Cai Damei disagreed. In the dead of winter, it's dry and cold outside. What wild vegetables could there be? And if people get cold, it's not worth it.
“I’ll go take a look. I won’t dig for wild vegetables, but it would be good to gather some firewood. Charcoal is hard to buy now, and firewood is expensive. All the other families in the alley have been to the outskirts of the city. I want to go and see too,” Ye Yunniang said, expressing her thoughts.
Having said that, Cai Damei stopped her and gave instructions to Ye Yunniang.
"I've already put on my bracelet and ring."
"Um."
Back in the front yard, Ye Yunniang packed Li Ping's clothes: a cotton-padded coat and boots for winter, and a pair of fur gloves.
There was even more food and drink: a jar of freshly ground walnut powder, a jar of chili sauce, a jar of stir-fried pickled vegetables... Ye Yunniang packed everything edible into her basket.
Tong Mo looked at the four large baskets. "Li Ping will be back in eight days. There's no need to bring so many. He's just a small person and can't eat them all."
"If he can't finish it, you eat it."
Tong Mo was pleasantly surprised, "You prepared something else for me?"
Ye Yunniang: ...That's one way to put it.
No matter how heavy the baskets were, Tong Mo wouldn't feel they were heavy. He carried two baskets in each hand and left.
After seeing Tong Mo off, Ye Yunniang washed the little stone demon clean, wrapped herself up, and began grinding chili powder.
After grinding, pack them into small bags and place them in the most convenient location for you to access.
At night, Ye Yunniang suddenly woke up, gripping the long knife under her pillow. She opened the door and went to the children's room.
The children were all fast asleep.
Ye Yunniang carefully walked towards the backyard.
In the backyard, several figures were swaying.
Soon, one person remained standing while the others collapsed.
The person standing there could see clearly in the moonlight that it was Luo Xin.
Luo Xin turned to Ye Yunniang and said, "Madam Ye, the thief has been caught. You should go back and rest."
"Oh, okay, thank you for your hard work." Ye Yunniang didn't ask about the thief and turned back to the front yard.
Ye Yunniang left, and Luo Xin waved. Several subordinates who had been hiding in the shadows came out.
"Take him back and interrogate him thoroughly."
"yes."
Ye Yunniang returned to the front yard, went to check on the two children, and then went back to the side room to rest.
At the beginning of the Yin hour, Ye Yunniang opened her eyes and went into the kitchen to busy herself.
After seeing the two children off, Ye Yunniang tidied herself up, carried a basket and a sickle, and went to the alley entrance.
At the alley entrance, Hongyan, Qiongniang, Aunt Fang, Chunxing, and her daughter Daya were all there.
Am I late?
"No, it's perfect," Qiongniang replied with a smile.
"My daughter was so excited about digging for wild vegetables today that she couldn't sleep last night. She woke me up at the crack of dawn this morning," Chunxing said with a smile. Her daughter, standing beside her, shyly hid behind Chunxing.
"Let's go," said Aunt Fang, the oldest among them.
The place we went to this time was Aunt Fang's hometown, where there are several hills. You can find wild vegetables there.
The group of people carried baskets on their backs and walked towards the city gate. Along the way, they encountered many other people carrying baskets and sickles heading out of the city.
"Auntie."
Ye Yunniang turned around, surprised, "Lingling." She looked around but didn't see any other members of the Zhou family.
"You're going outside the city alone?"
Zhou Lingling hummed in agreement.
Do my aunts and uncles know?
“I’ve already talked to my grandma.”
Ye Yunniang didn't ask any more questions, and turned to talk to Aunt Fang and the others.
"Aunt Fang, I won't be with you today. I'm worried about leaving my niece alone."
“Let’s go together. She’s just a little girl, she can’t dig up much,” Aunt Fang invited.
“Going into the wild isn’t safe for either of you. There are more of us, so it’s safer if we go together.” Qiong Niang had been out a few times and knew that the outskirts weren’t just for digging for wild vegetables; there were also people who would steal things or even kidnap people.
Ye Yunniang thought about it and agreed, then pulled Zhou Lingling to join the group and head towards the city gate.
Once outside the city, I saw vast stretches of dry and cracked fields.
Occasionally, when a field turns green, someone is always guarding it.
Every passerby was being watched. Anyone who got too close was loudly chased away.
Some of the field guards would even curse loudly.
"You city folks have money to buy grain, yet you're competing with us for wild vegetables. Are you trying to drive us to our deaths?"
“You city folks are all evil spirits.”
"You are ungrateful wretches, you are starving ghosts."
...
Zhou Lingling moved closer to Ye Yunniang out of fear.
"First time out?"
"Um."
Did your grandmother agree to let you come out?
“I left a note for Grandma.” Zhou Lingling’s expression changed as she finished speaking.
Ye Yunniang stopped in her tracks. "You didn't tell your grandma, grandpa, or dad."
“I told you before. Grandma didn’t agree. We’ve been eating thin porridge for five or six days, and Yan Yan was crying from hunger, so I thought I’d go dig up some wild vegetables to take home. I…I…” Zhou Lingling explained anxiously.
The people in front heard their conversation.
Ye Yunniang sighed, "It's good that you care about your family. But you can't lie to them. You left a note and went out. Your grandmother must have been so worried."
Ye Yunniang also blamed herself for believing Zhou Lingling's words at the city gate.
Ye Yunniang apologized to Aunt Fang and the others, saying she had to take Zhou Lingling home first.
"We're almost there, let's dig a little more before going back," Hongyan suggested.
"You all go ahead, I'll take the child back first," Ye Yunniang refused.
"Okay. Let's go to Xiaofang Village together next time."
"Aunt Fang, I'm sorry to have troubled you." Ye Yunniang took out three cornbread buns from her basket, which she had saved for lunch. "I'm going back now, so you can have these cornbread buns for lunch."
Ye Yunniang stuffed the cornbread into the hands of the few who refused, and then took Zhou Lingling's hand and walked towards the city.
When they arrived at Zhou's shop, Zhou Dong and Zhou Zhong were on their way to find Zhou Lingling. Cai Xiaomei was constantly blaming herself, and Zhou Yan was wiping away tears beside her.
“Lingling—” Cai Xiaomei cried while hugging Zhou Lingling, “You almost scared Grandma to death.”
"Grandma." Only then did Zhou Lingling realize the harm her actions had caused to her family.
Ye Yunniang recounted her encounter with Zhou Lingling.
After Cai Xiaomei finished crying, she pulled Ye Yunniang aside to talk.
"Yunniang, thanks to you."
"Auntie, this is what I should do." Ye Yunniang waved her hand, saying that she didn't deserve thanks for what she had done.
"It's all our fault as adults. We're incompetent at making money," Cai Xiaomei said, blaming herself.
The Zhou family used the money borrowed from Cai Damei to buy a batch of goods, intending to revive their business. However, the drought worsened, and the grocery business suffered even more.
The price of rice and flour is getting more and more expensive. Cai Xiaomei's health has been damaged by the incident with Zhang Cai'er, and she has to call the doctor for medicine from time to time.
The Zhou family's life became increasingly difficult.
These past few days, I've been able to survive on nothing but thin porridge.
Zhou Lingling blamed herself for everything, feeling it was all because she hadn't kept a close eye on Zhang Cai'er. She was preoccupied with finding food for her family.
She heard from her neighbor that they were going to the outskirts of the city to dig for wild vegetables. She thought she would dig some up and bring them back to fill her stomach.
Cai Xiaomei disagreed.
Zhou Lingling looked at Zhou Yan, who was crying from hunger, and then at her emaciated elders. She left a note and secretly went to dig for wild vegetables.
When Ye Yunniang returned home, she told Cai Damei about the Zhou family's affairs.
"Mother, let's take some rice and flour with us."
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