the people searching found him, he was already unconscious, his face pale as paper.
Sent to the hospital, his life was saved, but he was paralyzed. Not only was the money at home completely spent, but they also borrowed a lot outside.
That was the sole seedling of the old Qi family.
His wife, Feng Xiangxiu, was quite good; through thick and thin, she cared for him, cared for her mother-in-law, and cared for her son who was only 2 years old at the time.
At an age of twenty-odd years, she looked as old as forty.
Her maternal family didn’t help either; by the way, her maternal family belonged to the Hongxing Production Brigade.
Thinking of this, Liu Sitian curled her lip. She heard her grandma say—of course, this was again from her eavesdropping when she was a few months old—that back when the Qi family was well-off, the maternal family frequently came to take advantage of them.
Look at how it was now: if the daughter dared to show up at the door during festivals, the maternal family could drive her out using a large broom.
Feng Xiangxiu was also a strong-willed person and never returned to her maternal family again.
Now the two families could be considered as having no interactions.
At any rate, the impression of the Hongxing Production Brigade in her heart wasn’t very good.
While Liu Sitian was thinking this way, her hands weren’t slow, and her legs were nimble too. Running here a bit and running there a bit, before long, Grandma Liu’s basket was full.
Liu Sitian nodded with satisfaction; she was just this capable. “Grandma, didn’t you say that Uncle likes to eat the mushrooms from our old home?
When they are dried, we’ll mail more to Uncle in a few days.”
“Alright, our Tiantian still remembers your Uncle? I don’t know if your Uncle and his family can come back for New Year this year, you haven’t even met him yet.”
She herself also hadn’t seen him for nearly five years.
Seeing that the old lady was feeling down, Li Sufen took up the conversation and said with a chuckle, “How could she not know? A tiny person like her has eaten no small amount of things mailed by her Uncle; that milk powder and malted milk extract all went into her mouth.
And the cloth coupons and food coupons her Uncle mailed home, weren’t they all used on her.”
Having said that, she also tapped Tiantian’s little head. “She is the smallest person, yet she has the most clothes.”
It was indeed quite a lot, and she didn’t wear hand-me-downs that her brothers didn’t want; they were all new.
The absolute number one in the Erhe Production Brigade.
Speaking of these things, Grandma Liu also smiled. Setting the basket aside, she found a dry spot and plopped right down on the ground.
From her cloth pouch, she took out the largest and reddest tomato to hand to Liu Sitian first, then took out four cucumbers—one for each of them adults.
By this time, the sun had come out, and it was a bit muggy inside the forest. Eating something watery was simply too wonderful.
“These cucumbers are just like the very first harvest that bears in the summer. Look at them, not only is each one straight, but they even have flowers on top and thorns when picked.”
Li Sufen spoke while taking a bite of cucumber.
Liu Mancang also agreed, “Mmh, the cucumber flavor is also exceptionally good this year, the taste is rich. Taking a bite, the crisp fragrance can be smelled all around.
Earlier, when our family’s cucumbers came in early and the Third Brother’s family’s weren’t ready to eat yet, they all said it was good when we sent some to his house. They said it was even a bit sweetish, and even asked if our family had changed seeds.
Mom, our family is still using the old seeds, we haven’t changed them, right?”
After Liu Mancang finished speaking, he looked up at his mother.
Grandma Liu: ????
Was that a change or no change?
Glancing from the corner of her eye at her granddaughter, whose face was covered in tomato juice from eating, she said calmly, “We didn’t change them, right?”
Hmm?
Weren’t the cucumber seedlings tied by his mother?
How could she not know.
Liu Mancang looked at his mother in confusion, thinking he had misheard. Just as he was about to speak, he heard his father say, “They were changed. I ran into someone at the commune and bought them quietly, so I didn’t make a fuss.
The seeds weren’t many, so we didn’t give any to your third brother’s family. This year we kept quite a lot of old cucumbers at home for seeds, we’ll give them next year.”
Grandma Liu: “…” At critical moments, it still had to be the old man.
Liu Sitian blinked her eyes, swallowed the remaining tomato in one bite, tossed the tomato stalk away, and obediently waited for her grandma to wipe her face.
Grandfather Liu, Grandma Liu: It seems our granddaughter doesn’t know.