Chapter 58

Bai Ziqian couldn’t bear another moment there.

The Fan family had ridiculed him countless times over a meager amount of food, not to mention how awful the food actually was!

Even the lowest servants in his family ate better than this.

Accommodations were even worse.

At Aunt Shuiqing’s place, though small, everyone treated him equally, living alongside Uncle Fan and others.

When he couldn’t stretch his legs, neither could they.

But here, Uncle Fan and the others were “masters,” and he was just a servant. How could a servant live together with masters?

It would disturb their sleep if he stayed.

And Uncle Fan had no spare rooms or beds for him to sleep in, so the kitchen hearth became his bed at night.

Wearing the tattered clothes given by Third Uncle Fan, Bai Ziqian couldn’t help but feel that happiness was indeed relative.

When he was at Aunt Shuiqing’s, he compared everything to his own home and felt that nothing was good there. Now that he was with the Fan family, he realized how wonderful Aunt Shuiqing’s place actually was.

But he couldn’t go back.

He feared that returning too early would break Aunt Shuiqing’s family’s heart. Now that he knew there was rice to eat, and meat and eggs were no different for him and Yan Qiuxing when they were by the river and lakes with the five others!

Yet he foolishly ran away and suffered hardships outside, and now to return shamefaced… just thinking about it made him restless!

He wanted to return, but he had to return with something to offer…

“Heizi, get moving! It’s already bright out, why are you still lazing around?” Fan Dazhu’s impatient shout came from outside the courtyard.

Bai Ziqian realized they were calling for him, so he walked out from the kitchen and looked at the dimly lit sky, asking in confusion, “We haven’t had breakfast yet, are we working without breakfast?”

At home, not to mention at Aunt Shuiqing’s, they only worked after having a full breakfast.

Fan Dazhu rolled his eyes to the sky and sneered, “What do you know! This isn’t harvest time, who eats three meals a day? Having two meals is already good enough.”

Second Uncle Fan urged from the front, “Let’s go, let’s go. Don’t think about slacking off. Today, I’m supervising your work! If you dare to slack off, I’ll use a rod on you!”

Bai Ziqian looked at the two in front of him and truly understood what it meant for petty people to gain power, and he deeply realized how disgusting it was.

His only solace was that before leaving, he had given the jade pendant he always wore to Aunt Shuiqing, otherwise he would have been stripped clean by the two in front of him.

They didn’t distinguish between “yours” and “mine.” In this family’s eyes, everything belonged to them!

Walking on the uneven dirt road, they encountered many villagers carrying bamboo baskets and bamboo baskets, young and old alike.

“How strange, why are so many people from the village so diligent today? Is everyone going out to pick mushrooms?” Sun Jinhua led the way, muttering in confusion.

“Not just everyone, judging by the number of people, it seems like the whole village is out!” Fan Sanzhu muttered.

Second Uncle Fan dismissed it, “So what? It’s because they weren’t diligent before. During the summer, there were more mushrooms than now. Besides, it’s easier to dry them when the sun is strong. Isn’t Aunt Er taking Big Ya and Second Ya out to pick and dry mushrooms? Enough to last through the winter.”

Thinking about the dried mushrooms stored at home, Sun Jinhua straightened her back and said proudly, “Big Ya and Second Ya work quickly, although they are a bit slow-witted. Now it’s all benefiting us. They’re out picking mushrooms day and night, but they can’t even dry a bag!

Moreover, our family not only has dried mushrooms, but also dried green beans, eggplant strips, dried green beans, dried vegetables… enough for winter. Huh, they’re just destined for hardship, no match for us.”

Bai Ziqian silently thought, Yan Qiuxing is already eating meat and eggs, and you’re still proud of the dried vegetables dried before them.

Now he understood why Uncle Fan’s family, despite being hardworking, still lived so poorly.

It’s because Uncle Fan’s family is sucking blood from them!

No matter how hardworking a family is, it can’t stand seven or eight people sucking blood from them, let alone a family that is incapable of anything.

Sun Jinhua said that there were enough vegetables to last the winter, but her feet still followed the footsteps of the village women to pick mushrooms.

There’s no way. The taste of fresh mushrooms, hey, it’s really fresh and delicious.

She shouted to the familiar woman passing by, “Auntie Li, where are you picking mushrooms? Take me with you.

There are many dried mushrooms in my family, and I don’t have to come out to pick mushrooms with you, but I can’t stop thinking about getting out and moving.”

Aunt Li smirked, with only two words on her face.

It’s a joke, she said, like lazy people. Before the rainy season, which family didn’t have a few bags of dried mushrooms?

Liu Tiandan hurried up and pulled her mother, “Mother, hurry up, or you’ll pick fewer mushrooms.”

“Yes, yes, mother, hurry up,” the lady said quickly.

Sun Jinhua was ignored, her face ugly.

If the old village chief hadn’t said they couldn’t go to the second elder’s hill to pick, would she have asked them?

A small man’s face can’t be seen, and his face doesn’t want a face!

Li Dazhu said to her daughter as they walked away, “You can’t let them know that mushrooms can also be exchanged for food, or they might be like Zhang Tuzi last time and see that we’re not good.”

This time, Fan Erxia was greeted by family, and the few houses that had been arguing about refunds were not within the range of the notice.

Sun Jinhua was not in the scope of cooperation from beginning to end, so of course she couldn’t let her know, or she might make trouble again.

“By the way, your uncle Fan didn’t say how much rice a pound of mushrooms could be exchanged for yesterday. I heard it could be sold for over ten cents in the city, but it could be sold.”

Here is the translation of the text into English:

Mushrooms are everywhere. Why don’t those people in the city come out and pick them themselves? Why spend over ten cents to buy a pound of mushrooms? With that money, it would be so much better to buy pork!

Li Tiantian also worried, “Forget about it. Aunt Shuiqing is an honest person. A pound of mushrooms should be exchanged for about one and a half pounds of rice, right?”

Aunt Li joked with a smile, “If I could exchange a pound and a half of rice for a pound of mushrooms, I would pick mushrooms all night!”

Anyway, she loves picking mushrooms.

Li Tiantian didn’t take her mother’s words seriously. Even if her mother could pick mushrooms all night, she still needed to see them.

But the winter vegetables were well-prepared at home, and there were still many vegetables in the garden. It was enough for a large family to eat. Whether mushrooms were eaten as vegetables or not was not very important. Now that they could exchange them for food, it was the best thing.

Aunt Li didn’t care what her daughter was thinking. She calculated in her heart that if a pound of mushrooms could be exchanged for a pound and a half of rice, there would be food reserves in the family next year.

Rural families are not afraid of eating stored food. Eating stored food means more happiness and peace of mind because it means there is surplus food left in the family.

They just fear that every year when the new grain is harvested, they will have to repay grain to every household, and immediately half of the grain will be lost…

Just after lunch, baskets and bamboo baskets full of fresh chicken mushrooms and bamboo mushrooms, still carrying fresh moisture, were all delivered to the open space in front of Shuiqing’s house, waiting to be weighed.

The women who brought them guarded their baskets and talked to each other, “I wonder how many pounds of rice our mushrooms can exchange for?”

“Mushrooms are easy to pick, and there’s no need to worry about rice husks. I’m afraid we won’t have as much rice husks.”