After listening to the explanation.
Mother Li patted her chest, "Fortunately, Minmin thought it through. Otherwise, in that kind of family, Minmin, with her carefree nature, would have been bullied."
"Heh heh." Tian Jing chuckled, "Even in her own home, she was bullied into not distinguishing between good and bad."
"Sister-in-law~ You're bringing up the past again!" Li Min said shyly and annoyed.
"Because the past is not so easy to let go of. The past is the present that has been completed, the present is the future of the past, and countless pasts can achieve the present..."
After Li Min was dizzy from her sister-in-law's words, her sister-in-law returned to the west room.
Tian Jing washed up with the hot water brought in by Li Zhengguo. She wanted to sleep early, as she had a lot to do tomorrow.
After breakfast the next day, Chen Suozhu came over with the vermicelli. Aunt Li had picked some up at noon yesterday. He didn't know if the Li family would need it today, so he brought it along just in case.
After Li Zhengguo had dried the vermicelli, he brought out tools and wood and asked Chen Suozhu to start working, while he went to the neighbor's to ask Brother Wang and his son to help with the fence.
For his house, a bamboo fence was more suitable. There was plenty of Moso bamboo on the back mountain. If it was cut in large quantities, as long as they reported it, it would be fine. Unlike cutting trees, which required a permit and some fees. Su Dan Novel Network.
Hearing that the Li family needed a bamboo fence, Brother Wang and his eldest son immediately took their machetes up the mountain.
"Don't worry, we'll make sure it's done perfectly. You go back to your work. Haven't you borrowed a lot of wood to take back?"
"Thank you, Brother Wang and nephew Hongwei."
"You're too polite, kid. Neighbors are better than distant relatives. Why are we being so polite?"
Tian Jing, carrying a basket, was about to go up the mountain. Before leaving, she found fault with Li Zhengguo, "You didn't keep your word. Where is my bamboo basket?"
"I'll weave it for you this afternoon. Brother Wang and his son are going up the mountain to cut Moso bamboo for the fence, and I'll set aside a few pieces." Li Zhengguo explained busily, he was truly busy.
"Alright." Tian Jing was very happy to hear that they were building a fence. "Make it dense, so people can't see what's happening in our yard from far away."
"Mhm." Li Zhengguo had the same idea. Otherwise, his sister would be suffocated in the house.
"Should I make lunch?" Tian Jing asked the crucial question.
"Keep them for lunch."
"Then I'll go gather more wild vegetables."
"Mhm, go early and come back early."
Although Li Zhengguo wanted to accompany her into the mountains, he had too much work on his hands. He had to finish his tasks before he could ask to accompany Tian Tian into the mountains.
"Understood." Tian Jing picked up her basket and left.
Mother Li looked at her son, then thought of her daughter-in-law's fighting spirit. She decided to rest at home and recuperate. Once her health improved, she could help.
This time, Tian Jing didn't have to look for wild vegetables at the foot of the mountain anymore. She quickly ran into the mountains, looking for both wild vegetables and fruits.
Wang Hongwei, who was cutting bamboo, looked up and saw a figure flash by. When he looked closely, he saw nothing. Was he hallucinating?
Tian Jing ran happily. Feeling that she was near the edge of the deep mountains, she stopped to look for wild vegetables and planted the nightshade.
Only these few nightshade seeds were left. She wanted to harvest a batch, and if she couldn't find other wild fruits, nightshade could still be a substitute.
Soon, she harvested two batches of nightshade, but looking at the size of the nightshade, Tian Jing was a little uneasy. She looked for other wild fruits. If there were none, she would give up.
After searching in a circle, she not only found physalis, but also dandelion and bitter thistle.
She ripened these three types, sowed the seeds, and after three cycles, Tian Jing picked a fully ripe physalis, peeled off the skin, and bit into the fruit. The bitterness was gone, and there was a hint of sweetness. Well, this was acceptable.
After picking half a basket of physalis, she destroyed the remaining vegetation by absorbing their energy.
She covered the dandelion and bitter thistle with the physalis and filled her basket. She also put half a bag of seeds into it and went down the mountain, so she wouldn't have to keep searching and ripening them once winter arrived.
As she walked, she ate the nightshade that was not suitable for appearing. When she reached the foot of the mountain, she saw children digging for wild vegetables and avoided them, so they wouldn't see the wild vegetables in her basket.
A few days ago, when she and Li Zhengguo, who was dragging a wild boar, came down the mountain, she saw these children digging through the dry grass under the bushes.
She walked to the back of the Li family's kitchen and saw someone busy on the west side. She then discovered the boundary stones, six boundary stones in a row, belonging to three families?
Rounding the kitchen, she saw four people busy with the fence, two inside and two outside. She would have to cook more food.
Seeing Tian Jing return, Li Zhengguo introduced her, "Tian Tian, the one working opposite Wang Hongwei is Brother Wang. The other two are Brother Yang Jianjun from the village secretary's family and his son Yang Lei."
"Brother Wang, Brother Jianjun, Yang Lei, Wang Hongwei, thank you for coming to help. Please stay for lunch. I dug up fresh wild vegetables. We still have work to do after lunch, so I'm not being polite."
Tian Jing's gaze swept over Brother Wang, who was indeed the middle-aged man in her memory who used to chase and beat Li Zhengguo. Yang Jianjun was a dark and thin man in his thirties, and Yang Lei was a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy.
Facing the pretty Tian Jing, Yang Lei blushed slightly and looked at his father uncomfortably.
Yang Jianjun shook his head, "We'll be neighbors from now on. It's just a small favor, no need to be so polite."
Hmm? Tian Jing was puzzled by his words, but still insisted on keeping them for lunch, "If you don't stay for lunch, I'll send you home after the work is done."
Brother Wang smiled and agreed, "I heard you're a good cook. Today, we'll shamelessly stay and try your cooking."
Since Brother Wang agreed, Yang Jianjun couldn't refuse and also agreed to stay for lunch.
Tian Jing walked towards the kitchen. The four men then saw the almost overflowing basket, indeed a lot of wild vegetables were dug up. They were relieved, with wild vegetables, it wouldn't be too difficult for the Li family.
Mother Li, who was making dough in the kitchen, called out happily when she heard her daughter-in-law had returned. "Tian Jing, put down the basket." Seeing the basket full of wild vegetables, she breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "We must eat coarse grains for lunch today."
"Mhm." Tian Jing replied, looking at the black flour in the basin, "Are we making flapjacks?"
"Yes." Mother Li continued to knead the dough, satisfied that her daughter-in-law was receptive. "The wild vegetable flapjacks you asked Li Min to make last time were delicious. I was thinking of making them the same way, and then stewing some vermicelli with pork."
"Okay, should I knead the dough?"
"No need." Mother Li refused. "The dough for flapjacks is soft, I can knead it. You can pick the vegetables."
When she saw that the basket contained dandelion and bitter thistle, Mother Li was surprised, "These wild vegetables have already grown on the mountain?"
"Yes." Tian Jing lied without batting an eye. "I found them on a sunny slope, covered by a patch of weeds."
Mother Li believed her. These kinds of wild vegetables grow easily with a little warmth and are common in winter and early spring.
Seeing the physalis at the bottom of the basket, Mother Li smiled, "This fruit isn't sweet, it's a bit bitter. Why did you pick it?"
"I find it quite sweet, try it."
Tian Jing directly peeled one and put it into Mother Li's mouth.
Forced to eat it, Mother Li tasted it. Her eyes lit up with the first bite. It was crisp and sweet, and the seeds mixed within also tasted good.