Chapter 20: Hawthorn

Aunt Ma Liu gave a few more reminders before she happily wrapped the bee pupae in her apron and skipped off home.

She wanted to go back and tell the old man the good news and let him share in her joy.

Speaking of which, the Wang brothers truly were decent people.

They had been quietly helping Wang San’s family for years, never asking for anything in return.

Every day, one household would take turns—one day someone brought firewood, the next someone came to carry over a full vat of water.

As long as it helped the old woman and her daughter-in-law manage, that was enough.

Of course, it was always the younger generation who came to do these things.

They never made a fuss—once the work was done, they left immediately, never staying to chat or rest.

With Wang San away and Wang Man now in the household as the new wife, many things became inconvenient.

It had always been like this, but now even more so. They were extra cautious, afraid of stirring gossip.

Now that they heard Wang Man had earned 5 taels of silver, no one ever thought of taking advantage of her.

On the contrary, they were genuinely happy for her. With that silver, they no longer had to worry about the two women starving to death.

As for Wang San? Who cared about him?
That useless good-for-nothing—if he died out there somewhere, it would serve him right.

Though they said otherwise, deep down they still hoped Wang San would come back safe and sound.

After all, he was the old woman’s only remaining bloodline.

How could they bear to watch him die and leave her without a descendant?

Once it was just Wang Man and Aunt Ma Liu left in the courtyard, Aunt Ma Liu finally reacted.
“Manya, is that beehive really worth that much?
You actually sold it for 5 taels of silver?”

Ah, it was all because of her poor eyesight.

If her vision were better, she would’ve gone up the mountain to collect a beehive too.

So what if she got stung? Suffering a little was nothing—as long as she could earn silver to buy grain, they wouldn’t starve to death.

Wang Man could see what she was thinking, so she paused for a moment and said,
“Your eyes aren’t well, so don’t just sit under the eaves staring into the sun every day.
The sunlight is too harsh—it can damage your eyes even more.
You should try looking out at the distant mountains instead. The greenery on the trees is good for your eyes.”

Aunt Ma Liu let out a sigh.
“It’s no use. My eyes have been like this for years.
I’m not hoping they’ll get better anymore. I just don’t want them to get worse.”

Wang Man disagreed and said,
“What I’m telling you is true. If you look more at the distant mountains and forests, your eyes will gradually improve.”

She understood what was wrong with Aunt Ma Liu’s eyes.

Her first two sons had died young, and she cried day and night without stopping.

Not long after, her husband, Aunt Ma Liu’s Ma Liu, passed away as well.

Though she didn’t openly show her sorrow, she cried quietly in secret.

Crying nonstop, day and night, had damaged her eyes.

Back then, her vision was still somewhat better, but after finally raising Wang San, who turned out to be stubborn and became a petty troublemaker, she cried even more.

Her eyes worsened until she could barely see the road ahead.

To avoid going blind, she forced herself to stop crying.

As for seeing a physician about her eyes, she never even considered it—there wasn’t a spare coin at home.

She tried some old folk remedies but saw no improvement, so she just left it alone.

She was afraid of wearing herself out and dying, leaving her son all alone without anyone to care for him.

As long as she lived, Wang San would still come back to check on her every few days.

If she died, though, it was likely Wang San wouldn’t return anymore.

Each of her brothers and sisters-in-law had their own families; none of them would risk everything for an unworthy nephew.

That was just human nature, and she understood it well.

Besides, the brothers and sisters-in-law had already helped them enough with their own hard work; she couldn’t ask for more.

After eating the bee pupae all day, Aunt Ma Liu slept especially soundly that night.

Usually, she had to get up during the night, but this time she slept straight until dawn.

The next morning, after her morning exercise, Wang Man slung the old, tattered basket over her back and headed out again.

Aunt Ma Liu had also risen early and was staring intently at the distant mountain range.

This was what Wang Man had told her the day before. After thinking about it while falling asleep, she felt Wang Man was right and decided to give it a try—it wouldn’t take much effort anyway.

Seeing Wang Man preparing to leave, she hurriedly asked,
“Manya, your eyes are still so swollen. Where are you going?”

Wang Man reached up and touched her eyes casually.

“It’s nothing. As long as it doesn’t affect my ability to see the road, it’s fine.
Yesterday, I noticed there were lots of hawthorns. I plan to pick some and make candied hawthorns to sell.”

“Hawthorns? What kind of hawthorns?”
Aunt Ma Liu asked, puzzled. She hadn’t heard of them before.

“Oh, those small red berries—the really sour ones.”

As soon as Wang Man mentioned it, Aunt Ma Liu recognized what she meant and quickly said,
“Oh no, no—you can’t go picking those!
I know the patch you’re talking about. There’s a big snake guarding it.”

“It’s huge! I heard it even eats people,” Aunt Ma Liu said, her voice rising in alarm.
“Just a couple years ago, I heard that if folks hadn’t found out in time, that snake would’ve swallowed Sandanzi whole!
You absolutely mustn’t go!”

The more she spoke, the more panicked she became. She reached out to grab Wang Man’s arm but hesitated and pulled her hand back.

Wang Man searched her memories—yes, Wang Manman’s memories did seem to contain such an incident.

She smiled and reassured her,
“I’m not going to that patch. I found a different place, not as many red berries, but it’s safer.”

She wasn’t lying to Aunt Ma Liu.

Still, if the candied hawthorns really sold well, she wouldn’t mind going to that snake-guarded area to pick more.

Snakes, after all—they fear you just as much as you fear them.

As long as you’re stronger than it, there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Hearing her say that, Aunt Ma Liu finally let out a breath of relief:
“All right then, just be careful. Don’t go near that grove with the big snake.
Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet—you can’t even run fast.
If that thing wraps around you, you could lose your life.”

Wang Man didn’t feel like listening to more of her nagging. Without replying, she turned and left.

The hawthorn trees she had discovered were just two, not far from the spot where she had found the beehive.

There weren’t many berries on them, and some were still green.

Strangely enough, no one else had picked them.

Was it that no one had noticed them?
Or maybe they’d been scared off by the bees and didn’t dare come close?

Wang Man didn’t dwell on it. She picked all the ripe, red hawthorns she could find—barely enough to fill half her basket.

This was just a trial run anyway; it wouldn’t be wise to make too much.
If she ended up making a large batch and nobody bought any, wouldn’t that be a huge waste?

She was halfway home when a crucial thought suddenly struck her—
Making candied hawthorn skewers (bingtanghulu) required rock sugar!

Her family was already dirt poor—where would she get sugar from?
Without sugar, how could she make candied hawthorns? Wasn’t this all just a pipe dream?

Apparently, one of the lingering effects of her head injury—aside from the concussion—was memory lapses.
Should she ask around to see if anyone had sugar and borrow a bit first?

It would be such a waste to let the hawthorns spoil.

But—who could she ask? That was the tricky part.
Most of the villagers were just scraping by themselves; few would spend precious money on a luxury like sugar.

If she really wanted to sell bingtanghulu, she’d have to go buy sugar from town.

With that thought, Wang Man hurried home, dropped off her basket, and immediately headed out toward the town.

Gaoshan Village wasn’t too far—about seven or eight li (~3–4 km).
She walked briskly, and before long, arrived at the town’s general store and bought two jin (1 kg) of rock sugar.