Chapter 6: Listen to That—Is That Even Human Speech?

Zhao Zhenyu carried two baskets and said, “Father, Mother, please take Lihua with you. Yesterday afternoon, Grandma told her to go do laundry, but I stopped her. When we’re gone, who knows what else she’ll be forced to do? If we’re not home, that poor girl is bound to suffer.”

Zhao Dashu clenched his jaw. Was there even still a place for him in this household?

Zhao Dashu and Madam Song repeatedly reminded Zhao Zhenyu not to chop too much wood before they took Lihua and left together. Before leaving, Zhao Dashu called for Zhao Dawen’s household to join them. When they refused, he simply followed suit—if they wouldn’t do the work, neither would he. If they did less, so would he.

He had once hoped that by humbling himself and pleasing them, they might be moved to give him a son. But now, he had fully given up on that idea. Zhao Dashu was willing to endure any hardship—but he would not be taken advantage of anymore.

Zhao Zhenyu made her way up the mountain, relying on memory.

“Zhenyu, going up to chop wood today?” someone called out.

“Yes, Aunt Liu. Are you out looking for wild herbs?”

“Mhm, just gathering whatever I can. If you clump it together, it all counts as food, right?”

Zhao Zhenyu glanced at the green contents of her basket and secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Perhaps it was a lingering effect from her past life in the apocalypse—when it came to edible green plants, she simply had no resistance.

What do you mean “clump it together and it’s food”? Wild herbs are top-notch ingredients, aren’t they? How could anyone look down on them?

Zhao Zhenyu continued up the mountain, seeking a spot where no one else was around. Once in a quiet area, she began testing things out—whatever she could pick up, she tried to place into her space. She wanted to confirm whether the space could store living creatures or only non-living items.

“Enter!”

No response.

“I want to enter the space!”

“…”

“…”

She tried every method she could think of, but she couldn’t enter the space. Worse, when she retrieved the bugs she’d earlier stored inside—it turned out they were completely dead. Clearly, the rule was: once a living creature entered, it would not come out alive.

Once she understood the rules of the space, she started chopping wood in earnest. She focused on collecting dead branches, which she placed entirely into the space. This mountain behind Laomuzhu Village was the source of firewood for the entire village. It was tall and vast, stretching as far as the eye could see. Mist and clouds wrapped around the peaks, lending the mountain an air of mystery. Normally, villagers only ventured around the base to gather wild herbs or firewood. No one dared go deeper in.

They said that people who ventured into the mountains to hunt had been killed by poisonous insects, and there were even wolf packs on the mountain. During times of famine, wolves would come down and maul villagers. Unless one was a true hunter, no one dared to go deep into the mountains.

She didn’t plan to push her limits either—what could her thin arms and legs accomplish? And besides, the space couldn’t shelter people.

She’d come up the mountain mostly to see if there were any treasures she recognized from her past life.

Aside from firewood, she didn’t let any tender wild vegetables go to waste either.

Once she estimated she had gathered about two baskets’ worth of firewood, she stopped working and began wandering across the mountain.

On the mountainside, dandelions and other wild greens grew everywhere. She even spotted seven or eight honeysuckle plants. But she didn’t rush to pick dandelions—those needed to be washed and dried. If she dragged a whole bunch back and started processing them in the courtyard, the old madam might just toss them to the chickens or pigs.

She picked about a pound of honeysuckle before stopping. This stuff really wasn’t easy to harvest. It was getting late, too—mountains at night were terrifying, and she didn’t want to worry her Father and Mother.

“Zhenyu, why are you coming down so late?”

At the foot of the mountain, she ran into Zhao Dashu, who had come looking for her. Her heart warmed slightly.

“Something came up and delayed me, Father. I’ll explain when we get home.”

She suddenly had the knowledge of medicinal herbs in her head. Whether it was future crafting or cooking, she needed a place of her own. Tonight, she planned to let them start preparing mentally—Zhao Zhenyu was no longer the same Zhao Zhenyu from before. She had received help from an immortal and undergone a complete transformation!

“You’re talking nonsense again,” he said, snatching the carrying pole from her and shouldering the firewood on their way home.

“Every time you come back, your grandma just scolds you. Says you’re all hot air—one fart and it’s gone.”

“Pfft!”

The old madam thought her granddaughter was just full of hot air. Who knew what she’d think now?

“Right, Father—at the bottom of the left basket, I picked some honeysuckle and a few wild greens. You should quietly bring them into our room.”

Honeysuckle? What on earth was that?

“Alright!”

When they returned home, the mean-spirited women didn’t come picking a fight for once. They just grumbled a few times under their breath. But when it came time to eat, she was only given half a cornbread bun and half a bowl of coarse grain porridge.

That wasn’t even enough to fill the gaps between her teeth!

Zhao Dashu immediately snatched her bowl and filled it to the brim, then stuffed a whole cornbread bun into her hand. “How can she work if she’s not full? Mother, Zhaodi eats a lot, so Zhenyu should eat a lot too. They’re only a year apart, and it’s Zhenyu who does more of the work. You can’t be so blatantly biased.”

“What now, do I need to report to you how I portion the food? She works more? Spent the whole afternoon dawdling God knows where and only brought back two bundles of firewood—and you still had to go help her carry them! What is she even good for? Compared to Zhaodi, she’s not even in the same league. Zhaodi gave the second son three sons. And her?”

She muttered again that the girl in the third house ought to change her name—call her “Hoped-for-Brother” or “Come-Brother.” Wouldn’t that be more auspicious? What kind of ominous name was “Zhenyu” anyway? Rain? Bad luck all around.

Zhao Zhenyu accepted it—no wonder the old woman favored her second cousin. She thought Zhaodi had good fortune, birthing sons.

“What’s wrong with the name Zhenyu? Didn’t Father give it to her? If you’ve got a problem with it, go complain to him.”

The old man paused awkwardly. It was indeed his doing. When the third household’s child was born, there was constant drizzle for days. It got on his nerves, so he named her Zhenyu—“continuous rain.” A little girl, right? Besides, back then, the village chief’s daughter was named Lihua, and he liked the sound of it. No real meaning behind it, just went with the flow.

“I don’t care either way. If the child isn’t eating enough, she can’t work. Mother, stop your pointless yammering.”

Old Madam Sun: ……

This rotten child was going to be the death of her.

The old man’s eyes flashed with displeasure. He had backed down several times already, and the more he yielded, the more the third son pushed his luck. This kind of arrogance needed to be put in check.

“Third son, is that how you speak to your mother? No manners, no rules. Lately in this house, it’s like you think you run things. And that Zhenyu girl—so what if she eats a bit more? She never said she was starving. What, fell into the water once and now she’s drinking more and suddenly got an appetite?”

“Grandfather,” Zhenyu spoke up, “look at me—do I look like I have any meat on me? I’m thin from hunger. Honestly, I work hard every day, and this little bit of food really doesn’t fill me up. I go to bed hungry all the time, it’s tough. If Grandma’s going to divide it like this, then tomorrow I’ll just go to Aunt Liu’s house next door and ask for some wild greens to fill my belly.”

Just listen to her—was that even human speech? The old man nearly choked on his mouthful of rice soup. Damn it, that Liu woman had the sharpest tongue in the village. If she heard this and started spreading rumors that the Zhao family was starving their granddaughter to the point she had to borrow wild vegetables from neighbors—by tomorrow, he wouldn’t even dare step outside. Actually, even now, stepping outside was a risk. His old buddies had already been giving him side-eyes and snide comments for days, calling him unkind and heartless behind his back.

These father and daughter—always up to some stunt!

Goddamn it!