Ye Chenghu sat on the ground playing for quite a while before he grew a little bored. Everyone else was picking tangerines, while he sat there eating by himself.
Eating too many made his mouth sour, and his teeth could not take it either. Besides, he could not sit still.
He added another layer of tangerines to the two rings, surrounding both softshell turtles, then climbed back up the slope and went over to his father.
"Dad, I want to pick some too."
"Had enough to eat? You'll eat until your teeth go soft. That short tree beside you is just right for you. Go on!"
Ye Chenghu rubbed his cheeks. They did feel a little sore, so he dared not eat any more.
Children never stayed focused for long. After only a little while, he turned to check on his two softshell turtles again. Once he was sure they were still inside the tangerines, he ran back to keep picking without worry.
He went back and forth several times without finding it a bother, and only settled down to work properly after being scolded a few times.
Ye Yaodong and the others had hired a tractor to take them straight over that day. It was faster, and they had arrived at barely nine. After having a snack and getting held up catching softshell turtles along the way, it was past ten by the time they reached the hillside.
They had not even been picking for two hours when he heard Lin Mother calling from below that it was time to eat.
He turned to look. She was carrying two bamboo baskets on a shoulder pole, with two buckets and two large soup bowls inside. One bucket held bowls and chopsticks, and the other held rice, while the soup bowls