Chen Lan nodded with feigned seriousness, "Hmm! Grandma, you truly have the best judgment."
The grandmother puffed out her chest with pride, "Naturally!"
Seeing Grandma's and Mingzhe's similar displays of arrogance, Chen Lan couldn't help but chuckle. Fearing Grandma might misunderstand, she opened the system with her mind, began taking out six large wild boars from the storage, and quickly explained, "Grandma, I hunted six big wild boars today. What do you think we should do with them?"
Looking at the six large wild boars that had suddenly appeared on the ground, Grandma remained remarkably calm. She gazed happily at the boars, smacking her lips, and sighed repeatedly, "Little Lan! You're right, the Changbai Mountains are not only fertile but also abundant in resources. There are not only mountains, trees, and mountain goods, but also plenty of wild animals. Things like ginseng and monkey mushrooms are plentiful. I also heard from Doctor Guo and his daughter that there are many good medicinal herbs in our Changbai Mountains! This truly is a wonderful place. We are so fortunate to live in this valley!"
Chen Lan, mimicking Grandma's proud demeanor, replied, "Of course! If Father-in-law said it's a good place, could he be wrong?"
Grandma nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes! Your Father-in-law was finally reliable for once."
Then, Grandma looked around mysteriously, lowered her voice, and whispered, "Little Lan, ask your Father-in-law when he's going to reincarnate."
Chen Lan, caught completely off guard by Grandma's sudden question, almost slipped up. But as a seasoned survivor, how could such a small problem stump her? So, she continued to deceive, "Grandma, I already asked Father-in-law. He said he's worried about us, his whole family. He wants to see Mingzhe and Jiayao have a house full of children and grandchildren before he can rest easy. He told us not to worry about him; he's doing very well over there! He wants us all to live our lives with peace of mind."
Grandma sighed with a mixture of regret and sadness, "Ah! Your Father-in-law, he was a good man, but when he was alive, he neglected his family, dedicating himself to the nation's liberation. And now that he's gone, he still thinks of his family and children. Ah! This must be fate!"
Seeing that this conversation couldn't continue, Chen Lan quickly intervened to stop Grandma's lament and asked, "Grandma, the weather outside is still a bit hot. It won't do to leave the wild boars like this; they'll spoil quickly. Shouldn't we have everyone come and process them after dinner?"
Upon hearing this, Grandma immediately composed herself and replied, "Yes, we must process them quickly. Our valley will be having pork stew tonight. Little Lan, get some pig's blood and intestines, too. Let's celebrate this year's abundant harvest tonight, shall we? Little Lan, do you think this is okay?"
How could Chen Lan possibly disagree? She immediately agreed, "Grandma, I'll bring what you need along with the wild boars. You don't need to tidy up yet. Go eat first. I'll sort the monkey mushrooms. I'll pick out the good ones and let Father-in-law try selling them to see if they fetch a good price. I'll give the smaller monkey mushrooms to Doctor Guo later to process into medicinal herbs. What do you think?"
Grandma heartily agreed, "Good! Little Lan, that sounds perfect. I'll leave everything to you. I'm going to eat now and arrange for people to come and process these six wild boars."
Watching Grandma's receding figure, Chen Lan dared not delay. She immediately opened the system with her mind and ordered three large barrels of pig's blood and two sets of complete pig offal. She placed them in large basins next to the six wild boars and then paid no further attention.
Turning around, she continued to sort the monkey mushrooms. Indeed, Cui Qiao and the others had picked quite a few good quality monkey mushrooms today. Chen Lan picked out the better ones and sold them all to the system.
Carrying the slightly smaller and imperfect monkey mushrooms in her basket, she went to where people were eating. Finding Doctor Guo, his daughter, and his granddaughter eating, she placed the basket next to Doctor Guo and greeted them, "Doctor Guo, Sister Guo Rou, Qian Yingzi and the others picked some monkey mushrooms on the mountain today. Do you think they can be processed into medicine?"
Doctor Guo immediately put down his chopsticks, excitedly picked up the basket, and began examining them. He took them out one by one, carefully inspecting them, and sniffing each one. He kept saying they were good stuff.
Chen Lan no longer paid attention to Doctor Guo's admiration of the good things. She also needed to hurry and eat; her stomach was already rumbling with hunger.
After lunch, Chen Lan didn't bother with how they were processing the six wild boars. There were more than enough people helping. When everyone heard there would be pork stew again tonight, weren't they excited? There were so many people helping with the work! Today was another day for Sun Xiaomei and Grandma Sun to show off their skills.
Chen Lan took five "Fei Long" from the system warehouse, put them into her basket, and ambled home. The kindergarten children had just finished lunch and were now digesting in the yard, not yet having started their nap. As soon as Chen Lan walked through the yard gate, the sharp-eyed Jiayao spotted her. The chubby little fellow toddled over, reached out his small hand, and called out, "Mama, hug, hug."
Chen Lan bent down, scooped up the little guy, and asked, "Jiayao, did you eat enough at noon? Let Mama feel, has the watermelon ripened?"
Jiayao patted his little belly with his small hands adorably, saying, "Full, full. Melon ripe."
Chen Lan chuckled and continued, "Jiayao, what good thing did you eat at noon? Can you give Mama a bite?"
Jiayao replied cutely again, "Meat, yummy! Rice, yummy! All gone! Eaten!"
Just then, Jiahui also saw Chen Lan return, holding her brother. She immediately toddled over, clamoring for a hug, "Mama, hug, hug."
Chen Lan, holding Jiayao with one arm, reached out with the other, bent down, and scooped up Jiahui. The two little ones were overjoyed. Brother and sister's eyes turned into crescent moons as they smiled, opening their little mouths to reveal a few tiny teeth.
Chen Lan carried the siblings with both arms to the pavilion and saw her mother wiping the little chubby's bottom in the cradle. She immediately put down the siblings and the basket on her back and said, "Mom, you rest for a while. Let me do it!"
Her mother turned and saw Chen Lan had returned. She smiled and said, "Lan'er, you're back! I'm almost done here! I'm used to it, and it's not very tiring. You've been busy from morning till night! Why do you have free time today? If you have free time, just rest well and spend time with the siblings. They haven't had much of a chance to cuddle with you for a long time."
As her mother spoke, she asked, "Lan'er, is there anything important in the basket on your back? The siblings are at the age where they like to rummage through things. You should keep an eye on what they're doing later."