Seeing Li Taohua's hesitant expression, Er Ya knew that she knew who had relayed the message, and said, "Auntie, don't worry, I just want to find out who is smearing my mother behind her back. I will definitely not let anyone know who told me."

Li Taohua thought to herself that the person was not someone to be trifled with. Then she thought that Er Ya had just asked her to help out at their house, which was worth two cents a day. What if she knew this but didn't tell her, and Er Ya got angry and wouldn't let her do the work?

After thinking for a while, I decided to tell her. If she doesn't find out from me, she'll find out from somewhere else in the future. It's better to let her know.

“Look at Er Ya, I actually know who said it, but I’m telling you, you absolutely must not let anyone know that I told you.”

"Don't worry, Auntie, I definitely won't let anyone know."

“It’s Han. She went to the market the day before yesterday and said she saw your mother with a young man. They looked quite intimate. Also, your mother has been being picked up and dropped off by someone these past few days, and she didn’t even come home last night. So it must be your mother and that person…”

Although some people didn't believe it, thinking that Jiang's mother was a mother, so how could a young man be interested in her? But others said, what if a rich man likes that kind of thing? Anyway, it's just for fun, and there's no future in it.

And so, the news spread like wildfire, and the whole village knew about it. For the past two days, everyone had gathered under the big tree to discuss the topic. One day, she happened to pass by and saw Han Shi talking animatedly, spitting everywhere, as if she had personally witnessed Jiang's mother being intimate with someone.

So it was this Han Shi. Er Ya didn't show it on her face and continued chatting with Li Taohua: "Oh, it's her. Auntie, I'll remember this favor. You can start cooking now, I'm going home too."

Li Taohua wanted to invite her to eat there, but Er Ya declined, saying she still had things to do at home, and ran home.

When they arrived at the door, Dahei rushed over and rubbed against her feet. Before it could even react, Er Ya had already run off and disappeared, leaving Dahei to squat at the door and wait for Er Ya to come back.

"Big Black, let's go home."

Pushing open the courtyard gate, Lin Jianguo was preparing to cook when he saw Er Ya return. He asked, "Where have you been? I told you not to pay attention to what they say. It's hard to pinpoint who started gossip. We're upright and have nothing to fear. Why should we care what they say?"

"Dad, don't worry about it. I already know who spread the message. Just wait and see. Once Mom comes back, I'll go to her house to find her."

"You found her? Finding who said it is enough. Go to her house and tell her to stop talking nonsense." Lin Jianguo finished speaking and then looked at the small dog that had suddenly appeared in the yard:

"Whose dog is this? How did it get into our house?" After saying that, she was about to find something to chase it out.

Er Ya quickly stopped him, "Dad, I picked up this dog from the mountain. Shall we keep it as a pet?"

Raising another dog wouldn't be a big deal; it just eats leftovers. When Er Ya said it was picked up from the mountain, I thought it might have been someone else's pet. But now, during the famine, they couldn't afford to keep it and kicked it out. At that time, let alone dogs, some families were so poor they couldn't afford to eat, and they even kicked people out.

Lin Jianguo said embarrassedly, "If you want to raise it, then raise it. Are you hungry? Let's cook. I'll light the fire for you and you can cook. Your cooking is better than your father's."

Er Ya chuckled to herself for a while. Seeing that there was still some meat in the house, she originally wanted to eat some noodles, but she was too small to roll them out easily, so she decided to have some dumpling soup instead. She would make noodles when her mother came back.

I chopped some meat, first put an egg in it and marinated it with some salt for a while, then washed some shepherd's purse that I had picked from the mountain. After stir-frying the meat, I poured in the washed shepherd's purse and stir-fried it for a few seconds. After serving it, I added water and waited to make dumplings.

Before long, the dumpling soup was ready. Each person was served a bowl. Er Ya had been busy on the mountain for half a day and was starving. She started to eat heartily.

Big Black was also hungry. He lay down at Er Ya's feet and stared at her longingly, making Er Ya feel embarrassed to eat. She found a bowl, poured some dumpling soup for Big Black, and put it in front of him for him to eat.

Lin Jianguo said with dissatisfaction, "You child, that flour is so expensive, and you still use it to feed the dog. There's meat in it too."

"Dad, you don't know, Dahei did a great job today." He pointed to the basket next to the main room, "Look, all the gastrodia elata in there were dug up by Dahei. After drying them, we can sell them for money."

"Oh my, this dog can even pry things up, not bad. You can feed it if you want, but only once. Food is life, and people can't afford to eat. Make sure the animal is full."

"Okay, okay, Dad, I'll listen to you, I understand." Er Ya stuck out her tongue. Anyway, she was feeding him behind his back, so as long as he didn't know, it would be fine.

After the meal, Er Ya began to sort through the medicinal herbs she had dug up from the mountain. She shook off all the dirt from the "half-coin" herbs and put them in the yard to dry in the sun for a few days. Once they were completely dry, she could brew them into tea.

After preparing the "half-money" (a type of medicinal herb), it's time to process the Solomon's Seal. The fresh rhizomes need to be separated by size and then sun-dried for several days. Once the surface softens and a sticky sap oozes out, gently knock off the root hairs and dirt with a bamboo basket. Continue sun-drying until it turns from white to yellow. Then rub it with your hands or repeatedly step on it with your feet, repeating this process several times until it becomes soft, smooth, without a hard core, and yellowish-white in color. This completes the process of drying it in the sun, resulting in the best quality Solomon's Seal.

Er Ya and Lin Jianguo worked all afternoon to sort out the medicinal herbs they had dug up. In an instant, the entire yard was filled with herbs. Er Ya looked at the yard full of herbs and realized that this was all money. She loved the feeling of slowly making money with her own hands.

After finishing with the medicinal herbs, Jiang's mother returned. As soon as she entered the yard, she wondered if this was still her own yard. Why were there so many things drying in the sun? "What did you two dig up? You've covered the whole yard with them. It smells quite nice."

"Mom, you're back! Look at the medicinal herbs I dug up. Once they're dried, we can take them to the market to sell for money. See how good I am? Oh, and there's Big Black. This is the little dog I found on the mountain. It's probably dried out, but it dug all these gastrodia elata."

Er Ya shook her head, pleading with Da Hei, worried that it would be terrible if her mother wouldn't let her keep it.

"Oh my, my daughter has grown up and can help her mother with chores now. What name did you give it? Big Black? It does suit its appearance quite well, all black. If you want to keep it, then keep it."

To be continued!