Pei Yao turned around and glanced at Pei Yichen behind her, who was leaning over with his hands on his knees, panting heavily. He stood there waiting for her.
What brings you here?
Pei Yichen only realized Pei Yao was missing after she ran up the mountain. Chen Fang had asked him to take care of her cousin before she left.
He searched the yard but couldn't find his cousin. As soon as he stepped out of the yard, he looked up and saw her walking up the mountain. He quickly ran after her.
He finally managed to catch his breath after this pause, and when Pei Yao asked him, he quickly waved his hand, squinted, and looked up at Pei Yao: "I... huff huff..."
"No rush, catch your breath first."
Pei Yichen rested for a while before standing up straight and walking over.
He casually took the basket she was carrying on her back and put it on his own.
"Cousin, why didn't you call me before coming up the mountain? You're in good health, don't fall."
Pei Yao: "It's not that bad, my body hasn't been hurting much for a long time."
The two siblings walked side by side on the hilltop. The scorching afternoon sun beat down on them, making them feel dizzy.
The place where they were picking chili peppers was right under the sun. Pei Yao thought she could postpone this task until the sun wasn't so strong. She didn't want to get sunburned.
Beside the hillside is a large forest, with lush trees blocking most of the sun.
Pei Yao pulled Pei Yichen into the woods to escape the sun.
Sure enough, no matter how sunny it is outside, it's cool to stand in the shade of a tree.
Pei Yao wasn't going to sit idly by, since she was already here.
It wouldn't be in Pei Yao's nature to not search the mountains properly for anything edible.
These mountains are a real treasure. There's a saying that goes, "Those who live near the mountains live off the mountains." As long as you're not lazy, there's plenty of food to be found in the mountains.
With the mindset that a thief should not leave empty-handed, Pei Yao asked Pei Yichen to gather some firewood in the shade.
She went to look around for yams or wild vegetables, but she didn't dare to go too far in; she only walked around the area near the hillside.
She is not fully recovered yet; the area on her back where the officers whipped her still hurts a bit.
If we really encounter any danger, we won't dare to run recklessly, for fear of tearing our newly healed wounds.
After walking for a while, Pei Yao saw a large clump of kudzu vines ahead. Her eyes lit up with surprise and she ran over excitedly.
Follow the vines to find the roots.
This stuff from the roots of the kudzu root is what she's really looking for.
Kudzu root is a common Chinese medicinal herb. Because of its pungent, sweet, and cooling properties, it is often used to treat fever caused by colds, acute tonsillitis, pneumonia, and other ailments. (Online resource)
However, Pei Yao wasn't looking for it today because of its medicinal value, but because its roots could be cooked and eaten.
We only had two sweet potatoes left as our staple food, but with kudzu root, we didn't have to worry about that.
This stuff is great for clearing heat and detoxifying, making it perfect for summer in Lingnan. Most importantly, it tastes good and is quite filling.
If it were her previous life, she definitely wouldn't have paid any attention to it, since kudzu is very easy to grow and is very common in the village and mountains.
It was also difficult to dig up, so kudzu was practically everywhere in their village before.
The same applies to Liangshui Village. Because kudzu grows very quickly, even if people in the village eat it, they can't finish it all, and it's not as valuable or easy to sell as seafood.
Pei Yao didn't have a hoe, so she took a sturdy stick and dug along the edge of the kudzu root.
In no time, they dug out a short one, but even in that short time, Pei Yao was exhausted and sat down to rest for a while.
Just then, Pei Yichen finished picking up almost all the grass and came over to find Pei Yao. He saw her squatting on the ground, digging at a pile of grass roots with a stick.
There are some things I don't understand... but I respect them.
"Cousin, what... are you doing?"
Pei Yichen placed the firewood he had gathered aside.
Although she didn't understand, she picked up a stick from the side and inexplicably followed Pei Yao to dig.
"This is kudzu root. When we get home, we can boil it in a pot and it will taste like sweet potato," Pei Yao explained, continuing to dig.
Upon hearing this, Pei Yichen looked at the pile of kudzu roots.
Pei Yichen: "..."
It's quite strange that these dark, wild grass roots are edible.
But if my cousin says so, then it can definitely eat it. After all, my cousin knows and knows much more than they do these past two days.
The two siblings dug for a while, and after two hours they finally filled a basket to the brim.
However, this thing is really hard to dig up, and we don't have the tools.
They broke several wooden sticks while digging.
No matter how hard the two children tried, they could only get this much, but it was enough. They could eat as much as they wanted in the cellar for more than half a month.
Pei Yao and her brother were sweating profusely from digging.
After resting for a while, she went to search among the kudzu vines.
Pei Yichen asked in confusion, "Cousin, can the leaves be eaten too?"
"No, I'm looking for something good." Pei Yao said, glancing mysteriously at Pei Yichen before continuing to search through the vines.
A small bulge on the vine soon caught Pei Yao's attention.
Pei Yao took the kitchen knife and chopped off both ends of the bulge, leaving only the bulge section.
Although Pei Yichen didn't understand, he always felt that Pei Yao had her reasons for doing so.
He stopped asking questions and took the cleaver from Pei Yao's hand: "I'll do it. Which one do you want to chop?"
Pei Yao was relatively weak, and with Pei Yichen's help, she was happy to be at ease.
Thinking about the delicious food inside, she waved her hands and happily directed Pei Yichen.
Pei Yichen is the type who attacks wherever Pei Yao points...and cuts wherever she points.
Before long, she had cut down a large pile of kudzu vines about the length of an arm, and then Pei Yao found a thin kudzu vine and tied them all up.
Pei Yichen carried a basket of kudzu roots on his back and a bundle of kudzu vines in one hand, while Pei Yao held a bundle of firewood in both hands.
The basket of kudzu roots on his back was so heavy that it almost knocked Pei Yichen to the ground, and he could only walk with difficulty, leaning on a stick.
Pei Yao wasn't having an easy time either; she struggled to drag the bundle of firewood, which was almost as big as her.
Fortunately, the two siblings hadn't gone far when they ran into Liu Yu and Liu Yan, two siblings from the Liu family who were out digging for wild vegetables together.
Liu Yu is fourteen years old this year, and Liu Yan is fifteen years old. Their grandfather was originally a military general, but because the Joseon Dynasty valued civil affairs over military affairs, their fathers abandoned military affairs and pursued civil service.
However, Liu Yu had also trained with his grandfather quite a bit, and his physical fitness was much stronger than that of ordinary children. At the age of fourteen, he was already as strong as an eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy, and much taller than Pei Yichen, who was only a few years younger than him.
Seeing that Pei Yao and Pei Yichen, the two siblings, were carrying so many things that they could barely walk, they quickly went to help.
Liu Yu coolly took Pei Yichen's basket: "Bean sprouts, I'll help you."
Before Pei Yichen could react, Liu Yu had already hoisted the basket onto his shoulder.
He arrogantly tried to snatch it back and carry it himself, but Liu Yu dodged him with a quick movement.
Pei Yichen retorted angrily, "Who wants you to carry me? I can manage on my own."
"With your small frame, you can't even carry a few books in the classroom. How can you manage something this heavy?"
Upon hearing this, Pei Yichen felt humiliated in front of her cousin, her face flushed with anger, and she chased after Liu Yu, trying to snatch the basket from his back.
"Mind your own business, you big geezer."
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