Lin Yuhe accidentally discovered field snails in Father Lin’s bucket when he returned from the fields—the same kind she had eaten in her previous life. She remembered that when her family was still poor in her past life, she had also gathered and eaten snails from the river. Even now, she still fondly recalled that summer.
“Father, how many have you gathered?” Lin Yuhe worried that they might collect too many to finish eating.
“Sis, we’ve already filled a bucket. Since these are edible, let’s gather more so we can have some meat,” said her younger brother Changan, swallowing involuntarily at the thought of eating meat.
“Father, little brother, stop gathering snails. Come dig this up—it’s also edible.”
As soon as Lin Yuhe mentioned there was something else to eat, the father and son, their legs covered in mud, rushed over without even putting on their shoes.
“Where? Where? What is this?” Looking at the large lotus leaves nearby, Changan understood. “Oh, Sis, I get it—this is the root of the lotus flower.”
Little brother Changan immediately sought confirmation from Lin Yuhe.
“This is called lotus root, also known as lotus vegetable. The part underneath is edible and delicious no matter how you cook it. The weather here is relatively warm, so it’s just the right season to harvest lotus roots.”
Worried that no one had dug them up before, she added a special reminder, “Be careful not to let mud get into the lotus root segments.”
“Got it,” they replied, each digging more skillfully and quickly than she did.
Once Lin Yuhe said they were edible, the group stopped gathering snails. Each found a lotus leaf and dug downward along the stem. Even Grandpa Lin joined in.
They were so focused on digging that when Lin Yuhe finally looked up, she was surprised by the amount—the lotus root segments were quite plump. “Grandpa, stop digging. Hurry and wash the lotus roots—the bucket is almost full.”
Grandpa Lin also noticed. “Eldest son, stop digging. Fill in the holes we just dug. Tomorrow, we’ll take the children to dig farther away.”
This area was close to the fertile fields. If the villagers found out these were edible, the entire ditch would be cleared out in no time, and even the snails would be gathered without a trace.
Lin Yuhe wanted to say that their family couldn’t possibly finish digging them all—there were too many, and they didn’t belong to their family anyway. It would be good to let the villagers who couldn’t afford food come and dig some too.
They had only brought two buckets from home. One was already filled with snails, and the lotus roots simply wouldn’t fit.
“Eldest son, pour all the snails out of the bucket. Yuhe said it’s fine as long as the lotus root segments aren’t muddy. Break the lotus roots at the nodes, place them at the bottom of the bucket, and cover them with the washed field snails. Hide the remaining lotus roots in our family’s field.”
The family’s elder was indeed clever—this way, no one would notice. However, Grandpa Lin’s next words left Lin Yuhe both amused and exasperated.
“Fill both buckets, and we’ll take turns carrying them home. You two little ones can carry one bucket together,” he said, glancing at Lin Yuhe and adding, “Forget about Yuhe.”
“If we meet anyone from the village on the way, say we gathered the snails to feed the ducks. That’s how everyone in the village feeds them anyway.”
Hearing Grandpa Lin’s words, Lin Yuhe recalled a saying from her previous life: when people take leftovers home from a feast, if no one asks, it’s fine; if someone asks, they say they’re taking them home to feed the dogs.
In their case, they were gathering field snails to eat, not to feed ducks.
When the two younger brothers returned after hiding the remaining lotus roots, they asked, “Grandpa, should I come back later with a shoulder pole to carry them home?”
“What’s the rush? We can come back to get them when no one’s around tonight. You two need to stay calm,” Grandpa Lin said, picking up a bucket and heading home first.
Father Lin followed closely behind, with the two younger ones trailing after him. Seeing them all leaving, Lin Yuhe hurried after them, calling out, "Dad, Grandpa, your shoes! Put your shoes on first!"
"Our feet are covered in mud, you carry them!"
Only Lin Yuhe had empty hands, holding their straw sandals as she followed behind.
She herself wore the small cloth shoes Mother Lin had made for her, now so caked in mud that their original color was unrecognizable, her feet slipping with every step.
"Uncle Lin, what are you all up to? Covered in mud like this, and what's in that bucket? Looks heavy."
A village aunt known for her greed stared eagerly into the bucket.
"Oh, it's Auntie Chen! We were just picking some snails from the ditch to feed the ducks. There are plenty more over there! If your family wants some, go pick them yourselves!"
Grandpa Lin deliberately swung the bucket in front of Auntie Chen.
"So it's just these worthless snails. I thought it was something good!" she said, twisting her waist and rolling her eyes before walking away.
Thankfully, their home was at the easternmost edge of the village, so they only ran into one person. If they lived in the center, they'd have had to explain themselves all the way home—picking snails to feed the ducks.
As they neared the gate of their fenced courtyard, Grandpa Lin instructed, "Keep your voices down when we get home. Don't let the whole village know we've found something to eat."
"Understood, Dad," "Understood, Grandpa."
Grandma Lin opened the gate to the fenced courtyard and peeked out, noticing Old Lady Chen not far from their house, peering in their direction.
She shut the gate and spat, "Pah!" Grandma Lin despised those who gossiped for no reason and couldn't stand to see others doing well.
The clever younger brothers carried the bucket straight into the kitchen.
Seeing Lin Yuhe, who had left the house clean but returned covered in mud, Grandma Lin began to scold, "You, a grown daughter, with so many men in the house—just picking a few field snails, did you really need to go? Look at the mud on your little face."
"Changan, Changping, go fetch two buckets of water from the river for your sister to wash up," Grandma Lin called loudly to her grandsons, who were still in the kitchen.
"Understood, Grandma."
"Here's a basin of water. Wash your face first—look at all that mud," Mother Lin said, heart aching for her daughter as she brought over a basin of water.
"Oh my, look at this basin of muddy water!"
As Lin Yuhe bent to wash her face, she seemed to catch movement through a gap in the fenced courtyard. Her eyes sparkled with amusement.
While bowing her head, she gave Grandma Lin a meaningful glance. The clever Grandma Lin immediately understood, picked up the basin of muddy wash water, and with both hands flung it outward. "Ah—Yulan, you wretched woman! You splashed water all over me! Today, I'll fight you to the death!"
"Chen Cuihua, you're the wretched one! Who do you think you are, calling yourself 'old lady'? You're decades old, sneaking around peeping through people's gates! Today, I'll tear you apart!"
Grandma Lin was no pushover either. She flung open the gate to the fenced courtyard, rushed out, and grabbed Old Lady Chen by the hair.
"You vile woman! Even when you were young, you used to sneak peeks at my house. After all these years, you still haven't had enough of ogling my husband?"
Lin Yuhe's eyes widened in shock. What was going on? How did the gossip end up involving her own grandpa?
She glanced at Grandpa Lin, whose thin-skinned face was indeed flushed red all the way to his neck. "What nonsense are you spouting? Pull your mother away, now!"
Before Mother Lin could intervene, villagers nearby began shouting, "A fight! The women from the Lin and Chen families are fighting!"
Whoosh! In the heat of midday, with everyone still at home and not yet out in the fields, there was another spectacle to watch. Villagers gathered in circle after circle.
Someone from the Chen family had also arrived. As soon as her daughter-in-law saw her mother-in-law being pinned down and beaten by Grandma Lin, she rushed forward.
"I say, Little Chen, you'd better stay right where you are, or we'll have a fight ourselves," Mother Lin said, hands on her hips, blocking Little Chen's path.