Chapter 8

What had started as a minor dispute escalated as soon as the village chief arrived.

Hutou’s mother felt a bit intimidated by the village chief and tried to pull her son away to slip away, but they were blocked by the onlooking villagers, unable to advance or retreat.

“It’s you again, Hutou’s mother! How many times has this been this year? If you keep making a fuss, Hutou’s father won’t want to go out to sea anymore; he should stay home and take care of his wife and children!”

This threat was significant because Hutou’s family didn’t have their own fishing boat; Hutou’s father worked on the village’s fishing boats, and most of the family’s expenses depended on him.

“Look at what a good child has become; you’ll regret it someday!”

The old village chief felt a pang of sorrow. He had liked Hutou when he was a child, but as he grew older, his temperament became more twisted. He had caught Hutou bullying the younger children in the village multiple times, snatching food and toys, and throwing tantrums on the ground, mimicking his grandmother’s tactics perfectly.

Seeing him like this now made it easy to imagine what Hutou would be like as an adult; it was truly a pity.

The old village chief scolded her for a long time before driving her away. Jiang Wan’s family didn’t get scolded, but they didn’t receive any friendly treatment either. After all, in the old village chief’s eyes, anything that affected the harmony of the village was unwelcome.

Jiang Wan’s family wasn’t worried; after all, they would be living here for a long time, so there was no rush.

After lunch, when it was hot outside, the family didn’t go out again and instead slept soundly for half an hour. When they woke up, Yin Huaixi decided to go up the mountain, wanting to gather some wild vegetables to eat and also check for any useful herbs.

When they came to the village with the ox cart, she estimated that it would take at least four hours to walk to the town at a slow pace, making it too difficult to go there. If someone at home had a headache or a fever and needed medicine, it would be very inconvenient; it was better to do it themselves and be self-sufficient.

“You’re going up the mountain, little sister? Then let’s go together.”

Song Wenhui wanted to collect some firewood from the mountain since her house felt empty and she wasn’t at ease. It was also a good opportunity to take her daughter out for a bit.

Both sisters-in-law wanted to go up the mountain, and Yin Huaishan, feeling uneasy, insisted on going along. Plus, both little girls were heading out with the family.

However, after a short while of climbing the mountain, the family split up and took different paths because the two little girls couldn’t keep up and could only slowly trudge up the mountain.

“Sigh…”

“What’s wrong, cousin?”

“I feel so weak; I feel like a useless person.”

Getting tired after just a few steps and panting after a slight slope, she was even worse than Lin Daiyu. Given their current situation at home, it was hard to say how long it would take to recover her strength.

“Cousin, can you still walk?”

Yin Ning fell silent; it seemed she couldn’t climb anymore either, feeling utterly useless.

Their lack of stamina greatly diminished the sisters’ enthusiasm for going up the mountain. As they watched the adults get farther out of sight, the two decided to find a shady spot to rest.

Just as they sat down, they saw someone coming up the mountain along the small path. It was a big sister and a little brother, presumably siblings.

The older sister looked to be about the same age as Yin Ning; her clothes and shoes were very worn, but strangely, she didn’t seem weak and was even slightly plump.

The little girl had an old cloth bandaged around her forehead, with faint traces of blood showing through, while the little boy beside her looked even better off—his complexion indicated that his family was doing well.

However, his clothes and shoes were mismatched, looking like they were pieced together from scraps.

The siblings noticed the two cousins resting under the tree, and the little boy curiously stared at them for a moment before being pulled back by his sister, clearly not wanting any interaction with them.

Jiang Wan was perceptive enough to read the situation but couldn’t help but offer a warning.

“Um, young lady, your pants…”

The little girl seemed to have gotten some flower water on her pants but was unaware as she continued walking up the mountain. If she encountered many people on her way down, it would surely be embarrassing.

This wasn’t like modern times; if people saw it, they might treat it as a trivial matter.

Here, flower water was considered unclean, and some people even viewed it as inauspicious. If the little girl didn’t clean it up, it would be minor if people disliked her; the worst would be if her private matters were discussed. No girl would want that.

At first, Lian Yinzhu didn’t turn around; she didn’t think she was being called. It wasn’t until her brother tugged at her and pointed out her dirty pants that she glanced back.

Her neck was quite flexible, and she could see a bit behind her. However, since her pants were dark, she hurriedly thought it was just dirt from sitting on the ground and didn’t take it seriously.

“It’s nothing, just some dirt.”

Lian Yinzhu patted her brother’s head and turned back to look at the two frail girls, forcing a smile to express her thanks. She didn’t dislike the two girls; she just wasn’t in the mood to talk.

Seeing that she didn’t take it seriously and was about to leave, Jiang Wan and Yin Ning had to huff and puff to catch up with her.

“Miss, your pants are dirty; don’t you understand?”

Many girls feel bewildered when they get their first period, including herself.

Jiang Wan remembered her first experience. It had happened right after class, and when the bell rang, her male deskmate suddenly grabbed her and wouldn’t let her leave, blushing as he showed her the blood on her seat and lent her his uniform.

She had cried upon seeing the blood on the chair, and it took several explanations from her mother over the phone before she understood, eventually leaving school with her legs squeezed together, holding the uniform.

Even though she had attended a health class at school, she still forgot about it when the time came. Girls in ancient times didn’t have this kind of education; they relied on their elders to teach them, so it was common not to understand.

So Jiang Wan suspected that this little girl before her didn’t even comprehend what it meant for her pants to be dirty.

“Take a close look; there’s blood on your pants.”

“What?!”

Blood!  

Lian Yinzhu was startled and turned to look at her pants carefully. When she touched it, she realized it was still wet—indeed, it was blood. The sight of the blood made her eyes widen in shock, and her face turned as pale as a ghost as she muttered, “Am I going to die too? What about Jinbao? What about Jinbao?!”  

Little Jinbao had already started crying; he remembered that his mother had died from too much bleeding.  

“Sister, don’t die!! Wuwuwu…”  

“Jinbao! Wuwuwu…”  

Jiang Wan and Yin Ning: “…”  

“Calm down and don’t cry; this won’t kill you.”  

Jiang Wan tugged at Lian Yinzhu and whispered some words in her ear so her brother couldn’t hear.  

With a little basic knowledge of biology, Lian Yinzhu felt her ears redden with embarrassment.  

“Ah, so that’s how it is…”  

Lian Yinzhu was both awkward and embarrassed, but thankfully, she was facing two girls, so it didn’t feel too humiliating.  

“Thank you so much! My name is Lian Yinzhu. You two are the new arrivals from yesterday, right?”  

Jiang Wan nodded, introduced herself, and also introduced her cousin.  

“Yinzhu, you should hurry back and change since it’s not too much now. If you smear some dirt on your pants and loosen your backpack, it should be less noticeable.”  

Lian Yinzhu nodded; now that she had encountered the impure water, she had no desire to go up the mountain. She quickly followed Jiang Wan’s advice and headed back down the mountain with her brother.  

Having made a small good connection, the sisters felt light-hearted. After resting for a while, they slowly began to walk back up the mountain. They hadn’t gone far when they spotted a large bamboo forest.  

Jiang Wan’s eyes lit up—bamboo! Bamboo is a treasure!  

Bamboo can be made into various daily necessities and handicrafts, while bamboo shoots are a nutritious food ingredient. In modern times, bamboo fiber can be produced through physical and chemical processes, which is used in textiles, towels, and clothing. Bamboo can also be roasted to make bamboo charcoal.  

Of course, in this environment, its uses are not so extensive; it’s mostly used for constructing scaffolding, brooms, tables, chairs, and beds. It is also used to weave baskets, backpacks, vegetable baskets, bamboo mats, and so on.  

In short, this bamboo forest is full of treasures.  

Unfortunately, this bamboo forest is not wild.  

The village has regulations that each household can only cut down two stalks for free; if they want to cut more bamboo, they must pay. This is why the bamboo forest can remain so lush; otherwise, it would have been depleted long ago.  

Jiang Wan noted the location; she needed to bring her uncle to cut bamboo for their two families. There were too many things they lacked at home, and with four large bamboo stalks, they could make several pieces of furniture.  

For now, cutting bamboo was not urgent; she was more interested in whether there were any bamboo shoots in this bamboo forest.  

Different species of bamboo sprout at slightly different times. Some are best eaten around the Qingming Festival, while others can be harvested in May or June, and there are even some that can be eaten until October.  

She wasn’t greedy; a few bamboo shoots would be enough to help her family get through the toughest days.  

“Cousin, let’s go! Let’s check over there for anything edible.”  

Yin Ning frowned at the direction her cousin pointed, seeing it was a bamboo forest. What could possibly be edible in a bamboo forest?  

Thinking this, she asked the question.  

Jiang Wan: “…”  

Her cousin really was like an immortal who didn’t know anything about the mundane world; she didn’t even know what bamboo shoots were.  

“Cousin, what books do you usually read?”  

“I read ‘Legitimate Admonitions’ and ‘Four Books for Women,’ and sometimes I read a few stories. Don’t you read those too?”  

Jiang Wan chuckled dryly; those were books read by the original owner, not her taste.  

Well-behaved girls are often trapped by those books. Being exiled isn’t entirely a bad thing; at least her cousin can live a little more freely.  

“Cousin, I haven’t read those books in a long time. I mostly read travelogues and various essays now. From now on, we’ll just be village girls; you might as well forget about ‘Legitimate Admonitions’ and the like that teach young ladies how to behave.”  

Yin Ning was taken aback; she found her cousin’s words quite reasonable, even feeling a sense of excitement deep down.  

Before she could process it, she was already being pulled into the bamboo forest by her cousin.  

“Cousin, bamboo shoots are the tender stems of bamboo that can be used as vegetables. Let’s look closely; we should be able to find bamboo shoots this season.”  

As Jiang Wan spoke, she dug out two slightly thicker sticks from the ground, giving one to her cousin and keeping one for herself.  

There were plenty of fallen leaves piled up in the bamboo forest; it would be difficult to find bamboo shoots by hand, but with these sticks, it would be much easier.  

“Cousin, I’ve never seen bamboo shoots; have you?”  

“Of course! I’ve seen them, and I’ve eaten them too. Bamboo shoots are small and tower-like; their outer shells are mostly deep brown and hairy, which can easily hurt your hands. You just need to use this stick to poke around.”  

Jiang Wan hadn’t personally dug up bamboo shoots, but she had seen many videos of bloggers doing so. Lacking practical experience, she could only direct with words.  

The sisters were quite lucky; using the sticks, they quickly found a few plump bamboo shoots under the pile of bamboo leaves.  

“Cousin!”  

Yin Ning’s cheeks flushed with excitement; she almost couldn’t resist reaching out to grab them.  

She was acutely aware of how little food they had at home; it would only last them at most two days. With no grain in the jars, she felt anxious. She was truly scared of going hungry after their long journey of exile, which was why seeing the thick bamboo shoots now made her so thrilled.  

One of these bamboo shoots could keep their family fed for two days!!  

“Cousin, don’t touch them with your hands; the hairs on the shell will make your skin very itchy.”  

Jiang Wan started to dig around the bamboo shoots with her stick, grateful that the soil wasn’t too hard; otherwise, digging one up would exhaust all her energy.  

“Cousin, it’s under the soil…”  

“There’s still such a long piece!”  

Yin Ning tightly grasped her cousin’s hand; with this, their family could eat for three days!  

The little girl’s thoughts were all written on her face, making Jiang Wan feel a pang of sadness. At her cousin’s age, she would still be in middle school in the modern world, yet now she had already experienced family upheaval, imprisonment, a broken engagement, and exile.  

It was truly heartbreaking.  

“Cousin! I found another one!”  

“I’m coming!”  

Jiang Wan shook off her tangled thoughts, grabbed the stick, and went to help her cousin dig. The two little girls scurried around the bamboo forest like hamsters, collecting food. By the time Yin Huaishan arrived, they had already dug up seven or eight bamboo shoots.  

The knowledgeable Lord Yin was left dumbfounded.  

“What is this?”  

Hearing this, Yin Ning felt a surge of relief in her heart. It wasn’t that she was ignorant; her father didn’t know either.  

Jiang Wan was at a loss for words.  

“Uncle, you don’t know what bamboo shoots are?”  

“Ahem… Of course, I know bamboo shoots; I’ve eaten them before. I just haven’t seen them freshly dug like this.”  

Yin Huaishan crouched down to examine the small plump shoots, and before Jiang Wan could stop him, she saw her uncle’s hands covered in hairs from the bamboo shoot shells.  

“Ouch… This shell is itchy and painful; you two stay away.”  

While blowing on the prickly hairs, Lord Yin felt a headache coming on. Without tools like a backpack, it would be a bit challenging to carry these bamboo shoots down the mountain.  

“Uncle, on our way up the mountain, we passed a few trees with particularly large leaves. Let’s go pick some leaves to wrap the bamboo shoots.”  

Jiang Wan knew those were palm trees, but it wasn’t the right time to say so directly; she could only give a hint.  

Yin Huaishan didn’t suspect anything; after all, he hadn’t seen such large leaves before, and it left quite an impression. Soon, he went back and returned with two large leaves.  

“I didn’t take a close look from afar; these leaves are truly good stuff.”  

Jiang Wan wholeheartedly agreed.  

The leaves of palm trees aren’t whole leaves but consist of many leaflets. They are very tough and can be used in place of rope, and can be woven into baskets, straw hats, raincoats, and so on—very useful.  

Given their current impoverished state, they needed to collect more leaves to take back.  

Both uncle and niece were on the same wavelength. Once Yin Huaishan had tied up the bamboo shoots and prepared to head back, they gathered a good amount of leaves to bring down the mountain as well.  

Upon returning home, Jiang Wan instinctively looked for her mother, only to find the house completely empty.  

“Where are Mother and Aunt? Have they come back?”  

“Not yet. Your mother had an idea and took your aunt with her to gather herbs, completely ignoring me,” Lord Yin sighed, feeling helpless about his sister and daughter-in-law.  

“They said they were going to collect wild vegetables, but they didn’t bring back much.”  

Jiang Wan chuckled awkwardly, not daring to respond.  

Letting her mother collect herbs was indeed a tall order, as wild vegetables were truly challenging to find.