Today was a great harvest for the Li father and sons, all because Li Menglan had discovered persimmons; Li Dazhu, Li Zhiming, and Li Zhihao did not venture deeper into Crooked Neck Mountain.
The four of them—Li Dazhu, Li Menglan, Li Zhiming, and Li Zhihao—had gone up the mountain rather late. By the time the Li family finished picking the wild persimmon tree clean, the sun was already directly overhead.... Entering the mountain at this time would pose certain dangers.
Li Menglan reached up to wipe the sweat from her face. "Dad, let's not go in to look for hedgehog fruit today; wait until tomorrow when you can bring Eldest Brother and Second Brother into the mountains. Today, let's just look around nearby. Dad—don't you think what I'm saying makes sense?" Li Menglan estimated that it must be around one or two o'clock by now. Even if they really did find a chestnut tree.... there definitely wouldn't be enough time to harvest it.
Li Dazhu looked at Li Menglan's small face, flushed red from the sun, with tender affection. Although it was already autumn; the temperature in the mornings and evenings was still drastically different from noon—the mornings and evenings were quite cool; the noon sun was equally capable of baking one dizzy. Li Menglan's little face had been reddened by precisely this sun.
"Alright, Dad, your Eldest Brother, and your Second Brother will all listen to our Lan girl." Li Dazhu walked over, picked Li Menglan up, and carried her to the shade of a tree, saying cheerfully.
Li Zhihao also came over with a cheeky grin and said cheerfully, "Dad, actually our harvest today isn't bad either; look, Eldest Brother even caught two pheasants. Tonight our family can add another dish." Li Zhihao pointed to the two pheasants placed beside Li Zhiming—these were the ones Li Zhiming had just caught.
"Mm." Li Dazhu's honest, simple face was covered with a smile. "Second's right. Ever since our Lan girl recovered from her illness, our luck has improved as well." Li Dazhu's words carried hidden meaning.
"Dad, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, our family will definitely get better and better; when we have money in the future, we'll build a beautiful big house, and our whole family will live together happily." After the events of these past two days, Li Menglan was filled with longing for the future; she believed.... one day, there would definitely be bread? And a house.... a house would be had as well.
"Eldest Brother, can you take me for another stroll around here?" Li Menglan could see that entering the mountains was already impossible, but it was still early; if they went home now, Li Menglan would be quite unwilling; so she thought of having her eldest brother take her around to look—perhaps there might even be unexpected discoveries?
"Alright." Li Zhiming nodded. Without another word, he stood up, took Li Menglan's hand, and prepared to leave.
"Eldest Brother. Little sister, I want to go with you too." Li Zhihao was a child who couldn't stay still. Upon hearing Li Menglan's words, he quickly rolled up from the grassy ground nearby.
"Dad, then I'll take Little Sister and Little Brother around to look!" Li Zhiming called out to Li Dazhu.
"Eldest, you're the big brother—you must take good care of your younger siblings; be careful, and don't go anywhere too dangerous." Like all ordinary fathers, Li Dazhu instructed them repeatedly, unable to set his mind at ease.
"Got it, Dad."
Li Dazhu looked at the long shadows under the sun, and a faint smile emerged on his honest, simple face; uh.... he had never desired a life of great wealth and status. As long as the whole family could stay together.... even if it was a bit harder, he didn't mind at all.
"Little sister, what are we looking for now?" Li Zhihao blinked his eyes and asked, puzzled.
"Second Brother, I want to see if we can find honey?" Li Menglan stated her ultimate goal. She was thinking—if they could find honey.... she wanted to try making some sugar-roasted chestnuts and see if anyone at the town market would want to buy them?
"Little sister, Second Brother knows; you definitely want to eat honey, right?" Li Zhihao said, pleased with his own cleverness: "Little sister, you're a greedy little cat." Because the siblings had always been very close, Li Zhihao couldn't resist teasing Li Menglan with a smile.
"Eldest Brother, look.... Second Brother is bullying me." Li Menglan deliberately pouted and complained to their eldest brother.
"Little sister, let's ignore your Second Brother; when we get home, Eldest Brother and Grandpa will properly deal with Second Brother." Li Zhiming also wanted to know what their sister wanted the honey for. "Little sister, can you tell Eldest Brother? What do you want to do with the honey?"
"Eldest Brother, didn't we pick a lot of chestnuts yesterday?" Li Menglan didn't intend to hide anything from her two older brothers, so she explained her original plan in full: "If we can find honey, I can use the honey and chestnuts to make sugar-roasted chestnuts; that way we can take them to town to sell. When we earn money, we can make two new cotton-padded garments for Grandpa and Grandma; the weather is gradually turning cold, and Grandpa and Grandma's old cotton-padded garments can't be worn anymore!"
"Little sister, is that true? Chestnuts roasted with honey can really be sold for money? Will people actually buy them?" Li Zhiming was first overjoyed, then asked with some worry.
"Eldest Brother, you have to believe in your little sister; someone will definitely buy them." Li Menglan said with full confidence, then her small face fell, pouting dejectedly: "Unfortunately, we haven't found any honey; we can't make sugar-roasted chestnuts."
"Little sister, don't be unhappy. Second Brother will go look for it right now; just wait! Little sister." Li Zhihao, seeing his sister's unhappy appearance, quickly comforted her; with a *swoosh* he ran off.
"Second Brother, be careful; make sure you don't get stung by wild bees." Li Menglan shouted loudly at Li Zhihao's retreating figure.
"Little sister, I got it." Li Zhihao's voice came from afar.
Once Li Zhihao ran off, Li Menglan wrenched free from Li Zhiming's hand and began her own solo adventure, to see if she could have any other unexpected harvests.
Hehe.... You really can't judge by its name—despite Crooked Neck Mountain's unimpressive name! It couldn't be denied that this mountain held many treasures. Li Menglan stared blankly at a small tree on the cliff face not far away.
Chinese prickly ash (*Zanthoxylum*) belongs to the order Sapindales, family Rutaceae, subfamily Rutoideae, genus *Zanthoxylum*. The original plant is a deciduous shrub, existing both wild and cultivated. In most regions of the country, the pericarp of the prickly ash is commonly used; those that are red in color and large in size are traditionally called "Da Hong Pao," being of the highest quality. Its seeds are called Jiao Mu, also used medicinally. Additionally, the pericarps of other plants in the same family and genus—such as bamboo-leaf prickly ash, wild prickly ash, and le tang—are also used medicinally as prickly ash.
Li Menglan looked at this small tree covered in tiny red seeds before her eyes, and the introduction to prickly ash she had once seen on Baidu surfaced in her mind; that's right.... the tree before her was precisely a prickly ash tree. Authentic Sichuan dishes flashed before Li Menglan's eyes; Water-Boiled Fish, Water-Boiled Beef, Mapo Tofu.... and that mouth-watering spicy hot pot....
She seemed to be getting closer and closer to her goal?