After Yu Changhe and Ms. Sun installed the pot, they immediately started building the wooden shelter without taking a break. For tasks that weren't convenient for Yu Changhe, Ms. Sun would energetically handle them herself.
For places out of reach, Yu Changhe would squat down and let Ms. Sun step on him. Ms. Sun didn't hesitate, and the two worked together with great mutual understanding.
Yu Xiaolian occasionally helped out by handing things to them.
After laying straw on top of the shelter and adding a simple wind-proof door panel, a kitchen was essentially built.
"What are you planning to do with these two jars you bought?" Yu Changhe asked.
While washing her hands, Ms. Sun replied, "We can't just drink porridge all the time. I thought about pickling some vegetables. Right now, the wild vegetables in the mountains aren't too mature, so pickling a couple of jars would give us some side dishes for winter."
Yu Changhe felt a bit troubled listening to Ms. Sun. When he earned more, he gave all the money to his mother. Occasionally, he'd secretly give Ms. Sun a few coins behind Old Lady Yu's back, and if she found out, she'd cause a ruckus.
The year Ms. Sun's birthday came, Yu Changhe had just received his monthly salary, and he bought a silver hairpin for her. Old Lady Yu was upset about the hairpin and made things difficult for Ms. Sun for many days.
"Being with me, you've had to endure hardship."
Ms. Sun glanced at Yu Changhe and said, "Since you know, why didn't you ask your mother for that gold ingot yesterday?"
Yu Changhe lowered his head. "I mentioned it privately. Mother said she wanted to save it for Changyu's bride price and told me not to mention the gold in front of the village chief."
"She tells you not to mention it, and you comply. You're really obedient!"
Yu Changhe continued, "Mother said if I brought it up, she'd kick us out."
"Then let her kick us out. That gold ingot is worth dozens of taels of silver. With that silver, surely we wouldn't lack a place to stay?"
The gold ingot was found with Yu Xiaolian when Yu Changhe picked her up. It weighed a full ten taels. If exchanged for silver, that would be a hundred taels. Yet, Yu Changhe didn't even argue with Old Lady Yu over it.
Although he was separated from them, he hadn't left the family. If he truly broke ties with his mother over that gold, leaving home would mean severing ties completely.
He didn't want that.
Yu Changhe knew he was at fault, so he bowed his head and tidied up the surrounding wooden scraps, not responding to Ms. Sun anymore.
In his heart, he still sided more with his mother, which made Ms. Sun naturally upset.
Seeing Yu Changhe remain silent, Ms. Sun didn't bother with him further. She adjusted her mood and began tidying up the kitchen, setting planks to place the bought spices on.
After some thought, she put them away again.
The shelter could only block some wind and wasn't secure. If it rained, the spices would become unusable.
It seemed she would have to temporarily store the spices inside the house and fetch them each time they cooked.
However, given their current situation, all they could do was stir-fry some wild vegetables; nothing else was available. As for the vegetables in the garden, Old Lady Yu wouldn't allow them to pick and eat them freely.
Yu Xiaolian had a thin, watery rice porridge for breakfast and then accompanied Ms. Sun to town. By now, her stomach was long empty.
The aroma of food being cooked by Ms. Cao wafted over, and Yu Xiaolian's stomach growled loudly without control.
Hearing Yu Xiaolian's stomach growl, Ms. Sun said, "Go get some firewood. I want to render some lard and test if this pot cooks well?"
Yu Xiaolian looked up at the sun; it was only noon. Ms. Sun had mentioned yesterday they would only eat two meals a day, and dinner should be later.
Sun shouldn't be cooking so early. Knowing Ms. Sun is tough-talking but soft-hearted, she picked up an empty little basket and said, "Mom, I feel like having wild vegetables today. I'll go dig some up, and you can cook later."
Ms. Sun looked at Yu Xiaolian quizzically, feeling she was somewhat different than before. Previously, due to Ms. Sun's growing indifference, Yu Xiaolian hadn't called her mom for a long time.
But today, Yu Xiaolian had called her mom several times, in a warm and affectionate tone.
"Be careful, then. Hurry and come back. Don't head east of the forest. There are many traps dug by Jiang the Hunter there, and you might fall into one." Ms. Sun softened her tone, went back indoors, carrying the small spice packages.
Yu Xiaolian picked up the small basket, carrying a dull vegetable digging knife, and headed toward the hills behind River Bay.
Although the back hills weren't large, they were continuous, forming a sizable stretch overall.
The locals of the village usually only wandered around the nearest hilltop, rarely wanting to venture to the second mountain.
Right now, it was midsummer, with lush water grasses. Yu Xiaolian thought wild vegetables should be everywhere. However, under the blazing sun, she searched for a long time at the foot of the mountain and managed to find only a few scattered wild vegetables, suggesting the nearby ones were already picked clean by the villagers.
Looking at the paltry amount of wild vegetables in her basket, not enough for the three of them, Yu Xiaolian felt embarrassed to return with so little.
She looked up at the lush, verdant mountains, thinking there should be more in the forest.
Made up her mind, Yu Xiaolian followed the dirt trail up the mountain into the woods.
Once she entered the thick forest, not only did the wild vegetables become more abundant, but the sun couldn't reach her. Yu Xiaolian happily began digging up wild vegetables, thinking of the two jars of pickles Ms. Sun wanted to make, deciding she needed to dig more.
After collecting a full basket of wild vegetables at the edge of the dense forest, Yu Xiaolian realized she had been out for quite a while.
She was about to head down when she caught a glimpse of some white mushrooms. Overjoyed, Yu Xiaolian knew these mushrooms were precious; if not picked today, someone else might grab them next time.
Moreover, these white mushrooms were delicious. Without much hesitation, Yu Xiaolian dumped some wild vegetables from her basket to make room for the mushrooms.
Perhaps because it had rained recently, these mushrooms had just emerged and weren't very big yet, each a small clump, making them relatively cumbersome to pick.
Nevertheless, Yu Xiaolian busily collected them, basket in hand, one by one.
It wasn't until she heard strange animal calls nearby that she realized the mushrooms had led her to the depths of the forest.
Knowing it wasn't safe in the deep forest, she dared not venture further and quickly turned to retrace her steps.
However, after a few steps, she stepped into emptiness and fell into a hunting trap.
Yu Xiaolian fell flat on her back, spilling wild vegetables and mushrooms everywhere.
Fortunately, there were no spikes in this pit; otherwise, her life might have ended here.
The pit was nearly three meters deep, and Yu Xiaolian started to panic. Knowing it was impossible for anyone to be in the dense forest, she had to call out loudly for help, "Help... help... is anyone there?"
She shouted for a long time, watching as the light grew dimmer without anyone coming.
If this continued, night would fall. The canopy already blocked much of the light, and soon she'd have to spend the night there.
Yu Xiaolian found her vegetable knife and began digging footholds into the pit wall. Since no one was coming, she had to rely on herself.
Just after making two footholds, Yu Xiaolian felt the dim light above grow even weaker. She stopped digging and looked up.
There was a person peering down at her. With the light behind them, she couldn't make out the person's face.
Regardless of who it was, she was saved. "Help!"
"Did you break my trap?"
The person asked coldly, and Yu Xiaolian could hear the displeasure in their voice but tried to explain, "It wasn't intentional. I accidentally fell in."
I haven't even brought up falling into the pit yet, and you're already unhappy?