Chapter 61: Little Abacus, Clacking Away

Chu Yue took out a pair of work gloves—one big, one small.

“Yuanbao, put on gloves before picking up chestnuts.”

“Okay.”

Lu Yuanbao ran over to Chu Yue’s side and obediently put on the gloves.

All around them were chestnuts. Some were still in their spiky shells, while others had popped out when they hit the ground, now lying among the fallen leaves.

The ground was covered with them—you just had to pick them up.

Lu Yuanbao had never seen so many… so many… There was no way he could pick them all up.

In his dark eyes burned a fierce determination—these chestnuts were so delicious, and they could fill his belly. He had to take them all back!

When Chu Yue looked over, Lu Yuanbao was already carrying his little bamboo basket, fully absorbed in the grand mission of collecting chestnuts.

“Yuanbao, you stay here and keep picking chestnuts. I’m going to look around nearby. Don’t wander off.”

“Okay!”

Lu Yuanbao didn’t even lift his head as he answered Chu Yue, but his voice sounded noticeably more energized.

Chu Yue headed into the mountains. As she walked, she put certain plants into her Lingbao Space—such as saplings of young chestnut trees, unfamiliar alpine shrubs, and some red wild fruits.

Once the Lingbao Space had these, she wouldn’t have to climb mountains or wait for seasons to enjoy things like oil-drizzled chestnuts. She could eat them anytime she wanted~

While exploring the mountain, Chu Yue noticed one tree wrapped in a yellow vine. Its color stood out from the surrounding dry branches.

It was a brownish yellow, slightly tender, and snapped easily when pinched.

This caught Chu Yue’s attention. She followed the yellow vine downward and saw it extended all the way to the ground.

The root of the vine was buried in the soil.

Now, the hoe brought by Jiang Nian came in handy. Chu Yue quickly dug into the dirt. About ten centimeters down, the yellow vine started to thicken—about as thick as a sugarcane.

Looking closely—wasn’t this a yam?

And it was wild yam!

Wild yams weren’t just round—they could also be flat, some as thick as an arm.

The edible part of a yam is its root, which buries deep in the soil, sometimes as much as one or two meters.

Chu Yue dug deeper and deeper, and before long, a thick, long yam was unearthed—half a meter in length!

And yams tend to grow in clusters—finding one meant there was a good chance a whole patch was nearby. Just follow the yellow vines on the ground, and you were bound to find more!

So it went:

Lu Yuanbao was immersed in collecting chestnuts, while Chu Yue was absorbed in digging yams.

Pick, pick. Dig, dig.

In the blink of an eye, the whole morning passed.

Chu Yue’s stomach gave a loud gurgle, and she realized it was already lunchtime.

From digging yams, her hands were dirty, and her clothes were stained with yellow mud.

When Chu Yue, carrying a bamboo basket full of yams on her back, walked over to Lu Yuanbao, he was startled.

Even the first time they met, Chu Yue had looked clean and tidy.

Lu Yuanbao blinked and asked, “Did you fall down the mountain? Why are you so dirty?”

“Nope, just got dirty from digging up something good.” Chu Yue showed him the yams in her basket. “These are wild yams. Not only can we cook and eat them, they’re also medicinal. Really good stuff.”

Lu Yuanbao listened in wide-eyed amazement, but if Chu Yue said it was good, he believed her.

“Can we sell them for money?” he asked.

“Of course we can. There’s so much here, we definitely can’t finish it all ourselves. We can take some to the market another day—it could sell for quite a bit,” Chu Yue said.

When Lu Yuanbao heard they could sell it for money, he got even more excited. “I want to dig some too!”

“Alright, but for now, let’s eat lunch first.”

Chu Yue agreed.

She took out a water bottle and quickly washed her hands. Casually, she found a rock to sit on and started a small fire. She threw in some of the chestnuts that Lu Yuanbao had picked to roast, and then took out two steamed buns.

She sliced the buns in half, making bun slices.

The bun slices were lightly toasted over the fire for a few dozen seconds until they became warm and crispy on the surface.

Chu Yue hadn’t just brought buns—she had also prepared some pan-fried eggs. She placed an egg between the warm, crispy bun slices, and just like that, a Chinese-style hamburger was ready.

Each of them got one. A bite into it offered not only the crispiness of the bun but also the fragrant, savory taste of the egg. It was both delicious and satisfying.

Lu Yuanbao had never seen this way of eating before. He finished two of them in one go and was still licking his lips with longing.

By the time they finished their egg buns, the chestnuts in the fire were crackling—they were done too.

Roasted chestnuts and crispy persimmons became their after-meal snacks.

After lunch, Chu Yue wanted Lu Yuanbao to rest for a bit, but he couldn’t sit still. He kept thinking about digging up wild mountain yams to make money.

Chu Yue really couldn’t say no to this child. After extinguishing the fire with water, she brought Lu Yuanbao to the spot where wild yams grew and handed him a small hoe.

“Yuanbao, these are wild mountain yams…” Chu Yue taught him how to identify and find the yams, and reminded him, “Dig if you want, rest if you want—don’t push yourself too hard.”

She said this because she still needed to go farther up the mountain.

Continuing upward would lead to the mountaintop, which wasn’t suitable for a child like Lu Yuanbao to climb.

Chu Yue instructed, “Wait here for me to come back.”

“Okay, I’ll stay right here. I won’t run around at all.”

After the morning together, Lu Yuanbao had already adapted. He understood that coming to the mountain had slowed Chu Yue down—she had to spend extra effort taking care of him.

So whatever Chu Yue said, he would do. He was obedient and sensible.

Chu Yue placed their morning harvest to the side, emptied her bamboo basket, and continued climbing. The path became even steeper and more rugged, but for Chu Yue, it wasn’t difficult.

After about twenty minutes of hiking, she finally reached her destination:

Pine trees.

The coniferous pine trees grew on the high, cold mountaintops.

Back at the foot of the mountain, Chu Yue had already spotted them. What she was aiming for were the pinecones at the tops of the trees.

Because inside pinecones are pine nuts.

Due to the difficulty of harvesting and processing, pine nuts had always been a high-priced item—definitely worth a good amount of money.

Chu Yue’s mental abacus was clacking away happily.

The pine trees were even taller than the chestnut trees—bare and standing straight like spears.

Since no one was around, Chu Yue took a pair of climbing spike shoes from her spatial treasure, strapped them on her feet and knees, and in the next moment, she was already climbing.

The pinecones grew at the very top of the pine trees, and Chu Yue climbed more than ten meters in one go.

She sat on a fork in the tree, now at the mountaintop. Looking out, she saw a vast expanse of rolling green mountains, layer after layer. (illustration)

Because of the special climate in the southwest, even in winter, everything was still green—vibrant and full of life.

Chu Yue sighed again: this world is truly wonderful.

She took out a hatchet and struck the treetop. With a loud rustle, a pinecone came tumbling down—