Chapter 5: Searching for Food on the Mountain

After leaving her private room, Xiao'er felt like taking a walk outside. For the past few days, she had been lying in bed, healing her wounds and listening to the constant bickering between Mrs. Zhuang and Mrs. Li over meals and chores involving chickens, ducks, pigs, and cows. This was really annoying. She was aware that Mrs. Liu was exempted from work due to her confinement after giving birth, but the sarcastic remarks daily were truly speechless. Finally, following the intervention of her fourth Aunt, Mrs. Lu, who took over her mother's work, the situation became peaceful, affording some peaceful days. Xiao'er decided to keep in mind the kindness Mrs. Lu had shown.

Barely had Xiao'er stepped out of her room when she noticed Mrs. Li sitting in the courtyard, eating melon seeds. After greeting her, Xiao'er intended to leave directly. However, upon spotting Xiao'er, Mrs. Li spat out the melon seeds she had in her mouth, "Where are you planning to go, Xiao'er? The pigs haven't been fed this morning. You should do that first."

Damn it, Xiao'er really wanted to explode. Mrs. Li had planned to sell off the original owner and indirectly caused the original owner's death, yet instead of staying away from Xiao'er, she dared to approach her. This really felt as though she was asking to have her life cut short.

"Second Aunt, where is my cousin?"

Upon hearing Xiao'er ask for Shen Bei'er, Mrs. Li couldn't help feeling a little panicked: "Your cousin isn't home. I just remembered that Zhi'er's clothes got hooked and tore. I need to go mend the damage." She left the courtyard and quickly retreated back to her room.

"Second Aunt, tell my cousin when she comes back that my head still hurts! And remember to feed the pigs." After speaking, Xiao'er headed to the kitchen to get a bowl of water for Mrs. Liu and casually mentioned her plan to stroll around the village.

Upon returning to her room, Mrs. Li couldn't help but spit, "Wait till I sell you to the Hu Mansion in a few days, then let's see how arrogant you can be!"

"Mother, drink some water." This bowl of water had been replaced with water from her space. Drinking this water could speed up Mrs. Liu's recovery.

Mrs. Liu took the water and after a sip immediately noticed something different, "Why does today's water taste different from usual?"

"Really? I think it tastes the same." Xiao'er responded nonchalantly, "I guess since I served it to you, it must feel special when you drink it."

"You are really full of yourself!" Mrs. Liu shook her head and took another sip of water. Unable to discern the difference, she attributed it to her misperception.

Seeing that Mrs. Liu did not probe further, Xiao'er breathed a sigh of relief. She gently stroked her little sister's thin hand, the child was too skinny. Mrs. Liu couldn't produce a sufficient amount of milk as she wasn't eating enough, hence, the child hadn't gained any weight after ten days. The child often woke up several times during the night due to hunger and cried uncontrollably.

"Little sister, don't worry. Your sister will get some food soon. You won't have to deal with hunger anymore." Xiao'er turned to Mrs. Liu and said, "Mother, I want to go out for a walk. Being cooped up inside for so many days, I feel like I'll get moldy."

"No, the injury on your head hasn't completely healed yet. What if you bump into something?" The sight of her daughter covered in blood when she was brought home still pained her heart.

Then, the door was opened. Shen Jingrui and Shen Jinghao walked in. Lowering their voices so as not to disturb the sleeping younger sister, they said, "Mother, my brother and I are going up to the mountains to pick wild fruits."

"Okay, but be careful and don't stay out too late."

Wasn't this just a case of providence? Xiao'er immediately pulled Mrs. Liu's sleeve and begged, "Mother, I want to go too! Brother, take me with you! My head doesn't hurt anymore. Really, see how lively and active I am!"

"No." Mrs. Liu still disagreed.

Having no choice, Xiao'er untied the bandage on her head to show Mrs. Liu, "Mother, look, I am completely healed. It doesn't hurt at all now."

Mrs. Liu looked and found, to her surprise, that it had indeed healed, leaving only a faint scar. "The day before yesterday, it wasn't healed completely. How come it is only left with a faint scar after two days?"

"Mother, didn't the doctor say the effectiveness of the medicine I'm applying would be boosted by an additional ingredient? Maybe that's the effect of the ingredient." Fortunately, the last time the doctor came to change the dressing, he mentioned that the missing ingredient had been collected from the mountains, and now it was included in the medicine to accelerate the healing process.

Mrs. Liu didn't know what the reason was, but she thought it fair enough. Since the children were better, they can't always be shut in at home. Fresh air is always good for them. So, she agreed but not before having warned them profusely about what's permissible and what's not. It was only after the three siblings obediently agreed that she permitted them to go.

The village where Xiao'er lived was called Lianxi Village, surrounded by mountains. There were altogether four villages nearby. The other three were Luohe Village, Luoshan Village and Yuanwu Village respectively. Yuanwu Village was a large village inhabited entirely by the Yuan Clan. The populace of the other three villages largely consisted of refugees who had found their roots here. After generations of growth, the population size had become quite impressive.

At the end of the village, there was a path leading to the foot of the mountain, on both sides of which stretched endless paddy fields. Almost half of these fields belonged to Landlord Yuan, and most of the villagers rented fields from Landlord Yuan's household. There were villagers who owned their fields, but those fields were mostly just one or two acres in size, the produce of which could not suffice to feed the villagers' families. As land-grabbing was a common practice in ancient times, poor villagers had no choice but to rent land.

Autumn is a time when golden hues become reflective of the season. The sunlight is golden; the fields are golden; fallen leaves are golden. Everywhere you look, you see golden hues that bring not just warmth to the soul, but also the joy of a fruitful harvest. The words "a bountiful harvest" are the dream, hope, and pursuit of each dynasty in these parts.

Against the backdrop of a vast sea of golden paddy fields, the villagers' gleaming eyes, clutching handfuls of rice ears, make quite an impression on Xiao'er. But the two little boys beside her don't seem to share her sentiments. Jinghao, all excited, pulls Xiao'er along and starts running towards the foot of the mountain.

"Sis, hurry up! Qiangzi also said today that he is going up the mountain to pick wild fruit. If we arrive late, there will be no fruit left. We will starve for lunch. We need to hurry up and pick some for mom to eat. That way, our little sister will not cry tonight," says Jinghao.

"Don't we have rice for lunch? Why will we starve?" a puzzled Xiao'er questions, jolted out from her thoughts.

Upon hearing her question, they both turn to look at her strangely and reply, "Xiao'er, have you forgotten? Today is market day. Grandpa took our father, Second Uncle, and Fourth Uncle to help out at the shop in town. Since all the men are gone, there will be no meal prepared for noon at home."

"Oh, I forgot." Xiao'er suddenly remembered something from the previous owner's memory. "Yes, I must be more mindful about this in the future," she thinks to herself.

Actually, the Shen family could be considered quite prosperous. They owned 20 acres of top-grade farmland, 5 acres of middle-grade farmland, 10 acres of dry land, and 10 acres of sandy land. That was more than enough to provide for their family with some left over. They also owned a grocery store in town. Despite this, all the silver they earned was tightly managed to finance the education of their eldest son and his lawful grandson, so he could pass the examinations and acquire a high-ranking position. In this dynasty, paper was considered a luxury, not to mention pens, ink, inkstones, books and tuition fees paid to the tutor. So the rest of the large family could only live half-starved. When the men were away, the women at home wouldn't even make a meal, frugality becoming a necessity.

While admiring the beautiful country scenery and responding to Jinghao's innocent babbling, Xiao'er soon arrived at the foot of the mountain. It was only about three or four miles away from the end of the village, and they arrived after around fifteen minutes. At the foot of the mountain, they ran into Shen Zixuan, the man who had saved Xiao'er's life. Zixuan, having heard of their plan to go up the mountain to pick wild fruits, also wanted to join. He was tired of reading and felt a little bored at home, so he thought it would be a good idea to join their venture.

Following a familiar path up the mountain, Jinghao led Xiao'er to a place where he had found some wild fruit just two days ago. "Sis, the other day, I saw a place where wild fruit are about to ripen. It's perfect for picking today. The fruit there are bigger than those in other places. We have to hurry," he says.

Jinghao guided Xiao'er to the place where he had previously discovered the wild fruit. But all the ripe fruit had already been picked from the trees, leaving only the small and unripe ones. Upon seeing this, Jinghao almost broke into tears. He had been banking on these fruits to feed his mom and sister, but now there was nothing left.

Seeing Jinghao's eyes turning red and sensing his urge to cry, Xiao'er comforts him, promising, "The mountain is so big, there must be lots of wild fruit. We can look for them elsewhere. Maybe we'll find even bigger and better fruits. Let's keep trying."

"That's true, there's another place where we can find a patch of yellow Himalayan raspberries. I'll catch bird eggs for you later; bird eggs are tastier than wild fruit. Let's keep going," Zixuan suggests.

Jinghao understood that there was no use crying over the picked fruits. Such things often happened. There were plenty of fruit in the mountains, they just needed to find them again. With this realization, he once again became cheery and strode forward.

Nobody spoke after that, everyone was intently observing their surroundings, investigating for any new finds.

Sunlight poured through layers of leaves, forming streaks of sunbeams that appeared ethereal and fleeting at a distance. The ground was bathed with sparkling spots of varying shapes and sizes. Every now and then, leaves would bob down from the branches, twirling in the sunlight. The overall scene was spectacular.

The three of them, surrounded by this serene and mystical atmosphere, accompanied by the rustling sound of their feet stepping on the fallen leaves and occasional sounds of animals, were proceeding carefully and slowly.

"I think I just heard a pheasant," Zixuan says, silently signaling for silence by placing a finger on his lips.