After packing up, Yingbao and her parents and brothers went to wish their grandparents New Year greetings.
While walking on the road, I saw two children jumping on bamboo poles.
There are colored paper horse heads on the bamboo poles, which are the two bamboo horse sets that Yingbao gave to Yuanbao and Huzi.
"Haha! Drive! Drive! Rush!" Yuan Bao and Hu Zi ran away in a flash, attracting the surrounding children to follow him.
There were several children in the village who had the same horse head, so they lined up proudly to compete with each other to see who could run the fastest.
Those children without horse heads could only ride on a bare pole and follow behind, looking lonely and lackluster.
Ying Bao felt like laughing when she saw it, and suddenly the idea of trying it came up.
But this is a boy's game, girls cannot play it and are not allowed to play it.
When you arrive at your uncle's house, you first kowtow to your grandparents to pay New Year greetings, then to your aunt and uncle to pay New Year greetings. When your second uncle arrives, you kowtow to your second uncle to pay New Year greetings, and then you kowtow to your parents again.
After surviving all this work, Ying Bao's head was knocked dizzy.
Dani and Erni didn't give in too much, and they both knelt down.
After the New Year greetings, the auntie ate dumplings and rice cakes.
The dumplings were stuffed with shepherd's purse and pork, and were very delicious. Yingbao was so small that she couldn't hold her breath after eating seven of them, so she had no choice but to give up.
The rice cake is made of glutinous rice and red beans, with honey added inside. It is sweet and glutinous and very delicious.
Ying Bao took a piece of red bean rice cake in her hand and went out to play with Sister Dani and Sister Erni.
There were very few games for girls to play. Most of them stood on the edge and watched the boys running around, watching them ride on bamboo poles and divide into two teams to play the game of two armies.
After looking at it for a while, Yingbao lost interest and asked to go home and sleep.
She still had a lot of work to do in her cave, and she couldn't settle down at all.
So she said goodbye to her cousin, went home alone, climbed on the kang and got into bed.
The first day of the Lunar New Year is a leisurely and happy day. In addition to eating and drinking, the villagers go to each other's houses to wish the New Year.
Only Ying Bao had a hard time, working hard in the cave for a whole day, and the skin on both palms became bald.
Alas, I must not plant so much food next time. If I just rely on myself to work as a small person and cannot ask others to help me, I will die from exhaustion.
The next day, Yingbao went with her parents to her grandmother's house ten miles away to pay New Year's greetings. She had lunch there and hurried back in the afternoon.
In the evening, I went with my aunt's family who came back from the county town to recognize it and harvested a silk flower.
My aunt is in her thirties, with a sallow complexion and not in good spirits. This time she only brought her youngest son, who is about the same age as Yuan Bao, with her when she returned to her parents' home.
Yingbao was not familiar with her aunt's family and seemed to have only seen her once in her previous life. Even though she later settled in the county town, she never thought of looking for her.
Amid the busy schedule, a new month has passed.
In February, the dragon raises its head, and the spring rain has been pouring down for a few days. When the rain has passed and the sky has cleared up, the ice and snow have melted and the weather has warmed up.
On the five mulberry trees in Yingbao Cave, more than a dozen golden ears as big as an adult's palm have grown, like golden pig brain flowers, which are very beautiful and pleasing to the eye.
Carefully cut off one flower and put it in a pottery bowl. The root was divided into several parts by cherry blossoms and planted on a dozen dry mulberry trees.
Before planting, she had drilled holes into the mulberry trees with scissors and filled them with finely chopped wheat straw and rice husks.
Then sprinkle water once a day and wait for them to grow again.
On this day, Yingbao took Youyou and Da Nierni to pick up ground vegetables in the wild, and walked into a small forest. When the two cousins were not paying attention, they took out two golden ears from the cave and put them in the basket.
"Let's go home." Dani straightened up, picked up the basket and said, "I've already picked up half of the basket."
Yingbao nodded immediately: "Go home."
Erni also agrees.
The three little sisters each carried a basket and walked back. After passing a small river ditch, Dani dipped the basket in the water to wash the vegetables.
After the vegetables are washed and tender, boil them with bean dregs at home. They will be fragrant and filling. This is a survival dish for poor families during times of drought.
Villagers usually pick up ground vegetables after the early spring rains, wash them clean and then dry them in the sun, put them in baskets, and hang them on the beams of the houses as spare food.
Occasionally grab a handful, soak it, and cook it with wild vegetables, which can also be enough for a meal and a half.
Dani picked up her little cousin's basket and was about to help wash it. Suddenly she saw two strange mushrooms in the basket and asked curiously: "Yingbao, what are these?"
"Golden Ears." Yingbao answered truthfully.
Dani wondered: "What golden ears? Where did you pick them? Isn't it poisonous?"
Yingbao shook his head: "It was picked in the woods. It's not poisonous. If you like it, we can eat it too."
Youyou turned her head and looked over, blinking her big eyes with an innocent look on her face.
Dani picked up the Golden Ear and put it under her nose and smelled it, "Hey, it smells a bit fragrant."
Golden fungus has a faint medicinal aroma, like the smell of osmanthus.
Erni also took it and sniffed it, wrinkled her nose, and put it back: "It doesn't smell good." She didn't like this scent.
Ying Bao held the two golden ears in her lapels, shook her head and said, "These are medicinal materials, they are very valuable."
The two little girls did not comment, washed the vegetables, and took their little cousin home.
As soon as she got home, Yingbao handed the two golden ears to Chun Niang, "Mom, let's cook this, okay?"
Chun Niang picked it up and looked at it, frowning: "What is this? Who told you that it is edible? Bao'er, if you eat something you don't recognize, you will be poisoned. We can't eat it blindly."
Yingbao paused and made up a lie, "This is the Golden Ear. The old lady in the West Village said that the Golden Ear is very valuable. They sell dozens of taels of silver per box in the city."
"What?" When Chun Niang heard the word valuable, her eyes immediately widened, "Which old lady in the West Village?"
Ying Bao scratched her head, "I don't know her name."
Chun Niang automatically imagined that Wu Jiaoyi's mother in the West Village was the mother-in-law of the midwife, Fourth Aunt Wu.
If Grandma Wu really said that, it is really possible. After all, Grandma Wu's deceased wife once worked as a clerk in a county drug store, and her family initially made a fortune by collecting and selling medicinal materials.
Moreover, her fourth son also knows a little about the art of Qihuang, and even her fourth daughter-in-law is a famous midwife in the village.
Chun Niang picked up the golden ear again, looked at it, and muttered: "Is it really so valuable?"
Now the family is short of money. The fifteen taels of silver borrowed from Jiang Erlang and Sanlang last time were borrowed from Jiang Da and Sanlang. Their parents also scraped some together, and they even sold two sheep at home for this purpose.
It had only been two months. Although Jiang Erlang stopped taking medicine, he still couldn't afford to pay back the money.
Moreover, Jiang Sanlang said that it would not be too late to wait until the second brother has money.
So Chun Niang was so poor that she couldn't even afford thirty coins.
But these things cannot be told to the little girl.
"Mom, why don't you let dad take it to the drugstore in town to see if it's really valuable?" Ying Bao added to the fire.
Chun Niang's mind moved slightly.
Yes, let your husband take it to the drugstore to identify it. What if it is really valuable?
"Yes, just two." Chun Niang hesitated.
Yingbao knew what her mother was worried about and whispered: "I can still find a lot more."
She gestured with her little hand, "So many."
"Really?" Chun Niang's eyes lit up, "Then I'll go see it with you."
Ying Bao shook her head and said, "No, I'll get it now."
With that said, he ran out of the yard, slipped into the woods at the door, and soon ran out with two mulberry sticks in his arms and handed them to Chun Niang.
Chun Niang was shocked.
On the two black mulberry sticks grew a dozen or so golden ears, each one bigger than a fist and incredibly beautiful.
"Here" Chun Niang held the mulberry stick carefully, for fear of accidentally breaking one.
"When your father comes back, ask him to show it to Grandma Wu of Nishimura first to see if it is really valuable."
Yingbao:.
Do you know what it means to shoot yourself in the foot?
"No! Let's go to town. Mr. Li must know more than Mrs. Wu."
Chun Niang thought it right and nodded in agreement.
