Oh
The mountains near Qili Village were not very steep, and neither adults nor children dared to venture beyond the path cleared by the adults into the more remote areas of the mountains.
It's not that they were more honest, but the further they went, the thicker the thorns and thickets became, with more snakes and insects, making the path difficult to traverse. Going deeper, not only was it challenging to find anything, but one would also end up with numerous scratches on their hands and faces.
A more favorable situation could be found on the mountain to the northwest of Qili Village, where the trees were sparser and taller, and there were fewer thorns and thickets in the forest.
However, that area wasn't commonly visited due to rumors of not just wolves, but also wild boars and tigers. Any disobedient child who ventured up the mountain would be swiftly taken away.
How pitiful.
Manbao had only started going out to play in the past two years, always accompanied by Dato and Daya. She had grown wherever they took her.
Dato was taken to play by Zhoulilang and Zhoululang. Two brothers were taken to play by Zhousilang. However, regarding Zhousilang...
Well, he never went into the mountains in that direction.
Manbao happily headed towards the foot of the mountain, dragging a bamboo basket.
Dato and Daya had already filled a bamboo basket and were carrying it down together.
The container was filled with mostly dry leaves, which were not heavy at all. When Daya saw Manbao, she handed the bamboo basket to her brother and ran over to meet Manbao, saying, "Little sister, I'll take you up the mountain."
Manbao was not among the dry leaves. She was searching for mushrooms when she asked, "Have you found any mushrooms?"
"Yes, Uncle Four found a lot in the morning and took them back home." "Do you remember?"
"I still want to find some." It wasn't fun if she didn't find them herself.
Keke: "Host, I don't mind if you didn't find it yourself." "You just need to collect one for me."
Manbao refused, "No, I must find the type of mushroom you mentioned." "I want to collect the ones I find."
Keke was at a loss.
Although Daya thought it would be difficult to find them now, she still vowed to help. As for the bamboo basket filled with dry leaves, she told her brother to drag it back himself. They were already at the foot of the mountain, and their compost pile wasn't far from there.
Daya helped her little sister lift the other end of the broken bamboo basket, and they went into the forest together.
Dato stood in the distance, silently watching them go further.
He sighed and dragged the large bamboo basket by himself.
As for whether the bamboo basket would break, who cared? If it did, they could simply ask Uncle Two to repair it.
There were many children helping out in the forest. Although it had rained the night before, it wasn't very wet inside. After all, it was midsummer, and the ground outside had already dried up. It was just that the moisture in the forest evaporated more slowly, so Manbao could see that the ground was slightly damp.
Daya took her to find mushrooms.
But this area had already been searched by everyone in the morning, so the chances of finding anything were slim.
Manbao searched for a long time, but she couldn't find any inedible poisonous mushrooms, let alone the ones she was looking for.
Manbao sighed sadly and waved, "Forget it, I'll come back to look for them after taking a break."
It seemed that what the eldest sister-in-law had said was true. If you want to find mushrooms, you have to come in the morning. It was even hard to see their shadows in the evening.
But since she had classes, she could only go up the mountain in the morning on her day off.
Shifting her attention from mushroom hunting, Manbao focused on the pile of dry leaves in her damaged bamboo basket.
She always left no leaf unturned. Sometimes, when she saw the dark mud, she would tear off a large leaf nearby and use it to scoop up the mud and put it in the bamboo basket.
Watching her, Daya didn't feel connected to her anymore and said, "It will be difficult to carry it back like this." "Little sister, I won't work with you."
Manbao replied, "What's there to fear?" We can have Uncle Fourth carry it back later.
Daya thought about it and realized that her little sister could ask Uncle Four for help. She then happily started scooping up the mud with leaves to prevent any from leaking out.
Unable to move the heavy bamboo basket, Manbao decided to abandon it and used a wooden stick to gather the leaves and mud into a pile, which would be carried by Uncle Four later.
Whenever she saw a pile of dry leaves, she would run towards it with her head down. Soon, she had moved farther away from Daya.
Daya had been keeping an eye on her because there were other people around. As long as they were within sight, it was fine. A few of the kids who got along well with Daya in the village also came over to join in the fun.
They were all about the same age as Daya and rarely played with Manbao. In their eyes, Daya's little sister was perceived as a unique individual, and they were somewhat afraid of her.
So, they watched her from a distance and whispered to Daya, "Why is your little sister doing this kind of work?"
Curious, Daya asked, "Why shouldn't my little sister do this kind of work?"
"My sister is the apple of my family's eye, just like my brother, so he doesn't have to do this kind of work."
"My mother never said that." My mother and I were only forbidden from taking our little sister to dangerous places, but they never said she doesn't have to work.
The girl responded, "You and your mother are really kind."
Glancing at her little sister, who had walked a bit too far, Daya called out, "Little sister, don't wander too far."
Manbao, still busy gathering dry leaves, mumbled a response, thinking that Daya was naive to call so many friends over. What if they tried to snatch the dry leaves and good soil?
Of course, she had to hurry and gather them all together first to claim them for herself.
Manbao worked for a while and started to feel tired. She wanted to sit on the ground, but the areas she had swept were wet with rainwater. She didn't want to sit there because the areas she hadn't cleaned were full of exposed mud, which also made her reluctant to sit there.
Looking around, she noticed a few tree stumps that had been recently cut down nearby.
Although the stumps had some tender branches growing on them, they were still suitable for sitting.
Manbao hurried over and sat down on one of the chairs, letting out a long sigh.
Daya and the others were not far away, chatting and picking up dry leaves. They glanced at Manbao, confirmed that she was nearby, and continued with their work.
Manbao crouched beneath the tree stump. From the books she had read by Keke, she knew that one could determine the age of a tree by counting the rings on the stump.
One ring, one year.
Manbao found it. The tree was more accurate in determining its age than a person.
Manbao shifted her position, lowering her head to count the rings. As she sat on the ground, she instinctively reached for the tree stump and grabbed a black root. At that moment, Manbao thought it was a tree root.
However, when she pulled on it forcefully to help herself up, she broke it. The "black root" broke off, revealing the pure white flesh inside.
Manbao and Keke both exclaimed, "Oh," with surprise—one out of curiosity and the other to examine the object.