Chapter 5

Lin Yun didn’t know when Zhao Lanxiu would come back, so she started cleaning the wood ear mushrooms and fungi they had brought back earlier.

Just now, Lin Yonggang had asked her if they should sell these as well, but after thinking about it, Lin Yun refused. She really didn’t want to look at those green things every day anymore. If she kept eating them, she worried she might go crazy. Besides, the amount they had was too small, barely enough to feed the family.

While cleaning, Lin Yonggang brought over a piece of bamboo, along with a sickle and three bamboo skewers of different sizes.

“What are these for?” Lin Yun asked, pointing to the bamboo skewers.

“Just to compare the size of the centipedes—small, medium, and large. The price varies depending on their length, so I used these bamboo skewers as a reference. This way, before selling, we’ll have a rough idea of how much we can make.”

Watching Lin Yonggang’s actions, Lin Yun couldn’t help but admire his practicality. Indeed, everyone has their own unique survival skills.

Lin Yun watched as Lin Yonggang skillfully unfurled the tired centipedes, cutting a bamboo skewer a little longer than the centipedes themselves, and slowly arranging the centipedes on the skewer.

His movements were quick—each centipede was threaded in about thirty seconds. He hadn’t found many centipedes this morning, only about seven or eight. According to Lin Yonggang, this was partly because it wasn’t yet the season when centipedes appeared in large numbers, and partly because centipedes were inherently difficult to find.

Though everyone knew centipedes were more likely to be found under rotten grass piles and decaying wood, not every such place would have them.

Moreover, now that everyone was out searching for centipedes, it was clear that if they could catch many, it would be a significant income for the family.

After hearing these descriptions, Lin Yun was even more determined to go out tonight to see if she could catch some centipedes. She wasn’t entirely sure it would work, but it was worth a try—who knows, maybe it would!

Night soon came, and when Lin Yun went outside, Lin Yonggang was already waiting. Both of them wore rubber boots and long pants, carrying plastic buckets, a pair of fire tongs, and a flashlight.

After deciding to go out at night, Lin Yun had started preparing early. When Lin Yumei heard they were going out, she was worried and insisted on joining, but Lin Yun stopped her.

Lin Yonggang was still somewhat of a child, so it wasn’t a big deal if he joined in, but Lin Yumei was different. She didn’t work as much as Lin Yun did, and if centipedes really only came out at night, it wouldn’t matter if they went together, but Lin Yun wasn’t even sure herself.

If Lin Yumei joined, she’d have to wake up early the next day, which would be physically demanding.

Thus, Lin Yun assured her that she wouldn’t run off and that Lin Yonggang would be with her, so she didn’t need to worry.

Although Lin Yumei was still uneasy, she understood that she needed to wake up early the next day and had a lot to do, so she didn’t press the matter further.

She also realized that her younger sister had become much more obedient lately. She wondered if dropping out of school had made her more mature.

“Be careful and come back early. I’ll leave the door open for you.”

“Mm, I know. Go to sleep early, sis. You need to get up early tomorrow.”

After saying this, Linyun went out.

Although Lin Yonggang had agreed to go with her, he didn’t have much confidence in his sister’s idea that there would be more centipedes at night. After all, the village had been searching for centipedes for as long as Lin Yonggang could remember. If there really were that many at night, someone would have noticed by now.

Besides, how would his sister, who had hardly dealt with this kind of thing, know about it?

However, his doubts didn’t last long.

After walking about two hundred meters, Lin Yonggang, with his sharp eyesight honed from years of searching for centipedes, saw three centipedes crawling in the grass ahead. Their speed was noticeably slower than the ones he had found during the day.

He quickly called out to Lin Yun, “Sis, there are three here, and they’re not small. Come quickly!”

When Lin Yun approached, she saw that Lin Yonggang had already put one centipede into the plastic bucket and was catching the second. Lin Yun stepped forward and aimed the fire tongs at the third centipede, only to realize this wasn’t an easy task, even though she had become fairly proficient at using the tongs in recent days.

At least before tonight, she had felt a great improvement—she had gone from not knowing how to use the tongs properly to being able to handle them with ease for tasks like starting a fire or picking up things.

But she hadn’t expected that catching a medium-sized centipede would be so difficult.

Eventually, the last centipede escaped. Maybe that was what motivated Lin Yun, as from then on, whenever she didn’t see any centipedes, she began consciously practicing her ability to catch them.

After some practice, when the flashlight’s light began to dim, she was finally able to skillfully put the centipedes into the plastic bucket.

Perhaps because she had mastered a new skill, Lin Yun’s luck seemed to improve in the later part of the night. Almost every few steps, she found another centipede. She and Lin Yonggang even discovered a centipede nest with many of all sizes.

Lin Yonggang initially wanted to clear the whole nest, but Linyun stopped him. They had already caught plenty, and the smaller ones could be left for now.

Though Lin Yonggang didn’t understand, he still listened to his sister.

That night, both of them made a lot of progress. Lin Yun, who had been grossed out by the centipedes at first, had now become quite accustomed to them. In fact, just thinking about how much money they could bring made them seem a little cute to her.

Lin Yonggang was now full of admiration for his sister. “Sis, you’re amazing! I never thought there would be so many centipedes at night. If I had known, I wouldn’t have wasted time looking for them during the day. Tonight alone is worth more than several days of work.”

“I feel like with this, our family might even become wealthy.”

“What are you thinking? The season for centipedes doesn’t last long, and this isn’t a long-term business.” Lin Yun had no intention of making this her full-time work. It was just a side business for now. Her main goal was still to study and go to college. Once she got to the city, no matter what she did, life would be much easier.

Of course, at this stage, it was still her main source of income. She still wanted to improve her family’s situation, especially because she had reached her limit with their current living conditions, from daily life to meals.

She remembered last night when she had gone to bed after washing up, and suddenly came face to face with a rat. In that moment, she was too shocked to even scream, just standing there dumbfounded.

It wasn’t until Lin Yumei passed by and asked what had happened that she snapped out of it. Even now, thinking back on it, she still felt a chill down her spine.