The teams of red, blue, and green girls tacitly headed in different directions!
Ran Qingqing turned her head and saw the other two teams disappear from view, then started to jog, while calling out to her teammates, "Let's go, let's go, let's run fast and get some distance."
"Why?"
"Think about it, the bamboo shoots around the river beach must have been picked first and are hard to find! The ones farther away haven't been picked and are a bit easier to find."
Her teammate admired, "Wow, Sister Qingqing is indeed our brains!"
When they got a bit farther, the two of them slowed down and began looking around with their heads down.
There were quite a few bamboo shoots in this bamboo forest!
Spring bamboo shoots after rain, sprouting quickly after the rain.
Bowing her head, Ran Qingqing looked around and soon made a discovery: "Hey hey, there's one here! Oh, not just one! This one too!"
At the edge of a clump of bamboo, there was a bamboo shoot with a dark brown skin, as thick as a thumb!
Although the bamboo was emerald green, its base was covered in mud and dust, and there was less sunlight at the bottom, making the color a bit darker.
Mixed with the brown-skinned bamboo shoots and about the same width, they were really easy to overlook if you didn't pay close attention.
However, if you looked carefully, you could find a lot.
Crouching down, she pulled aside the branches and leaves nearby, grabbed a bamboo shoot with her hand, and tried to tug it gently.
It didn't come off!
She added some force, but it still didn't come off.
Her teammate tried to pull another one, puzzled, "Isn't it said that we can easily pull them out without tools?"
Ran Qingqing frowned, thought about the method taught by the staff, and tried to pull up while gently twisting her wrist.
Joy instantly appeared in her eyes as she felt the bamboo shoot seemed to loosen!
With a slight, crisp "snap," the bamboo shoot was broken off.
She excitedly exchanged experiences with her teammate: "Hey hey, I've found out, there is indeed a knack to picking bamboo shoots! You need a clever force, not just brute strength."
"Oh, oh, like using an inch of power!"
Her teammate revealed a look of realization, clenched her fist, and suddenly stretched it forward: "Snap! Like this?"
Ran Qingqing laughed, "Yeah yeah, it's kind of like that feeling!"
After her teammate tried for a while, she too broke off a bamboo shoot!
However, Ran Qingqing soon realized that picking bamboo shoots was not such an easy task.
To find more bamboo shoots, they had to venture into relatively dense bamboo forests, and they had to bend their backs and push through the branches and leaves!
When picking bamboo shoots, you also have to bow and bend over.
Skilled people might "snap" and twist one off, but since their technique wasn't very refined, they had to bend over for longer, their heads starting to sweat, and their necks and backs gradually aching.
And some bamboo shoots were indeed very firm and resilient.
You had to hold tightly and tug hard; others you could twist for ages, seeming loose but just not coming off, forcing you to give up regretfully.
Nonetheless, the surprise shouts of discovering bamboo shoots, the unique light cracking sound of breaking them off, the pleasant chirping of birds, and the babbling of water, all these sounds mixed together to form a beautiful and refreshing symphony of the bamboo forest!
Although it was tough picking them, seeing the bamboo shoots piling up in the carrier basket was quite fulfilling.
Ran Qingqing plucked off several larger heads, and just as her small carrier basket was half full and she was feeling happy, she suddenly heard the staff accompanying the shoot say, "Just a reminder to watch the time! Don't go over."
"Oh!"
Ran Qingqing looked at her phone and noticed there were only 5 minutes left.
She quickly called to her teammate: "Hey hey, let's hurry back!"
They quickly returned to the riverside where they had started.
After they came back, Shi Xi's team also returned.
Their basket was about one-third full of bamboo shoots!
Looking at Ran Qingqing's basket, which was more than half full, Big Eye's eyes widened, "Wow, you guys picked so much!"
Feeling dejected inside, it seemed their team was probably one of the last.
Ran Qingqing smiled proudly, "Hehe! We started off by heading to the denser and more distant parts of the forest, where there were more bamboo shoots."
"So that's why! Are Yang Xiaochao and her team not back yet? They must be close to running out of time, right?"
The staff member checked their watch, "Time is about to be up!"
Yang Xiaochao's figure appeared in the distance, running towards them in a panic while shouting, "We're coming, we're coming!"
On her way back, she spotted two more bamboo shoots and thought to pick them quickly to increase their chances of winning, but that's what delayed them.
Shi Xi and Ran Qingqing waved their hands, "Hurry, hurry! You're about to run out of time, push it, push it!"
"Ahhh! I'm here!"
Yang Xiaochao ran over quickly and bent over, breathing heavily from exhaustion!
Looking at the bamboo shoots in their basket, it appeared to be roughly the same amount as Ran Qingqing's team.
The staff member announced, "Yang Xiaochao's team is one minute over time! When we count the bamboo shoots, we'll have to deduct 5."
Yang Xiaochao exclaimed in despair, "Ahhh! This is infuriating, had I known, I wouldn't have gotten greedy for those last two shoots!!"
Picking two extra shoots only to have five deducted! What a loss.
Next, it was time for the Panda Restaurant staff to process the bamboo shoots.
Each person took a small cleaver, making a few cuts from the top down the shoot, creating an opening, then someone beside them bent the husk, wrapping it around their finger twice, and the shell was effortlessly peeled away, revealing the tender heart of the shoot inside.
Each section getting finer towards the top, the white flesh tinged with a pale green hint of freshness!
Shi Xi, having grown up in the city, couldn't help but open her eyes wide in amazement, "So this is how you peel bamboo shoots! I thought you had to peel off each layer."
The staff member laughed upon hearing this, "How could it be? That method would be so slow, you guys wouldn't be able to eat them until evening."
"It's amazing, just a twist and it's peeled! Such a fast technique."
Yang Xiaochao said, "My grandma taught me this method of peeling shoots when I was a kid!"
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"These bamboo shoots are quite slim to begin with, and after peeling, they've shrunk even more, hardly anything left!"
"Right, we picked half a basket and it seemed like a lot, but now it looks like it might not be enough for all of us to eat."
After peeling, a pile of fresh bamboo shoots was set aside, and the staff weighed them on an electronic scale.
Everyone held their breath, watching the numbers displayed on the scale nervously!
Shi Xi's team had picked 330g, which was a little over 6 liang, Yang Xiaochao's team had 540g, and Ran Qingqing's team had 560g!
The staff member declared, "First place goes to the Red team, second place to the Blue team, and third place to the Green team!"
Ran Qingqing raised her hand, high-fiving her teammate and cheering, "Yay~~~~"
She felt a bit lucky inside, as securing first place had involved some element of luck.
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Yang Xiaochao swung her fist in frustration, making a grinding-teeth gesture, "Damn it, it was supposed to be my forte, we would have won first place if not for those deducted shoots!"
Shi Xi said, "At least you guys got second, we would have been firmly at the bottom with or without the overtime!"
After weighing, the staff held the bamboo shoots and rinsed them in the clear, flowing stream water, then placed them back in the baskets.
Once washed and dotted with water droplets, the bamboo shoots looked even more vibrant and inviting.