| TBBOTOF | 295
There wasn’t much to do. Many people from the village would come up the mountain to pick fruits, and some of the better ones would be taken to town to sell.
The group of one adult and two kids headed deeper into the mountain to pick apricots from a few early-ripening trees.
This was the perfect time for wild apricots to ripen. The small apricots on the trees were round and adorable.
The chubby boy stood under a tree, looking up. He then raised his hand to point, "Father! That one over there is huge!"
Wei Dong responded with a grunt. He didn’t bother picking and choosing, regardless of size or ripeness. He just pulled down a branch and started picking, tossing everything into the basket.
“You’re not picking carefully?” The chubby boy leaned over to the basket and peered in. He reached out with his little chubby hand, grabbed a deeply colored apricot, rubbed it against his clothes, and took a bite. The sourness made him squint his eyes tightly.
“Ahhh!!!” The chubby boy’s mouth filled with sourness as saliva kept flooding out. He wrinkled his nose and waved the bitten apricot at Wei Dong.
Wei Dong took it from him and, with an unchanged expression, quickly took two bites before throwing the pit into the basket.
The chubby boy drank water from a bamboo flask, then looked at his father with a face full of admiration. "Father, isn’t it sour?"
Wei Dong still kept a stoic face. "It is."
Liu Yao, watching from the side, laughed and poked the chubby boy’s soft cheek. “Pick the soft ones to eat. The hard ones will definitely be sour.”
“They’ve already changed color though,” the chubby boy pouted as he continued rummaging through the basket, squeezing each apricot one by one.
"They're all hard, there aren't any soft ones," the chubby boy grumbled unhappily.
Wei Dong gave him a pat on the butt, then guided his head to look ahead. "See that tree over there?"
The chubby boy searched with his eyes in the direction Wei Dong pointed, then stopped and widened his eyes. "Wow!"
Wei Dong chuckled lightly. "See it? That's a mulberry tree."
The chubby boy had eaten mulberries before. They were dark and sweet, and eating them left his hands and mouth messy, but they tasted really good. Both he and his two younger brothers loved them.
"Dad, there are so many! Can we pick them all?" The chubby boy's eyes were wide with excitement and full of anticipation.
Wei Dong nodded. "Pick the ones that are dark in color and put them in your little basket."
The chubby boy eagerly agreed, humming in response, and stretched out his hands to be carried.
His father lifted him up and placed him on a tree branch, giving him a firm warning: "Don’t move around too much. This spot is enough for you to pick from. If you fall, you’ll break a leg. Understand?"
The chubby boy clung tightly to the tree trunk with his little legs, carefully reaching out to pick the mulberries nearby.
Wei Dong couldn’t leave him alone in the tree, so he stood nearby, reaching for the higher mulberries. Father and son worked together, and before long, the small basket was more than half full with dark purple mulberries.
“That’s enough,” the chubby boy said, stretching his hand toward his father. “If we pick too many, they’ll go bad before we can eat them. Dad doesn’t let us eat too much.”
Wei Dong nodded, lifted him down from the branch, and handed him the small basket. “I’ll come back to pick more tomorrow. We can dry them to store, or let your dad make preserves.”
“Yay! That sounds great!” The chubby boy happily jumped up and down twice.
“Brother-in-law, do you think this is enough?” Liu Yao called out to them, pointing to the two bamboo baskets nearby. “They’re both full.”
Wei Dong nodded. “These two will do. Follow me to pick more wild apricots before the birds peck at them. Let’s get as many as we can to bring back.”
Liu Yao, of course, had no objections. The more apricots they preserved, the more they’d get to enjoy, especially during the snowy winter months when there wasn’t much else to eat. Having some sweet-and-sour apricot preserves would be a real treat.
The group of one adult and two boys carried their bamboo baskets as they headed down the mountain. Wei Dong kept an eye on his son, noting that while the boy wasn’t as agile as his younger brother, his endurance was surprisingly good.
Walking behind them, Liu Yao asked, “Brother-in-law, what time are we heading up the mountain tomorrow?”
"Let's come early, while it's still cool." It was almost noon now, and the sun was blazing, making everyone sweat profusely.
The chubby boy no longer had the energy to hop around. His little face was flushed red as he struggled to keep up with his fathers pace.
Wei Dong observed him for a moment and asked, "Do you want me to carry you?"
The chubby boy pursed his lips, glanced at the big bamboo basket full of wild apricots on his fathers back, and shook his head. "I... I'll walk... on my own."
He was huffing and puffing, clearly exhausted.
Wei Dong nodded and reminded him, "Watch your step and make sure your footing is steady."
The chubby boy held onto the basket strap with his small hand and replied with a soft "Mm."
Liu Yao, walking behind, clicked his tongue in amazement. Such a little guy, yet he was so considerate of his father carrying the heavy load. If it were any other child, they would probably have started crying and begging to be carried by now.
As the saying goes, going up the mountain is easy, but coming down is hard. The chubby boy felt his legs turning to jelly, and every step became a struggle.
But he gritted his teeth and kept going.
Hearing the sounds behind him, Wei Dong turned to glance back. He reached out, lifted the boy by his armpits, and pulled him into his arms.
The chubby boy froze for a moment, then stretched out his arms to hug his fathers neck.
"Son, I’ve told you, you need to do things within your ability, don’t try to overdo it. Do you understand?" Wei Dong carried the chubby boy by the waist with one arm, letting him lie on his shoulder. With the other hand, he gently pinched his little legs. "Does it hurt?"
The chubby boy shook his head. "It doesn’t hurt, it’s just hot."
Wei Dong sighed softly and gently rubbed his legs. "You won’t even need to wait until tomorrow morning. By the time you wake up this afternoon, you won’t be able to move your legs."
The chubby boy pouted and shot him an unpleased look.
Wei Dong chuckled but didn’t say much more. "When we get home, take a hot bath to relax your muscles."
The chubby boy muttered an "Mm" in response and then lay down on his fathers shoulder, not moving anymore.
By the time they reached home, the chubby boy had already fallen asleep on Wei Dong's shoulder.
Tang Xu had been anxiously looking outside, feeling quite worried.
Seeing them come in, Tang Xu quickly walked over. "Why are you so late? Didn’t you just go to order some furniture?"
He thought the carpenter’s house wasn’t far away, and it should have taken no more than half an hour to go there and back, but they ended up being gone for the whole morning.
It was almost lunchtime now. If they didn’t return soon, he would really have to go out and look for them.
When he saw the chubby boy lying on Wei Dong’s shoulder, he hurried over to check. The chubby boy’s face was rosy, his eyes shut tight, and he was fast asleep.
Tang Xu immediately noticed the baskets and frowned. "You took him up the mountain?"
"Mm, the wild apricots are ready to be picked. Since they’re not fully ripe yet, I thought I’d pick some while I could. You can make preserves out of them, and make plenty." Wei Dong gently woke the chubby boy up and then carried him toward the backyard. "I’ll take him to wash up."
Tang Xu nodded and turned to Liu Yao. "Did you order the furniture?"
"I did," Liu Yao said, briefly describing the style, then held up two fingers and waved them at Tang Xu. "Twenty liang."
"Twenty liang? That cheap?" Tang Xu was surprised.
"Brother-in-law helped negotiate the price, and said that when your new house is built, all the furniture will be made there. The carpenter agreed." Liu Yao, carrying a basket in each hand, added, "Should we wash these before cutting them?"
"Mm, wash them clean and let them dry. Take out the pits, and we’ll make a dessert with the apricots tonight. The rest can be dried and stored." Tang Xu picked up the small bamboo basket, and when he saw the mulberries inside, he was pleasantly surprised. "You picked mulberries too?"
"Mm, Da Bao you didn’t want him to eat too many, so we didn’t pick too many."
Tang Xu laughed. "That little rascal still remembers. Not bad."
1 Comments
Thank you for the update 🥰
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