21

When Du Xun and his family of four arrived at Fangping Town, it was already evening. The place they were staying was the guesthouse where the two paparazzi had stayed a few days ago.

Du Xun’s mother had also come from a small mountain village. Although her daughter-in-law complained a little about the worn-down guesthouse, when she looked around, it reminded her of a familiar place from her memories, and her mood brightened naturally. Although the city was convenient in every way, she felt most at ease living in the mountains.

“The air here is really good. No wonder they raise such good cows.”

Xingxing had slept the whole way in the car, but now that they had arrived, he was full of energy, asking for some ^[1]“Wangwang” is a popular brand in China known for producing a variety of snacks, including the “Wangwang Snow Cookies” (旺旺雪饼). The brand is well-known for its … Continue readingWangwang snow cookies.

“Hey, good grandson, Grandma has some here.”

Du Xun’s mother quickly took out a bunch of snacks from her bag, looking at her grandson with eyes full of love as he munched on the snacks.

“Mom, don’t let him eat so many snacks… be careful, he might get fat.”

If it had been before, she would have never imagined herself saying such a thing. But her son’s appetite had been really good recently.

The cookies they managed to give him were barely enough. Fortunately, later on, Lin You’s live broadcast held a lucky draw, and she got a package from a lucky fan to continue the snack supply.

But the cookies worked way too well!

It had only been half a month, and the little one’s face had puffed up like he had been inflated. Along with the increase in appetite, her son, who usually wasn’t interested in snacks, had suddenly developed a taste for all kinds of them.

He could still eat a bowl of rice after finishing snacks, and before evening, he’d ask for more treats.

What child eats like this?

However, despite eating so much, his health showed no signs of trouble. Spring was usually a season when colds spread, and many kids in the neighborhood had caught something. Last year, the little one would have definitely gotten sick, but this year, nothing happened.

Therefore, when his mother saw him eating snacks, she couldn’t help but worry. She could only warn him to eat less for fear of gaining weight.

“What’s wrong with a little fat? A little chubbiness is good, it means strong immunity!”

The old lady loved chubby children. Seeing her grandson eat and drink well, she wished she could give him anything she had. She didn’t take her daughter-in-law’s words to heart.

Du Xun patted his wife’s arm, reminding her that their son had been quite a worry before, which was why she still carried a little anxiety.

For young children, being able to eat and drink well meant they were healthy.

The family tidied up and went to bed. It was peaceful in the mountains. Once the lights were off, it was pitch dark, with no sounds of insects even.

Du Xun worked hard to support the family, and the pressure was immense. He rarely had a good rest, but tonight, he slept soundly until morning, woken up by the sound of a rooster crowing.

Looking at the clock, it was only a little past five in the morning.

He couldn’t fall back asleep, so he thought of quietly getting up and taking a walk, but just as he was putting on his clothes, he heard his wife wake up as well.

“Can’t deny it, the mountains are quiet. This sleep really helped me recover.”

“Wife, why are you awake?”

“I’m hungry, I just smelled something delicious.”

“…Dad!”

Well, the little one was awake too.

Then he looked at the bed and saw that his dear mother had already gotten up.

The whole family was in great spirits. According to the people at the guesthouse, there was a morning market selling breakfast, and today happened to be the big market that took place every fifteen days, so they decided to head out together for a meal and a stroll.

The old lady hadn’t been to a big market in a long time, and she wanted to buy everything she saw along the way.

“How much for this bed sheet? Ten yuan? Would eight yuan work?”

“I’ll take four of those beef buns!”

“Xingxing, come over and see, do you want to try these fried meatballs?”

As they walked, the family ate meatballs on sticks. Du Xun’s mother was carrying a bag of puffed mung bean snacks, and Du Xun’s wife was holding a mix of small items she had bought from her mother-in-law, and one hand was holding the beef buns. Du Xun was nervously trying to keep his excited son from wobbling around on his head, and gave a frightening warning, “Eat the sesame cake slowly, don’t drop the oil on my head.”

Du Xun’s wife, being from the city, started to relax after a round of shopping: “Why don’t we buy a house here in the mountains?”

Although there were no beauty salons or luxury stores, living here for a month each year could be nice.

The big market, which happened every fifteenth day, attracted many vendors from nearby areas, and there were also quite a few people coming down the mountain to buy goods. The market expanded from the main street to the town square, where stalls selling vegetables, fish, and miscellaneous items were mixed together, often with neighboring stalls selling completely unrelated things.

Lin You’s and Yao Jiu’s vegetable stall was next to one selling lamb.

Behind the market, the lambs were slaughtered, and the meat was immediately cut and sold, attracting many buyers.

Lin You also bought a piece of lamb, a front leg, with blood still on it, wrapped in a plastic bag, to make pilaf for lunch.

For this market, Lin You was selling lettuce and bok choy. She kept some for herself and packed the rest into three baskets.

This batch of lettuce and bok choy was fresh and crisp, but, just like last time, no one was buying.

Yao Jiu sympathized, “What should we do? Should I poke a few wormholes in it with my hands?”

Lin You: …

“Poking with your hands is too obvious. Next time, you should just use a hole punch at home.”

“Meow meow meow!”

Lin You didn’t respond, but the tabby cat at her feet wasn’t happy, meowing loudly.

Wasn’t it better that the vegetables grew without wormholes? Vegetables without wormholes taste better!

Lin You petted the cat’s back, and after a few jumps, it sat on top of the basket.

Not long after the cat climbed up, a familiar three-wheeled vehicle arrived.

“Sister Yao Yun!” Lin You quickly greeted her, as Yao Yun was one of her big customers, and maybe this time she would buy all of her vegetables.

Yao Yun was also happy to see Lin You. After the last time she bought bok choy, she hadn’t seen Lin You at the market and almost thought the delicious bok choy she had made was just a dream.

“I thought you weren’t coming anymore!”

Yao Yun was much more enthusiastic than last time. She bought the lettuce for one yuan per jin and even took the bok choy. All three baskets of vegetables were loaded onto her tricycle without any leftovers.

“Sister Yao Yun, are you sure you can finish all this?”

Yao Yun: “It’s fine, I’ll manage. I’m off now.”

After saying that, as if afraid Lin You would change her mind, she quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Lin You made a few dozen yuan from selling vegetables, which she didn’t mind. She picked up the tabby cat and rubbed its face: “Earning money is great! Xiao Jiu, let’s go eat soup noodles!”

At the morning market, a new stall selling soup rice noodles had opened. They made their own rice milk and rice noodles, soft, sticky, and fragrant. After cooking, they added a spoonful of beef bone broth, topped it with two scoops of meat sauce, and sprinkled it with garlic shoots.

Lin You added a spoonful of chili oil, and the red oil dotted the bowl. The soup was delicious, and she ate it until sweat beaded on her forehead.

The tabby cat pawed at her pant legs, anxious and restless, but Lin You couldn’t feed it at the stall. She could only promise it would get more lamb pilaf at lunch.

The tabby tilted its head, thinking for a moment with its limited intelligence.

No food = less = less money spent = Lin You doesn’t have much money.

Hmm, understood.

So, after Lin You and Yao Jiu finished their meal and met up with Bo Chuan at the delivery point, Bo Chuan’s first reaction was to freeze for a moment.

“You…”

A good fortune came by chance, luck was on her side.

How did she manage to sell a dish and end up with such a rare stroke of luck?

“Meow meow meow!”

Bo Chuan: …

He knew it wouldn’t be that simple.

In fact, Lin You had been on a lucky streak recently. After he helped her turn her luck around, things had been going smoothly for her.

But what Bo Chuan could do was only to facilitate and strengthen the karmic forces at play. The little mountain god, however, had directly sent Lin You some good luck.

Sure enough, as soon as Lin You arrived at the delivery point, the lady boss came over with a smile.

“Lin You, could you sell me some of those biscuits?”

Yao Hongxia’s son had recently developed an amazing appetite, and after confirming multiple times, Yao Hongxia was sure it was the effect of Lin You’s biscuits. Every time Lin You came to deliver or pick up a parcel, she would casually give her half a pack of biscuits.

Her son had gone from being picky about food to eating everything with great enthusiasm.

Yao Hongxia had become Lin You’s loyal fan. If Lin You had a fan club, Yao Hongxia would certainly be a big fan.

Lin You: “No need, no need, I’ll bring you a pack next time.”

The cost of a pack of biscuits wasn’t high, and the milk wasn’t even from her own supply.

Yao Hongxia: “Thank you so much… By the way, I heard you want a box of bees?”

“Just right, my family’s from the other side of the mountain, from Fengzhiling (Bee Ridge). Everyone there keeps bees, and they’re all raised really well. They’re dividing up hives right now, so I’ll have my husband bring you a box tomorrow.”

Lin You was delighted: “Is that okay?”

“Of course! My family raises bees, and our honey is top quality. We even supplied it to the big hotels in the provincial capital!”

Lin You had heard of Fengzhiling before. Yao Jiu had also mentioned that the bees there were raised better than those from her uncle’s place. Getting a box of bees for free was a huge surprise for Lin You.

“Thank you so much!”

She decided to bring the lady boss a few extra packs of biscuits tomorrow!

Bo Chuan relaxed his clenched fist. Sure enough, good luck came just like that.

As they left the house, Lin You was still happily thinking to herself. The bees were coming—how far away could the honey be?

She placed the parcel she had picked up onto the tricycle, and both Yao Jiu and Bo Chuan sat down. Lin You started the tricycle, ready to head home.

Around the corner, a child suddenly popped out, startling everyone.

“Xingxing! Don’t run around!”

“You’re going to scare your mom to death!”

The whole family rushed over, first holding the child and checking all around to make sure he hadn’t gotten hurt.

Lin You and her group quickly got off the tricycle. Fortunately, the child’s family wasn’t unreasonable. Seeing that the child was fine, they turned to Lin You and apologized.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s our fault. We didn’t keep an eye on him.”

Lin You breathed a sigh of relief. She was really worried it might turn into something bad.

“It’s fine, as long as he’s okay.”

This voice…

It was the first to react—Du Xun’s mother, who had practically watched Lin You’s live stream  on repeat recently.

“Hey, hey, hey, aren’t you…”

Du Xun’s wife grabbed Lin You’s hand, her eyes shining.

“Lin You! We finally found you!”