"Yes, a kind person just bought half of them, perhaps because they saw I couldn't sell them. But I can't sell the rest, so I can only go home and cook them myself." She was telling a white lie.
"It seems there really is a kind person here. There are people selling wild vegetables around here, but they only made a penny after half a day, and they carried them all the way here with great difficulty."
"Aunt Zhang, do you know where I can buy grain in this town? I'm thinking of buying some beans to take back so I can eat them for a few more days." She quickly changed the subject.
"It's not cost-effective to buy this grain in town. You'd be better off buying it in the village. Many families want to sell their grain; they just harvested it."
"But I don't have much money. I only have five coins from selling wild vegetables." She decided that she would sneak off to buy some next time. This was not the time to flaunt her wealth, and she couldn't tell others how much she had actually earned.
“You can buy it for five coins. Why don’t you buy it from my store? I’ll give you two coins a pound for the soybeans, and I’ll also give you some rice bran to eat with it, that will make it taste better.”
Rice bran... Xi Chun thought that she used to eat rice bran like that when she was at the Ma family's house. However, for a modern person like her, eating rice bran was a bit hard on the throat, so it was usually fed to cows.
But she couldn't refuse someone's kindness, so she agreed.
"Next time I dig up some wild vegetables, I also want to buy some seeds and plant a patch in my yard so I can eat Chinese cabbage in the future."
"Why do you need to buy these? I have seeds stored at home, including cucumber seeds, loofah seeds, and eggplant seeds. I'll give you some when we get home."
Xichun, you're a really thrifty child. It's good that you thought of these things. Anyway, the crops have been harvested now. I'll help you dig them up later. You're just a kid, you don't understand."
"Thank you, Aunt Zhang." Xi Chun hadn't expected her to be so warm and welcoming, and her opinion of the village improved a bit.
"Oh, you're such a poor kid. You have to be frugal with everything. Your mother is so unreasonable, and your grandmother's family is like that. You're truly a poor child raised in hardship. If there's anything we can help you with in the future, just come to me."
Aunt Zhang genuinely liked her because she was so sensible.
When Xichun heard her mention her own grandmother's family, she felt quite resentful.
His father was the second son in the family, with an older brother and younger siblings, so he was neglected from a young age.
Because she only gave birth to one daughter, Xichun, Xichun's grandmother never liked Wang Shi. Wang Shi was also the one who did the most work at home and suffered a lot of mistreatment after marrying into the family.
When Xichun's father was alive, the only time he rebelled against his mother was because of the division of the family property. As a result, their family received the least amount of property among the brothers.
Just when they thought life was getting better, Xichun's father fell ill. Xichun and her mother went to ask her grandmother for money to treat him, but she refused to see her.
Left with no other option, they sold off all the land, but unfortunately, the disease still couldn't be cured.
To prevent Xichun and her mother from continuing to raise money, Xichun's father hanged himself. Before he died, he instructed Xichun's mother to find a good family for her to marry into after his death, so that Xichun could grow up safely.
“Xichun, what your aunt said was a bit harsh. Don’t be sad. Everyone has to live their life. Your Uncle Zhang and I worked hard to build our lives. I see your fighting spirit, and I’m sure you’ll be able to live a good life in the future.”
Just as Xichun was lost in thought, Aunt Zhang brought her back to her senses.
"Aunt Zhang, don't worry, I believe in myself too." The two smiled at each other.
When they arrived at Aunt Zhang's house, Xichun took out five coins. Aunt Zhang not only gave her three catties of beans, but also some rice bran and various kinds of seeds.
"Xichun, let's work on the land together another day," Aunt Zhang said as she saw her off.
As Xichun walked home, Uncle Zhang stared at Aunt Zhang curiously.
"I've never seen you treat Xichun like this before. How come you've become so enthusiastic after just one trip to town?"
“What do you know? Before, she had her mother protecting her, and we, as outsiders, shouldn’t interfere. Now that she’s started her own household, we’ll be neighbors, so naturally we should look after her.”
"I knew it. This girl is really good. I've seen her leaving early every day these days. She's so diligent. If it weren't for her clueless mother, she wouldn't be like this."
"I'll help if I can, it's just a matter of a bowl or two of beans."
Xi Chun was unaware of their conversation. These past few days, she had been leaving early and returning late, and after learning that medicinal herbs could indeed be exchanged for money, she became even more proactive.
She could be seen everywhere, both on the mountain and in the fields. Everyone assumed she was digging for wild vegetables to eat, so they didn't pay any more attention.
During that time, she went to town again and took the dandelions, violets, Paris polyphylla, and other plants she had dug up to sell. She also bought some grain. This is the kind of life a person should live.
That day, she was digging dandelions in the field when a chubby little boy spotted her in the distance.
"Hmph, Chen Xichun, how dare you hit my grandma! I'll teach you a lesson today." This person was Ma Dawei's son, Ma Xiaobao.
He casually picked up a clod of dirt from the ground, intending to smash it over Chen Xichun's head. Fortunately, Chen Xichun moved aside, and the clod of dirt grazed past her body.
"Ma Xiaobao, why are you throwing clods of dirt at me?" Chen Xichun turned around and saw that it was Ma Xiaobao, who was grinning at him.
"You little bitch, you deserved it for trying to hit my grandma!"
"You just wait." Chen Xichun casually picked a stalk of wormwood from the edge of the field, put down his basket, and ran towards him.
She had honed her speed through years of hard work and quickly caught up with the chubby Ma Xiaobao.
He was whipped repeatedly on the calves with a stalk of wormwood. These thin, long sticks may look soft, but they can be very painful when they hit the legs.
"Ouch, ouch! If you dare hit me again, I'll tell my grandma!" Ma Xiaobao saw that she was running so fast and he was no match for her, so he burst into tears.
“You’re a boy, yet you’re always suing your grandma. You’re not a real man. You provoked me first today, and I was just retaliating. If you dare to bully me again, see if I’ll continue to beat you.”
As Chen Xichun spoke, his hands continued to move.
"I won't mess with her anymore, I won't mess with her anymore, I won't tell my grandma, please don't hit me."
"Did you tell your grandma that I saw you swimming before?" She hadn't even asked about what happened before, but he came to her doorstep.
"No, it wasn't me, it was Ma Daming. They were talking outside, and my grandma overheard them."
"Then tell them that if they talk nonsense again, I'll deal with them one by one. You didn't see how I beat your grandma the other day, did you? That's how it was."
"Aww, stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! I was wrong!" He saw Chen Xichun stop and ran away in a flash.
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