Spring is coming

Chapter 13 Wild Walnut

Mo Qinglin took off his coat and threw it to Mo Jingchun, letting her carry it underneath. Then he picked it and threw it down. Gradually, when he looked over the branches, only green could be seen.

After picking a pocket full of loquats, they were satisfied and ready to stop.

Just as Mo Qinglin quietly turned around from the wall, ready to jump down——

The owner of the small courtyard came out. He saw a figure on the wall of his house. He also saw that his loquat tree, which was supposed to have a good harvest, had become leafy and sparse in fruit. He became furious.

He picked up the guy and shouted angrily at the wall: "Thief, you still dare to run away?!"

Mo Qinglin shivered with fright and fell off the wall.

Mo Jingchun quickly picked up Loquat and put it on his shoulder. He supported the limping Mo Qinglin with both hands and ran back to Mo's house.

The owner of the yard did not catch up because he was old.

Mrs. Gao, who was guarding the door, was shocked when she saw Mo Qinglin like this: "Where did you do this?"

Mo Jingchun was silent and glanced at him.

Mo Qinglin felt ashamed, lowered his head and said regretfully: "I climbed up the wall and fell."

Mrs. Gao glared at him: "Don't learn from me! You're going to mess up your niece. I'll wash her clothes myself!"

"In no mood."

"What don't you want?" Mrs. Gao interrupted his complaint. Although she was very kind to her grandchildren, she had always been very strict with her son and daughter. "If you don't want to wash your clothes, don't wear them anymore! Should I wash them for you?"

Seeing that his mother was really angry, Mo Qinglin didn't dare to talk back, but obediently took off all his clothes, changed into a clean set, and took her to the river to wash.

The loquats they picked were spread out on the table. When Mo Jingchun was helping him to run away, he didn't forget to take away the fruits of the afternoon. Along the way, Mo Qinglin joked that his feet were not lame.

Mrs. Gao held her forehead, these two children were not at home to supervise the work, and they ran out just to pick these fruits!

Mo Jingchun peeled one and handed it to Gao's mouth: "Grandma, loquats can moisten the lungs and relieve coughs. You can eat a few if you have nothing to do, but don't eat too much at once."

Mrs. Gao took a bite from her hand and said happily: "My dear Chun'er is so filial, you should eat some too."

Mo Jingchun peeled off a few and went to wash his hands. When he came back, he told Mr. Gao about his experience in the town today.

"Grandma, I think we can set up a stall in the town during our off-season, selling vegetables and wild fruits and walnuts from the mountains. I think there are many people buying from this kind of stall."

She came up with the idea while eating loquats. Otherwise, she would have no income during the off-season. How long would it take for her to save money before she could move to the town?
Mrs. Gao didn't understand and said, "Can we sell something that every household grows?"

Not to mention Mojiacun, those wild walnuts and wild persimmons on the mountains. Unless it is a famine year, there are few people in the mountains and trees to pick and eat them. Are the city people willing to spend money to buy these for eating?
Wild walnut trees like to grow on rugged mountainside, where the roads are difficult and slippery. To pick the fruits, you have to climb up to a tree three feet high and use a long bamboo pole to knock them.

The knocked walnuts were scattered on the ground, and they had to work hard to pick them up. If they were not careful, they would easily slip and fall down the mountain.

What’s even more troublesome is that after wasting so much effort, only five kilograms of meat can be obtained after shelling hundreds of kilograms of walnuts. Not to mention the bitter taste, there is a lot of juice every time when peeling, and the color cannot be washed away. What are you trying to do?

What the villagers are afraid of is never the effort, but the lack of benefits, so few people pick it.

Mrs. Gao couldn't understand it, but Aunt Hu had a husband who worked as a cook in a county restaurant. She was well-informed and knew that pecans were valuable everywhere and could be squeezed for oil and used as medicine.

Fried walnut kernels can also cure low back pain, and a nobleman in the court liked to eat them.

Mo Jingchun couldn't explain it to her for a while. After thinking about it, he felt that it would waste too much effort, so he gave up.

There are only three of them working now, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Even if they go to the town to set up a stall, no one may know this thing. Maybe most of them will think the same as Gao.

The matter of setting up a stall was put on hold for the time being. She felt a little regretful, and thought that she would go find any odd jobs in the nearby villages in two days. Her family was indeed too poor now, and she only had a few hundred cash in available cash.She told Mrs. Gao what she thought, and Mr. Gao agreed. There is no such thing as idleness in the village.

Mo Jingchun found a bamboo basket to put the leftover loquats in, and placed them in a dry place in the courtyard to ventilate and dry all day long.

After drying, I sewed several cloth bags to hang under the eaves for storage. I stuffed a few pine leaves into each bag so that I could store them for a few more days and take them out when I wanted to eat.

She waited until the kitchen was finished and then went out to look for odd jobs. At the same time, she had to prepare three meals for Gao and his family.

But most people thought she was young and weak.

She walked far that day, to a place two villages away. When she returned at dusk, she realized that she was not familiar with this road.

She looked around and tried to walk to the main road in the village, but after passing this place, she had to walk a secret path to get to Gaojia Village next door.

This section of the road is close to a mountain, and wolves sometimes come down the mountain to look for food at night.

Mo Jingchun was alone and his pace was not fast. It was already dark when he reached here.

There were trees as tall as several people on both sides, and from time to time small things came out of the grass on the roadside. It was so dark that nothing could be seen clearly.

Mo Jingchun was a little scared and silently encouraged herself, thinking that she would be able to reach her uncle's house in Gaojiacun if she walked further. Then she could ask her uncle to take her back.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. At this moment, the sound of fighting was suddenly heard.

Not far ahead, there seemed to be a figure struggling, unable to see clearly.

Mo Jingchun quickly shrank and hid aside, not daring to move, fearing that the man with the knife would see her kill her and silence her.

The spring night was cool and I wore less clothes.

She hid in the grass. The yarrow here had not been seen for a long time. She excitedly showed the saw teeth on the leaves and rubbed her exposed skin bit by bit, which made it painful and itchy.

The murderer carried out the murder with a knife. Gradually, the other party fell behind and was pinned down by the killer.

A knife fell on the man, and warm blood spattered in front of Mo Jingchun's eyes. She felt her heart beating like a drum.

The man lost his breath soon, but the murderer was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he searched his whole body and walked away after getting the belongings on him.

Mo Jingchun waited until he was completely gone before he dared to stand up and walk over to see the man's condition.

With more than a dozen incisions, the man was already limp and his mouth and nose were blue, so he was probably hopeless.

Seeing this scene, she was so frightened that she couldn't stand up. She knelt down as soon as her legs bent and vomited on the floor next to the dead man.

It wasn't until a gust of wind blew her mind clearer that she realized that she should leave here quickly.

When she stood up and wanted to leave, she couldn't help but look back at the body.

Just let him lie here like this, waiting for birds and beasts to come and share their food?

Finally, he had the courage to use all his strength, gritted his teeth and dragged the person to the grass on the side of the road, dug a hasty hole and buried him.

She kept her eyes away while doing it, not daring to look at the man's bloody face, but her hands were inevitably stained with blood.

After she finally buried the person, she let out a long sigh of relief. She almost exhausted all her strength but still forced herself to get up and continue on the road.

Perhaps she was really too tired and frightened. As soon as she stood up and walked to the road, her vision went dark and she fell down.

(End of this chapter)