Shen Youyou could only give up. Well, it seemed this was a cold, aloof system. Not something she could casually chat with.
Never mind. For now, the most important thing was to find the ten wild chicken eggs the system had mentioned. Ten was no small number—enough for the four of them to have three meals.
So Shen Youyou hurriedly stood up, leaving the wild vegetables unharvested for the moment, and began searching the surrounding area.
Seeing his sister pacing back and forth as if looking for something, Shen Nan asked curiously:
“Sis, what are you looking for? I still have plenty of wild vegetables here. Do you want to dig with me?”
Shen Youyou quickly declined:
“No, it’s fine. You dig yours. I’ll look for a fresher patch—tastier ones.”
“Oh, okay then.”
Hearing this, Shen Nan didn’t ask further and bent his head back to dig his own vegetables. His sister had said these vegetables were special, good for preventing sickness. He wanted to eat more too.
He was a boy, a real man in the making. When he grew up, he would protect his sister. He had to strengthen his body—otherwise, always relying on her would be embarrassing.
Thinking this, Shen Nan dug all the harder.
Meanwhile, after searching for a while, Shen Youyou finally spotted the ten wild chicken eggs beneath a large rock not far away. To avoid arousing suspicion, she called out to Shen Nan, feigning excitement:
“Nan Nan! Come here, I found something amazing!”
No sooner had she spoken than Shen Nan dropped his digging tools and ran toward her, his face full of excitement. He asked eagerly:
“Sis, what did you find? Where? Let me see!”
Shen Youyou pointed to the pile of eggs beside the rock and said:
“Nan Nan, look—are these edible?”
Shen Nan followed her pointing finger and saw the bright eggs lying in a small grass nest, highly conspicuous. His excitement surged. He ran over, touched and counted them, then shouted joyfully:
“Sis, there are ten wild chicken eggs! Amazing! Go grab the basket, we can use them to help Dad recover!”
Seeing Shen Nan so full of childish joy, a smile tugged at the corners of Shen Youyou’s lips. She quickly brought over the basket already filled with wild vegetables and set it in front of him.
Shen Nan, treating the eggs as if they were priceless treasures, gently placed all ten into the basket.
Standing up and brushing the grass off himself, Shen Youyou said:
“What great luck today. Let’s head home. We’ve already dug plenty of vegetables.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
And so, the siblings slowly made their way back home.
When they were almost there, Shen Youyou noticed that, even though they had only been gone for a morning, the thatched hut she had lived in before had changed in some ways.
The previously barren slope beside the hut had been cultivated by Li shi, likely to plant something. The makeshift stove near the door had been cleaned and organized, with many things neatly put in order.
It was beginning to feel like a home.
A long-lost warmth welled up in Shen Youyou’s heart. She could see that her mother was truly hardworking.
Unexpectedly, when they returned inside, Shen He—the injured one—wasn’t lying down either.
Seeing his daughter, Shen He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and said:
“Sitting around does me no good. My whole body is uncomfortable. I had your mother fetch some willow branches, and I’ve been weaving some small items. My leg is injured, but sitting here making things doesn’t hurt. Later, we can take them to the market and sell for a few coins. Every little bit helps—it might even buy some meat buns for you two.”
Shen Youyou was moved. She had only wanted to help, seeing how this family had been bullied by that evil old woman. She hadn’t expected such a simple, honest response from them.
At the same time, she couldn’t even tell whether this body was the apocalypse-era Shen Youyou or the ancient Shen Youyou.
They looked exactly alike, and she had no idea how it had happened.
But now, she sincerely wanted to care for them.
They were truly good people.
Though they currently had nothing, they hadn’t given up. Using their own hardworking hands, they were determined to make this home better and better.
Once home, Shen Nan snuck over to his parents and said mysteriously:
“Dad, Mom, look at this!”
As he spoke, he revealed the wild chicken eggs in the basket. On the way home, he had covered them with vegetables to avoid being seen. Although only their family and Mo Ge’s family lived on the mountain now, villagers from below often came up. It was safer to hide them.
Li shi was astonished, staring at the contents. “How are there so many eggs? Where did you get them? Nan Nan, we mustn’t take other people’s things!”
Seeing his mother concerned, Shen Nan hurriedly explained:
“Mom, we couldn’t have stolen them. Sis found these in the mountain—they must be wild chicken eggs. It just happened that we came across them. Sis is so lucky. We can use them to help Dad recover.”
Hearing that the eggs had been found, Li shi couldn’t believe it. She picked one up, examining it and exclaiming:
“Oh my! These wild chicken eggs are huge! Those chickens must be so fat! They’re almost like the ones we raise at home. Thank you, Youyou. I knew you were our family’s lucky star—not a jinx!”
Shen Youyou didn’t care much about titles or fame. Lucky star or jinx, it didn’t matter to her.
“Mom, put these eggs away. Tonight, we’ll fry some for Dad to help him recover.”
“Ah, okay.”
Li shi carefully placed the eggs into a small clay jar in the corner of the house. She hesitated a moment, looking at Shen Youyou as if she wanted to say something.
Shen Youyou noticed and asked plainly:
“Mom, what is it?”
“Youyou… this is what I was thinking. Can we give three of these eggs to Mo Ge? He brought us that bowl of chicken yesterday. Neighbors should help each other. Yesterday we didn’t have anything decent to return, but today we have these eggs. I want to give them three so his two kids can try them too.”
“Of course, Mom. You’re right. Neighbors should help each other—give and take.”
Shen Youyou hadn’t expected Li shi to think that way, and she agreed wholeheartedly. Naturally, she didn’t refuse.