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Chapter 36
“Ding Gui, be honest with your mother—what did you give Dayou?”
When Wang Dafeng came running over, she saw from a distance that Ding Gui was stuffing something into Miao Dayou’s arms. Now that she saw the man running off, she knew something was up. She rushed over and grabbed Ding Gui’s sleeve tightly:
“Did you give him food?”
If he did, she’d risk her life to get it back.
Ding Gui couldn’t let the old woman cause a scene. He quickly tried to placate her:
“Mom, I really didn’t! Where would we get extra food to give away? Keep your voice down—if someone hears, it won’t be good.”
Nowadays, if any family had a bit of grain, they’d keep it hidden. No one would dare speak of it openly.
But Wang Dafeng wouldn’t give up:
“You’re lying! If you didn’t give him food, then where’s the millet? Tell me!”
“Mom, please calm down and listen to me.”
Ding Gui looked around and, seeing no one nearby, sighed and confessed:
“That bit of millet is nothing. We’ve still got a rabbit. I’ll cook it tonight and give you a big bowl. You can eat however you like.”
“Really?”
The moment she heard there was meat at home, Wang Dafeng’s eyes lit up. There really wasn’t much millet left anyway. But if she could pressure Ding Gui into admitting there was still a rabbit at home, then that was actually a win.
Ding Gui said,
“Keep your voice down. Of course it’s true. When Zhang Xiu comes back later, she’ll cook it for you. I’m busy right now, so head back, okay?”
“Alrighty then. You’re something else, son.”
At that moment, Wang Dafeng was more obedient than ever, happily turning back to go home.
But after a few steps, she suddenly stopped.
Wait a second!
How come she didn’t know there was still a rabbit at home?
So the three of them had been hiding food from her?!
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Wang Dafeng immediately turned to go settle the score with her son—but Ding Gui was already nowhere to be seen. She wanted to look for him, but the sun overhead was just too scorching.
Forget it, forget it. She’d interrogate them properly when they got back tonight.
Meanwhile, hiding in a small shack by the road, Ding Gui peeked through a crack in the window, watching the old woman walk off before letting out a sigh of relief.
Before long, Miao Dayou came back after dropping off the food. He was full of gratitude:
“A’Gui, if you ever need any hard labor done at home, anything dangerous, call me! I owe you big, and I have no other way to repay you.”
“You silly, what do you mean ‘dangerous’? You just need to stay alive, alright? Otherwise, what’ll happen to your family? Stop overthinking it. Come on, let’s keep spreading the lime.”
Ding Gui was genuinely happy to have such a loyal brother. He sincerely didn’t want anything bad to happen to Dayou.
Miao Dayou nodded, deeply touched.
—-
When they finally reached the mountain—
Zhang Xiu, being the only adult, had to take charge:
“Everyone, search carefully for mushrooms. It doesn’t matter what kind—just gather them all. When we get home, let the grown-ups check. We’ll only eat the ones that are safe.”
Out of kindness, Ding Xiaodie added:
“There’s a type of black truffle that grows under fallen leaves—it looks like a dark lump. That’s edible too, so keep an eye out.”
The two village kids obediently started searching carefully.
Ding Shan and Ding Xue, the sibling pair, exchanged glances and pretended to join in.
Actually, their family still had food, especially now that the Lu family was distributing grain. They didn’t really care about foraging mushrooms to get by.
But Ding Hao seemed to enjoy the task—he was searching very diligently.
Before long, he excitedly called out:
“Cousin, I found one!”
Ding Xiaodie took a large leaf, folded it, and pierced the ends together with a small stick, making a simple container.
“Put the mushroom in here,” she said, handing the leaf container to Ding Hao.
The other two village kids saw it and wanted one too. Ding Xiaodie made one for each of them.
This clever move stunned Ding Shan and Ding Xue.
Back in Aozigou Valley, no one had ever done anything like that before.
Where did Ding Xiaodie learn this?
“Found it!”
Just as the kids were getting excited, Zhang Xiu suddenly shrieked with joy from the other side.
Oh my goodness!
She had never imagined that one day she would personally find a black truffle. It was like the sun rising from the west!
“Xiaodie, Xiaodie, come look!”
Of course, the first thing she did was excitedly show her daughter. She was happier than if she’d gotten to eat it right away.
Ding Xiaodie completely understood her mother’s joy—she had felt the same when she found her first one. For those who had once been “city folks” in their previous life, this kind of experience had once seemed impossible.
To ease her mother’s mind, she said deliberately:
“Mom, this is a gift from nature. Something we never dared dream of before.”
“Yes, yes!”
Zhang Xiu was full of emotion.
After being transported to this poor era, this was the first moment she had truly felt joy.
While the mother and daughter were talking, Ding Hao and the two village kids ran over to see what was going on.
“This is edible?”
“It’s all black… Is it poisonous?”
Ding Xiaodie laughed and replied:
“It’s edible, and very tasty. Come on, keep looking!”
Even Ding Shan and Ding Xue came over to take a look. They weren’t sure if it was safe, but since Ding Xiaodie said it was, they decided to give it a try.
But strangely, despite everyone searching hard—including Ding Xiaodie—no one else found any more black truffles… only Zhang Xiu did! One here, one there—she was having a blast.
Watching Zhang Xiu’s excitement, the kids were all stunned.
“What’s going on? It’s like the truffles only grow where Auntie looks.”
“Exactly! Even when I walked ahead of her, she still found them behind me.” Ding Hao scratched his head in confusion.
Amid all the chatter, Ding Xiaodie suddenly had a slow realization…
Could it be… that strange space again?
Yesterday, it had blatantly thrown out three rabbits. Luckily Dabao and Erbao were honest. And now today—black truffles?
But she really wished it would give grain instead. Truffles were nice, but they didn’t fill your stomach.
As the saying goes: people are iron, rice is steel—you can’t live without staple food.
With that thought, she said, “Ow, Mom, my feet are so sore. I’m going to sit down for a bit. You all keep looking.”
Zhang Xiu wasn’t worried about her wandering off, so she nodded and kept searching.
Seeing Ding Xiaodie sit down, Ding Shan immediately gave Ding Xue a look, silently telling her to keep an eye on Xiaodie while he himself turned to watch Auntie Zhang Xiu.
Sitting on a rock, Ding Xiaodie of course noticed Ding Xue spying on her. But she wasn’t concerned—unless it was her parents, no one could tell when she entered the space.
They probably just thought she was dozing off.
So she turned slightly and leaned against the tree behind her, closing her eyes.
This baffled Ding Xue—what was she doing? Taking a nap?
Soon enough, Ding Xiaodie entered the space of the Xiaodie Billion Supermarket.
Looking around, she found that the shelves were still full—but this time, there were many more bottles of water than before. Not like the few lonely ones in her past visits.
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