Chapter 49 ☆  Xie San, someone is looking for (Part 2)

Lin Weimin ^[1]Lin Jiaqi’s nephew. ran over and hugged Lin Jiaqi’s long legs: “Second uncle, second uncle! Where are you going on your bike? Are you going into the city? Take me there!”

Lin Jiaqi patted his head and said, “Don’t make trouble. I’ll bring you hawthorn cake^[2]is a sweet, tangy Chinese snack made from hawthorn berries and sugar, often enjoyed in thin, chewy slices. when I come back.”

“I want to go with you!” Lin Weimin held on tightly, “My uncle said he would take me with him!”

Lin Jiaqi felt helpless towards his nephew and pushed his head: “Be obedient.”

“Lin Weimin.” Cheng Yaoyao called out, and curled her rosy lips coquettishly: “Aren’t you going to help me pick grass for the pigs? Are you leaving us?”

“Oh! I’ll help you with the work!” Lin Weimin suddenly forgot about going to the city and ran to Cheng Yaoyao, saying attentively, “I got a big basket of pig grass today!”

Lin Jiaqi: “…”

Lin Jiaqi took off the kettle and handed it to Cheng Yaoyao. He glanced at his nephew, who ignored him, and said, “I’m leaving.”

Cheng Yaoyao waved: “Goodbye.”

Lin Jiaqi turned his bicycle around, kicked off, and rode away in the direction he had come from.

Lin Jiajun was sweating in the sun on the ridge at the entrance of the village. When he saw his brother riding up on a bicycle, he complained, “Second brother, why did you take so long? I’m almost dying from the heat.”

“Stop complaining,” Lin Jiaqi said, lifting his chin. “Get on the bike.”

Lin Jiajun climbed onto the back of the bicycle, and the two brothers rode off together.

On the riverbank, Xiao Tiedan took Cheng Yaoyao’s hand and asked, “Sister Yaoyao, what’s in this kettle?”

Cheng Yaoyao smiled mysteriously and said, “I brought you something delicious to drink! Did you wash your hands?”

“I’ll go wash now!” The children scattered and ran to the river, rubbed their hands thoroughly, and washed them clean. Then they ran back to Cheng Yaoyao and surrounded her.

Everyone sat together under the shade of the tree. Cheng Yaoyao pulled out the stopper of the thermos, and a cool breath immediately came out. She put the cup in the bottle and slowly poured out the bright red juice.

“Why is it red? What is this?” Gou asked curiously.

Lin Weimin, coming from a well-off family and having seen more of the world, said confidently, “Stupid, this must be iced juice!”

Little Tiedan’s saliva flowed down, and he said with his finger in his mouth: “Ice juice, Tiedan wants to drink ice juice!”

Mingming’s eyes sparkled. He had never drunk ice juice. In the hottest summer, the popsicle seller would push a cart to the threshing ground to sell popsicles and ice juice. A cup of ice juice cost only two cents. It was made with saccharin and had a white, cool steam. Drinking it would make you shiver all over. It was so refreshing. But Mingming had never drunk it before.

Cheng Yaoyao smiled and said, “Bring the cups over. Everyone has one. You have to line up.”

Each child brought his or her own small cup or kettle, lined up obediently, and each was given a cup.

The ice juice in the cup exuded a cool breath, and a layer of fine water droplets immediately hung on the wall of the cup. The bright red juice was even more beautiful than the ice juice sold in the county town.

They took a sip, and it tasted sour and sweet, making their mouths immediately start to water. Goudan couldn’t wait to take a sip, and the sweet, sour, cool, and smooth taste went down his throat into his stomach, making him shiver all over, and all the heat in his body disappeared!

“It’s so delicious! Better than ice juice!”

Mingming drank it carefully in small sips and asked, “Is it bayberry juice?”

“Smart!” Cheng Yaoyao touched his head in praise.

The bayberry juice had been stored in the well for a day and was icy cold, rich, and smooth. It was so delicious. It was made of pure natural bayberry and white sugar, which was not comparable to ice juice mixed with saccharin. The children didn’t care to talk, and they drank the bayberry juice with great care.

Little Tiedan was young, so he drank his own cup of bayberry juice in one go. He didn’t ask for more but just licked his lips and watched Goudan drink eagerly. Goudan noticed his brother’s gaze and reluctantly poured the remaining half cup of bayberry juice into his cup: “Here!”

“Thank you, Guoguo!” Little Tiedan happily picked up the cup, tilted his head back, and drank it down in one gulp.

Cheng Yaoyao almost laughed out loud. She shook the kettle and found some left in it. She poured it into Goudan’s cup: “Is it delicious? If it is, I will bring you more next time. This bayberry juice is too cold. You can’t drink too much.”

“Thank you, Sister Yaoyao!” Goudan beamed with joy.

The children were as happy as if it were Chinese New Year. They had already eaten dried bayberries and fried cicada monkeys in the morning, and now they enjoyed a glass of bayberry juice. How could they not be satisfied?

The children surrounded Cheng Yaoyao and presented her with cicada shells and cicada monkeys they had picked up, as if they were treasures. They also gave her a small handful of sour red fruits, loquats, two wild duck eggs, a handful of jasmine flowers… Cheng Yaoyao’s small backpack was filled with goodies from the children.

Cheng Yaoyao asked Goudan if there was a place nearby to pick wild mushrooms. Goudan scratched his head and said, “There is a mushroom circle on this river beach, but you can only pick mushrooms after it rains. It hasn’t rained recently.”

Cheng Yaoyao was a little disappointed and had to go pick bayberries with the children again. The weather had been sunny, making the bayberries black and red, and very sweet.

The children were particularly energetic that day, picking bayberries eagerly. Cheng Yaoyao rested under a tree, threading jasmine flowers with needle grass, and said, “You have to be careful. I will go to the city tomorrow and buy you some candy.”

Goudan and Lin Weimin looked at each other and laughed, “We don’t want candy. Sister Yaoyao, can you fry some cicada shells for us and make some dried bayberries for us to eat?”

“Yes!” Several other children also chimed in, “Sister Yaoyao’s fried cicada monkeys are so delicious!”

Cheng Yaoyao pretended to hesitate before reluctantly agreeing, “Okay, okay, I’ll do it for you next time. But you have to listen to me and don’t be naughty!”

Goudan raised his hand and saluted, “We promise to listen to you!”

Cheng Yaoyao squinted and said, “Then you are not allowed to go down to the river to bathe, and you are not allowed to compete in tree climbing!”

“……” The children were suddenly speechless and scratched their heads. Swimming and tree climbing were their two favorite summer activities. Besides, they could also show off in front of Sister Yaoyao!

Cheng Yaoyao snorted, tied the jasmine flowers she had put on around her wrist, and said, “I knew you were just trying to fool me.”

“No!” Lin Weimin was the first to pledge loyalty. “Sister Yaoyao, I firmly support you! I will never take a bath in water again. It’s Goudan who always goes in the water!”

Several other children quickly agreed, “I won’t go in the water either!”

“We won’t climb trees anymore!”

Goudan got anxious and slid down the tree, “I… I will never go into the water again! I promise!”

Cheng Yaoyao put on the last jasmine flower, raised her head, chuckled, and pinned the jasmine flower to Goudan’s collar, “This is what you promised me. A real man should keep his word and cannot go back on his word.”

The boys immediately straightened their chests and said, “Keep your word!”

In the evening, smoke rose from cooking fires. Farmers in the village were gathering their tools on the ridges of the fields and preparing to go home. They all saw a strange sight.

Cheng Yaoyao, wearing a light blue dress, walked slowly to the front. Her hands were empty, and on her slender wrist was a string of jasmine flowers. She was so beautiful that one could not take their eyes off her.

Cheng Yaoyao was followed by a group of naughty children, carrying baskets. The children, who usually jump up and down like monkeys, were very tame at this moment. When Cheng Yaoyao greeted the villagers, they also greeted her.

The villagers looked at each other in confusion. Was this still their mischievous child?

Zhang Aihua pouted and snorted, “This vixen is a vixen; even a seven- or eight-year-old child is fascinated by her.”

Goudan’s mother immediately spat at him, “I will obey whoever can take good care of my kid!”

Others echoed her sentiment. These village children had nothing to do all day but climb trees and swim. In summer, the water is turbulent and has drowned many children. The adults are too busy to discipline them. Now that the children are willing to listen to Cheng Yaoyao, the adults are more than happy.

From that day on, Goudan and his group of children never went into the water. The women in the village also quietly began to wear jasmine flowers.

Cheng Yaoyao was completely unaware of all this. Once the Xie family’s door was closed, the house became a world of its own.

Cheng Yaoyao stayed at home the next two days, busy cooking dried bayberries. Goudan and his friends sent Cheng Yaoyao cicada shells and cicada monkeys several times, totaling about 7 or 8 kilograms.

Cheng Yaoyao soaked the cicada monkeys in salt water, fried them, and made two kilograms of fried chicken mushrooms, and dried bayberries. Xie Fei and Grandma Xie also helped. The three of them worked for two days before finishing everything.

That morning, someone knocked on the Xie family’s door. Han Yin and Zhang Xiaofeng, dressed in bright clothes, came to ask Cheng Yaoyao to go into the city.

Cheng Yaoyao dressed carefully, wearing a light yellow corset dress that revealed her snow-white arms and straight calves. She had bathed in the Spiritual Spring, and the marks on her body had disappeared. Her skin was now more delicate and glowing.

Cheng Yaoyao’s appearance was already impressive even without makeup, and now, dressed up, she looked even better.

Grandma Xie repeatedly advised her, “Follow your companions when you go into the city. Don’t wander off. Did you write down Brother Zhao’s address? Did you bring everything with you?”

Cheng Yaoyao nodded, “I’ve got it all. The oily chicken mushrooms and pickles are in my bag. I won’t forget them. Besides, I’ll ask for directions if I can’t find the place, so don’t worry.”

Xie Fei, who followed her, was envious as she saw Cheng Yaoyao dressed beautifully for the city trip.

Cheng Yaoyao saw that Xie Fei’s eyes were red and patted her hand in sympathy. Grandma Xie wouldn’t let Xie Fei go out. Even though Cheng Yaoyao tried to help, Grandma Xie refused, saying it would be too expensive.

Cheng Yaoyao comforted Xie Fei in a low voice, “I’m going to the supply and marketing cooperative today. I’ll buy you a nice piece of cloth for clothes.”