Lin Xiao said sadly, "If it weren't for my grandfather, I would never want to go back to that home. Anyway, I wouldn't have enough to eat at home. Like you said, I have hands and feet, so I won't go hungry."
Er Ya asked again, "So you've decided not to go back?"
"But I really can't bear to leave my grandfather. When I'm here, I can secretly find him some food. What will he do if I'm gone?"
Er Ya's eyes darted around and she came up with a great idea: "Isn't that easy? Once you've settled down here, you can bring Grandpa over. My dad still has the money from last time. You can take that money and rent a small courtyard in the village. We can talk about the rest later."
Lin Xiao considered it for a moment, and had to admit that Er Ya's idea really resonated with him. He nodded and said, "Then let's do it your way."
"Okay, let's go see Grandpa Village Chief tonight."
Lin Xiao asked in confusion, "I already said I'm not going back, why are you still looking for the village chief?"
"Are you stupid? Do you really want them to just throw you out like trash? No matter what, they should give you something. If you live alone, they should give you more so you can buy fewer things."
That makes sense, but Er Ya's words shattered his pride. Was he really just unwanted trash now?
After discussing what to do, Er Ya stood up, patted the dirt off her bottom, and suddenly remembered that Old He had asked her to continue sending him medicinal herbs. She didn't have much time, but wasn't this a ready-made solution?
“Brother Lin Xiao, don’t worry about what to do in the future. Just settle down first, and then I will teach you to identify medicinal herbs. When you have free time, you can go up the mountain to dig some herbs, dry them, and then sell them at the pharmacy. That will be enough to cover your expenses.”
"Really? Er Ya, thank you so much, I don't know how to repay you."
Er Ya waved her hand: "Why are you saying this? I'm helping you, not expecting you to repay me. It's a pity I didn't bring a basket today, otherwise I could have dug up some medicinal herbs to take back."
No sooner had she finished speaking than she saw someone throw a basket there. Er Ya went over to take a look. She had thought it was a broken basket, but it turned out to be a perfectly intact one. What a coincidence! They just happened to be short of a basket.
Lin Xiao carried a basket on his back, and Er Ya led him up the mountain. The mountain had a wide variety of medicinal herbs, and they could easily fill the basket with just a few digs.
After a while, a man walked over, pulling up his pants and muttering, "I don't know what I ate this morning. I had diarrhea so badly I could barely stand. I haven't dug up any wild vegetables yet, I need to hurry up and dig some."
When she got to where she had put her basket, she thought she was seeing things. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief and shouted, "Which shameless person stole my basket? How could you be so spineless as to steal my things? If I catch you, I'll make you pay me back with ten baskets!"
If Er Ya were here, she would recognize this as Han Shi, who always liked to cause them trouble. But Er Ya has already gone far away, so she can no longer hear her cursing.
Han stood there cursing for a long time, then suddenly felt a stomachache, pulled up her pants, and went to find a place to relieve herself.
Er Ya was quite lucky today. She found a patch of Gastrodia elata not long after she left. She showed Lin Xiao what Gastrodia elata looked like and said that he could dig it up whenever he saw it in the future, as it was worth a lot of money.
The two squatted down and began digging for gastrodia elata with great effort. Just as they were digging, they vaguely heard a familiar voice, but they didn't know what it was shouting. Er Ya turned to Lin Xiao and asked, "Brother Lin Xiao, did you hear anything?"
Lin Xiao stopped what he was doing, listened carefully, and shook his head: "No, I didn't hear anything. It was probably the wind."
"Maybe so," he said, and continued digging for Gastrodia elata without a second thought.
As the sun was about to set, I saw that most of the gastrodia elata in this area had been dug up, and I had only filled half a basket. Seeing that it was already late, I decided it was not a good time to look for more medicinal herbs, as the deep mountains at night were still quite terrifying.
Er Ya called out to Lin Xiao, signaling them to hurry up and leave, since the item was right there and they could come back to dig it up anytime.
The two of them carried their baskets and headed home. They had been so focused on digging up more gastrodia elata that they hadn't noticed anything amiss until they got closer to the village. The closer they got, the worse Lin Xiao's mood became. Although they were supposed to move out, where would he stay tonight?
Er Ya seemed to hear Lin Xiao's thoughts and said with a smile, "Brother Lin Xiao, why don't you stay at my house tonight? We have an extra bed that we can put in the kitchen for you to use for the night."
Lin Xiao declined, saying, "I really can't bother you any longer."
"What's the big deal? My parents have always liked you. Besides, your money is still with my dad. Sooner or later you'll have to come to my house to get your money back."
You're staying at my house tonight. After we finish eating, let's go find Grandpa Village Chief. That's settled then. I'm hungry, let's go!
Seeing that Er Ya had run so far away, Lin Xiao was afraid that she might be in danger, so he had to quickly catch up with her and say, "Then I'll have to trouble you tonight."
"That's more like it. Let's go home. I wonder what delicious food my mom made for us tonight."
Home? What a warm and comforting word. When will I finally have a home of my own?
Lin Xiao shook his head, banishing the random thoughts from his mind, and strode forward.
As soon as we got back to the yard, Dahei ran over, looking unhappy and complaining that Er Ya hadn't taken it with her when she went out to play.
Er Ya patted its belly: "Alright, Big Black, I'll reward you with a piece of meat tonight, okay? Don't be angry."
Upon hearing about the meat, Dahei jumped up, drooling and wagging its tail. The aroma from the kitchen had been tempting it all afternoon, but poor thing, it had been abandoned at home by Er Ya and had to endure the smell.
Er Ya ran into the kitchen and asked loudly, "Mom, I'm back! What are we having for dinner tonight? I'm starving!"
Jiang's mother was rolling out noodles when she heard Er Ya say this. She said in an annoyed tone, "You little girl, you come home every day complaining about being hungry. You don't act like a proper young lady at all."
Er Ya stuck out her little tongue: "I'm still young, why should I act like a girl? Mom, look who I brought back."
Lin Xiao arranged the baskets and walked shyly into the kitchen to greet her, "Hello, Auntie."
To be continued!
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