Font Size:
The children were well prepared and pushed the handcart towards the He family. Due to Mingcheng’s young age and frail body, it was difficult to balance the handcart. Fortunately, with the help of the other children, they managed to stabilize it. The four children finally arrived at the He family’s house, where the gate was ajar, but the door was locked. It seemed that both parents were at work. The children parked the cart in the yard, closed the gate, and slowly made their way up the mountain.
Arriving at the unfinished digging site from the previous day, Mingcheng and his older sister continued digging, while the two younger ones looked around for anything new.
Wang Qian noticed a hint of green in the grass, indicating that spring was approaching.
The two children wandered through the mountains, hoping to find more food. Wang Qian spotted a nest of white eggs in the bushes, likely laid by a wild chicken that had gone out to forage.
“Brother, look at the eggs.”
Following her finger, Mingyuan carefully approached the nest and picked up six eggs, placing them in the basket.
“Sister, let’s see if there are any more nests nearby.”
Carrying the basket and holding his sister’s hand, Mingyuan led the way, cautious of tripping over tree roots or stones, which could lead to injury.
Suddenly, a large snake appeared, startling Wang Qian, who was terrified of such reptiles. She screamed, and although Mingyuan reassured her, he was also afraid. They crouched down, fearing the snake’s discovery. Hearing the commotion, Mingcheng and his older sister quickly climbed up to see the two trembling figures.
“What happened, Mingyuan? What’s wrong with your sister?”
Wang Qian pointed silently at the snake still in the bushes.
Mingcheng, braver than the others, was about to approach the snake when Wang Xuan stopped him, also feeling afraid.
“Brother, wait and see. Maybe the snake will leave soon.”
Mingyuan comforted his sister, saying, “Don’t be afraid. Think about it, if it was a snake, it would have been scared away when you screamed just now. I think it’s just snake skin.” He picked up a stone and threw it into the bushes, but there was no reaction, confirming his judgment.
Boldly, he walked over and used a branch to slowly pick out the snake skin.
Seeing the long snake skin, even Mingcheng was surprised, but Mingyuan jumped with joy, “Brother, this can be sold for money. Let’s keep it and sell it when we go back. Such good skin will definitely fetch a good price.”
Wang Xuan also remembered that someone in the village had once found snake skin and sold it for a good price. “Brother, keep this. We can sell it later.” She then instructed the younger ones, “Mingyuan, take good care of your sister. Call us if anything happens.”
As they were about to take the snake skin down, Wang Qian called out to them, “Sister, take the eggs down. I’m afraid I might break them.”
The older siblings were surprised that the younger ones had found the eggs so quickly. “Really? Let me see,” Wang Xuan said excitedly. There were exactly six eggs in the basket. “Brother, you take three, and I’ll take three. Be careful not to break them.”
Watching the older siblings leave, the younger ones continued their search. They saw a wild rabbit run past them, but they didn’t have the ability to catch it. “Brother, if only we could catch rabbits, then we would have meat at home,” Wang Qian sighed. The family had not had meat for a long time, and even she was finding it hard to bear, not to mention the children.
Mingyuan looked at the rabbit in the distance and swallowed, “It’s okay. If we can’t catch rabbits, we’ll find something else. As long as we can eat our fill.”
Mingyuan’s words made Wang Qian feel sad. A nine-year-old child was already worrying about the family’s food. In modern times, he would be the family’s treasure, and his parents would be urging him to eat more.
Touching the thin hands of her younger brother, which felt like chicken claws, she held them tightly and said, “Brother, don’t worry. We will definitely have enough to eat in the future. As long as we are willing to work hard, we won’t starve.”
After searching for a while without finding anything else, they sat down under a tree, feeling a bit tired. However, there was a strange bird calling above their heads, which annoyed Mingyuan. He picked up a stone and threw it into the air. Although Wang Qian was sitting, her eyes were not idle. Through the bushes, she faintly noticed a red color.
She cleared the bushes and found that the red color was from a kind of fruit that had fallen to the ground, but the flesh had started to rot, possibly due to the recent thaw. The red color had not completely faded yet.
Next to the fruit, there was a plant that Wang Qian carefully examined. It looked familiar, somewhat like ginseng.
However, finding wild ginseng here was even unbelievable to her. It seemed that fate had taken pity on their family and presented this to her.
Meanwhile, Mingyuan was engrossed in his battle with the bird. Wang Qian’s call startled him, and he quickly ran over. “What’s wrong?”
“Sister, quickly go and call the older brother and sister to bring the shovel. I’ve found something good.”
Mingyuan didn’t know what his sister had discovered, but he hurriedly informed the older siblings to come up.
Mingcheng, carrying the shovel, asked as he walked, “Mingyuan, what did your sister see? Why are you so in a hurry for us to come up?”
Mingyuan didn’t know what was going on, but he kept urging, “Brother, hurry up and come. You’ll know when you get up there. My sister didn’t tell me what it is.”
Under Mingyuan’s urging, the two siblings quickly made their way up.
“Brother, what do you think this is?” Wang Qian said somewhat proudly to Mingcheng and the others.
The two older siblings looked at the plant pointed out by their sister for a while, but they didn’t recognize it.
“Sister, what is this exactly? It looks like just a regular weed to me,” Wang Xuan honestly expressed her opinion.
Mingcheng nodded in agreement. To them, it looked like an ordinary plant, just slightly different from the wild grass in the field.
Wang Qian sighed. No wonder the children didn’t recognize it. They couldn’t even have a proper meal, so how could they be expected to recognize ginseng?
“Sister, I think this might be ginseng. If it is, we’ll have enough money to build a house,” Wang Qian’s words were like a bomb dropped into the calm water. The children’s expressions immediately became excited. Although they had never seen ginseng, they had heard from the adults that it was valuable. When Wang Qian mentioned building a house, how could they not be excited? Living in their current house was not only cramped, but it would also be unbearable in the summer.
Mingcheng excitedly hugged Wang Qian. “Good sister, you’re amazing.”
At this moment, Wang Qian seemed like a savior in Mingcheng’s heart, the one who could liberate the entire family from the small shack.