FSC [QT] Chapter 89.3

It was necessary to pick mushrooms early. Before dawn, Yu Yan got up and helped his sister who was half asleep to change clothes.

Today’s breakfast was baked potatoes. The brother and sister shared a potato as big as a child’s fist, which was barely enough to make them three-quarters full. Then, they drank a bowl of warm water.

Yu Yan decided to eat the rest on the mountain, as the generous mountains always give people gifts.

“Brother, this!”

Ah Wu’s consciousness was in chaos more often, but perhaps it was because her body and soul were beginning to merge. No matter whether Ah Wu was awake or in chaos, she knew many things that this body should not know as if it was instinct.

For example, now, she could clearly distinguish which kinds of mushrooms could be eaten and which kinds of mushrooms could not be eaten, and following Yu Yan helped him a lot.

“Xiao Wu is so good.”

Yu Yan wiped his hands with the cloth on the hem of his clothes and then carefully touched the top of Ah Wu’s head.

After being praised by her brother, Ah Wu happily put the mushrooms in the small cloth bag on her chest.

Today’s harvest was quite good.

Firstly, there were indeed more mushrooms in the mountains during this period. Secondly, the villagers would ask the brother and sister to go and pick mushrooms together whenever they found an area with dense mushrooms.

After half a day, the small bamboo basket carried by Yu Yan was full, and the small cloth bag in Ah Wu’s arms was also full of mushrooms, almost overflowing.

The brother and sister were small and weak. Yu Yan weighed the mushrooms and decided not to be greedy and take his sister down the mountain to go home.

In addition to mushrooms, they also picked a lot of wild vegetables today.

Yu Yan decided to give some to Aunt Li next door and mixed the rest with millet to make porridge, which could be eaten for two meals.

“Brother, it’s a red fruit.”

When they were going down the mountain, the brother and sister met a group of children who were playing together.

Among them was a chubby little boy who was holding a string of candied haws in his hand. He was surrounded by people and enjoyed the treatment of being the center of attention.

“Ah—”

He bit off half of the candied haws in one bite. The sugar coating was crispy, and the fruit inside looked sour and sweet.

A group of children next to him screamed and wanted to take a bite too. They decided to ask their parents to go to town to buy a bunch of them when they got home.

Candied haws were not expensive. Even in the countryside, parents who loved their children were willing to buy them.

Yu Wu had never seen candied haws before, but after seeing the string of bright red things, she instinctively secreted saliva.

It should taste sweet and sour. She inexplicably had this guess in her mind.

Yu Yan had eaten candied haws when he was very young. At that time, Yu Fucai had not yet fallen ill, and Mrs. Yu was quite fond of her son.

A string of candied haws cost two coins, but Yu Yan only had five coins at the moment.

“Wait for the peddler to come to collect mushrooms, and I will buy them for you.”

Yu Yan pinched his sister’s hand and promised solemnly.

“No.”

When Ah Wu heard the word ‘buy’, she knew that it would cost money. But her family had no money, so she covered her mouth to prevent her saliva from flowing down.

Yu Yan felt more distressed by his sister’s understanding. He forgot that he was just a child as well.

He thought that if the money from selling mushrooms was enough, he would buy a string of candied haws for his sister to taste.

When will he grow up? When he grows up, he can earn more money, and then he will give his sister more and better things.

***

“When will the two children come back? Mrs. Yu borrowed twenty taels of silver from me to buy ginseng for Yu Fucai. Now she is dead, and she has to give an explanation for the twenty taels of silver.”

From a distance, Yu Yan saw a lot of people crowded outside his yard and vaguely heard a rough voice coming from his yard.

“Twenty taels, with a high interest rate, how much should it be raised to now?”

“No wonder Mrs. Yu wanted to commit suicide. She probably knew that she couldn’t pay back the money. It was really a sin. How could a family like us afford to eat ginseng? She was really possessed by a demon.”

“It’s the two children who suffer. Did you hear what that person said? Mrs. Yu pawned her little daughter to these people for more than twenty taels. Ordinary wealthy families don’t have that much money to buy a maid. I’m afraid they have to sell the child to those dirty places.”

Listening to the words that came into his ears, Yu Yan felt a piercing cold wind blowing, and he couldn’t stop shivering.

You can support your favorite novel by buying me a cup of Ko-fi ( ˘▽˘)っ♨

I will really appreciate it. ♥️♥️♥️