CH 23.2

Before they got out of the bamboo grove, the two dogs scratched the ground fiercely, and came out with a big bamboo rat out of the hole in the ground. Shen Xuanqing scolded them, the gray and white dog let go, and the black dog took it back. 

On the way back, Lu Gu looked at the wormwood in the field. When he was in Lu's house, Du Hehua bought cloth heads and colorful embroidery thread and asked him to make a sachet or medicine pouch. Regardless of the sachet or medicine pouch, he would put some wormwood leaves in it.    

When Wei Lanxiang bought colored thread that day, he thought about it a little. When his mother was around, she was good at embroidery. She embroidered the sachet and medicine pouch delicately and beautifully, and it sold well in the town, so at that time, his mother had some money in her hand, so that he could live a good life for a few days when he was a child.     

His mother left early, so that he didn't learn all the embroidery, but he still had some points, and it was no problem to embroider a medicine pouch, but he didn't have a copper coin, no money to buy cloth and embroidery thread, and no medicinal materials. He didn't have the guts to ask the Shen family for money, but after seeing the red goji berries covered with twigs, his heart moved slightly, and he had an idea.

Even if goji berries were cheap, they were worth selling more, and there were many good things in the mountains, as long as you worked hard to find them, you could always find some that sold for money. 

If he could really sell it for money, even if he didn't buy colored threads, it would at least make Shen Xuanqing happier, and maybe he could be given a few copper coins, so that he would have money. 

Thinking of this, Lu Gu quietly glanced at Shen Xuanqing who was walking in the front with the bamboo on his shoulders. 

He was timid and stupid and had no idea, but he had a little selfishness in his heart. He knew that Shen Xuanqing was a good person. If not, he wouldn't take the initiative to make money like this, or he would be like Du Hehua and took all the money away, he didn't even have a penny. 

He secretly calculated in his heart, but he didn't dare to say anything, he only paid attention to what was on the way back. 

When he reached the open space outside the courtyard, Shen Xuanqing threw the heavy green bamboo on his shoulders on the ground, and turned his shoulders a few times before opening the lock. 

The black dog put the killed bamboo rat on the ground, barked several times, and motioned to roast delicious meat for it, but Shen Xuanqing ignored it, opened the door, unloaded the bamboo basket from Lu Gu's back, and carried it in. 

"I'm going to kill birds by the river. There's a medicine stove in the house. You can look for it and use that to make soup later." He said as he took the two fat doves, which were shot down with a slingshot yesterday. It was time to die, just to make a meaty meal. 

Lu Gu complied naturally, searched around the house according to his instructions, and found the medicine stove covered with a thick layer of dust. 

This was used by the old hunter. Shen Xuanqing was young and strong. He hadn't been sick a few times in the past few years. Occasionally, he had a typhoid fever and drank a bowl of ginger soup. The medicine stove was basically never used. 

It took a long time to cook the stewed soup, and  they couldn’t eat it at noon, and the big pot needed to be fried and cooked, so the stewed soup couldn’t be taken up. Fortunately, there was still this thing. 

The two of them were busy with each other, and the morning passed like this. After lunch, Shen Xuanqing was cutting bamboo outside the courtyard gate. The open space outside was large and spacious. He sat on the stool, thinking of the bamboo chicken, and turned to Lu Gu who had finished cleaning the kitchen. Said: "Look at how the bamboo chicken was doing, and see if it has eaten the chopped chicken grass." 

Lu Gu went to the backyard to see, last night Shen Xuanqing applied herbs to the bamboo chicken's injured wings, at least let it live for a few days. It was festering and smelly, and he got some chicken grass when he got up early. 

Seeing that the chicken grass was less, the bamboo chicken cooed a few times when it saw people coming, and hid in the corner, Lu Gu knew that it was all right. 

"the chicken grass was eaten, it will also make a sound." He went outside the courtyard and whispered to Shen Xuanqing, but he didn't leave after he finished speaking, and he seemed to have something to say. 

The courtyard faced the south, and the sun was very bright in front of the house. Sensing his hesitation, Shen Xuanqing looked up at him and asked, "What's wrong?" 

Lu Gu then said in a low voice: "I, I want to boil water to wash my hair." 

It was not without reason that he was so timid. He would be scolded for using more firewood in the Lu family. Although the Shen family hadn't treated him badly, but be careful and told him what to do. Shen Xuanqing was working, but he was taking a bath. 

Shen Xuanqing paused before saying: "Just boil it, enough water, enough firewood." 

Finally he said in a low voice: "Just do whatever you want, you don't have to agree with me in everything." 

These words made Lu Gu Startled for a while, finally with eyes full of gratitude, he whispered again and again: "Okay." 

The moon set and the sun rose, the cycle continued, and a few days passed in the blink of an eye. 

Lu Gu gradually got used to the life in the mountains. During the day, Shen Xuanqing took the dog out to hunt, he cooked and waited, and worked to weave bamboo cages in his free time. Taking advantage of the good weather these few days , he even unpacked, washed and dried the bedding. 

In the past two days, he had been picking wolfberry in the weeds outside. The grass in the mountains was tall and dirty, and he would inevitably bring dust with him when he came back. 

The embarrassment of that night made him learn to be a good boy. He boiled water to scrub during the day when Shen Xuanqing was away, and the sun was shining at noon, so he was not afraid of the cold after washing his hair. 

Shen Xuanqing scrubbed diligently so that he didn't dare to get dirty. 

Just after noon, the sky changed, dark clouds gathered, covering the sun, the sky was gray, Lu Gu was looking outside the door, not long after he heard a dog barking from a distance, he knew Shen Xuanqing was back. 

Fortunately, he came back early today, and it started to rain after dinner. The rain was heavy, pattering on the eaves and ground. 

Bamboo chickens were driven to the firewood house to shelter from the rain, and the rabbit cage was also inside. The goji berries had been harvested from the sun, and there was nothing to be drenched in the yard. Lu Gu had nothing to do, and sat in the main room before dark. Weaving bamboo baskets while listening to the rain, the room was not bright, and he was reluctant to light the oil lamp, so he could only sit here. 

As for Shen Xuanqing, he noticed the clean smell of wild bath beads on Lu Gu's body today, obviously after washing, he didn't want to get dirty in front of his fulang and lost face, so he boiled water and was taking a bath in the kitchen right now. 

After the head and body were all dry, the kitchen door opened. Lu Gu raised his head subconsciously when he heard the movement, and saw Shen Xuanqing running in from the rain with a few steps. 

He stopped what he was doing, murmured a few times and didn't know what to say, and he didn't dare to look into Shen Xuanqing's eyes, so he just lowered his head. 

Shen Xuanqing was not annoyed either, he left early and came back late these days, and he could only hold Lu Gu at night after he fell asleep, and he came back early today, allowing him to spend more time with Fulang, and it was too late to be happy.