"Xiao Mai, look, this bamboo shoot is huge; it's the biggest one I've ever seen!"
Xiao Cao called out to her in surprise, and Xiao Mai snapped out of it, quickly jogging over.
"Wow, it really is big! Let's dig it out!"
The two of them started working together, growing more energetic as they went on. Once they dug it out, they'd look for the next biggest bamboo shoot, then each taking one.
The whole afternoon, the two little girls didn't dig up many bamboo shoots, but their chirping exclamations never stopped.
Occasionally, Xiao Cao's friends would come looking for her, but after playing for a while without finding any bamboo shoots, they got called home by their elders to hurry up and dig bamboo shoots.
Luckily, Xiao Cao's parents didn't bother her, letting her and Xiao Mai roam freely in the bamboo forest.
There are many ways to eat spring bamboo shoots: stir-fried, braised with meat, made into sour bamboo shoots, and most importantly, they can be dried for long-term storage.
