Lu Xu picked one up and put it in his mouth. It was sour and sweet!
Wild mulberries are small, the largest ones are no longer than the length of the little finger. Some of them fall off before they turn purple. They taste more sour than the ones he bought before, but they are better than nothing. No one specializes in cultivating mulberries in this era.
Lu Xu put down the basket and picked up all the mulberries on the ground first. There was grass under the tree and no one was passing by. No one stepped on it and no cars ran over it. Many of the newly fallen mulberries were still alive. He pulled a few large reed leaves from the bottom of the basket, made them into small pockets, put the mulberries in and arranged them in the basket.
Not wanting those that had been eaten by insects or pecked by birds, Lu Xu picked through them and picked up two large handfuls.
He looked up at the mulberry trees on the mountain, tried his hand at the rock wall, and relied on the rock climbing skills he had learned before to find a rock climbing point and climb up.
Wild mountains are much more difficult to climb than rock climbing gyms, but the grass roots in the cracks in the rocks are strong and can help him cheat. Lu Xu slowly climbed up the tree.
The two trees were not big, their trunks were no thicker than an arm, but they were quite tall. Lu Xu stood steady holding the branches with his left hand, picked the purple and black ones with his right hand, and threw them into his cuffs.
I picked everything I could, but if I couldn't reach it, I had to leave it to the birds.
As for the newly red and white ones, let them continue to grow, and he will come back to pick them up another day.
Lu Xu clenched his cuffs and jumped down from the tree, then loosened his cuffs and poured it into the basket. Unknowingly, he picked a lot!
Lu Xu weighed it and said, "I picked up two pounds of mulberries for nothing, and I made a profit!"
He saved fifteen cents on the boat fare, forty cents on one pound of mulberries, and eighty cents on two catties of mulberries. How could he pick up more than two catties, rounding off and earning a hundred cents in vain!
Lu Xu was having fun. He was no longer tired. He pulled a piece of grass from the roadside and dangled it in his hand. He jumped and trotted along while walking.
***
Besides, at home, Yuan Manniang sent Lu Xu out, and in December she was clamoring to go to the river to see her brother.
It took Lu Xu half an hour to reach the town, and he still had to wait for the boat to get on the boat. How could the boat pass by Lujia Village so quickly? But having said that, Yuan Manniang still packed some clothes and took La Yue to the river to wash clothes.
Lu Zhou also wants to go, but the relationship between the eldest brother and his sister has finally improved. He, he should look after the house!
Lu Zhou washed the pots and dishes, cleaned the kitchen and yard, and started chopping firewood.
He was young and weak, so he couldn't split the thick tree trunks, so he could only fold and pile up the branches that had not been picked up yet. There was not much dry firewood left and he had to pick it up. Just as he was thinking about it, Lu Zhou heard that Lu Rui had woken up and skillfully helped Lu Rui urinate, wash his face, and feed him.
But Lu Rui was not very interested in the clear rice porridge. He turned his head, avoided the spoon, and lay on Lu Zhou's shoulder without eating.
Lu Zhou saw that he really didn't want to eat, so he took him to the chicken pen to collect eggs.
A few days ago, their family was short of money, so they sold all the chickens and ducks they had raised, leaving only one hen that laid eggs. Lu Rui knew that the eggs were for him to eat, so he couldn't run smoothly and dared to chase the chicken as soon as his feet landed. Lu Zhou was afraid that he would be pecked, so he took him into his arms and took away the only egg amidst the hen's cuckling protest.
Beat up, add water, and steam the eggs.
Lu Rui knew that Lu Zhou was going to make food for him, so he was honest. When Lu Zhou was lighting the fire, he wandered around in the open space of the kitchen. When he fell, he turned to look at Lu Zhou. Seeing that his brother was not paying attention, he got up and continued walking.
After the eggs were steamed, Lu Rui had another objection when Lu Zhou added soy sauce and sesame oil. He ordered Lu Zhou to add more.
But Lu Zhou remained unmoved and accurately controlled the amount, giving him only one drop.
Lu Rui: "Ah..."
Lu Zhou closed the lid coldly.
Sesame oil is too expensive, so you have to save some.
Lu Zhou used a spoon to break up some custard and fed it to Lu Rui. Lu Rui protested and refused to eat. He turned his head and pointed at the sesame oil jar and said "Ahhh."
Lu Zhou: "It's already delicious. If you don't want to eat it, I will."
Lu Rui: "..."
He curled his lips and opened them in aggrieved tone.
If his sister and father were here, they would give him more. My second brother is just like my mother, cold and ruthless!
After feeding Lu Rui, Lu Zhou scooped up all the broken egg custard on the edge of the bowl and ate it before washing the dishes. Before Yuan Manniang and December came back, he held Lu Rui and dragged the grass to feed the pigs and chickens.
When she came back in the twelfth lunar month, she happily told him that her brother was sitting on a big boat and wanted to buy her candy. Lu Zhou felt sour and regretful, and he wanted to see it too.
Why.
I don’t know if my brother’s success in selling snails in the county is going well.
Lu Zhou asked Yan Junqi worriedly.
Yan Junqi helped Lu Xu look after his siblings as promised. After Wen Zhen finished eating, he went to Lu's house to ask Lu Zhou and La Yue to come home and teach them to recite poems.
Wen Zhen recited the Ai Ai every now and then, and she couldn't recite it in the twelfth month. Lu Zhou silently recited it, and then followed Yan Junqi to learn to write on the ground.
He can already write his and his family's names, as well as their place of origin.
After Wen Zhen finished memorizing it and happily took the twelfth moon to play with the leaves, Lu Zhou asked Yan Junqi if his brother's sale of snails would be successful.
Yan Junqi didn't know either, but thinking about Lu Xu's performance in the town, he speculated: "Brother Xu is smart. There are more people in the county than in the town, so he will definitely be able to sell out."
Lu Zhou nodded.
He hasn't been to the county seat yet and doesn't know what it looks like. From Yan Junqi's description, it seems bigger than two Yinma towns. Silently thinking in his mind, he said goodbye to Yan Junqi, told Tie Yue not to run around, put the basket on his back, and took an empty cloth bag to cut the grass.
Lu Xu walked around the last mountain humming a tuneless song, and saw his silly brother cutting grass alone by the stream at the foot of the mountain.
This place is already a bit far away from the village, and children in the village usually wouldn't come here.
What should you do if you are snatched away by a wolf?
Lu Xu shouted: "Lu Zhou!"
The silly brother heard the shouting and turned around to look at him, his eyes full of surprise, "Brother!"
Lu Xu was very surprised that their family with facial paralysis could be so lively. Hey, forget it, the child must be encouraged and educated. He rubbed Lu Zhou's little fleshy face and asked, "Why are you here alone?"
"There are a lot of snails here."
Only then did Lu Xu see that there was a cloth bag tied around his waist. It was wet and already contained more than half a bag of snails.
"Don't pick it up, let's go, go home." Lu Xu untied the bag and threw it into a basket full of grass. When he weighed it, it was quite heavy! I don't know how Lu Zhou carried back baskets of grass before.
He and Lu Zhou changed the baskets on their backs and carried the grass on their backs. "Don't pretend to be so heavy in the future. You won't grow taller if you keep it so heavy for a long time, you know?"
Lu Zhou complied obediently and ran to the back to help him hold the bottom of the basket, "Brother, is the county big?"
Lu Xu laughed and said, "It's not big. I'll take you for a walk another day."
Lu Zhou shook his head.
He asked, but the road was too far and he couldn't walk that far. It would cost fifteen cents to take a boat.
Lu Xu didn't know what was going on in his little head, all he could think about was going home to share the fruits.
"Twelfth lunar month! Look, do you recognize them?" Lu Xu unloaded the basket and took out a handful of mulberries from inside.
Layue, Xiaoman, and Shuixiu took Lu Rui to play house in front of their house, when they heard that the three little radish heads ran over with their younger brother Diandian, "Mulberry!"
Lu Xu gave them a bag and gave Lu Zhou a bag, "Take it and eat it. If you don't finish it, dry it in the sun and soak it in water to drink later."
When it was Lu Rui's turn, Lu Xu looked at his little brother who was holding his legs and said "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". After thinking about it, he didn't know whether such a small child could eat it. He didn't understand it, but he couldn't eat it! He stuffed the mulberries back into the basket and rubbed the few hairs on Lu Rui's head, "Let's go play."
Lu Rui was shocked, Lu Rui was in disbelief, Lu Rui felt wronged, and Lu Rui burst into tears.
When Yuan Manniang and Third Grandma heard the commotion and ran out, they saw Lu Xu giving out candies to several children. After all, she is his sister, so he can't be too stingy.
Lu Xu looked at the sugar dregs on her fingertips, and then she had an idea and wiped it to Lu Rui's mouth, "Stop crying, I don't know if you can eat it."
Lu Rui licks it, it’s sweet! He hadn't eaten the candy yet, but he was instantly captured by the sweetness. He blinked in disbelief as he savored the taste he had just licked.
It's not an illusion, it's real!
He grabbed Lu Xu's arm, looked into his hand and the paper bag, and opened his mouth wide at Lu Xu: "Ah!"
Lu Xu saw that his eyelashes were still wet and he was opening his mouth like a little chicken asking for food. He was speechless and funny, "You only have six teeth and you still want to eat candy? Call me brother. I'll give you a lick after I've said it."
Lu Rui shouted "Ahhhh" anxiously.
Yuan Manniang came over and picked up Lu Rui, "How can he call him brother? You just eat."
The third grandma also came to ask Lu Xu about the situation in the county. After greetings, she asked Lu Xu to rest and led Shuixiu away. Sugar is not cheap, and the Lu family has just turned a corner. Shuixiu is not good at eating and handling it here.
Xiao Man got the candy and half a pocket of mulberries, and happily took La Yue to her house to play.
After sending away the little carrots, Lu Xu poured a bowl of water, took out the broken silver and change from the bottom of the basket and handed it to Yuan Maniang.
Yuan Manniang's eyes filled with tears, "When we have saved enough five taels, we will return it to your aunt first."
Lu Xu had no objection: "Okay."
His aunt's mother-in-law's family hadn't been separated yet, so she was under a lot of pressure to lend him five taels.
Lu Xu poured all the mulberries into a small shallow basket, then turned out the seaweed that was pressed underneath, and said excitedly: "I bought seaweed, let's make seaweed egg drop soup tonight."
Yuan Manniang didn't know what seaweed and egg drop soup was, and Lu Xu wanted to make it, so she said, "I'll borrow two eggs later."
Lu Xu smacked his tongue silently, forgetting that their family was almost running out of chickens. He pretended to be mulberry, "I'm going to find Jun Qi."
"Go and play more." Yuan Manniang looked at him lovingly as he went out. Lu Xu suspected that in her eyes, he was about the same age as Lu Zhou.
He shook his head, took out the rabbit hair pen from his arms and walked to Yan Junqi's window.
Yan Junqi was reading silently when the window was opened a crack from the outside and a new writing brush was stuffed through the crack.
"Brother Xu?"
Lu Xu leaned close to the crack of the window, smiled at him, raised the mulberry in his hand, "Wait for me for a while."
Yan Junqi put down his pen and walked out of the study quickly. Lu Xu had already strolled outside his door.
"Mulberry, do you want to eat it?"
Yan Junqi washed the mulberries and brought them into the study. While they were eating Lu Xu, they told him about the copying, "I think your writing is quite good, but the pen is bald and the pen is less elegant. You use a new pen to make it more elegant." Write, pick out the good ones and give me two, and I'll show them to the bookstore."
Yan Junqi held the rabbit hair pen and said movedly: "Okay."
He asked again, "Brother Xu, how much does this cost?"
Lu Xu said indifferently: "It's not much money, so you use it first, and then you can pay me back when you have money later. If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools, and you must invest first in everything you do, do you understand?"
Yan Junqi responded with a smile.
He clapped his hands and stood up, "Then you practice calligraphy. I'll go home and cook."
When he returned home, Yuan Manniang not only borrowed eggs, but also brought back a bowl of hot steamed buns freshly baked from the third grandma's house. They were hot, soft, white, fat, cute, and sweet to chew!
© 2010-2020 quanben-xiaoshuo.com