Haley rubbed her fingers uncomfortably, suppressing the nausea, and continued following Leah's steps into the woods.
Luckily, foraging had always been the Rattatas' forte, so Haley's foraging journey wasn't too unbearable. Soon, the scattered Rattatas brought Hazelnuts one by one and put them into the basket. Before long, the basket was stuffed full of hazelnuts.
"That's about enough." Leah lifted the basket, examined it in her hands, and said.
Haley had fully adapted by now. She had even rolled up her skirt and tied it at her knees. Her hands were dirty, and there was even a bit of mud on her face, yet she didn't frown. Holding a leaf handed to her by Sailor, she held it up against the sky and smiled brightly.
"I think it looks like a shell too!" Haley said, rummaged through the bag at her waist, found a photo album, and clipped the leaf inside.
She then noticed Leah's gaze and couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"
Leah smiled, walked over to Haley, took out a handkerchief she carried, and wiped the mud off Haley's face.
"Nothing, just feeling a bit surprised."
Her impression of Haley was still stuck on that dazzling Flower Dance Queen from the annual Flower Dance.
Like a star under the spotlight, a flower carefully nurtured in a greenhouse. Although she hadn't experienced much wind and rain, she had her own exquisite charm.
Although Leah preferred natural things, she had to admit that polished ornaments were also a form of art.
Haley reached out to touch her face, then smiled.
"If there are activities like this in the future, will you come?"
Leah asked.
"Mm, depends." Haley thought for a moment and said, "Ron and I agreed to go visit Kalos in winter. Nurse Joy said it's a fashion capital not to be missed."
"I see." Leah wasn't too surprised. If Haley didn't long for the big city, that would be surprising.
But thinking that Ron wouldn't be at the farm in winter, she felt a bit lonely. After all, she had previously agreed with Ron to visit the farm in winter.
Although she wasn't sure if Ron would be interested in foraging activities, she really wanted to experience the joy of winter foraging with Ron.
Almost no one in Pelipper Town liked this activity. Of course, Linus was an exception.
But Linus didn't really like hanging out with Leah, and Leah naturally wouldn't force herself on him. Although they were both interested in nature, thinking about it, there were still slight differences.
"But if I have time, mm, I might come." Haley suddenly said.
She keenly noticed some loneliness in Leah's eyes, so she leaned in slightly and said, "If you're willing to accompany me to pick Daffodils in the Spring."
"Of course!" Leah agreed immediately.
The basket full of hazelnuts was a bit heavy for the Rattatas, so on the way back, Haley and Leah each carried one basket.
Leah was used to this kind of heavy work, but Haley wasn't. She panted, struggling to follow behind: "This is so heavy. Do you do this every Fall?"
"Mm." Leah turned her head and said: "This is preparing for Winter."
"Like squirrels?" Haley asked.
"Thinking of it that way is fine." Leah thought for a moment, naturally accepted the metaphor, then casually placed a few Hazelnuts on a nearby tree. "This determines whether I'm self-sufficient in winter or go to Gus's place to eat bread."
Haley didn't like bread much either, but she similarly didn't like hazelnuts, so she couldn't understand the difference between the two.
Seeming to notice this, Leah turned her head and asked about Haley's preferences.
Learning that the other party liked Pink Cake, Leah's face showed some confusion, but her furrowed brow relaxed upon hearing Haley liked Fruit Salad and Coconut.
At least there was some overlap.
"So you like sweets?"
"Probably?" Haley thought for a moment, nodded.
"Then you might like hazelnut spread." Leah said, turned her head, and found they were near the cabin. She jogged a few steps, put the basket in her hand at the doorstep, then hurriedly ran back to take the basket from Haley.
Haley swung her hand, looking at the red marks left on her hand by the basket straps, but surprisingly didn't complain about anything.
The Rattatas helped greatly in cracking the hazelnuts. Originally, Leah didn't know how long it would take to crack them with hazelnut pliers herself, but the Rattatas bit them open with their teeth in no time.
Haley took on the task of washing the kernels herself. While thinking that Emily would probably scream exaggeratedly if she saw this, she carefully washed the cracked kernels in the water.
Leah ground the kernels. Once the kernels were crushed and quite a bit of nut oil overflowed, she added maple syrup and white sugar together, then put it on the stove to boil.
Soon, the room was filled with the scent of hazelnut kernels.
Cooked hazelnut spread was completely different from hazelnuts. Removing the astringency inherent in hazelnuts, only the rich sweetness remained. Even mixed with maple syrup, it faintly had a chestnut flavor.
It was very cold outside. Seeing Haley's hands frozen red, Leah lit the fireplace.
Because Haley was wearing a skirt and had mud on her legs, she went to take a bath. Now wrapped in Leah's blanket, wearing Leah's denim clothes, holding Sunkern, she huddled by the fireplace with the Rattatas.
Deerling lay on the carpet not far away, chewing the grass Ron had given yesterday.
Inside the room, there was only the crackling sound of wood burning and the boiling sound of the hazelnut spread in the pot.
Leah stirred the pot with a spoon, then scooped up a small spoonful and held it to Haley's mouth.
Haley hesitated for a moment, blew on it, then licked it.
"So delicious!"
Leah smiled as satisfactorily. She then distributed the freshly made hazelnut spread to the eagerly waiting Rattatas, only then finding the prepared jars and packing it all into them.
Once the hazelnut spread in the jars cooled down, Leah took one jar and handed it to Haley nearby.
"Is it really okay?" Haley asked, hugging the jar in surprise.
"Of course," Leah said, "You contributed to this too, didn't you?"
Haley immediately thanked Leah. She looked at the clothes on her body and said she would return them tomorrow.
Leah waved it off carelessly.
However, because their palettes overlapped too little, Leah didn't keep Haley for dinner. After seeing Haley home, she took the hazelnut spread for the farm and went to the farm with the Rattatas.
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