Chapter 28 – Visiting Uncle’s House (Part 1)

The two of them went up the mountain, but when they came down, it became a group of three.

Mu Mian took Shi Xiaolian home to get some books. Xu Lele wasn’t interested in the books, so she turned a corner and went back to her own house.

Exchanging one old book for two new ones, even though it was just for borrowing, Shi Xiaolian still sincerely said, “Thank you.”

Mu Mian squinted and smiled, leaning in close to Shi Xiaolian. Even though they were in her own house, she lowered her voice like a thief. “Do you really want to thank me? Then do you know where I can find deer antlers or lingzhi mushrooms?”

Since ginseng was no longer an option, she was willing to settle for something else. She wasn’t picky—she’d take anything. The more, the better. Blessings upon blessings… wait, she ran out of words.

Shi Xiaolian: “……”

Shi Xiaolian let out a chuckle and looked at Mu Mian with a meaningful gaze. “Do I look like a lingzhi mushroom to you?”

Mu Mian: “……”

For a moment, Mu Mian seriously wondered if Shi Xiaolian had lived to the same age as her mother before being reborn.

Just now, for that brief instant, she really thought she saw her mom’s shadow in her.

But it wasn’t something she could ask about so casually, and they weren’t close enough to talk about past lives yet.

Mu Mian chattered on, “You’re still so young. Why are you talking like those old ladies? If there aren’t deer antlers or lingzhi mushroom, other things will do. Even a fly is still meat, right? Let’s work together—fifty-fifty split!”

She was mostly joking and didn’t take it seriously.

She knew good things weren’t easy to come by, and even finding one before was already a stroke of incredible luck.

But just as she finished speaking, she noticed that Shi Xiaolian didn’t immediately refuse. Instead, she looked deep in thought.

Mu Mian’s eyes lit up instantly. What does this mean??

Is there something?!

Excited, Mu Mian leaned in closer. “There really is something? What is it? What is it?”

Shi Xiaolian, almost stumbling from being squeezed, “……”

She steadied herself by grabbing the nearby table. “It’s not the right time yet. I’ll tell you later.”

Mu Mian had endless questions. “What do you mean by ‘not the right time’? Has it not matured yet? Is it medicine?”

Shi Xiaolian: “No.”

Mu Mian widened her eyes. “Then what is it?”

Shi Xiaolian: “You’ll know when the time comes.”

Mu Mian clicked her tongue. “Stopping halfway—do you know that’s really unethical?”

Shi Xiaolian was merciless. “I don’t think so.”

She really hadn’t decided yet. It was actually kind of risky, so she needed to think it over more.

In the end, Mu Mian didn’t manage to get an answer. Shi Xiaolian took the books and left.

But Mu Mian didn’t dwell on it too long.

After all, thinking about it wouldn’t help. If someone didn’t want to say, she couldn’t just pester them about it every day.

—

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was mid-August. The manuscript she submitted still had no response.

With nothing else to do, Mu Mian started messing around with dried goods again.

This was the season for picking hazelnuts in the mountains.

Mu Mian had an older brother living in the south, and dried goods were always in demand. So, she went up the mountain every day to gather as much as she could. Sometimes, she even ventured quite far, as the closer spots had already been picked clean.

One day, she and Xu Lele went a bit farther than usual and had a great harvest, filling a small basket to the brim. By the time they headed back, the sun was already setting.

Xu Lele, being small and not very strong, struggled with the weight of the basket, so Mu Mian helped support it from behind.

After walking a while, Xu Lele suddenly perked up her ears. “I think I hear someone calling.”

Mu Mian stopped and listened carefully. “Sounds like it… and it’s kind of familiar.”

The voice was faint and broken up, so she couldn’t catch it clearly—just a vague feeling.

Xu Lele grabbed her arm. “Let’s go check it out!”

Her curiosity was off the charts—like a cat in a past life.

They walked toward the direction of the voice. After a short distance, Mu Mian pulled Xu Lele to quicken their pace.

This time, she heard it clearly. It was Nie Sihui’s voice.

Did she fall? What happened?

On the other side, Nie Sihui really had fallen, and she was completely stuck.

Her foot wasn’t injured, but her leg was trapped.

She had no idea where she was. She wasn’t familiar with these mountains, and today, she had wandered a little farther than usual. When she turned around, she couldn’t find her way back.

Feeling hopeless, she watched as the sun sank lower and lower.

She had never spent a night in the mountains before, but she didn’t need to experience it to know—it would definitely be dangerous.

As she thought about it, her eyes turned a little red.

Just then, she suddenly heard two young voices.

“Sister Sihui!”

“What happened? Did you fall?”

Nie Sihui lifted her head in surprise. “Xiao Mian, Lele!”

Mu Mian put down her basket and ran forward.

That’s when she saw that not only had Nie Sihui fallen, but she was also pinned under a bundle of firewood.

Judging by the rope marks on her shoulder, the weight had probably made it tighten as she struggled.

And since she had fallen on a steep slope, with no foothold to push against, she couldn’t get herself free.

Mu Mian held a small sickle in one hand and grabbed a nearby sapling with the other as she carefully moved down the slope. “Sister Sihui, why did you go so far just to collect firewood?”

Normally, they only gathered firewood at the foot of the mountain. If they needed sturdier logs for heating in winter, the men of each household would go farther to cut them.

Nie Sihui said, “I got lost. By the time I realized it, I had wandered even farther away.”

Xu Lele leaned in as well. “No wonder. You educated youths always get lost in the mountains.”

Their math teacher, Teacher Qian, had experienced this before. Back then, it was Xu Lele’s father who led a search party to find him in the middle of the night. However, Teacher Qian hadn’t gotten lost while gathering firewood—he had been chasing a wild chicken. In the end, he didn’t catch the chicken but managed to lose himself instead.

By this time, Mu Mian had already climbed down next to Nie Sihui. She realized that the situation was slightly different from what she had imagined. Not only did Nie Sihui have no leverage to support herself, but her leg was also stuck.

Mu Mian glanced around and asked, “Are you hurt anywhere?”

Nie Sihui shook her head, her voice filled with gratitude. “No, luckily, I ran into you two. I’ve been shouting for ages, but no one came. If it had gotten dark…”

She didn’t dare to continue that thought.

Mu Mian reassured her, “Even at night, it wouldn’t be too bad. There aren’t any bears or wild boars in the middle of the mountain, and we don’t have many venomous snakes around here. At most, there are just some bugs…”

Before she could finish, Mu Mian suddenly remembered something—Nie Sihui was absolutely terrified of bugs.

She had seen Nie Sihui recoil just from looking at the ones in her jar. If one actually crawled onto her, she would probably jump three feet high.

Sure enough, Nie Sihui shuddered at the mere thought, her face filled with horror.

Mu Mian stuck out her tongue. That was a direct hit to the heart.

If she were to fall into some hollowed-out place with a ten-meter drop beneath her feet, she would probably be trembling just as much.

Without saying another word, Mu Mian picked up her small sickle and started cutting the rope on Nie Sihui’s shoulder. Once she cut one side, she grabbed the bundle of firewood and pulled it aside.

Nie Sihui snapped out of her daze. “Isn’t it heavy? If you can’t move it, then…”

Before she could finish speaking, she turned her head and saw the young girl effortlessly lifting the bundle—easily weighing dozens of kilograms—to the side.

When she had been carrying it, she had to prop it up on a large rock before managing to hoist it onto her back.

Xu Lele giggled. “Don’t worry, Sister Sihui. My Sister Mianmian is super strong!”

By now, Nie Sihui had seen it for herself. Mu Mian wasn’t just strong—she was incredibly strong. The large rock that had been trapping her leg was also lifted away with ease.

Mu Mian even helped drag the firewood up the slope. After all, since Nie Sihui had already gathered it, it would be a shame to leave it behind.

Nie Sihui’s mouth fell slightly open. “Is everyone in your family this strong?”

She had noticed before that Aunt Shuangcui was particularly capable. Even in the scorching heat, she wielded a hoe with such power that she outworked many of the men.

She had also heard some stories about Mu Mian, but truly, hearing was nothing compared to seeing it firsthand.

As the three of them walked and chatted, Mu Mian nodded. “My mom is stronger than most of the other aunties. My dad too—if he wasn’t strong, he wouldn’t be able to wrestle down those pigs. But my brother is the strongest. He’s even stronger than my dad!”

Nie Sihui had heard a little about Mu Zhuo before—mostly from the aunties chatting while working in the fields.

They said he was smart, hardworking, and doted on his little sister.

Whenever they talked about him, the admiration in their voices was almost overflowing, as if they all wished he were their own son. That alone was enough to prove what an outstanding young man he was.

Curious, Nie Sihui asked, “How do you compare to your brother?”

Mu Mian was momentarily stumped. “I’ve never competed with him.”

Xu Lele chimed in enthusiastically, “Sister Mianmian is definitely the strongest!”

Mu Mian made a conservative guess. “It’s hard to say right now. I’m still young. But in the future, I’ll definitely be the strongest! Maybe when my brother comes back, we can have a contest.”

Thinking of her big brother, Mu Mian pouted. “He used to pick me up and bounce me around all the time. Next time, maybe I can pick him up and bounce him instead.”

Xu Lele must have imagined the hilarious scene because she suddenly burst into laughter, making a sound like a duck quacking—”Gah, gah, gah”—for quite a while.

Nie Sihui was also amused, though her laughter carried a hint of envy.

She never had much of a bond with her siblings. She wasn’t close to her two older ones, nor to the two younger ones.

As they continued chatting, they soon arrived at the foot of the brigade’s mountain.

After parting ways with Nie Sihui, Mu Mian and Xu Lele headed home. They hadn’t even reached the door when they ran into Liu Shuangcui and Liu Guizhi.

Liu Guizhi ran over, her voice loud as usual. While taking the basket off her daughter’s back, she asked, “Where did you go? Coming back so late scared me. I almost thought there were kidnappers in the mountains again.”

Liu Shuangcui also took Mu Mian’s basket. “Your Aunt Guizhi and I were just about to go look for you two in the mountains.”

Normally, if the kids weren’t home by dusk, they wouldn’t worry too much. It usually just meant they were playing at someone’s house and would come back on their own.

But ever since that incident last time, they couldn’t help but be on edge.

Mu Mian clung to her mother’s arm. “We ran into Sister Sihui on the way, so we got delayed. We know our way around—we wouldn’t get lost.”

Xu Lele eagerly added details about how Nie Sihui had fallen.

At the fork in the road, they all parted ways and went home.

Mu Mian walked ahead of her mother and, upon entering the house, immediately noticed two large trays of hazelnuts drying on bamboo sieves.

She turned to her grandmother in surprise. “Where did you get these? There are so many!”

Zhao Meihua replied, “Your mother picked them. Where have you been?”

Mu Mian repeated her earlier explanation while her basket was emptied.

She squatted down, sifting through the pile to separate them.

Liu Shuangcui chuckled. “The wild hazelnuts are growing well this year.”

Mu Mian was pleased with the harvest too and casually asked, “Should we take some to my uncle’s house in a few days?”

Liu Shuangcui shook her head. “No need. Their mountain has plenty. Your cousin loves running around up there every day. He’ll definitely take Nidan along with him, so they won’t be lacking any.”

Nidan was Mu Mian’s eldest cousin’s little son.

Mu Mian chuckled, “Hehe, then we’ll just eat it ourselves and send more to Big Brother later!”