After the scuffle in front of the Lin family’s gate ended, the villagers returned to their homes. Grandma Lin closed the courtyard gate and went back to the kitchen, where she saw her two grandsons rummaging through the firewood, looking for something.
The head of the household had carried a bucket into the kitchen, but before she could see what was inside, he went out to wash Lin Yuhe.
“What treasure did you two dig up that even that shameless Chen Po-zi followed you all the way home?” Grandma Lin spat at the mention of Chen Po-zi.
When she saw what Lin Chang’an had uncovered, she asked, “What is this thing? It looks so familiar. Look at the mud caked on it.”
“My sister said it’s called something like a vegetable and that it’s edible.” At the mention of it being edible, Grandma Lin’s eyes lit up.
“Mother, let me comb your hair. That Chen Po-zi made such a mess of it,” said Mother Lin, coming over with a broken-toothed comb to fix Grandma Lin’s hair.
Although Grandma Lin usually wore patched clothes, she kept her hair neatly combed every day—so smooth that even a fly landing on it would slip.
“Alright, I’m not so old that I can’t move. I’ll do it myself. You go clean up the mess on the ground.”
Grandma Lin took the comb from her daughter-in-law and began giving instructions.
“Eldest, go fetch two buckets of water and wash all these things.”
“He girl, how do you eat this? Tell us how to prepare it, and we’ll do it.”
“Grandma, that Chen Po-zi is really awful. Look how much hair she pulled out,” Lin Yuhe said, feeling a pang of sympathy as she watched Grandma Lin comb out a clump of hair.
“Ah, it’s nothing. I didn’t lose out either. Didn’t your mother scratch her back? It’s all because of poverty. No one in the village is well-off.”
She paused for a moment. “You should avoid going to the village for a while, and don’t reveal your skill at making sugar. If anyone finds out, say your uncle learned it from someone outside.”
When Lin Yuhe had been fished out of the river, she had no breath left, and the villagers saw her lying in the yard. Now that she was awake and well, if anyone in the village harbored ill intentions, the family might not be able to protect her.
“He girl, your grandmother is right. If it comes to it, we can tell the villagers about the edible things we dug up.”
Grandpa Lin seemed to consider things more deeply. Today, Chen Po-zi had claimed that the Lin family’s girl was possessed by something unclean. He worried that someone might take those words to heart.
“I understand, Grandpa.”
“So, how do you eat this?” Grandpa Lin asked again.
“Grandpa, after washing it clean, it’s delicious whether steamed or boiled. You can even make lotus root starch with it.”
Steaming and boiling were straightforward, but no one knew how to eat it as powder. They’d wash it first and figure it out later.
“Sister, how do you eat this? It’s hard, cuts your mouth, and you can’t even bite it,” the two younger brothers said, carrying a basin over.
“Wash it clean first and let it sit in the basin to spit out the sand. We can eat it in a day or two,” Lin Yuhe said, though she remembered that field snails could be eaten even without spitting out the sand.
In her previous life, when she gathered field snails from the river, her mother would wash them clean, boil them in water, and then painstakingly pick out the meat from each snail, wash it again, and stir-fry it with seasonings.
The trouble now was that while they had the snails, they lacked the seasonings. She remembered that chili peppers existed in this era, but she hadn’t seen any in the kitchen.
“Mother, do we have chili peppers, ginger, star anise, or any other seasonings?”
Although Lin Yuhe was skilled in cooking, without ingredients at home, even the cleverest housewife couldn't make a meal without rice.
"Ginger we have at home, but we didn't go into the mountains to pick chili peppers," Mother Lin said upon hearing her daughter's request, grabbing a hoe and heading to the backyard vegetable garden.
"Sister, if you need chili peppers, Third Uncle's Wife has some. Brother Dazhu and I picked them together in the mountains. I'll go get them from Third Uncle's Wife's house," Changan said, dashing toward the southern end of the village.
But this still wasn't enough! Stir-frying river delicacies without a spice blend wouldn't do. She remembered reading in a book once that Sichuan pepper and star anise were traditionally used as medicinal herbs to dispel cold, reduce fever, and relieve pain.
"Changping, do you know which house in the west of the village the doctor who prescribed medicine for me last time lives in?"
"Sister, why are you looking for Doctor Qian? I know where he lives. Are you feeling unwell somewhere?" Changping was startled to hear Lin Yuhe wanted to find a doctor.
"I'm fine. I want to buy something from Doctor Qian. Take me there!"
After saying this, Lin Yuhe remembered she had no copper coins and would have to ask Grandma Lin for them, though she had forgotten she had just said she wouldn't go out recently.
Grandpa Lin, who was nearby, overheard. "He girl, you can't go. Let Changping buy it for you. Draw a picture of what you want to buy."
"Old woman, give Changping some copper coins."
Holding the copper coins and looking at the piece of paper in his hand, Changping was filled with doubt. He distinctly remembered his sister only knew a few characters—since when had she become so good at drawing?
Changping ran out of the house, still puzzled.
"Grandma, let's wash the snails clean and get them into the pot quickly," Lin Yuhe said. They still had to pick them out one by one, and time was tight! Besides, when Uncle Lin returned, the pot at home would be needed to boil sugar. The main issue was the lack of pots.
Seeing Mother Lin return from the backyard with some scallions, Lin Yuhe asked, "Mother, is the second crop of vegetables in our garden enough for pickling for the winter?"
"It should be enough. When there's time, I'll have your father turn over some more soil and sow some vegetable seeds. If I go to the back mountain a couple more times to dig for wild vegetables to supplement, it should suffice."
"Then, Mother, when you go to dig for vegetables, I'll go with you."
Lin Yuhe wanted to contribute a little to the family, but she didn't expect Grandma Lin to object.
"No, there aren't many wild vegetables on the back mountain. The whole village goes digging for them. As soon as a little green sprouts, it's picked. Wait for a day when I go to the forest to gather mushrooms with Grandma. Those are worth silver when dried."
To put it plainly, Grandma Lin didn’t want the villagers to see Lin Yuhe and gossip, as it would upset her precious granddaughter.
"That's right, that's right. We'll go gather mushrooms when it rains."
To be honest, Lin Yuhe didn’t really want to dig for wild vegetables—she wanted to see if there were any business opportunities.
It wasn’t until mid-afternoon that Uncle Lin returned. "Uncle, why are you back so late today? Where did you go to buy sugar powder?"
Pouring a bowl of cold boiled water for Uncle Lin, who had been tired all day, Lin Yuhe looked at his sweaty face and asked curiously.
It turned out Uncle Lin had gone to the neighboring town where they had suffered a loss the day before.
"He girl, I went to that town from yesterday. Sure enough, I guessed right—today, Cao’s Pastry Shop was selling sugar just like ours. But I secretly bought a little. See if it’s the same?"
Uncle Lin unwrapped the paper containing the sugar. Lin Yuhe picked up a piece, smiled slightly, and asked, "Uncle, can you tell the difference between their sugar and ours?"
"From the outside, the color isn’t as good. It’s not as clear and bright as ours. I tasted a piece—it seems the sugar was overcooked, a bit bitter and unpleasant, and it has residue."
Uncle Lin analyzed everything from the surface texture to the taste of the sugar in great detail.
"Giggle, giggle."
Hearing Lin Yuhe giggling, Uncle Lin felt a bit puzzled.
"Uncle, it's not that their sugar syrup was overcooked—there's a technique involved here. Do you remember I rendered out the sugar first before making the candy?"
So that was it. Now, looking at Lin Yuhe, Uncle Lin couldn't quite understand—how did this girl know such things?