The Sweet Little Fulang

 In the chestnut grove, which was deep and untouched by people, there were a lot of hairy chestnuts on the ground. Gray-brown squirrels came down from the trees to look for food, stuffed the chestnuts into their mouths and bring them back to their nests to store it for the winter. Not only squirrels, mice and voles also hid the chestnuts and hazelnuts in their holes.

    There were quite a lot of these things in the deep  forest, and people had to pick them up quickly while there were still on the ground, otherwise they would either break or be taken back by them.

    It was the first time for Lu Gu to come to this chestnut grove, and he saw a layer of hairy chestnuts on the ground, which was much more than the previous mountain, so he took off the bamboo basket and began to pick it up, picking the heavy ones, the flesh of the chestnuts inside was watery and sweet, the small ones didn’t matter if it was light, it would be better to fill the basket after a while, and when he picked it up, there were ripe chestnuts that fell from the tree and landed on the ground with a clatter.

    When they came, they brought the dogs along, and squirrels and voles hid vigilantly early on, occasionally poking their heads out of trees or holes. They were very cautious and looked at those with people with bad eyes.

    Shen Xuanqing saw a squirrel with a big tail in the tree, but he didn't hit it, he just bent down to pick the chestnuts, but two small dogs were sniffing around in the woods, or digging holes, in the hole a mouse could be heard screaming, but it didn’t escape the pursuit of the dogs, and even the hazelnuts and chestnuts stored in the hole were dug out.

    Hearing the movement, Shen Xuanqing saw that there was a fat field mouse in the dog's mouth, not the slender and annoying mouse, so he stopped caring about the small dogs and roasted it for them later. As for the things in the field mouse hole, no one took them, there were so many on the ground.

    Like the things in the mouse hole, they usually dug out when there was nothing to eat, or if they couldn’t find chestnuts in the mountain, there would be children and dogs to dig the hole. Anyway, they had to be shelled, so took them back and washed them, It didn't get dirty after washing.

    Children were greedy and playful, and digging holes was fun. As for adults, these squirrels and voles in the mountains had to spend the winter, they wouldn’t starve to death since it was not a famine year, and there was no shortage of food, so let them have a way to survive.

    The five people carried five bamboo baskets and two big sacks. They filled them up after picking them in the  grove for a long time. In such a large grove of chestnuts, there were still some chestnuts that hadn’t fallen from the trees. They were the only ones here to pick them up. One time was enough for them this year, and they didn’t have to worry about whether the squirrels were enough to eat.

    Except for the one on Shen Yan's back, the bamboo baskets were all big bamboo baskets, which were quite heavy when they were full, and they had to take turns carrying the sacks. Shen Xuanqing carried the bamboo baskets on his back and carried the sacks, it was even heavier, and they had to rest after walking for a while. Wei Lanxiang and the others were used to pick up in the mountains, so they didn’t think it was too rare, but Lu Gu was different.

    When he was in Lu's house, he would follow Lu Daxiang and the others to pick up chestnuts, but after taking them back, he didn't eat much. He only ate it in the hillside when Du Hehua sent him out to look for them, everyone in the village went to pick chestnuts, and he could find few, but at least chestnuts didn’t need to be roasted or boiled, they could be eaten after peeling. He still liked autumn very much, when chestnuts and wild fruits were ripe , could satisfy his hunger, so that his chest wouldn’t stick to his back.

    So even though the bamboo basket was so heavy, he was very happy, the more he found, the more he could eat.

    The chestnut  grove was far away from the courtyard. They set off in the morning and returned in the middle of the afternoon. They couldn't run around in the mountains. It would be dangerous if they went far and didn’t come back at night, so they only picked chestnuts today.

    "It's a good day this year. There are so many wild chestnuts. Let's take rest for today. Tomorrow, we will go pick the hazelnuts. We will pull the cart over and push them back together, otherwise it will be too heavy with only bamboo basket” Wei Lanxiang said while rubbing her shoulders.

    "That's right, it's better to take the cart tomorrow." Ji Qiuyue also said, they didn't pick up so many last year and the year before, they were only full of bamboo baskets and a sack, but the year before was about the same as this year.

    After Lu Gu put down the bamboo basket, he went to scoop up water to wash everyone's dirty hands.

    After resting and eating, seeing Shen Yan coming slowly, he asked her if she would go pick wild bath beads. After washing his hands just now, there were only three left in the small basket, not too far from the yard there was a big wild bath bead tree, from which he picked the ones he sold in the town before.

    They were going out to pick wild bath beads, Shen Xuanqing took the dogs and followed, leaving Wei Lanxiang and Ji Qiuyue resting in the room.

    After all, Shen Yan was young, and her legs didn't feel tired after recovering. Picking wild bath beads was just for fun for her, so she was naturally happy.

    The sun was heading to the west, but it was not evening yet. About a quarter of an hour later, they arrived under the wild bath bead tree. Lu Gu, even the short Shen Yan went to pick the wild bath bead.

    They picked the bigger wild bath beads. Shen Xuanqing didn't climb the tree, so he stood under the tree and took a basket to pick them up. He was tall, and it was very convenient to lift his arms up. Lu Gu could pick it with Shen Yan and throw it into the basket.

    The wild bath beads were round, like a fruit, but they were not red. They were green from fruiting to falling. The bath beads that fell on the ground were too ripe to rub out the white foam that could clean the hands and hair. So no one would pick it from the ground, only from the tree.

    This tree was big, and the wild bath beads it produced were also big, only smaller than quail eggs, and one could last for two days, so Lu Gu sold them well before.