After finally getting a break, Xu Mumu decided not to push the kids to study and planned to take them up the mountain to play.
"Sis, I know a place where there are walnuts, let’s go pick so," Tiedan said excitedly.
"Is it far?" Xu Mumu was a bit surprised. Walnuts are a good find, so if it’s nearby, they’d gather a bunch to bring back.
"Not far, just behind my Grandpa Si’s house on the hill, I heard Zhao Jingjing and others talking about it a few days ago, but I’m not sure how many are left now." Tiedan paused to think before saying.
"Let’s go take a look." Xu Mumu nodded.
The kids all strapped on small baskets and headed up the mountain. After walking for over twenty minutes, they arrived at the place Tiedan ntioned where there were walnuts.
There were already people gathering them, and only a few were left on the ground; many on the trees had been knocked down by others, with just a few remaining at the top.
"Sis, we’re late," Xu Minglei said a bit disappointedly.
"It’s fine, there are still so. I’ll shake the walnut tree, and you can collect them," Xu Mumu said nonchalantly. The walnut trees weren’t far from the brigade, so many surely knew about them. It’s already good that they’ve found so.
Most of the kids collecting walnuts around here were about ten years old. So even climbed up the trees to knock down the walnuts.
Xu Mumu picked a walnut tree that no one had climbed and gave it a shake with so force, causing the walnuts at the top to fall rustling down. If she hadn’t controlled her strength, she might have uprooted the whole tree.
"Ouch, sis, it hit ," Xu Minglei said, covering his head after a walnut had directly hit him.
"Didn’t I tell you to stand aside and wait?" Xu Mumu said helplessly, "Let see." She moved the little rascal’s hand to check where he got hit. It was a bit red but there were no other problems.
"It’s alright, it’ll be fine soon. Next ti when I shake the tree, don’t stand underneath." Xu Mumu glared at her little brother.
"Got it, sis," Xu Minglei replied, feeling wronged.
"Hurry and gather them all up," Xu Mumu told the kids.
Almost all the walnuts at the top ca down when Xu Mumu shook the tree.
The kids moved quickly because if they didn’t, other kids would grab them.
"Mumu, how did you shake the tree? Why did all the walnuts co down at once? My brother can’t even shake them down," a girl of about five or six years old looked up admiringly at Xu Mumu.
The young girl’s na was Liu Xiaofen, and her brother was Liu Xiaoqiao, who at twelve wasn’t exactly small, but his strength was no match for Xu Mumu’s.
Embarrassed by his sister’s comnt, the young boy’s face turned bright red, "If you say that again, I won’t help you climb the tree to get walnuts."
"I’m just strong, that’s all. Do you want to shake the tree for you?" Xu Mumu said with a smile. She had so impression of Liu Xiaofen; her family was quite poor.
"Yes, yes," the kids quickly replied, enviously watching Xu Minglei and the others collecting walnuts.
Xu Mumu shook a walnut tree for them and then left them to it.
With so many people on Xu Mumu’s side, they gathered walnuts fast and efficiently.
"Wow, we did pretty well. Once we dry them out and remove the husks, we should have at least half of what we gathered," Xu Mumu said happily, looking at the bunch the children had collected.
"Walnuts are best to eat at this ti, they’re not as tasty when dried," Xu Jiaojiao licked her lips, already deciding to crack open a few to eat when they got back.
"I agree, they’re best right now," Xu Minglei chid in, in agreent.
Watching their innocent words, Xu Mumu said nothing more. They had gathered around thirty to forty pounds of walnuts, which was quite the haul considering most were picked by others before.
They took the walnuts ho, placed them in a sieve, and set the sieve on the woodpile to dry in the sun.
"Big sis, have so," Xu Jiaojiao handed so cracked walnuts over, hands stained black but with a bright smile on her face.
"Thanks, Jiaojiao." Xu Mumu smiled, nodded, took the walnuts, peeled the skins off the kernels, and popped a piece into her mouth. Crispy, fragrant, the taste truly was great.
Once Xu Mumu finished eating her walnuts, she finally had ti to look at the children. Their hands were all stained black from the walnut husks’ sap, which wasn’t easy to wash off; they’d probably have black hands for a while.
"Big sis, why are you looking at us?" Xu Jiaojiao asked, puzzled, looking at Xu Mumu.
"Your hands are so black, they’ll probably stay that way for a while," Xu Mumu said with a smile, knowing their grandma, who was a bit of a neat freak, probably couldn’t stand it.
"Oh, that? It’s fine, it’ll go away eventually." Xu Jiaojiao said nonchalantly, looking at her stained hands. The walnuts were too delicious.
Xu Mumu handed so more cracked walnuts to Li Caixia. She got her little brother to help peel them; she didn’t want to dirty her hands.
"Mom, have a taste," Xu Mumu brought the walnuts to Li Caixia by the bed. She was busy altering so clothes Xu Minglei had outgrown; the baby in her belly was due in just over two months, so preparations for baby clothes were underway.
"Walnuts, how many did you gather?" Li Caixia asked happily as she ate. Walnuts are nourishing, so one should eat more.
"Quite a few, they’re drying over by the woodpile now. Mom, are you making clothes for my little siblings?" Xu Mumu asked with a smile.
"I’m not very good at sewing; I made two pieces and stopped. Your dad brought them to your Auntie’s to get her help. I’m working on so cloth diapers now," Li Caixia said with a warm smile.
When Madam Chen returned at noon, she saw the kids’ grimy hands and sent them to the river with soapwort to wash them clean before coming back.
As the weather turned cool, Xu Mumu went out with them.
At the river’s edge by the village entrance, the kids scrubbed hard with the soapwort, yet their hands remained stained black.
"I’m not washing anymore, it won’t co clean anyway, and my hands are all wrinkled," Xu Minglei threw the soapwort over to Xu Tao, rinsed his hands clean in the water, and refused to wash anymore.
With Xu Minglei leading, the other kids also lost interest in washing.
As they headed back, Xu Mumu suddenly noticed soone sneaking around, climbing up the wall towards the house where the female educated youth lived.
Xu Mumu frowned and told the kids, "You all go back first; I have sothing to do."
"Big sis, where are you going?" Xu Jiaojiao asked, puzzled, looking at Xu Mumu.
"Just to the educated youth’s place. Can you all head back first?" Xu Mumu said gently.
After coaxing the kids to leave, Xu Mumu quickly headed towards the educated youth’s house. It was her first ti going to where the female youth lived.
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