Chapter 848: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 848: Unexpected Competition (1)
After eating and drinking for an hour, exhausting all the ingredients, everyone relaxed in the wicker chairs, savoring the delicious grilled meat and vegetables.
Mo Yan cleaned up the grilling tools and, pointing to a nearby mountain peak, suggested, "Let’s go climb the mountain to digest, and maybe we can find some spring bamboo shoots up there."
The suggestion was immediately met with unanimous approval: "We should climb the mountain, or we might as well skip dinner!"
Everyone said this as they got up and placed the cooking tools and chairs into bamboo baskets. This time, they didn’t want Xiao Ruiyuan to carry everything alone. Even Han Zhiyun, who was strong from practicing martial arts, helped carry two baskets down the mountain.
Li Xiu found several small hoes for digging bamboo shoots from the storage room, and except for a few small children who couldn’t lift them, everyone else had a hoe in hand.
With hoes in hand and water bags on their backs, everyone chatted and laughed as they made their way to the mountain.
The mountain wasn’t far, located on the outskirts of Yuhua Mountain. It was covered in dense bamboo, with a gentle slope. There were no large wild animals, only snakes, insects, and rodents. Because of its easy climb and low danger, villagers often went there to dig bamboo shoots or cut bamboo for making fences.
About a quarter of an hour later, they arrived at the foot of the mountain. The lush bamboo forest above them filled the air with a fresh bamboo scent that energized everyone.
Since people often went up the mountain, a small path had formed. Following the path, they saw many bamboo shoots poking out of the soil. These were mostly old shoots, which weren’t worth harvesting, so they ignored them.
As they reached a shaded area, where the bamboo grew slower, they discovered small, tender bamboo shoots peeking out from the ground. These shoots were perfect for cooking—lightly stir-fried, cold dressed, stewed in broth, or braised with meat, all delicious ways to enjoy them.
"Wow, there’s a whole patch of shoot tips here, there must be lots of bamboo shoots under the soil! Come quick!" Zhen'er exclaimed, pointing to the ground, then bent down and started digging with the smallest hoe, aiming for one of the young shoots.
Seeing the abundance of bamboo shoots, everyone quickly gathered around, ready to start digging. Suddenly, Han Zhiyun spoke up, "Let’s each pick a shoot tip and see who can dig up the biggest bamboo shoot. What do you think?"
Master Liu stroked his beard and laughed, "That sounds like fun! But instead of everyone competing together, how about we form pairs? The winners of each round go on to the next, until we find the ultimate winner."
"Good idea!" Everyone said in unison, their eyes lighting up.
Zhen’er put down his hoe, running over with a grin, "But there needs to be a prize! The loser should give the winner a prize, something more than just gold and silver, something clever or useful. That way, it’ll be more fun."
"You little rascal, you can’t leave anything out!" Mo Qingze laughed and scolded, but he didn’t reject his son’s suggestion.
Han Zhiyun ruffled Zhen'er’s head and smiled, "We’ll do it your way, but if you lose, no crying, alright?"
Zhen’er proudly lifted his head, "A real man accepts defeat, only weaklings cry after losing!"
"Good, you’ve got some spirit!" Han Zhiyun, in his excitement, forgot for a moment that the boy was only nine years old. He gave Zhen’er a firm pat on the shoulder, making the boy wince in pain but not cry out.
Realizing his mistake, Han Zhiyun quickly rubbed Zhen’er’s shoulder and, clearly pleased with the child’s resilience, half-jokingly said to Mo Qingze, "Zhen’er and Li’er are about the same age, what do you think about arranging a marriage between them? That’ll make us even closer!"
(End of Chapter)
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