Jiang Shan noticed his predicament and smiled, "Please speak freely, old man."
The old man cleared his throat and said, "My surname is Yan. I have an eighty-year-old ancestor at home who has poor teeth and a poor appetite, but whose temper is getting worse and worse. I wonder if you, young lady, could make more pastries suitable for the elderly? If you can satisfy my ancestor's taste, I will be extremely grateful!"
I see!
Jiang Shan suddenly realized, and then smiled and said, "My daughter doesn't have any other skills, but she likes to experiment with food. If it's convenient, you can tell me what our ancestor's usual hobbies are, and I will study them according to her preferences."
Old Master Yan was overjoyed and insisted on taking Jiang Shan to his pharmacy for a visit.
Jiang Shan only found out when he arrived that the pharmacy where he had previously bought yams was actually a family heirloom of the Yan family, and was now being managed by Old Master Yan's youngest son.
After a conversation, Jiang Shan bid farewell to Elder Yan and left the pharmacy.
As she pondered the amount of information she had gathered that day, her mind gradually formed a plan.
The Yan family has been practicing medicine for generations. Old Master Yan's eldest son is a royal physician in the palace, holding the official rank of Fourth Grade Imperial Physician. Although this ancient town is small, it is the ancestral home of the Yan family. Several years ago, Old Master Yan accompanied the Yan family's ancestor back to his hometown from the capital to retire.
Needless to say, the Yan family is a well-known and worldly family!
We must befriend them!
Jiang Shan used most of the few dozen coins he earned from selling steamed cakes to buy ingredients and kitchen utensils, and returned home with a full load.
As she passed the village entrance, several villagers, both men and women, looked her up and down with disdain and disgust, their expressions extremely unfriendly.
A woman even blocked her way and asked disdainfully, "Where did you steal this from?"
Another woman chuckled and said, "It might not have been stolen, or perhaps it was given away to someone else's son?"
"That's right, I even saw someone taking her back to the village in an oxcart last time!"
"This is terrible! That brat is always flirting with other women; we can't let her ruin the village's reputation!"
"That's right! Village chief, we need to find a way to drive them away!"
The old man, addressed as village chief, tapped his pipe, glanced coldly at the crowd, and said slowly, "What's all the noise about! Who's going to take responsibility if someone gets killed?"
Everyone fell silent.
The young man who saved Jiangshan last time reported it to the authorities, and the county government even sent people to reprimand Shili and the village chief!
Jiang Shan glanced at the village chief's old face, then stared coldly at the woman in front of him, and said, "You're ugly and spewing filth, you'd better not come out here and harm people!"
After saying that, he picked up his load and left.
The woman trembled with rage. Once Jiang Shan was out of sight, she spat fiercely on the ground and said hatefully, "You slut, just you wait and see how I deal with your cheap skin!"
Jiang Shan returned home, hastily ate a few bites of the coarse rice cake that Jiao's mother had left for her, and then hurriedly took Jiao Sanlang up the mountain.
Besides digging for yams, we also need to pick more wild fruits and mushrooms, dig up some kudzu roots, and look for suitable medicinal herbs.
The highly technical task of identifying medicinal herbs was left to Sanlang, while Jiangshan was responsible for the physical labor.
I must say, the original owner's small frame was no joke; she was incredibly strong. I don't know how Jiao's mother raised her, but she was much stronger than the old woman and the child in the family!
There are plenty of fruits this season, including persimmons, pears, and hawthorns, but the trees are too tall for Sanlang to climb.
Sanlang was small and weak, so he climbed up a few small trees, picked some wild fruits, and went to look for medicinal herbs.
Two hours later, the siblings descended the mountain under the cover of night.
The mountains were silent except for the fluttering of startled birds and the calls of small animals. In the distance, the faint howl of wolves could be heard.
Jiao Sanlang's eyes widened, and he gripped Jiang Shan's sleeve tightly, walking beside her with uneven steps, his palms sweaty.
"Sanlang, don't be afraid, your sister will sing you a song!"
"Little brother, go forward boldly, go forward, don't look back...!"
Jiang Shan sang in a rough, high-pitched voice, making Sanlang laugh non-stop. Eventually, Sanlang started humming along too.
"You have to sing 'Sister, you boldly go forward,' not for the younger brother, not the younger sister, but for the older sister!"
"Yes! Sister, go ahead boldly, go ahead, and don't look back..."
Jiao's mother stood at the door, craning her neck and straining to see ahead, but she couldn't see anything.
She had been standing at the door waiting for her two children to come home since it got dark, but almost an hour had passed and she still hadn't seen them.
Wild beasts sometimes come down from the mountain to hunt for food, and it's not uncommon for someone to be injured by one if they're unlucky. Thinking about this, Jiao's mother's heart was pounding.
Just as she was about to go back inside to get the lamp, she heard a strange singing voice, which sounded like both an older sister and a younger brother. Upon closer listening, the voice sounded very familiar.
After waiting a while, the sounds of the siblings laughing and joking drifted over from near and far.
"Sis, I want to hear more, sing one more time!"
"Then listen carefully, I will only sing it once! There is a winding river in front of my sister's door, and my brother is singing a sweet song across the river. My sister's heart is filled with waves, when will my brother let me cross your river..."
"Hehe, sister sings so well...!"
Jiao's mother's heart suddenly felt as hot as fire, and then suddenly felt as cold as if it had been doused with ice shards.
Shan'er... Shan'er has never sung before! Such a song, let alone now, even back in the capital, she had never heard of it!
Jiao's mother felt a dull ache in her heart, but she had no choice but to force herself to step forward.
"Mother, it's cold outside, why did you come out? Sanlang, quickly help your mother inside!"
"I was worried about you, why are you back so late?"
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