There was a greased paper bag stuffed in his arms, and Chu Wen couldn't say his words of rejection.
Even though Chu Wen spent almost all day in the mountains, he didn't hunt much game, so he only brought two corn rations every day, which was barely enough to fill him up, but it was tasteless.
Seeing that Bai Ling was really going to leave, Chu Wen stuffed the oil paper bag into his arms and stood up to help Bai Ling pick up chestnuts.
Bai Ling was willing to let Chu Wen do the work on his own, but knowing Chu Wen's temperament, he swallowed his refusal.
The two of them were busy together, and soon Bai Ling's basket was full, and he pocketed some more with his clothes.
With Chu Wen around, Bai Ling couldn't place branches in the space, so he had to put some chestnut balls and planned to use the seeds to plant chestnuts.
Chestnuts can be used for cooking and to satisfy hunger. They are also nutritious. Bai Ling naturally needs to store some in his space.
Chu Wen wanted to continue hunting, so he sent Bai Ling to a safe area and turned back.
When Bai Ling got home, he packed up the chestnuts. Before Bai Sanshu and his daughter returned home, he fried a pot of sugar-roasted chestnuts to give the family snacks.
"This thing doesn't look eye-catching, but it tastes really good." Although Ms. Bai Liu felt that using sugar was a bit wasteful, she didn't say anything after seeing how delicious the food was for her children.
But Mr. Bailiu only tasted two and stopped eating to avoid pain in his body.
Although chestnuts cost nothing, there is a lot of sugar and oil that can be used to roast chestnuts, and these are not cheap.
"Let's cook white rice with chestnuts for dinner, stir-fry a plate of wild vegetables, and make fish soup." Bai Ling wanted to feed Bai Xiaoshan, but he couldn't eat fast either.
"Okay, you cook delicious food, you can take care of it yourself." Bai Liu picked up the needle and thread again and let Bai Ling arrange dinner.
Bai Ling bought a lot of fabrics from her last trip to the county town. Bai Liu had to hurry up and try to make two sets of clothes, shoes and socks for her family all year round. It was a big project.
But Bai Ling and Bai Wei could only tie off the threads or sew a few stitches inside, and Bai Liu mainly relied on her alone.
"You two, don't be greedy. If you eat too much of this stuff, your stomach will bloat. Save it and eat it slowly. There are a lot of them in the mountains. You and I will bring back some more tomorrow. You can eat them whenever you want."
Afraid that his younger siblings would eat too much, Bai Ling said something when he stood up.
During this period, Bai Xing rarely had nightmares, and she no longer shrank in front of her family as before.
"Yes." Bai Xing nodded obediently. Although Bai Xiaoshan still wanted to eat, he still chose to listen to the second sister's words. He stared at the chestnuts with his eyes, obviously not eating enough.
Bai Ling just pretended not to see the greedy look of his younger brother, looked at Bai Liu and asked: "Mom, when my father comes back, I will tell you a new way to make money."
Since the separation of the family, Mrs. Bai Liu has become more and more aware of the importance of money.
Hearing what Bai Ling said, Bai Liu couldn't help but nod. He smiled and said, "Okay, you can go cook first. Let's discuss it together when everyone comes back."
Giving Bai Xing a wink, Bai Ling walked towards the kitchen, "Then I'm going to cook, and my mother will take a break before doing needlework, so as not to hurt her eyes."
"Hey, let's go." Bai Liu responded, but had no intention of resting.
With space on his hands, Bai Ling rarely brought home speared fish, so there were always one or two fish weighing several kilograms in the wooden barrel in the kitchen, so Bai Ling didn't need to go to the river every day.
Yesterday I brought out nearly ten kilograms of fat-headed fish, but today I can eat two of them.
Bai Ling cut off the fish head and prepared to make a fish head casserole. The seasoning in the casserole was strong, so it would be more suitable to add a little astragalus, wolfberry and other medicinal materials to make a medicinal diet.
The fish body is stewed in the Northeastern way. Try to keep the original flavor and add some spiritual spring water to it. It is also a healthy dish.
The staple food is steamed steamed buns, and the rest will be fried into steamed buns tomorrow morning, and then cooked with some clear porridge, which Bai Ling prefers.
When Bai Sanshu came back at night, he brought an injured rabbit. Bai Xing was reluctant to kill it, so Bai Sanshu made a cage and raised the rabbit.
After dinner, the family lit an oil lamp and chatted. Bai Ling mentioned that he wanted to sell sugar and roasted chestnuts, which was immediately approved by the whole family.
"Second sister, you and I will go to town to sell chestnuts from now on." Bai Wei had always wanted to find some winter livelihood, and now she felt like she had an opportunity.
"No." Bai Ling shook his head and said, "It's not safe for us two girls to get up early and go to town late at night in winter. It's getting dark earlier and earlier."
"Should we let our parents go?" Bai Wei glanced at Bai Sanshu's legs and then at Bai Liu, obviously disapproving.
"I was thinking, should we buy a donkey cart first? My parents go to the town to sell chestnuts, and they have to do the work, which is too much for just two legs." Bai Ling suggested.
"It's practical to buy a donkey cart, but our family doesn't have any fodder to feed the donkeys, so it's hard to feed them in winter," Bai Sanshu said.
"There are so many weeds at the foot of the mountain. When the month is not too late, my sisters and I will go to the mountains to pick chestnuts during the day and cut the grass in the morning and evening. This should be enough fodder for a winter. If it doesn't work, just go to the village and buy two carts of wheat straw.
Yes, it also cost a few bucks." Bai Ling said.
"Then... how about buying it?" Bai Liu looked at Bai Sanshu and asked.
"The key now is to pick the chestnuts first. The donkeys will be bought in half a month. All the villages in ten miles and eighty miles will have harvested their crops, so it will be easier to buy some." Bai Sanshu thought for a while and nodded.
Although most farmers have finished harvesting their crops, the firewood from the fields has not yet been transported to their homes.
In addition, after harvesting grain, we will have to work hard for another month at least before we can take a break.
Bai Ling thought that when the villagers were no longer busy, their family would not have time to start harvesting chestnuts, so they had to get used to the market first.
After returning to the house, the two sisters took a look at the winter vegetables, and then Bai Wei asked: "Second sister, do you really plan to let your parents sell chestnuts? Can they handle it?"
"Don't you see? Our father feels that he is being raised by us, and he only wants to go hunting in the mountains. Dad's legs and feet are not good, and it is very dangerous to go to the mountains in winter. It is better to find something for him to do. Our mother will stay at home for a long time.
If you don't have enough money, you can just sit back and do needlework, why not let her and her father sell chestnuts, just to gain experience." Bai Ling explained.
When Bai Wei heard this, she felt that this was also true and said nothing more.
From the second day on, Bai Ling took Bai Sanshu, Bai Wei, and Bai Xing into the mountains to pick chestnuts.
There were a lot of things in the house, so Bai Liu and Bai Xiaoshan stayed behind to look after the house.
However, Bai Ling asked his family to take a break at noon every day in order to stagger encounters with the villagers. No one objected, so Bai Ling was given time to teach Shangguan how to swim.
"You dare to ask me to wait for you? Do you want to be deducted from your money?" Shangguan was already sitting by the river. When he saw Bai Ling coming, he immediately put on a straight face and sounded like a landlord who exploited long-term workers.
"It's because you came early, and it's just noon now." Bai Ling grinned, showing eight small white teeth, threw a cloth bag to Shangguan, and said in a good mood: "Hurry up and try it, this is my new research.
It’s a snack that tastes pretty good and you don’t have to pay for it.”
"So generous?" Shangguan opened the bag, took out a roasted chestnut, and said with a look of disgust: "What is this? Can it be eaten?"
"Bumpkin, just say so if you don't know how to eat." Bai Ling threw the collected firewood on the ground, grabbed the chestnuts from Shangguan's hand, and easily peeled off the shell. (To be continued)