Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 11447

At this time, the sun had already set, and Yang Ruoqing looked around for a while but to no avail.

The road was full of villagers returning home from work in the fields. When they saw her standing at the door, they would inevitably stop and greet her.

She didn't want to chat with anyone, so she was about to go back to the yard. When she turned around, someone called her again.

"Qing'er, wait a moment."

Yang Ruoqing looked in the direction of the sound and saw Cao Bamei, Xiuxiu and Xiuhong, the three of them, pulling a wooden cart over. The cart was loaded full of pine needles, tied with ropes made of straw, and it was estimated to weigh about 100 to 200 kilograms.

Xiuxiu pulled the cart, Cao Bamei and Xiuhong pushed the cart, and Cao Bamei had a basket in her arms.

The mother and her two daughters were sweating profusely, but they were in high spirits. It was obvious that working outside had benefited them both physically and mentally.

"Second sister-in-law, you three are really hardworking people!"

Yang Ruoqing turned her gaze away from the pine needles in the car. There were so many pine needles that they were enough to keep the second room burning for a long time.

The burning pine needles make crackling sounds, which is particularly relaxing to listen to. When Yang Ruoqing is making a fire, she also likes to grab a handful of pine needles to use as kindling.

Cao Bamei asked Xiuxiu and Xiuhong to open the front door of the second room to make it easier to pull the cart in. She then excitedly came to Yang Ruoqing, opened the basket she was carrying, grabbed a handful of mushrooms with their roots still sticking out of the soil, and stuffed them into Yang Ruoqing's hands.

"Your hands are not big enough. Come, pull the hem of your clothes open and I'll grab a few more for you!"

Yang Ruoqing wanted to refuse, but Cao Bamei had already grabbed some mushrooms and stuffed them in front of her, so she could only mechanically pull open the hem of her clothes and make a bib.

Cao Bamei grabbed two or three handfuls of mushrooms, which were almost half a pound each. She patted Yang Ruoqing's hand and said, "These are the mushrooms we picked up while collecting firewood in the mountains today. I'll give you some. You can make soup with eggs for Tuantuan and Yuanyuan tonight."

Yang Ruoqing knew that Cao Bamei was repaying the Luo family for sending quail eggs to Xiao Sanzi and Yong Xiao yesterday.

Since it was a favor, Yang Ruoqing did not refuse and accepted the mushrooms given by Cao Bamei.

"Second sister-in-law, it hasn't rained much recently and the soil is dry. You guys are collecting pine needles in the forest and still managed to pick such fresh mushrooms. You're amazing!"

Cao Bamei smiled and said, "There are no mushrooms in the forest outside. We three heard about the female soldiers under your baby picking up quail eggs, so we went to the cave near the camp to have a look."

"Ah? You guys ran that far?"

"Yeah, since my mother-in-law is taking care of my third son and Yongxiao today, the three of us decided to run away. We brought some dry food and wandered around in the mountains for a day. We actually found the cave behind the camp!"

"Oh? Didn't you pick up the quail eggs?" Yang Ruoqing asked again.

Cao Bamei shook her head: "When the three of us went over, we only saw a few broken eggshells on the ground, but no eggs were found."

"However, we found these mushrooms under the haystack in the cave. Look, this one is so big! You won't see mushrooms this big in the forest outside!"

Cao Bamei picked up a mushroom from the basket and shook it towards Yang Ruoqing. It was bigger than Yang Ruoqing's palm and looked like a small umbrella.

This kind of mushroom is a common edible one, and it likes to grow in moist, shaded places. "Hearing what you said, I want to go to that cave and take a look. It feels like a good place for Feng Shui!" Yang Ruoqing joked.

The quails went there to build their nests and secretly laid their eggs there.

There are big mushrooms growing in the grass inside the cave. The poor families in the surrounding villages can go to the cave to find food when there is a shortage of food. It is a good thing to live by the mountain and the water.

but--

Yang Ruoqing warned Cao Bamei: "Although there are good things growing in that cave, I still suggest that next time you go there, call more people. Safety is the first priority, in case there are wild animals, snakes, insects, rats, ants, etc. in the cave."

Cao Bamei tilted her head and thought for a moment, "Now that you mention it, I feel like the three of us were a bit hasty today."

"Why did Second Sister-in-law say that? Is there something wrong in the cave?"

"It's hard to tell what's right. The cave should be very deep. The stream water entered the cave and then went diagonally all the way to the underground river below." Cao Bamei recalled the scene in the cave and described it to Yang Ruoqing.

"The cave is very deep and dark. The deeper you go, the cooler the wind is. It's a bit creepy."

"We stayed about a dozen feet from the entrance of the cave for a while and then came out. We didn't dare go any further in. I had a bad feeling. It felt eerie in there, as if there was something..."

Are there any strange things in the cave?

Yang Ruoqing's breathing tightened at Cao Bamei's words, "Second sister-in-law, why do you say that? Did you sense something? Or did you see or hear any unusual noises?"

Cao Bamei thought about it and shook her head, "I didn't see anything, but I seemed to hear someone coughing, and it was a man."

what?

Yang Ruoqing frowned even more. Deep in the dark cave, in the unknown front where the underground river flowed, a man's cough was heard? Why did this sound so weird?

"Are you sure you heard it correctly?" Yang Ruoqing stared into Cao Bamei's eyes and asked, "Did you hear it alone? Or did Xiuxiu and Xiuhong hear it too?"

Cao Bamei shook her head again this time: "They probably didn't hear it. I didn't hear them mention it. I didn't tell them when we were in the cave. I was afraid that they didn't hear it and would be frightened by my words."

Yang Ruoqing nodded, "Yes, you are right, sister-in-law. It is always better to be cautious in everything."

From the courtyard of the second room opposite, Xiuhong's voice could be heard calling Cao Bamei: "Mother, mother!"

"Hey, here they come." Cao Bamei turned her head and called out to the second room twice, then said to Yang Ruoqing, "Qing'er, maybe I heard it wrongly. There's water rushing in there, maybe it's the fish or something calling."

Yang Ruoqing smiled faintly, "Yes, that is the case. Second sister-in-law, please go back quickly!"

After watching Cao Bamei leave, Yang Ruoqing turned around and went back to her home. At this time, Luo Baobao just came out of the main room and saw so many mushrooms in Yang Ruoqing's clothes. Luo Baobao's eyes lit up: "We also ate these mushrooms in our camp a few days ago. They picked them in the cave where they picked quail eggs."

"Mom, did Sister Xiuxiu and the others also go to the cave I mentioned today?"

"Yes, this is exactly what I picked from that cave."

"Great, let's ask Aunt Rong to kill a chicken tonight, and we can stew the chicken with mushrooms, okay?"

"Okay, my daughter likes chicken stewed with mushrooms, so let's make it!"