"You've been in the mountains all day, let your uncle see what good things you've picked up?" Lin Gensheng noticed that his niece's basket was quite heavy, so he went over to rummage through it.

Lin Momo seemed indifferent, letting him look all he wanted.

The good stuff is all in her space. Those other things are just displayed to fill space and show off to others. They're nothing special. She wouldn't mind sharing some with this uncle.

"Soapberries, this whole basket isn't all soapberries, is it?" Lin Gengsheng said dismissively, then picked up the basket with one hand to test its weight. "Wow, it's surprisingly heavy. What's at the bottom?"

Turning her gaze away from the two brothers, Lin said quietly, "Walnuts and chestnuts."

Lin Gensheng glanced critically at the bamboo cage next to him and said, "Oh, they even picked up some yams. By now, the area outside the mountain has been searched countless times. Even if there were any good mountain products, they would have already been taken by others. This is all that's left."

His tone betrayed his disappointment.

"Yes." Lin Momo slumped onto the woodpile, catching her breath while wiping the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.

About fifteen minutes later, the brothers Lin Zhiyong and Lin Zhiqiang returned.

"Er Ya, if you don't come back soon, your older brother will have to go into the mountains to look for you." Lin Zhiyong, carrying an empty load, said breathlessly when he saw Lin Momo.

At this moment, Lin Zhiqiang, who was walking behind, also came over, his head tilted to one side, as if he hadn't seen his younger sister at all.

Lin Momo, sitting on the woodpile, treated her cousin like he was invisible and smiled at him, saying, "I've calculated the time, so I won't be late for going down the mountain."

This cousin seems to have the makings of an elder brother, better than his father, and a hundred times better than Lin Zhiqiang.

Lin Momo couldn't help but think that it would be better if her cousin were her own brother.

Unfortunately, life doesn't allow for hypotheticals.

Lin Momo followed the two brothers down the mountain.

She deliberately lagged behind, secretly storing more than half of the contents of her basket and bamboo cage into her spatial storage before feeling a bit more relaxed. Seeing the two people ahead of her stop to rest, she quickly stopped as well.

She walked and stopped frequently along the way, and when someone behind her was about to catch up, she would step aside on the side of the mountain path to let them go first.

The two brothers and Lin Momo arrived at the foot of the mountain one after the other.

After loading the firewood onto the cart, Lin Zhiyong rested for a while, then instructed Lin Momo to stay by the mule cart and not wander off, before he and Lin Zhiqiang went up the mountain to carry more firewood.

Lin Momo had sweated a lot in the mountains, and now, with the evening mountain breeze blowing, she felt a chill on her body.

She spotted the auntie who sold rice soup in the morning still there, so she went over and bought a bowl of soup to warm herself up.

"Girl, it's you again. You must be hungry after a long day on the mountain. Auntie has some white flour and vegetable rolls, do you want some?" The woman selling soup remembered Lin Momo quite well, and when she saw her patronizing her business again, her face immediately lit up with a smile.

The siblings almost got into a fight this morning; no wonder this auntie, who greets and sees off so many people, still remembers this little girl.

Having only eaten a steamed bun all day on the mountain, Lin Momo's stomach immediately started rumbling when reminded by the woman.

Lin Momo asked calmly, "What kind of vegetables did you roll?"

"These rolled wild garlic are delicious. They're warming up in another pot. Would you like one, little girl?" With that, the woman put down the bowl of rice porridge and then lifted the lid of another pot on the stove for Lin Momo to see.

As the steaming hot air rose up, the aroma of the vegetable rolls also filled the air.

"Then let's have one."

"Okay!"

Lin Momo first washed her hands with some water before taking the vegetable roll and taking a bite. The flavor of wild garlic was too overpowering when eaten raw, but after being made into a vegetable roll, the flavor became milder, which was very unique and addictive.

After finishing a vegetable roll, Lin Momo picked up the bowl of rice porridge that was no longer so hot and drank it. After putting the bowl down, she asked hesitantly, "Auntie, can I ask you something?"

"Young lady, feel free to ask me anything. I'll tell you whatever I know," the woman readily agreed.

Lin Momo then asked, "Since you're from Caijiapo, do you know Cai Dameng?"

"What a coincidence! Cai Dameng is a young man from my own clan. He just got married last year. And the young lady is related to his family?" The woman first looked her over carefully before smiling.

Lin Momo clapped her hands and said, "Then there's no doubt about it. He should marry a girl from our Lin Family Village."

"I heard from the villagers that the girl hasn't returned to her parents' home since her wedding last spring. Now that something's happened to her family, why hasn't she come back to visit? I don't know if she doesn't know, or if her in-laws won't allow her to come back. Some people say that in the future, daughters shouldn't marry far away, otherwise they'll be tormented to death by their in-laws, and their parents' home..."

The woman's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly said, "Oh, so the young lady is from the same village as Da Meng's wife! My niece-in-law is doing well! I even saw her going into the mountains with the neighbor's young wife this morning. Oh dear! What happened to her family? I really haven't heard about it. I guess she's far away and is kept in the dark. When I get back, I'll go to my second uncle's house and tell her so she can go back to her parents' home first thing tomorrow morning."

"Yes, that would be best." Lin Momo nodded seriously, then added fuel to the fire, "I heard that if the eldest daughter of the Lin family doesn't come back soon, the Lin family will be sending people to visit their in-laws to support their daughter."

Two of Lin Musheng's three aunts, who had been married for many years, had come to visit him. However, Lin Daya, who had only been married for a year, had not returned to her parents' home for a long time, which Lin Momo found very strange.

Legend has it that when Lin Musheng went into the mountains to chop firewood, he encountered a lone wolf and almost lost his life. At the critical moment, he was saved by Old Man Cai and Cai Dalang, who were hunting in the mountains.

Seeing that the young man was quite skilled and had considerable strength, and that he had saved his life, he was immediately somewhat satisfied with him.

Later, when he chatted with Old Man Cai, he heard that the Cai family was having a headache because they couldn't afford the bride price for their eldest son's marriage. He suddenly remembered his own eldest daughter, who seemed to be of marriageable age. They hadn't found anyone else yet, and his family couldn't afford the dowry, so he had the idea of ​​arranging a marriage between them.

Just as he was dozing off, someone handed him a pillow, and Old Man Cai was overjoyed.

So the two fathers discussed it and, without even going down the mountain, finalized the marriage of their son and daughter.

Nowadays, people believe that having many children brings good fortune, and any family you pick out will have several children, with poorer families having more children.

The Cai family is a typical example: four sons, two daughters, and three children who died young.

Logically speaking, with a lot of labor in the family, they should be able to save some money. However, with so many laborers, there is also a lot to eat. The land at the foot of the mountain is scarce and the soil is infertile, so they can't produce much grain.

The youngest daughter was frail and prone to illness, and all the money he saved was spent on her.

In the early years, the family was so poor that the four boys only had one pair of pants to wear. The youngest son was always naked when he was seven or eight years old, running around the mountains and valleys.

Later, the Cai family used the dowry money from their eldest daughter to buy a complete set of clothes for each of their two older sons. The two younger sons then shared the old, patched-up trousers that their older brother had taken off.