Cao Amei brought Tang Cuicui some tiger ginger that she had specially dug up from the mountain to nourish her body.
“I don’t have anything good at home. I was lucky enough to dig this up yesterday. It’s a medicinal herb, so you can keep it to nourish your body.”
Tiger ginger, scientifically known as Polygonatum sibiricum, is a precious Chinese herbal medicine that can be used both as food and medicine, and its effects are comparable to those of ginseng.
But the reason it's considered precious is only because it's precious elsewhere. If they search diligently on the mountains here, they can find a pound or two a day.
Compared to eggs, eggs are more precious, since Solomon's seal is available every year, and it's wild, while eggs can only be obtained by feeding chickens until they grow up.
Although Cao Amei married into the Liang family and Tang Cuicui married into the Hu family, they were from the same village but had no relation whatsoever.
When people from the village came to visit, they mostly brought things they had gathered from the mountain; almost no one brought eggs or brown sugar.
Given her mother-in-law's stingy nature, she couldn't afford to give her brown sugar and eggs, and naturally, the other party wouldn't reciprocate with anything nice.
Tang Cuicui and Cao Amei both knew about their relationship but kept it a secret. When anyone asked, they said it was because their accents were similar, which made them feel closer.
So when most of the villagers had left, leaving only Cao Amei to help take care of the children, Cuicui suddenly grabbed her.
"Third Aunt, how did you escape from over there back then?"
Cao Amei froze, not expecting Tang Cuicui to ask such a question. After settling the baby in her arms, she turned around to look at her.
"I advise you to give up that idea. You can't escape unless you encounter terrible weather, someone in your family dies, or you have enough physical strength to climb this mountain that seems to have no end."
Seeing Tang Cuicui's gaze suddenly turn gloomy, Cao Amei's heart tightened, she grabbed her hand and scolded her in a low voice.
"What's the point of going back? To be sold off again? To escape one wolf's den only to fall into another? Cui Cui, just accept your fate!"
"No, I refuse to accept my fate. Why should I accept my fate? If I live here, I will never be able to leave these mountains."
If I were to leave, even marrying a widower or a disabled person would be better than being someone's concubine here.
"You're old and can't climb anymore, but I'm still young. I'm the same age as your second son, so why should I accept my fate?"
The hatred in Tang Cuicui's eyes deeply agitated Cao Amei, especially when she mentioned her second son, she was stunned.
So what if she had nine daughters and four sons in her life?
Isn't she already in this state?
Tang Cuicui is right, she is still young and has time to waste, but what about her?
Given her current physical condition, what would be the consequences of resigning herself to her fate?
If she escapes, and she loses her uterus, will she no longer be able to be sold?
If she were to go to her daughters, it probably wouldn't be like going back to her parents' home, right?
Cao Amei swallowed hard, then suddenly turned to look at Tang Cuicui, her eyes filled with excitement.
"Do you have a solution?"
Seeing that she had persuaded Cao Amei, Cui Cui felt calmer, but still shook her head soberly.
"If I had a way, I would have escaped long ago, but there are always more solutions than problems. If there isn't one, I'll create one myself."
After saying this, she looked earnestly at Cao Amei, "Are you willing to escape with me?"
Cao Amei gave a wry smile, "If we could get out, who would want to stay?"
"Okay, let's think of a solution, but first I need to get my health back in order."
Don't let your mind wander; take advantage of the time to observe the terrain while you're up the mountain. Think carefully about how you got to the county town in the first place.
At the mere mention of this, Cao Amei shook her head in despair.
"Don't even mention it. I was climbing the mountain in the dead of night. How could I possibly see or remember anything?"
"Think carefully, even without you, we'd definitely have to leave in the middle of the night. Would you dare to run in broad daylight?"
The two whispered to each other in the room for a while before Cao Amei left.
Fortunately, the child was crying and the old woman didn't want to stay home because of the noise. Some of the men went up the mountain, and some went down to the fields, so no one was home.
This gave them the opportunity to discuss their escape.
This place is no place to stay, but before leaving, this old hag has to be killed.
If it weren't for her, she wouldn't have suffered so much.
And that bachelor who insulted her, she'll make him suffer a terrible fate.
Tang Cuicui is a ruthless person, but she's not stupid; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to get so many benefits from Old Madam Tang for so many years.
She began to try hard to recall something that was common in their area, something everyone knew, but no one in the mountains knew.
Deep in the mountains, isolated from the world, let alone reading and writing, there wasn't even anyone around who could write their own name.
She at least finished elementary school and has some common sense about life. Whether she can escape or not may depend on these seemingly insignificant accumulations of knowledge.
Tang Cuicui was seriously injured. She felt doubly tired even when she tried to use her brain. In addition, the baby girl was premature and she was too weak to even suckle.
Fortunately, there were many men in her family, and with a little effort, she could get them to risk going into the mountains to hunt for her.
Although the food I made didn't have much flavor, at least it had meat and soup, which replenished my body's deficiencies, and my body is gradually recovering.
"If you don't want me to die young, then bear with it and at least let me have a full two months of postpartum confinement."
I lost so much blood this time, it won't be able to recover in a month. You guys keep an eye on your mother and don't let her scold me.
"If I get angry and my milk stops flowing, you can all just wait to throw this child into the pigsty!"
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