Xu He picked up the winter bamboo shoots like a treasure and patted the soil. The short, thick, and chunky bamboo shoots were simple and cute. Zhang Fangyuan dug them very well, not even destroying any part of the bamboo shoots. It took a long time to dig it up with a hoe, or the bamboo shoots would be broken by the hoe.


    He quickly took out the hatchet from the back basket, found a wooden pier and cut off the bamboo shoots one by one, leaving only a round bamboo shoot. This kind of winter bamboo shoots that had no damage should be preserved for a longer period of time.


    There was no time in the forest, and he felt that the forest in winter was extremely quiet, unlike warblers flying and singing in spring, only the sound of their own labor could be heard.

    The two cooperated tacitly, one dug the bamboo shoots and the other handled the bamboo shoots. Although they didn't talk much, they both smiled knowingly when they dug up big bamboo shoots, and carefully put the bamboo shoots into the basket. Zhang Fangyuan actually didn't like doing such boring things in the woods, but with one more person, the time was very easy to pass.

    Seeing that there were more and more bamboo shoots in the back basket, neither of them had the intention of saying goodbye, but the water dripped onto Zhang Fangyuan's neck. He looked up at a corner of the sky outside the dense forest, wiped his face and said: "It seems to be raining."

    Xu He squatted under a dense old tree, and was chopping bamboo shoots into a ball. Hearing Zhang Fangyuan's words, he got up and went out to look at the sky. It was cool when the rain fell on his face, he nodded: "It's really raining."

    "People are drenched in the bamboo forest, and the rain outside must be heavy." Zhang Fangyuan put down the hoe, picked up the sickle instead. After a few strides, he went to cut some ferns, and rolled them into a hat and handed it to Xu He: "Use it as a cover, don't let your hair get wet, it's easy to get fever when you go back."

    He knelt down and put all the bamboo shoots into the basket, asked Xu He to help him carry them up, and handed the hoe to Xu He: "You will carry the bamboo shoots back when we separate later. I'll carry them first."

    Hearing that Zhang Fangyuan meant to give him all the bamboo shoots, Xu He disagreed and said, "We dug together, and you should have half of it."

    "It's fine, I'm idle, you like it so much, take it to the city and sell it."

    Although Xu He didn't want to talk about his family affairs with others, he still said: "I have to hand over the money after I sell it, and it takes up so much of your time, why bother."

    Zhang Fangyuan paused for a moment, yes, not everyone was undisciplined like him, earning money and spending it by himself.

    Xu He's thoughts were also active: "How about this, I'll take the broken bamboo shoots home so I can do my business, and you can take the rest home and sell them in the city, and then we will share the money?”

    Zhang Fangyuan laughed: “Okay.”

The two shared the bamboo shoots, Xu He lent Zhang Fangyuan the basket, and took a few broken bamboo shoots by himself and carried the hoe back. They went to separate way.

    It was only when Zhang Fangyuan went back that he realized that it was almost time for dinner. It was rainy in winter and it was hard to distinguish between morning and evening. Remembering that he didn’t eat at noon, he carefully carried the bamboo shoots back to the back warehouse and put them away. The food was eaten, and the horse was fed with the grass.

    After simply tidying up, when he went to the yard, it was already so dark that he couldn't see the way clearly.

    Zhang Fangyuan took a charcoal basin and lit a charcoal fire in the bedroom. It was very cold for a while, the wind was not strong, and the snow didn’t fall for a long time. On the contrary, the weather was stuffy and cold. He was afraid the cold wouldn’t be good for Xiao Hei's recovery, so he also lit charcoal for the horse.

    When his father separated the family, his father was in the middle, neither the biggest nor the youngest. He didn't get the ancestral house, and he honestly gave way to his brothers, and he didn't get much land. The house where Zhang Fangyuan lived now was built by his father after he got married, and there were several larger rooms in the front and back. When his parents were alive, he thought it was not very spacious. Now he was alone, but he felt that the house was too big. It was empty.


    A person's life was not easy. Cooking a dish could serve several meals. It was hot at first, but the stove couldn't burn for a long time, so the room looked very cold.

    After the charcoal fire was lit, the house felt much warmer and more lively.

    Zhang Fangyuan had nothing to do, so he boiled water to warm his feet, washed and went to bed. Other families like rainy days, the whole family didn’t have to go out to do work, just take a small piece of bacon,  stir-fried or stewed it, and everyone would have a delicious meal, what a beautiful life.

    But people like him had nothing to look forward to.

    The bedroom was warmed by the charcoal fire, and the sound of the rain outside made him very sleepy. Zhang Fangyuan fell asleep not long after. In his dream, he saw that there seemed to be more people coming and going in and out of the house, and the house was tidied up and taken care of. When he went home, there would be hot meals waiting for him.

    But that man's temper was not very good, he took charge of him and plundered all his money, and he had to report to him everything he wanted to buy, so to put it bluntly, he only got twenty copper coins for pocket money.

    Zhang Fangyuan really wanted to see exactly who dared to be so violent with him. He tried hard to see the face clearly, but there was only one figure from the back. His face blended with the night, and he couldn't see clearly. Zhang Fangyuan didn't believe in evil anymore, and was about to hold him down when he stepped forward. Suddenly, there was a jolt, and the sound of beating gongs and drums broke through the rain, breaking the dream sharply.

    He sat up in bed all at once.

    It was dark, and it was already raining heavily outside, but the sound of the rain was mixed with cries resounding through the mountains and fields and the sound of the gong.

    "Come quickly! The thief is caught! Someone is stealing!"

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