Chapter 11: Companionship – Wuyou Grass

“Then give me two jin, please! I’ll go home and make dumplings with shepherd’s purse.”

“Alright! Take care, eat well, and come back again!”

After sending off the woman, “Dad,” it seemed like there were others starting to sell wild vegetables too.

“What should we do now? If everyone starts selling them, can we still make money?”

“Don’t worry too much. I never expected to make money from selling wild vegetables forever. I just didn’t expect others to start following so soon.”

The father and daughter kept selling until the market had mostly emptied out. There were still quite a few wild vegetables left, and Li Youyin couldn’t help but feel troubled.

“It would’ve been fine if we didn’t know that wild vegetables could be sold, but now that we know, seeing these leftovers feels like a loss. They’re all money!”

Seeing the expression on Li Youyin’s face, Li Guo could tell what her father was thinking. “It’s okay, Dad. We can take the leftovers home and feed the chickens, pigs, and rabbits. It’s not a waste.”

“Besides, this was a no-cost business to begin with. Even if we stop selling wild vegetables, we won’t lose much. Don’t worry so much.”

“Guo’er is right. Even if the wild vegetables don’t sell, Dad can still work short-term jobs in town.”

After leaving the market, the father and daughter passed by a grain shop and bought five liters of broken rice and three liters of flour before heading home.

“Why did you buy flour? It’s so expensive,” said Shen, helping to unload the cart.

“I thought the kids have been working hard lately and haven’t had a good meal. So, I bought a few pounds of broken rice and flour to make dumplings for them,” Li Youyin wiped the sweat from his face and said.

Shen thought about it and agreed. The kids had indeed been working hard lately, so she didn’t argue further.

Li Guo brought the leftover wild vegetables to the rabbit cage. Seeing the newborn rabbits inside, she was happy. Recently, two more litters had been born, and now there were over twenty rabbits in the family.

It seemed that raising rabbits was a viable option. Not only did they breed quickly, but they also grew fast, and within two or three months, they could be sold.

If the rabbits were well-raised, they could also help supplement the family income. Before coming up with other ways to earn money, it was best to take care of the rabbits for now.

Li Wen, who had been playing outside, saw his sister by the rabbit cage and hurried over with a look of anticipation, saying, “Sister, look how clean I’ve kept the cage.”

Seeing her younger brother’s cute expression, Li Guo touched Li Wen’s face and said, “Mm! It’s very clean. When we eat rabbit meat, I’ll save the legs for you.”

Li Wen shyly scratched the back of his head and said, “I don’t want the legs. Mom’s health isn’t good, so she can have the legs. I’ll just eat the rabbit head.”

When Shen came to call the siblings for dinner and heard her son’s words, she was deeply moved and felt her eyes tear up. Her son was so young but already so considerate of her.

Shen thought to herself that she needed to get better soon so that her children wouldn’t worry about her.

Li Xing’er had already set the table when they arrived, with bowls and chopsticks neatly arranged, a bowl of broken rice, a plate of cold mixed mustard greens, and a bowl of egg custard. The eggs were ones Li Xing’er and her younger brother had found while cutting pig grass that morning.

The family did have rice fields, but after paying the tax, there was very little left. Like most common families, they mostly lived on coarse grains, and it was rare for them to have rice. Although it was only broken rice, the whole family felt quite satisfied.

“Wild vegetables probably won’t sell anymore,” Li Youyin’s words made Shen pause. She then put down the clothes she was mending and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Didn’t Guo’er say they could still be sold for a while? Why did it stop so soon?”

“Today, the wild vegetables didn’t sell as quickly as usual. At first, Guo’er and I thought it was just that people had lost interest after the novelty wore off, so sales slowed.”

“Later, we heard from a woman who sells vegetables that there are a few others now selling wild vegetables at the end of the market, and their prices are even cheaper than ours by a penny.”

“They’ve taken many of our customers, and we couldn’t sell all our wild vegetables.”

“Then let’s just dig fewer wild vegetables, fish less, and weave fewer baskets to sell. Let’s take it one day at a time,” Shen suggested.

Li Youyin’s eyes lit up as he heard her. “Right! If wild vegetables aren’t selling well, we can sell fish or baskets!”

He then took Shen’s hand and kissed it, saying, “Good idea!”

Shen blushed at the gesture and playfully scolded him, “You’re so shameless! What if the kids see you…”

From that point on, the Li family continued their life at a steady, unhurried pace.

As expected, the wild vegetables sold less and less, and their price kept dropping. Fish also weren’t selling as well as before.

What was even more surprising was that many of their competitors at the market were from their own village.

When the family found out that villagers had started selling wild vegetables, they nearly burst out laughing. It turned out that it was Zhao, Li Youyin’s sister-in-law, who had suggested the idea to undercut them.

“How much must they hate us to come up with such a terrible idea to get back at us?” Li Guo sighed in resignation.

“She’s always hated seeing us do well. She was like this back then, and after all these years, nothing’s changed. How can she be so malicious?” Shen fumed.

Seeing his wife so angry, Li Youyin stepped forward to comfort her. “Don’t be angry, it’s not worth ruining your health. Over the past while, we’ve saved up quite a bit of silver.”

“Even if the business doesn’t work out, you don’t have to worry about us starving.”

When Li Youyin teased her, Shen smiled and said, “We won’t be starving, just eating dumplings. I’m going to make some right now.”

As soon as they heard that she was making dumplings, the father and daughter chorused, “Great! We’ll help!”

Shen went to the kitchen to prepare the dough, while Li Guo went to the garden to pick seven or eight young eggplants and a large bunch of chives, planning to make dumplings with eggplant and chive filling.

After washing the eggplants, she diced them and salted them to draw out the water, then drained it. She mixed the eggplant with the chives, added some lard to the filling, and it was ready. If she could add some minced pork, that would be even better.

However, given the family’s limited resources, they were already content with what they had, without fussing over the filling.

The eggplant absorbed the lard and became fragrant, smooth, and tender. The spiciness of the chives complemented the eggplant perfectly, making it very tasty.

As soon as the dumplings were ready, Li Wen eagerly took a bite and immediately let out a sound of satisfaction: “Sssha!”

“You child, the dumplings are scalding hot right out of the pot! Why are you in such a hurry to eat?” Shen scolded.

Li Wen pouted and, with a slightly reddened mouth from the heat, said, “It’s because the dumplings smelled so good. I couldn’t control myself.”

“Slow down next time, you can’t rush eating hot food,” Shen said, looking at her son, who seemed a bit pitiful.

After the meal, everyone said they had never eaten such delicious dumplings! Li Wen even declared, “From now on, I’ll only eat the meals made by my big sister, because hers taste the best!”

Before they knew it, it was already mid-June, and the rice seedlings in the fields had grown lush and tall, some even beginning to sprout rice heads. Of course, the water plants in the fields were also thriving.

Water plants grew quickly and needed to be pulled out every four or five days. Otherwise, they would compete with the rice for nutrients and affect the harvest.

Whenever the family had time, they would go to the fields to pull the weeds. After taking medicine for so many years, Shen’s health had mostly recovered.

In the past six months, the family had saved up some extra money, and life was becoming more and more comfortable. Shen’s health was now completely restored.