Pang Fu was startled by the shout, dropping the mushrooms in her hand.
Qingqing Yin quickly hugged Pang Fu to comfort her: “Baby, don’t be scared, Mother is here.”
Her eyes glared at the speaker, devoid of any innocence, replaced by the cold sharpness unique to martial artists.
The newcomer was a dark, sturdy boy around ten years old, accompanied by five little followers, each with snot running down their faces, exuding the aura of petty troublemakers.
Suddenly meeting Qingqing Yin’s icy glare, they all paused in unison, their arrogant and cocky demeanor instantly deflated.
After regaining their composure, they grew angry and embarrassed: “What are you looking at, you bitch? I’m talking about you.
You’re all rotten seeds, worthless burdens. What right do you have to eat? Hand them over now, or I’ll beat you to death.”
[Hey, this little brat’s mouth is full of crap, so foul. Little master, beat him up.]
Pang Fu picked up a stone and threw it, hitting the boy right in the mouth.
[Beautiful.]
Pang Fu proudly lifted her triple-layered little chin.
The little one’s action came abruptly, without any warning, catching the other side off guard.
The boy covered his mouth and looked at Pang Fu in confusion, only to receive a fierce, milk-snapping glare from her.
Enraged, the boy let go of his mouth, spat out a tooth, and his mouth was stained with blood.
Looking at the tooth and blood in his hand, his expression shifted from anger to bewilderment. Then he opened his mouth and burst into tears.
“You just wait,” he threatened before fleeing with his followers in disgrace.
The mother and daughter watched their retreating figures, still a bit dazed.
But they only remained dazed for a second before happily resuming their search for mushrooms.
When Fu Yuhe noticed the mother and daughter were missing and anxiously ran to find them, the two came bouncing back, each with a pocketful of mushrooms, looking rather disheveled.
“Little sister, Xiaoshen, where did you go? Are you all right?”
“Yummy.” Pang Fu spread open her little pocket to show Fu Little Five and Fu Yuhe.
Looking at the colorful, tattered mushrooms mixed with countless weeds, leaves, and unknown debris—barely recognizable as mushrooms—Fu Little Five’s expression stiffened slightly. Are these even edible?
“Little sister, maybe we should just forget about these things?”
Pang Fu and Qingqing Yin didn’t understand, looking at Fu Little Five with confused, wide eyes. Forget what?
Fu Little Five… couldn’t bring himself to say “throw them away,” feeling like a terrible person.
Ah Hua and the others ran over, glanced at the pockets, and said, “Why are they all broken? If they were intact, we could dry them and take them to the supply and marketing cooperative to exchange for salt.”
Fu Little Five asked, “Are all of these edible?”
Ah Hua examined them carefully: “We’ve eaten most of these, a small part we haven’t tried, and some can make you go crazy if eaten. If they were whole, I could tell them apart, but since they’re all broken, I can’t identify everything.”
Fu Little Five hesitated: “I see.”
It would be a shame to throw them all away, but keeping them might upset their stomachs.
Seeing his face scrunched up like a bun, Ah Hua didn’t understand why he was so conflicted: “Just take them all back. The adults will definitely be able to tell which are edible. Mushroom soup is delicious. Fufu and Qingqing are amazing for finding so many. I won’t cut grass this afternoon—I’m going to look for some too.”
Fu Little Five thought it over and agreed: “So, should we head back now?”
Ah Hua nodded: “The grass is cut, the sheep are full, and we still have to go home to cook and bring food to the fields. It’s time to go back.”
Fu Little Five couldn’t understand it. Normally at home, there were aunties to help with cooking, or at the very least, they could buy food from outside. Occasionally, Father and Mother would cook, but they had never made the children do the cooking.
Ah Hua and the others looked a bit older than Xiao Liu, but could they really cook?
“You guys cook? But you’re so young, do you know how to cook?”
Ah Hua wore an expression of disdain, as if he were ignorant: “I’m not young anymore. I’ve been cooking since I was six. It’s very simple.
But Iron Bull and the other boys don’t have to cook, but they still have to go back. There are other chores at home they need to do.”
Fu Little Five scratched his head, not understanding but respecting their ways, and also thinking they were amazing: “Do you have to deliver food to the fields? Don’t the people working come back for lunch? Don’t they go home for a midday rest?”
Ah Hua had already slung the basket on his back and, along with the other little companions, started herding the sheep: “Of course we have to deliver it. It’s the busy farming season now. Going back and forth wastes time. Everyone has food delivered to the fields.
We’re too busy to even keep up, where would we find time for a midday rest? We country folk don’t take midday rests.
Your family has to deliver food too. Didn’t Third Master tell you?”
This Fu Little Five didn’t know. He took the broken mushrooms from Pang Fu’s pocket and followed behind, heading back, urging Pang Fu and her mother to keep up: “Maybe he did, I don’t know. I’ll go back and ask Grandpa and Grandma.”
“Alright.”
Going up the mountain was easy, but coming down was hard. Fu Little Five looked at these slopes, his head spinning and his legs weak. He practically slid down on his bottom, and the once fairly clean little boy instantly turned into a mud monkey.
Pang Fu seemed to have discovered some incredibly fun game and followed Fu Little Five down the mountain on her bottom too.
The dirt on the path had been packed down, with few stones. Sliding down the slope was smoother than skateboarding.
“Wow…” Pang Fu, using the power of her bottom, whooshed past everyone.
The other kids watched with envy, wanting to join in the fun, but unfortunately, they were all carrying baskets and couldn’t afford to fall—they’d get a beating.
They often played like this too, but their pants couldn’t take it, so many of the little kids had two big patches on their bottoms.
And every time they played like this and went home, they’d get a loving spanking, so they didn’t dare try it lightly.
Ah Hua offered advice from experience: “Fufu, watch your pants. Be careful your mom spanks you when you get home.”
Qingqing Yin ran after Pang Fu, flying down the slope: “Mommy doesn’t spank Baby. Baby plays.”
The little kids instantly envied Pang Fu. They wanted a mom like that too.
Fu Little Five, who had simply been trying to get down the mountain conveniently, was exhausted: “Fufu, be careful. Don’t slide off the edge.
Xiaoshen, hold on to her! Don’t run like that, it’s too dangerous.”
Fu Little Five was left far behind, inching his way down on his bottom, his small figure looking particularly pitiful.
Baba was also worried sick, constantly urging Pang Fu to slow down, slow down—though it was useless.
Finally, they reached the bottom of the mountain, and the kids each went home.
Fu Little Five could finally walk upright again. He glanced at the mother and daughter, who had once again been distracted by the little flowers by the roadside, and ran home first.
When he reached the small, dilapidated shed at the end of the village, Old Master Fu and Fu Little Four, Fu Yuhao, had already cut two large baskets of thatch grass and were drying them.
Grandma Fu had also tidied up the things that hadn’t been put away yesterday and had even made a simple division of the shed.
The sleeping area was for sleeping, and the eating area was for eating.
The Fu Family had always been very particular about food, clothing, shelter, and daily necessities. Now, without the conditions, they still tried to make things as good as possible.
The shed needs to be patched up as soon as possible, and another kitchen must be built. Breakfast was cooked over a makeshift stove made of a few stones in the open air, nearly turning everyone into smoked jerky.
If it rains, everything will be ruined.
“Grandpa, Grandma, we’re back.”
The walk down the mountain had worn Fu Little Five out completely. His little face was flushed red, he was drenched in sweat, and he was covered in mud from head to toe.
His clothes were also filled with broken mushrooms. In the morning, he had left as a neat little boy, but now he looked like a wild monkey from the mountains.
The elderly couple came out to greet him: “Oh, why are you covered in mud? Did you get into a fight?”
Fu Little Five chuckled: “No, I’m just not used to walking on mountain paths. I basically slid down the whole way. My sister and Xiaoshen are behind me. These are the mushrooms they picked. I’m not sure if they’re edible.”
The old couple looked at the bag of broken bits and couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.