Chapter 13: Digging, Digging, Digging at the Foot of the Little Mountain

“Alright… bring the glutinous rice bricks and the money over at 5:30 this afternoon,” Wen Dafu said calmly. “I’ll return the marriage contract to you.”

Initially, they were prepared for the Chen family to back out of the marriage, but what the Chen family said and did today was utterly unscrupulous.

So don’t blame him, Wen Dafu, for being ruthless. If they want to settle this, let’s settle it thoroughly. Our family won’t take the blame.

Chen Fu nodded in agreement, his face strained, making it seem as if the Wen family was deliberately making things difficult for them. He glanced at Chen’s mother behind him, wishing he hadn’t brought her out this morning, otherwise, they wouldn’t have lost such a large sum of money.

Chen Jianbing smiled, visibly relieved. He had been afraid that Wen Dafu wouldn’t agree and would make further unreasonable demands.

Seeing this, Wen Dafu’s face suddenly darkened. “Go on, don’t bother seeing yourselves out,” he said, then abruptly opened the courtyard gate.

Chen’s mother and Chen Hongxia were so embarrassed their faces turned red, but under Chen Jianbing’s warning gaze, they turned and rushed out of the Wen family’s courtyard.

As soon as the Chen family left, Wen Wan clapped her hands together, smiling. “Dad, Mom, you were amazing just now! You completely overturned the Chen family’s plans.”

The cooperation between Wen Dafu and Cui Yulan was seamless, trapping the Chen family step by step.

“Xiaowan, you saw through them. I thought they wouldn’t come to our door so boldly,” Wen Dafu sighed. He had given the Chen family too much credit.

Wen Wan heard the regret and guilt in her father’s words, and her heart ached. She could imagine that in the original story, the Chen family’s attempt to break off the engagement was even more outrageous than today.

Furthermore, the original Wen Wan had feelings for Chen Jianbing, so Wen Dafu and the others wouldn’t have made things too difficult for him. In the end, the Wen family would have silently swallowed the bitter fruit.

“Dafu, stop sighing,” Cui Yulan tugged at Wen Dafu’s sleeve, then directly instructed, “Let’s proceed with the plan.”

When their daughter analyzed the situation yesterday, she had planned to follow tradition: the Chen family would come to apologize, explain the situation, and the marriage contract would be exchanged.

But Chen’s mother’s shameless words today had truly opened her eyes. As their daughter said, if they wanted to make a scene, let’s make a big one. Their conscience was clear, so they weren’t afraid of gossip.

Remembering the person Chen Dongzi mentioned, Wen Dafu turned to Wen Wan. “Daughter, Zhou Haoting is the man who saved you that day. I’ll go find out more about him later.”

“He saved my life. I have to thank him properly,” Wen Wan nodded in agreement. It was a fact that he saved her life.

Looking at the time, Cui Yulan picked up her hoe and urged, “Alright, we need to hurry to the fields. If we’re any later, we won’t be able to make up the work points.”

After seeing off Cui Yulan and the others, Wen Wan went to the kitchen. “Sister-in-law, I’ll wash the dishes. You rest for a while.”

“Ah…” Tian Xiaochao was surprised. Seeing Wen Wan’s determined and swift movements, she closed her mouth, moved a couple of steps, and sat down, leaning against the table.

She had been standing by, highly alert, ready to help at any moment. Now, her legs were a little sore.

Wen Wan went into the kitchen, rolled up her sleeves, and quickly and efficiently washed the dishes and chopsticks, placing them on the drying rack. She cleaned the stove and covered the pot.

After finishing the kitchen work, Wen Wan saw Tian Xiaochao sewing clothes under the eaves. She ran over excitedly. “Sister-in-law, these little clothes are so pretty.”

She hadn’t expected that Tian Xiaochao not only cooked delicious food but also had excellent needlework skills. The collars of the little clothes were embroidered with tiny flowers, making them irresistible.

“Xiaowan, go get some cloth. I’ll teach you how to do it,” Tian Xiaochao looked up and said with a smile, her whole being radiating warmth.

Wen Wan hesitated for a second. “Sister-in-law, I can’t. Teaching me is just wasting your time.” The original Wen Wan had followed Tian Xiaochao for a few days this month and had poked her thumbs until they were sore every day.

Seeing Tian Xiaochao was about to persuade her again, Wen Wan had a flash of inspiration. “Sister-in-law, I’ll go to the foot of the mountain to see if there are any wild vegetables.”

Before she finished speaking, she had already grabbed her basket and ran out of the courtyard, as if someone was chasing her.

After running for a while, Wen Wan met Aunt Qiao, a woman from the village.

“Xiaowan, you’re going in the wrong direction to the fields,” Aunt Qiao kindly pointed to the direction behind Wen Wan.

Wen Wan stopped and said with a smile, “Aunt Qiao, I’m going to the foot of the mountain to look for some wild vegetables to change our diet.”

“Then hurry up. If you go too late, all the good vegetables will be gone,” Aunt Qiao reminded her. Actually, she wanted to say that only the unwanted old weeds would be left.

However, thinking that Wen Wan had just suffered a great ordeal and had finally come out, going to the foot of the mountain to relax was a good thing.

Wen Wan nodded, waved goodbye to Aunt Qiao, and strode forward.

The wild vegetables she had transplanted into her space yesterday afternoon were growing well. If she couldn’t find any good ones, she would get some from her space.

To be honest, the air in the 1970s was really good. The air was fresh and clean.

Before she reached the foot of the mountain, Wen Wan saw from afar a group of children of various ages carrying baskets or bamboo baskets, squatting down and digging vegetables.

“Sister Xiaowan…” A girl with a ponytail, holding a handful of wild vegetables in her right hand, happily waved to Wen Wan.

Wen Wan thought for a moment and recalled the girl’s name from her memory. “Tiantian, what did you dig today?”

The little girl was the second granddaughter of Hu Ye’s family. She was over six years old, and her cousin Wen Mi was beside her.

“We dug purslane and shepherd’s purse today. We’ll use them to make vegetable dumplings,” Wen Tian proudly raised her bamboo basket. She was the first to discover these fresh vegetables today.

Wen Wan smiled and gave a thumbs-up. “Tiantian, you’re amazing.”

“Sister Xiaowan, come and dig. We have a lot here,” Wen Tian directly pulled Wen Wan over and drew a circle in the air. This area belonged to her.

Wen Wan touched her nose uncomfortably. She had originally planned to sneak up from the other side of the mountain.

Following the principle of not wasting anything, Wen Wan squatted down and quickly joined Wen Tian and her sister in digging vegetables.

Time ticked by. Wen Wan stopped only when her legs felt numb.

Looking up at the sky, she sighed helplessly. She still needed a watch; she wasn’t good at telling time by looking at the sky.

“Sister Xiaowan, our baskets are full. Can we use your basket?” Wen Tian rubbed her hands with a giggle.

“Sure, put them in. I’ll take them back for you later,” Wen Wan subconsciously agreed. These children were the flowers of the motherland and should be cherished.

In later generations, six or seven-year-old girls were still playing with Barbie dolls. Parents wouldn’t let their children go into the mountains, and they would even pick up their children from school every day.