Chapter 18

A twenty-year-old soul, yet being lifted high by a seventeen-year-old boy, felt a bit embarrassing.

After walking for a while, they unexpectedly ran into Erbao.

As soon as Erbao saw them, he happily smiled and playfully tapped Xiaodie’s nose with his finger, saying, “Come, big brother will carry you.”

He seemed to really enjoy teasing children.

Although Xiaodie looked small and thin, her physical age was twelve, while her soul was twenty. The two brothers treated her like a five or six-year-old child, which made her want to disappear into the ground.

She decided to break free from Dabao’s arms and asked, “Erbao, where are my parents?”

Erbao pointed ahead. “They went back first.”

Xiaodie blinked her bright eyes and said, “How about we go explore some more?”

“Sure, Xiaodie, where do you want to go?” Erbao smiled, showing his dimples. “We usually don’t get a chance to go into the town, and although no one is here in the town, it’s peaceful.”

Dabao agreed, “There’s nothing to do back home anyway.”

Walking around and seeing what they can find, maybe even catching a snake like earlier, would be nice.

The two brothers saw Xiaodie take out a map.

Daba recognized it immediately. This was the map of Yangliu Town that they found earlier at the yamen.

Xiaodie spread the map on the ground and pointed at a piece of land. “Let’s go check this place out.”

It was a plot of waterlogged land.

Earlier, at the yamen, Xiaodie had quickly glanced at the map. The layout of the town wasn’t complicated, with just a few big landmarks, so she got a rough idea right away.

She noticed that if they walked along the road towards the east of the town, they would come across large water fields. There was also a water pond beside the fields, although it was clear that the pond had no water now.

But she still wanted to check her luck.

Dabao was surprised. “Xiaodie, you can read maps?”

Xiaodie quickly shook her head. “Not really, Dabao, I’m just looking at the pictures. See here, it shows the town gate, and if you walk here, you can see fields and water. Look!”

The two brothers leaned in to take a look, and it was indeed as she said.

“You’re really clever, Xiaodie,” Erbao said, patting her little head.

Xiaodie smiled carefreely. “Let’s go, two brothers.”

—-

The three of them walked along the road on the map for a while and finally reached a vast, barren water field. The field was covered with dry, withered grass, and large cracks had formed in the ground due to the scorching sun.

When they saw the scene before them, both Dabao and Erbao felt disappointed.

“The people of Yangliu Town are pretty unlucky. Their fields look just like ours in Aozi Gou,” Dabao sighed.

Erbao even jumped into the field and stepped around, only hearing the sound of hard, compacted soil.

The sound, under the blazing sun, made them feel utterly despondent, and all three of them felt a dry, parched sensation.

At that moment, Xiaodie almost wished she could go into her space, but she couldn’t do that. However, when her gaze drifted towards the distant lotus pond, she was pleasantly surprised to see something.

“Dabao, look! There are a few green leaves in the corner of the lotus pond that haven’t withered yet. Let’s go check it out!”

After walking for so long, finally discovering something new made Xiaodie incredibly happy.

Dabao chuckled helplessly. “That’s impossible, there’s no water there.”

Just look at how dry the pond bottom is.

“Come on, let’s go take a look!” Xiaodie knew they were tired and had faced disappointment after disappointment, so it was easy for their morale to break down. But she still wanted to try.

Dabao and Erbao exchanged a glance.

Putting everything else aside, for the sake of making Xiaodie happy, they decided to go for it.

The three of them finally circled around and reached the corner of the lotus pond.

As they got closer, Xiaodie’s smile grew wider.

Dabao and Erbao, who had never seen a lotus pond, were once again disappointed.

There was no water at all—just mud, and even though there was a little mud pit with some water, it wasn’t enough to matter.

Just as the brothers were about to suggest heading back, Xiaodie eagerly took off her old, worn-out cloth shoes and threw them on the embankment, then rushed into the mud.

Erbao was startled. “Xiaodie, what are you doing?”

Dabao remarked, “Are you crazy with thirst?”

It was obvious there was no water, so why rush in?

Soon, the muddy ground trapped her little legs, but Xiaodie grabbed a withered lotus leaf, using her small hands to dig along its root. She kept feeling around, and to her surprise, she finally found something.

“I got it!”

Xiaodie exclaimed with joy. “I found it, I found it! Brothers, come quick!”

“What is it?”

Dabao and Erbao were confused, but seeing how excited she was, they figured it must have something to do with food.

Without hesitation, the two hurriedly took off their shoes and rushed over to Xiaodie. “What is it? What did you find?”

Xiaodie said, “Dabao, put your hand here, go lower, a little more!”

She pulled Dabao’s hand down into the mud, and as she watched his expression change, she asked, “Did you find it? It’s food, it’s called lotus root.”

“Lotus what?” Erbao had never heard of it.

“Lotus root.”

In this era, goods weren’t as widely circulated, and villages with lotus ponds were rare, so it was understandable that Erbao had never heard of it.

Actually, Dabao hadn’t heard of it either, but what mattered was that he had found it.

“It’s really here,” Dabao said excitedly, grabbing the lotus root tightly, afraid it would disappear if he let go.

Erbao was both happy and envious, stepping forward to feel for it as well. Xiaodie showed him how to do it, saying, “This is called lotus root. You can cook it, steam it, or even eat it cold in a salad!”

After explaining, she realized that while she had been talking confidently, both brothers were looking at her in shock.

“Xiaodie, you know so much.”

“Yeah, Xiaodie, who taught you all this?”

Xiaodie hesitated, then replied, “Of course, it’s my father. You might think he’s timid, but he knows a lot of things. It’s just that he’s often bullied by my uncle and second uncle at home, so he doesn’t dare to express his thoughts.”

When she mentioned her family, Dabao and Erbao exchanged sympathetic glances.

Just then, Erbao shouted excitedly, “I found it too!”

“Erbao, you’re awesome,” Xiaodie immediately forgot her earlier sadness and clapped her hands. “Now you both know how to find it, right? Just look for soft mud, find a lotus leaf, and carefully dig under it. Be careful, though, because the lotus root grows deep in the mud—don’t break it!”

After demonstrating, Xiaodie realized that her strength was small, so with Erbao’s help, they finally pulled out a lotus root with three segments.

Dabao and Erbao stared at the muddy bundle in front of them, their minds filled with doubt: Can this really be eaten?