The smell completely killed her hunger. It was still midday, but after standing in the middle of the yard for a while, her clothes finally dried.
Her family had gotten so poor that even mice would bring her some food. Fortunately, many families had started harvesting their crops, and there were still arrowhead and wild vegetables in some fields. She planned to dig some up so she could eat them that night.
Although they had lost all their fields, they weren't restricted from going to other people's fields where the harvest was already complete. So Chen Xichun carried a basket and a rusty sickle and went out.
Along the way, many people went out to harvest their crops. When they saw Chen Xichun, some ignored him, while others took the initiative to greet him.
Xichun casually cut some wild grass and wove it into a simple hat before heading out under the scorching sun.
The village chief's field was now just straw stubble, and the water in the field had naturally dried up.
When Xichun went down to the field, she saw the green leaves of the arrowhead. She wondered if the locals didn't know that arrowhead was edible or if it was because there wasn't much of it, but she had never seen anyone eat it.
She used a sickle to carefully pry the arrowhead out bit by bit, while many grasshoppers hopped around in the process.
Xi Chun caught these guys who were showing off in front of her, skewered them with wild grass stalks through their shells, making several skewers, and planned to roast them when she got home.
By the time she got home, the sun was already setting, and her belly had started to rumble.
After finally cooking the arrowhead and roasting the grasshoppers, Xichun comforted herself, thinking that at least she had eaten some meat.
"Xichun, Xichun, are you home?" Xichun, who had just finished eating, heard a familiar voice outside the door.
"Mother, why did you come here?" Xichun mustered her courage before opening the door and calling out to her.
Wang breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Xichun's condition. She had heard that Xichun had gotten into a fight with her grandmother, but when she ran over, she found no one at home.
"Xichun, how could you hit your grandmother? She's your elder. If word gets out, your reputation will suffer."
Xichun thought her mother had a change of heart and started to care about her, but as soon as she entered the door, she started to criticize her, which made Xichun very angry.
"What do you mean I'm bullying my elders? What do you mean I have a bad reputation? She's bullied me like this, why should I put up with it?"
Do you really want to be bullied to death by her before you're satisfied? Where were you when she ruined my reputation? Where were you when she threw excrement at me? Why don't you care about me now and instead come here to blame me?
I'm being bullied to death, what do I care about my reputation? I've sworn an oath before my father's memorial tablet that if anyone dares to bully me again, I'll fight back!
"Xichun, it's all my fault for being useless, but you're thirteen years old now. If you just endure for two more years, you can get married and won't have to put up with their opinions anymore. I've done all this for you."
"Your mother hasn't had an easy time these past few years either. She didn't give them a son or daughter. Your grandmother scolds me every day, and your father—no, your uncle—is also fed up with me. Your mother has had a hard life too."
Hearing her daughter get angry, Wang started crying again, recounting all the hardships she had endured over the years.
“If you really feel so miserable at his house, then come back. From now on, my daughter and I will live together, I will earn money, and our lives will definitely prosper.”
Xichun was impatient to listen to her talk about these things; she said them all the time, she was practically becoming like Xianglin's wife.
“Oh, you little girl, you’re still too young. You don’t know how hard life is. Your father died early, and your mother raised you. We didn’t know where our next meal would come from. We didn’t have any land, so I had no choice but to marry you off to your uncle.”
He's actually a good person; at least he agreed to let you come over. Life at his house is tough, but it's better than before when we couldn't even get enough to eat.
"Xichun, listen to your mother. I'll take you back to apologize, and they'll definitely forgive you."
"That's enough, I'm not going back, Mom. I can eat well on my own. You say his family is nice, but over the years, apart from holidays, how many times have I had a full meal? Besides, when I went to his family, I didn't do nothing at all."
I have to get up before dawn and can't go home until dark, otherwise Grandma Ma will scold us. I will never go back to those days of physical and mental torment.
"If you're willing, you can stay here with me. If not, then you should go back, so they don't have to wait for you to cook later."
"Oh, why are you so disobedient? You can stay here for two days. If you get hungry, come to your mother and she'll secretly give you something to eat."
"No need, you should go home early." There was no point in saying another word to her, and Xichun didn't want to argue further, otherwise she worried she might really lose her temper.
Seeing her like this, Wang thought of how Xichun's father used to be when he was still alive, and ran back home crying.
"Then I'll go back. Here are your clothes. Your mother brought them for you. Wear them for now."
So she brought luggage after all. It seems her mother's advice wasn't very serious. But Xichun didn't want to dwell on it anymore.
After Wang left, Xichun moved a stool and sat down, looking at the stars in the sky and thinking about how to make money next.
It's already the beginning of autumn, so there should be plenty of things on the mountain that can be sold for money.
In modern times, she was raised by her grandmother. Her parents were divorced and abandoned her, so she lived in the countryside from a young age. To pay for her school fees, she would go to the mountains with the villagers to dig for medicinal herbs, pick fruits, and farm. Therefore, she was confident that she could live a good life.
Taoyuan Village is located in the middle of four mountains. The terrain is flat, and a river runs through the middle, so every household cultivates a lot of land, and life is not too difficult.
With its green hills and clear waters, this place would be a scene straight out of a modern-day utopia, perfect for developing agritourism and rural tourism.
However, for the people here, these green mountains are both an aid and an obstacle to their leaving the mountains.
However, in Chen Xichun's view, this is her starting point, not her end. She will definitely live a good life and make a name for herself.
Life goes on, and as long as you don't die from overwork, work yourself to the bone. From now on, work for yourself and stop being bullied by unscrupulous bosses.
Early the next morning, she packed her basket and sickle and set off for the mountain.
Chen Xichun remembered that if you walked along this path, there was a place where many Paris polyphylla flowers grew. You could exchange those for money and then buy some staple food.
Fortunately, the villagers didn't recognize the herbs, so she found the place based on her memory and indeed discovered quite a few medicinal materials.
Wang had taken even a good hoe from the family to the Ma family, so she could only use this sickle to slowly dig.
In a different spot, she saw a lot more Pinellia ternata. She remembered that this plant seemed to grow where people farmed, so she decided to dig up more later, since it was all money.
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