Chapter 33: The Snow Stops, Into the Mountains

Wang Baorui’s wife stood up with a smile and said, “What are you talking about? All the kids in your family are so well-behaved. One of them was just talking to me so I wouldn’t be bored, then even brought me a cup of hot tea. I don’t know how you taught them, Aunt Su. Every one of your grandsons is diligent and smart, and your granddaughter’s eyes are so clear and bright. She doesn’t seem like an ordinary baby! How many months old is she?”

Old Madam Su grinned and showed her fingers, “Five months! Doesn’t she look older than that?”

Wang Baorui’s wife was startled. She looked at little Su Huan’s chubby body in shock. “Goodness, at five months she’s bigger than some one-year-olds! How on earth do you raise your children?”

Old Madam Su replied, “We just feed her goat milk. But raw goat milk doesn’t work—it smells gamey and isn’t clean. You have to boil it and let it cool to the right temperature. We met a family on a boat once, they had a little girl too. After playing with my granddaughter for a few days, she also fell in love with goat milk…”

While they were chatting, Li Sumei had already weighed the payment for Wang Baorui’s wife—five hundred taels of silver, in a mix of silver notes, loose silver, and copper coins, all packed into a jar.

Wang Baorui’s wife took the money and stopped chatting, saying she’d come back once the snow stopped. Old Madam Su and Li Sumei sent her off with smiles.

In the Main Room

“Yiya~”

After having her diaper changed, little Su Huan felt much more comfortable and made a few happy sounds while nestled in her eldest brother’s arms. But soon she noticed her saliva was leaking again.

Ah, the troubles of teething.

Thankfully, her second brother came to the rescue and wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth with a clean handkerchief, then tied on her drool bib.

Her third brother thoughtfully handed her a teething stick.

Her fourth brother…

Well, her fourth brother was drooling over her teething stick. It was made of frozen dried radish that Third Aunt had prepared—it looked crisp and tasty.

A mischievous glint flashed in little Su Huan’s eyes. Suddenly, she put on an innocent look and offered the teething stick to Yan Xing. Just as he opened his mouth, waiting for her to feed him, she quickly stuffed the radish stick into her own mouth instead. Watching her fourth brother bite into thin air, she kicked her little legs gleefully and laughed like a tiny devil whose plan had succeeded.

Yan Xing looked confusedly at the teething stick that had returned to his sister’s mouth. He didn’t quite realize he’d been tricked, but soon her laughter infected him, and he clapped along, laughing too.

That’s it—compared to the clever and mischievous Fifth Girl, Fourth Brother Yan Xing was definitely the true sweet, naïve one in the family.

Yan Jia, Yan He, and Yan Qi exchanged glances, all seeing the same amusement and helplessness in each other’s eyes. Yan Jia took out a piece of crisp sugar from his pocket and gave it to Yan Xing. Little Su Huan’s eyes lit up when she saw it and she immediately tossed aside the teething stick, acting cute to ask Fourth Brother for some.

Yan Xing generously broke the candy in half to share with her, but halfway through, Yan Qi snatched it and said with a grin, “Fourth Brother, our little sister is still teething. She can’t eat this. I’ll help her eat it.”

With that, he stuffed it into his mouth. Crunch crunch crunch— then gulp—down it went.

“Yiya!”

Little Su Huan stared at her third brother in shock, clearly unable to believe that the candy meant for her had just been swallowed like that.

Her eyes filled with tears.

Yan He cleared his throat and said, “Third Brother, that’s not very nice. You know that candy is her favorite. Aren’t you afraid she’ll hold a grudge?”

Yan Qi patted little Su Huan’s head and laughed, “She’s still small. By the time she grows up, she won’t even remember this.”

Hearing this, Yan He glanced at their sister, who had picked up her teething stick and was now glaring at Yan Qi with clenched teeth. He said meaningfully, “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“Yiya yiya~”

Little Su Huan immediately echoed Second Brother, signaling that he was absolutely right—she was someone who definitely holds grudges!

While the siblings played, Zhang Xiaolan had started cooking dinner.

For two days straight, the strong wind and heavy snow hadn’t stopped in Qingshui Village. It wasn’t until the third day that the weather cleared up. Even with the bright sun in the sky, it didn’t bring much warmth in the winter.

Fortunately, Liu Yingying, Zhang Xiaolan, and Li Sumei had finished making the Su family’s winter clothes. Everyone was bundled up in thick cotton-padded jackets, keeping them nice and warm.

Early in the morning, Old Madam Su gave Li Sumei fifty taels of silver notes and instructed her to go into town with Second and Third Su to buy grain and locks.

Fourth and Fifth Su took machetes, bows and arrows, carrying poles, and ropes, and headed into the mountains with their uncle Zhang Hongzhuang to chop firewood—and maybe get lucky hunting some game.

When little Su Huan heard they were going into the mountains, she perked right up, dropped her toys, and reached out to Fifth Su for a hug. As soon as he picked her up, she clung to his neck and refused to let go, happily waving her little hands at Old Madam Su and calling out, “Yiya yiya~”

Grandma, I want to go into the mountains!

Old Madam Su understood her meaning and was startled. She immediately objected, “No way! The mountain is much colder than the village. When you’re older, Grandma will let your dad take you. Be a good girl and come down from your dad. Don’t scare Grandma like that!”

“Grandma, we want to go too!”

Yan Jia and Yan He immediately raised their hands to join in when they saw their sister wanted to go.

Yan Qi and Yan Xing quickly followed suit, eager to join the fun.

Fourth Su didn’t mind at all and even laughed, “The more the merrier! Mom, let the boys come with us. I promise to bring them back safe and sound!”

Old Madam Su’s face darkened, and she was about to scold them when Fifth Su, still holding his daughter, suddenly smiled and said, “Mom, let Fifth Girl come with me! Maybe she’ll bring us good luck today and help us catch a deer or a wild boar or something. Don’t worry—we’ll protect her. Not even a hair on her head will be harmed.”

After witnessing firsthand how the protective charm his daughter gave him saved his life, Fifth Su had become firmly convinced that little Su Huan was the Su family’s lucky star.

Though hunting was dangerous, he had no intention of putting his daughter in harm’s way. At most, he’d take her and the boys to collect firewood halfway up the mountain and set traps where no one else was around—he wouldn’t let them go any higher.

Old Madam Su wanted to say no, but when she saw her little granddaughter happily kiss her dad on the cheek and then look at her pleadingly, she couldn’t help but soften. She reluctantly said, “Fine. But you must be back before sunset. Otherwise, I won’t let you take the girl out next time.”

When Grandma agreed, Su Huan cheered and flailed her arms and legs with joy. She leaned out from her dad’s arms and gave Grandma a big kiss on the cheek.

Fourth Su saw this and quickly leaned in. “What about Fourth Uncle? Don’t I get a kiss?”

The four older brothers got jealous and leaned in too, wanting kisses.

“Go! Go put on more layers! The mountain is cold!”

Fifth Su protectively shielded his daughter and playfully pushed them away, sending Yan Jia and Yan He off to get dressed.

Old Madam Su, worried about her granddaughter getting cold, bundled her up tightly and wrapped her in a warm little cape like a soft quilt. Then she found two blue carrying straps, wrapped them around Fifth Su and Su Huan a few times, and secured her snugly to his chest.

And with that, the group headed to the village gate to meet up with Zhang Hongzhuang and go hunting in the mountains.