Mountain Spirit Eyes 1983

In the autumn of 1983, three months after his father's death, the family's blue mule was led out of its pen. Selling it could pay off a debt; keeping it meant a way forward for the family. Chen Shan grabbed the reins back. With eight days left before the debt was due, he had to find sixty yuan from the mountains others had picked over. Unexpectedly, after releasing an injured white fox, he could see faint glimmers floating among leaves and pinecones. What shone wasn't necessarily valuable, and what he found couldn't always be brought back. Chen Shan had to know his goods, trek the mountain paths, and get buyers to pay up willingly. First, he'd keep his mother from adding a third ladle of water to the porridge, and get his siblings a taste of meat. Then, he'd harness the cart his father left behind and haul the mountain goods from Baishi Ridge out, trip after trip. — Description from novelcodex.org