Chapter 8 – Eating Tree Bark

Splash! With a quick motion, Chu Xiaoqi pulled the wooden skewer out of the water—skewered on it was a large fish weighing five or six pounds.

Standing on the riverbank, the Ji siblings were completely dumbfounded, frozen in place and not knowing what to do.

Chu Xiaoqi hoisted the wooden skewer onto her shoulder and walked toward the shore. “Why are you all just standing there like fools?” She tossed the skewer, fish and all, to Ji Jingze, then said with a proud smirk, “Well? Not bad, right? Pretty good skills, huh?”

Ji Jingze held the fish, nodding like a puppet in a daze, while Ji Jingxuan was so shocked by her swift and precise fishing technique that he couldn’t speak for a long time.

“Take the fish off and wrap it in something. When we get back to the village, don’t let anyone see it.” Chu Xiaoqi sat down to put her socks and shoes back on.

Ji Jingze nodded repeatedly. At this point, he genuinely admired Chu Xiaoqi. He had already decided that when they got home, he would definitely ask her for tips on how to spear fish.

On the way back, Chu Xiaoqi also picked off all the mushrooms and fungi growing on the dead wood and wrapped them in her outer garment.

The basket full of chestnuts and rabbits weighed close to 200 pounds. Though Ji Jingxuan was a scholar, he was the one who carried everything the entire way back. He didn’t let his younger siblings take turns or help carry it.

By the time they came down from Yama Mountain, it was already around three or four in the afternoon.

Some villagers saw them returning with a huge basket full of grass and tree bark. They gathered in small groups and whispered behind their backs.

“Ah, the second Ji family is really pitiful. They’re so poor they’re eating tree bark now.”

“Ji Laoda really is heartless. He didn’t give Ji Lao’er a single acre of land when they split the family. That’s just cruel!”

“Seriously, how can Ji Laoda be such a coward?”

“Well, he didn’t marry until he was twenty-five or twenty-six, right? Probably terrified his wife would run off, so now he just does whatever she says.”

The villagers weren’t exactly quiet, so Chu Xiaoqi and the Ji siblings heard it all. But they all acted like they didn’t hear a thing and just kept walking home.

Everyone was on the verge of fainting from hunger—who had the energy to gossip?

As they stepped through the courtyard gate, Ji Mother came out crying and fussing over the children, checking if any of them were hurt.

Chu Xiaoqi felt awkward with all the emotional fuss. She helped Ji Jingxuan unload the basket and took the fish from Ji Jingze, carrying it into the kitchen.

“Xiaolan, is your sister-in-law home?”

Ji Mother was circling around the kids at the door when a clear, crisp voice called out from the gate.

“Xiaoqing? What are you doing here?” Ji Jinglan skipped over to the gate.

Zhou Qingqing waved a small cloth pouch in front of Ji Jinglan. “I need to talk to Sister-in-law Xiaoqi for a minute.”

Ji Jinglan didn’t think much of it and shouted toward the courtyard, “Sister-in-law! Xiaoqing is looking for you!”

Chu Xiaoqi had just set the fish down when she came out of the kitchen.

She walked to the gate without saying a word, eyeing the girl in front of her, who was about the same age as Ji Jinglan.

Zhou Qingqing shoved the pouch into Chu Xiaoqi’s hands. “Here, my dad sent this. He said to remind you—you owe one and a half dou.”

Chu Xiaoqi peeked into the pouch and immediately recognized who the girl was.

The youngest daughter of the village chief, Zhou Qingqing.

In the book, it briefly mentioned this girl. She got bitten by a venomous snake in Chu Xiaoqi’s family garden and died on the spot.

At the time, the original Chu Xiaoqi had just been passing by their yard and was wrongly accused of murder. It wasn’t until a widow in the village noticed the snakebite marks on Zhou Qingqing’s ankle that Chu Xiaoqi’s name was cleared.

“The village chief is surprisingly generous today,” Chu Xiaoqi said, weighing the bag of grain with a teasing tone.

Zhou Qingqing shrugged. “Who knows what kind of spell my dad fell under. He actually believed your nonsense—thinking you’d return a dou and a half for just one.

If you ask me, it’d already be a miracle if you paid back a full dou. Who’s expecting an extra half?”

Chu Xiaoqi threw her arm around Zhou Qingqing’s shoulders and said cheerfully, “Relax. Sis is very trustworthy—never cheats the old or the young. Whatever I promised, I’ll return exactly that.”

“Qingqing, does your family have any clear oil?”

Zhou Qingqing immediately jumped away like a startled rabbit, distancing herself from Chu Xiaoqi with a wary expression.

“What are you up to now? You just got your hands on our grain, and now you’re eyeing our oil too?”

Chu Xiaoqi clicked her tongue and shamelessly scooted closer to Zhou Qingqing. “I’m not asking for it for free—I’ll trade you something for it.”

Zhou Qingqing blinked her big eyes and looked at Chu Xiaoqi with a curious pout. “What do you have that’s worth trading?”

“Wait here…”

Chu Xiaoqi turned and went into the kitchen.

Watching her leave, Zhou Qingqing tugged Ji Jinglan over and whispered mysteriously,
“Xiaolan, don’t you think your sister-in-law is like a totally different person? She used to look down on everyone and never treated anyone nicely.”

Ji Jinglan also glanced toward Chu Xiaoqi’s retreating figure and pursed her lips. “I don’t know either. She fell down this morning, and after waking up, she just… changed.”

Zhou Qingqing crossed her arms, looking toward the kitchen, and pouted. “Well, I actually like this new Sister-in-law Xiaoqi better. She’s still shameless, but way more easy-going now.”

Ji Jinglan nodded. “I like her better this way too.”

Standing nearby, Ji Jingxuan had heard their entire conversation.

So, it wasn’t just him—others also thought Chu Xiaoqi was acting like a completely different person. He needed to probe a bit more.

After a series of clattering sounds from the kitchen, Chu Xiaoqi came out with a basket and walked to the gate, handing it to Zhou Qingqing. “Here, I’ll trade this for one or two liang of clear oil.”

Zhou Qingqing lifted the cloth covering the basket, peeked inside, and gasped. “Where did you get this fish?”

“Caught it upstream. Where else—think it just appeared out of thin air?” Chu Xiaoqi lied without blinking an eye.

Zhou Qingqing narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “You caught a fish that big upstream? I thought all the fish in our village’s river were extinct by now!”

“You talk too much. Are you trading or not? If not, give it back…” As she spoke, Chu Xiaoqi reached out to take the basket.

Zhou Qingqing hugged the basket and dodged. “I’ll trade, I’ll trade! Who said I wouldn’t? Wait here, I’ll go get it.”

Ji Jingze pouted unhappily. “That fish isn’t even enough for our whole family…”

Chu Xiaoqi smacked the back of his head. “Don’t forget we still have rabbits. Eat them with rice. How much do you think you can eat?

Right now, the only one in the whole Ji village willing to lend us food is the village chief. Don’t you think we should return the favor?

Enough whining—go down to the river and bring back some fine sand. I’ll use it to roast chestnuts in the morning.”

Still pouting, Ji Jingze reluctantly carried the basket and left.

Ji Jingxuan, listening to all this, grew even more suspicious of Chu Xiaoqi.

The old Chu Xiaoqi would’ve hoarded everything for herself. She was extremely stingy, and the concept of “favor” didn’t even exist in her vocabulary.

Had she recovered her memories but was hiding it?

But their family was dirt poor—there wasn’t anything here worth staying for.

So why would she pretend?

Not long after, Zhou Qingqing ran back into the yard and handed the basket to Chu Xiaoqi, who was sorting herbs.

“Here, my dad gave you two liang. He told me to remind you—don’t forget to return the grain.”

Chu Xiaoqi took out the bamboo tube from the basket and gave it a shake. With a grin, she said, “Don’t worry—I won’t forget.”

After Zhou Qingqing left, Ji Jingxuan dragged a small stool over and sat beside Chu Xiaoqi. Watching her sort through a pile of unknown grasses, he cautiously asked:

“What are you doing with all these herbs?”

Chu Xiaoqi didn’t even look up. “Selling them to the clinic.”

“These are all medicinal herbs?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Ji Jingxuan thought for a moment and cautiously asked, “You just woke up and suddenly knew how to identify herbs too?”

Chu Xiaoqi nodded frankly, showing no intention to hide it.

“You really don’t remember anything about your identity?”

Chu Xiaoqi didn’t stop what she was doing, simply gave another silent nod.

Ji Jingxuan watched her closely. She didn’t seem like she was lying, and he realized he probably wouldn’t get more out of her for now, so he let it go.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

Chu Xiaoqi paused to think, then pointed to the rabbits lying on the ground. “Go find some wooden slats and build a cage for the rabbits. Pick out the fattest one—we’re having spicy rabbit for dinner.”

“Big Sis-in-law, what about me? What can I do?” Ji Jinglan hopped over enthusiastically.

Chu Xiaoqi pointed to the chestnuts in the basket. “Find a well-ventilated spot to dry out the chestnuts.
Once you’re done, start cooking rice—I’ll stir-fry the rabbit.”

“Got it!” Ji Jinglan happily ran off to work.

Ji Jingxuan returned with some wooden slats. Just as he entered the yard, Ji Father came over and started helping him nail together a rabbit cage.

“Xuan’er, don’t you think Xiaoqi seems like a different person?
She’s become smart and capable.
Do you think she’s started remembering things?”

As Ji Father arranged the wooden slats, he occasionally glanced over at Chu Xiaoqi, who was still sorting herbs.

Ji Jingxuan hesitated, then looked over at Chu Xiaoqi as well. “I asked her—she said she hasn’t remembered anything about her identity.
My guess is that after the fall this morning, she might have recovered some of her memory—just not who she really is yet.”

That seemed like the most reasonable explanation. Otherwise, how would she suddenly know so many things?

Ji Father didn’t doubt it. He nodded and added, “I remember the doctor who treated Xiaoqi said her amnesia was temporary, and her memory would gradually return.
Looks like it’s already starting to come back.”

Ji Jingxuan didn’t say anything, but silently agreed. Maybe her memory really was coming back.

Ji Mother didn’t dare approach Chu Xiaoqi, so she went to help Ji Jinglan instead, chatting and asking questions.

Ji Father was experienced at butchering rabbits—he could skin the entire pelt cleanly. He explained that he had once worked for a wealthy family in Jingzhou and learned from watching them process rabbits.

By evening, Ji Jingze returned panting, carrying a half-full basket of river sand. Before he even stepped into the yard, he caught the mouth-watering aroma of food and started drooling.

He rushed into the courtyard with quick steps.

“Mom, what are you cooking? It smells amazing!”

He dropped the basket and dashed into the kitchen.

“Big Sis-in-law?”

When he saw Chu Xiaoqi standing at the stove with a spatula, his jaw nearly hit the floor.

“You can cook?!”

Chu Xiaoqi rolled her eyes at him. “Go wash your hands and set the table.”

“But can your cooking even be eaten? Don’t waste good ingredients!”

“Eat it or don’t—up to you,” Chu Xiaoqi replied bluntly. Under such limited conditions, she thought she’d done quite well. She wasn’t about to put up with his complaining.

Ji Jingze pouted and grudgingly went outside to wash his hands and fetch the bowls and chopsticks.

“Can she even cook? Why aren’t any of you stopping her?” Ji Jingze grumbled as he set the table in the main room.

“She’s the one who got the food. If she wants to cook it, she can. If it tastes good, eat more. If it doesn’t, eat less. Why are you whining so much?” Ji Father scolded from his little stool.

Ji Jingze was still sulking but didn’t have a comeback.