Chapter 191: Chapter 105: Meizi Gets Bitten by a Snake (Part 2)

As the saying goes, “once bitten, twice shy.” It couldn’t have been more true. Thinking about how Meizi had just been bitten by a snake, Juhua’s legs suddenly started to itch. She couldn’t help but glance around—the grassy patches, thickets, and bushes were all perfect hiding spots for snakes.

Seeing her reaction, Zhang Huai quickly gave her a reassuring look. He swept his foot through the grass to show her it was safe. Qingmu also took her arm and said, “Don’t run around anymore. Just stick close behind us. A decent amount of bamboo shoots is enough; we don’t have to fill an entire sack.”

Juhua nodded. ’My life is more important,’ she thought. ’The snake that bit Meizi probably wasn’t highly venomous, or this folk remedy wouldn’t have worked.’ She had another worry. ’I was the one who suggested picking wild bamboo shoots. If something terrible happens to Meizi, her mother might blame me in her grief. It’s common for people to lash out at others when they’re distraught.’

Li Gengtian and Mr. Zhou also rushed over. Meanwhile, Huang Dagunzi had plucked some unknown herbs from the grass, chewed them into a green, mushy poultice, and applied it to Meizi’s ankle. Standing up, he said to Qin, “Hey, Qin, what are you making such a racket for? She’s fine. It’s all thanks to Changming and Big Mouth acting fast and getting the poison out.”

Li Gengtian also chided him, “She’s just a little girl and doesn’t know any better, but you’re panicking right along with her? If Changming and Big Mouth hadn’t been here and we had to rely on you, something terrible might have happened. You should be thanking Changming! Look, his mouth is already swollen from the venom.”

Seeing that his daughter was truly all right, Qin finally relaxed with relief. He gratefully thanked Li Changming and Big Mouth Zhao. The thought of Li Changming holding his daughter’s leg and sucking on it for so long made him feel incredibly awkward, but the young man had saved Meizi’s life, so he had to express his gratitude.

Big Mouth Zhao chuckled good-naturedly. “What’s there to thank us for? We’re all from the same village. It’s the right thing to do.”

Li Changming looked at Meizi, whose eyes and the tip of her nose were red from crying, and his face suddenly burned. He waved his hands frantically. “It’s nothing! It’s what I should’ve done, what I should’ve done!” Then he turned and ran off.

When Meizi heard them say she was really going to be fine, she finally stopped crying. She looked up and asked, “Am I really okay? What if it flares up after I get home?”

Big Mouth Zhao smiled. “You’re fine now. The blood we sucked out at the end was red. At first, it was black.”

Only then did Meizi feel completely at ease. She let out a long sigh of relief and, with Qin’s help, got to her feet. She was still sniffling a little and let out a hiccup.

Li Gengtian said, “All you little girls, head home now. Don’t hang around here making a fuss. There’s no telling who might get hurt next. Jinxiang! Jinxiang!”

Jinxiang quickly answered, “Yes! I’m here, Eldest Uncle.”

“Hurry home,” Li Gengtian said. “Stop picking bamboo shoots. It would be a disaster if you ran into another snake.”

He was very fond of his niece. He had two sons of his own but no daughters. His younger brother had two sons and two daughters, and with the elder daughter already married off, Jinxiang was the only one left at home. He treated her like his own girl and was terrified of anything happening to her.

The young girls had no choice but to head down the mountain. Carrying Meizi on his back, Qin followed them home.

Liu Xiaomei pressed the wild pheasant into Qin’s hands, telling him to take it home so his wife could make soup for Meizi. He thanked her gratefully. ’Mei is such a good friend to my daughter,’ he thought, ’to be so concerned for her.’

Qingmu said to Juhua, “You should head back first. I’ll bring the sack with me later. If I happen to find any more shoots, I’ll just grab them.”

Zhang Huai added, “The two of us can just grab some as we go, and we might end up with more than you would searching all over. Once we finish planting the trees, we can look on the way back. We’ll find plenty.”

Juhua had lost her enthusiasm as well, so she nodded. “Alright, I’ll head back first then.” Clutching the wild pheasant eggs, she followed the others down the mountain.

When Mrs. Yang heard they had encountered another snake and that it had bitten Meizi, she gasped. “You children are so reckless, running all over the place! Don’t you know you have to be extra careful in some areas? From now on, you should stay off the mountain. If you absolutely have to go, you’d better go with us.”

’So much for my freedom,’ Juhua thought. ’I haven’t even had a chance to pick mushrooms yet.’

The small bamboo shoots were delicious. Mrs. Yang forbade Juhua from going, but she went up the mountain and picked a large batch herself. Apart from what they stir-fried and ate fresh, she sun-dried the rest to save for the lean season, when it could supplement a meal.

Once the seeds they had sown sprouted, the mother-daughter duo spent several busy days transplanting chili peppers, cucumbers, cowpeas, and eggplants, filling both their vegetable patches. When first planted, the seedlings looked weak and droopy, but after a watering and a couple of days, they stood tall and proud, full of life. Seeing the vigorous little sprouts thriving in the morning was enough to fill anyone’s heart with joy!

Vegetables that didn’t need transplanting, like amaranth, were sown over a large patch. They sprouted into a lush, green carpet, and by the looks of it, they would be ready to eat soon. The greens were as delicious as spinach.

After that, they planted the sweet potato slips, which also took several days, covering about ten mu of land. The remaining fields were sown with corn and soybeans.

For many days, Zheng Changhe and Mrs. Yang left home at dawn and returned after dusk, working tirelessly in the fields. This year, they were depending entirely on the sweet potato vines to feed their pigs. If they had to buy rice bran for their growing number of hogs, it would be far too expensive. Last year, their small business had provided some extra income, but with that gone, they had no choice but to make every penny from the land.

Qingmu also worked from dawn to dusk, helping plant the sweet potatoes. Although the plants were hardy and took root easily, they needed to be watered right after planting. It was also crucial to weed the fields after they rooted but before the vines began to spread, because it would be impossible to get a hoe in later.

Thus, the small group of workers toiled from morning to night. Yet when they returned home, their faces were always wreathed in smiles as they discussed how well the sweet potato slips were growing, as if they could already picture the bountiful harvest—vines for the pigs and tubers for their congee.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of these chores, the time for transplanting rice seedlings arrived.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep