“Brother Chen Chuan, do you want some locust flowers?”

The little girl looked up at him with a hopeful smile.

Ye Chen Chuan paused for a moment, rolled up his sleeves, and leapt into the tree. Within a few swift moves, he had climbed up and was soon holding an armful of locust flower branches, expertly jumping back down.

He handed the fragrant flowers to the little girl, his long, narrow eyes sparkling with joy.

“Little glutton, is this enough?”

“It’s enough! It’s enough!” The little girl was overjoyed, hugging the locust flowers. “This will make a lot of locust flower rice.” She beamed, unbothered by the nickname ‘little glutton,’ as it was true—she loved to eat. Brother Chen Chuan was absolutely right.

“Thank you, Brother Chen Chuan.”

She cheerfully dumped the flowers into a small bamboo basket she carried. Then, with her delicate little hand, she fished out a cherry blossom candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into Chen Chuan’s mouth.

“Here, have a candy.”

Ye Chen Chuan’s lips slightly parted, just about to refuse, when the girl unexpectedly stuffed the candy into his mouth. The familiar sweetness spread across his bitter-tasting tongue.

“Is it sweet, Brother Chen Chuan? My grandma made it herself.” The little girl was also munching on a piece of cherry blossom candy, her cheeks puffed up like a little squirrel as she asked with a contented expression.

Chen Juhua, the girl’s grandma, had once worked as a pastry maid for a wealthy family during tough times, where she mastered some excellent skills. After getting married, Chen Juhua passed on some of these skills, like making cherry blossom candy to her daughter.

Now, with a granddaughter who had a sweet tooth, Chen Juhua often made cherry blossom candy and osmanthus cakes as treats for her little darling.

Ye Chen Chuan lowered his gaze, his voice deep: “It’s delicious.” In the past, cherry blossom candy had been one of his grandmother’s specialties.

“See, I knew you’d like it, Brother Chen Chuan.” Song Wanyue smiled sweetly. She hoisted her little bamboo basket onto her back and with her ponytail swaying, she walked home with Ye Chen Chuan, one after the other.

“Brother Chen Chuan, how’s Grandpa Ye’s health?”

“After taking the medicine, he’s much better.”

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“So, Brother Chen Chuan, can you cook now? Do you still burn porridge? Do you still forget to add salt when cooking? Brother Chen Chuan, why aren’t you answering?”

Ye Chen Chuan’s face remained indifferent.

This conversation was over.

—

While the little girl chattered away endlessly, not far off in the woods, a girl named Qin Rongrong, carrying a bundle of firewood, saw this scene and nearly exploded with rage.

What was this?!

How could Brother Chen Chuan be with that little witch Song Wanyue!

He even climbed the tree to pick locust flowers for her!

Thinking about the humiliation she’d suffered at the Ye family’s hands not long ago, Qin Rongrong felt so wronged she could cry.

Why could that little witch Song Wanyue roam the mountains carefree while she had to look like a ragged country bumpkin, chopping wood with a broken axe?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, fuming like a scorned crow. She watched as Ye Chen Chuan and Song Wanyue walked away and decided to sneak after them.

But she hadn’t gone more than a few steps before she tripped over a large rock in the woods and fell flat on her face.

**”Ah! There’s no justice! Even the heavens are bullying me! I can’t take it anymore!”** Qin Rongrong, sore from the fall, cried loudly.

—–

Song Wanyue had no idea about Qin Rongrong’s misfortune. She said goodbye to Brother Chen Chuan and ran home excitedly. In the Song family’s courtyard, Chen Juhua was steaming buns with her three daughters-in-law in the kitchen.

The Song family had been working hard in the fields lately, and everyone was exhausted. Finally, they finished the work today.

Knowing how tired the family was, Chen Juhua took out a large bill from the remaining money and sent the twins, Song Wenzhe and Song Wenbo, to town with it. They brought back three jin of fatty pork, which she cooked with home-grown potatoes, filling a big pot with savory potato stew.

The smell was so tempting that Liu Hongmei kept sticking her head into the pot.

**”Oh my, this potato stew smells amazing. I’m going to have two big bowls when it’s ready.”** Liu Hongmei had been busy at her parents’ house recently, taking care of her father, doing all the laundry, cooking, and everything else. Meanwhile, her mother and sister-in-law just sat around eating melon seeds, even mocking her for freeloading at her parents’ house. Liu Hongmei was so upset.

All she’d had to eat at her parents’ house were rough, dry corn buns that nearly made her gag. Since marrying into the Song family, she hadn’t had to eat such awful food. The Song family lived well, eating corn buns regularly and even having a meat meal every couple of weeks.

**”There’s nothing wrong with this life!”** Liu Hongmei cheerfully stoked the fire.

Just then, the eldest daughter, Song Wanyue, burst into the kitchen with her bamboo basket.

“Grandma, look what I’ve got!” She grinned as she showed the locust flowers to Chen Juhua, who was delighted to see the fresh flowers.

“Did you pick these from the back mountain, dear?” Chen Juhua asked, certain of the answer.

After all, in Dahe Mountain, locust trees only bloomed on the back mountain.

“Yes, Grandma. There are so many locust trees back there, all in full bloom. Lots of people from the village were picking them.” Song Wanyue’s face beamed with excitement.

“Our Wanyue is so well-behaved and thoughtful, unlike the troublesome boys.” Lin Yuehong, busy adding water to the dough, commented with a smile.

Zhao Xiuying, after washing the vegetables, wiped her daughter’s face clean with a damp cloth, lovingly tapping her little nose: “This little girl is always running wild outside. She’s becoming a little wildcat. How can she be well-behaved?”

The little girl clung to her mother’s arm, her voice sweet and soft: “I just wanted to eat Grandma’s locust flower rice.”

“Now you’ve turned from a wildcat into a little glutton.” Zhao Xiuying laughed.

The little girl blushed, embarrassed by the comment, sticking out her tongue.

Lin Yuehong laughed heartily at the scene.

Seeing her precious granddaughter’s embarrassment, Chen Juhua quickly came to the rescue: “Why are you calling Wanyue a little glutton? She just wanted to eat the locust flower rice I made. How could you bully her like that? Get back to work!”

“Mother, how could I be the wicked stepmother?” Zhao Xiuying, torn between laughing and crying, nudged Lin Yuehong with a grin and got back to work.

The family’s warmth filled the kitchen, but Liu Hongmei, sitting by the fire, felt utterly left out.

**”Hmph, all this fuss over a silly girl. So what if she marries well someday? It’s not like the rest of us will benefit from it.”**

In Liu Hongmei’s eyes, the grandmother’s love for her granddaughter was too much. Why treat her like a treasure? After all, a girl would eventually belong to another family after marriage.

Besides, the Song family had five grandsons and one granddaughter. Except for the three older boys who were in school, the twins from the second son’s family had already dropped out.

It wasn’t that the Song family didn’t want the twins to continue their education; they simply didn’t want to.

But her son, Wenhao, was different—he was smart and couldn’t end up like those two!

Remembering this, Liu Hongmei couldn’t help but snipe: “Second sister-in-law, Wenxuan and Wenbo have been out of school for over a year. They’re getting older; they can’t just do farm work forever. What kind of future is that? They’ll just be farmers.”

Liu Hongmei’s words were dripping with sarcasm, making the twins, Song Wenzhe and Song Wenbo, who were weaving baskets with their grandfather, lower their heads in silence.

Song Grandpa, feeling bad for his grandsons, frowned deeply. He was a kind man and couldn’t bring himself to argue with his daughter-in-law, so he just took a few puffs from his pipe.

The mood in the kitchen shifted and just as the grandmother was about to reprimand Liu Hongmei, Lin Yuehong, the twins’ mother, couldn’t hold back any longer.

She splashed the dirty water from her bowl onto Liu Hongmei, who screamed: “What are you doing?!”

“What am I doing? You foul-mouthed hag! You can’t keep your filthy mouth shut, can you?!” Lin Yuehong, her temper flaring, pounced on Liu Hongmei and slapped her twice, reducing her to tears.

“Oh my mother, that hurts!”

Now, as Liu Hongmei tended to her bruised face in front of the mirror, the Song family was happily gathered around the table, enjoying their white buns and savory potato stew.

To reward the family, Chen Juhua had put extra meat in the stew, and the tender potatoes were melting in their mouths.

Everyone ate heartily, savoring the meal, while Liu Hongmei, hiding in her room, heard her stomach growl. She didn’t dare go to the dining room, knowing that if she did, Lin Yuehong would hit her again.

She could only sit by the window, smelling the delicious aroma wafting in from the courtyard, drooling.

She wanted to eat meat, but fear kept her away. 

—

At two in the morning, Dahe Mountain was quiet under the bright moon, the stars twinkling in the night sky. Three shadows appeared at the village entrance, with Song Xiangdong and his brothers quietly guiding a small donkey cart laden with grain.

Song Xiangdong, wearing a straw hat, stood at the entrance for a while, making sure no one was around before signaling to his brothers. Song Xiangguo and Song Xiangdang each carried a sack of grain and silently entered the village.

The Song family was sound asleep when Song Wanyue suddenly woke up from a dream. She dreamt that her father and uncles had returned.

A minute later, the entire Song family was quietly awake.

“Wanyue, did you really dream that your father and uncles came home?” Grandma Chen Juhua gently asked her sleepy granddaughter.

“Mm-hmm, Grandma. Great-grandma said so in my dream.” The little girl nodded earnestly.

“Then it must be true. The ancestors wouldn’t lie.” Grandma Chen and Grandpa Song nodded in agreement.

But Liu Hongmei was confused. “What’s going on? Why aren’t we allowed to eat or sleep because of a silly dream?”

Before she could protest, the door creaked open, and Song Xiangdang, dirty and tired, appeared with a sack of grain.

“Hey, everyone’s here!” He grinned, showing his big white teeth.

Liu Hongmei: **”!!!”**

“Oh my, Wanyue was right! She really is a little goddess!”

As Liu Hongmei stood there, dumbfounded, Song Xiangdang walked in, laughing.

“Mom, I’m home.”

“You think I can’t see that?”** Grandma Chen sprayed spit all over him. **”Where are your brothers? Where did those blockheads go?”

Song Xiangdang, still smiling, replied, “Mom, don’t worry. Big Brother is guarding the cart outside the village, and Second Brother went back for more grain.”

“That’s fine. Now, stop standing around like fools. Go fetch the grain, and be quiet about it. We don’t want anyone hearing. You two,” she pointed to her daughters-in-law, “come with me to prepare the storage room.”

As the grandmother gave orders, Liu Hongmei timidly asked, “Mom, what should I do?” She hadn’t been called upon earlier.

Grandma Chen shot her a sharp look: “You troublemaker, what are you standing there for? Go outside and help carry the grain!”

Liu Hongmei felt wronged. Why did her sisters-in-law get to stay indoors while she had to haul grain? Reluctantly, she went outside to help.

Song Xiangdong and his brothers had traveled far this time, even crossing into the neighboring province to buy grain. The prices in their area had skyrocketed and the 300 yuan their mother gave them would only buy around 500 jin(approximately 0.5 kilograms) of coarse grain locally and that wasn’t even good quality.

So they bit the bullet and went to the neighboring province, known for its abundant grain harvests. They bought top-quality grains like sorghum, sweet potatoes and soybeans, all of them plump and fresh.

Thanks to Song Xiangdong’s careful planning, they had borrowed a small donkey cart from a friend in the county and made the long journey back to Dahe Mountain, bringing 2,000 jin of grain safely home.

—