Zhao Yaoyao put down the basket in her hand and leaned over to look, only to see Shen Shuyu covered in mud, curled up in pain inside a pit down below.
Shen Shuyu looked up in a panic at the person standing above. After all, she was only a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl who couldn’t handle being scared. Without a shred of hesitation, she cried out for help to the other person, “Save me, please save me!”
Yet the other person simply glanced at her and turned away to leave.
“Sob, help, someone come and save me…”
She tried testing her foot with a tentative move, and the pain made her gasp sharply.
Just then, when she turned her head, a black-and-red-banded snake was slowly slithering toward her with its tongue flickering.
“Don’t come closer, sob… help!”
Since she was little, snakes were the thing she feared most in the world, and yet at this moment, she couldn’t even move away.
“Zhao Yaoyao, you cold-blooded, poisonous woman, standing by and watching someone die without helping—sob…”
Thud!
A stone came flying through the air with a whoosh, landing squarely on the snake’s body.
Twisting in pain, the snake quickly altered its direction and sped away.
Zhao Yaoyao reappeared at the edge of the pit. She tied a vine securely around a tree trunk, fastened the other end tightly around her own waist, and slowly lowered herself down toward the pit.
Shen Shuyu’s tear tracks were still wet on her face, and she swallowed back the curses that had been on the verge of slipping out.
Zhao Yaoyao used the remaining length of the vine to tie the two of them together, then began climbing upward with great effort.
The soil had been thoroughly washed through by the rain and was extremely slippery now. She used clever momentum and balance for every single step, but unfortunately, her useless body refused to cooperate; halfway up, she started panting frantically, feeling dizzy, with her heart racing so fast it felt like she might pass out on the spot.
Adjusting her breathing, she clenched her teeth and made it all the way up in one go.
This body was truly awful!
Taking large, ragged gasps of air, she heard a concerned voice by her ear: “Are you okay?”
Like a child who had done something wrong, Shen Shuyu cautiously watched her.
Zhao Yaoyao didn’t speak. Feeling a sudden rush of sweet copper in her throat, she spat out a mouthful of blood.
Looking at the bright red blood, Zhao Yaoyao gazed up helplessly at the sky.
Heavens, you didn’t have to go this far!
She quickly flipped through the medicinal herbs in her basket, picked out a few varieties known for replenishing Qi and blood, and shoved them straight into her mouth. Only after swallowing them did her body slowly recover some strength.
Wiping away the blood at the corner of her mouth, she noticed that the person opposite her had been scared silly. She offered words of comfort: “It’s fine now, let’s head back.”
Shen Shuyu tried to support her, but the moment she stood up, her foot throbbed with excruciating pain.
In the end, it was Zhao Yaoyao who supported her. When passing by the foot of the mountain, Zhao Yaoyao told her to wait by a tree for a moment: “The mushrooms here are growing quite nicely. I’ll pick some to take back.”
Shen Shuyu tried to talk her out of it: “Some of those are poisonous; eating them will get people killed, so you’d better not. When we get back, I can borrow a bit of rice from my second aunt’s house to scrape by for a few meals.”
The Shen family had three children in total. When Shen Hai became paralyzed, the second older brother’s family had proposed splitting the household. Usually, whenever grain ran short, they would go borrow a little from his house and double-repay it whenever they had money.
Because nobody else had been picking them, mushrooms covered the ground. Zhao Yaoyao harvested half a small basket, pressed them down underneath the medicinal herbs, and supported Shen Shuyu as they walked back.
With a injured foot making their pace slow, they limped all the way home just as it reached midday.
She had Shen Shuyu sit down in a chair, took off her shoes and socks, and—lacking acupuncture needles—used her bare hands to massage and disperse the pooled bruising. Otherwise, the foot would swell up like a pig’s trotter by tomorrow. If she had silver needles, a single prick would have restored it to normal instantly.
“Ah!”
Before Shen Shuyu could react, a sharp surge of pain washed over her, making her wail to the heavens and earth.
Hearing her daughter’s cries, Li Mei rushed out at the very first moment, still holding Shen Hai’s freshly urine-soaked trousers in her hands.
“Aiya, Xingshu’s wife! What on earth are you doing? No matter how upset you are in your heart, you can’t lay a vicious hand on your own sister-in-law! Let her go right now!”
She usually didn’t interfere no matter how much fuss was kicked up, but things had crossed the line into physical violence against her daughter, which she couldn’t ignore!
Seeing that Zhao Yaoyao still hadn’t let go, Li Mei stepped forward and pushed her.
Stumbling, Zhao Yaoyao collapsed onto the ground. Shen Shuyu hurriedly rushed to explain, “Mom, it’s just that I sprained my ankle, and she was massaging it for me. My foot doesn’t even hurt anymore now.”
Wiggling her somewhat swollen ankle, she cast a slightly guilty look toward Zhao Yaoyao on the floor, her heart filled with genuine gratitude that the other woman hadn’t abandoned her behind.
Li Mei froze in place, then hastily reached out to help pull her up.
Being an inherently kind-hearted person, a wave of guilt instantly swept over her: “Eldest son’s wife, I didn’t mean to do that. Hurry up and get up.”
Zhao Yaoyao didn’t hold it against her either, simply turning to tell Shen Shuyu, “The stagnant blood has been dispersed, so walking won’t be a problem.”
Shen Shuyu tried taking a few steps and discovered it really didn’t hurt as much anymore. This technique was even more miraculous than the village’s local barefoot doctor!
“Since you’re fine, I’ll head back to my room first.”
Carrying her basket, Zhao Yaoyao walked into the room. She first took out the mushrooms, then picked and sorted through the basket of medicinal herbs. It was too late to go to town today; she would have to make a trip there tomorrow to see how much money they could fetch.
Those mushrooms looked fresh indeed—they just needed an old hen to stew together with them.
Thinking of a rich, fragrant old hen soup, her cravings started acting up again.
This frail, sickly body of hers desperately needed nourishment, too.
Touching her earring by habit, she unclasped it and found it was crafted from pure silver. That should be worth a couple of bucks, at least enough to trade for a few old hens without any problem.
This pair of earrings had been bought at the department store for fifty yuan back when Shen Shuxing received his very first military allowance, all so she could dress up to go see that scumbag.
Holding the earrings, she stepped out the door and headed toward the household nearby that raised the largest number of chickens, planning to pick out a few good ones to bring back and raise.
Standing at the doorway to observe, the person eating inside put down their bowls and chopsticks, scurrying over with quick, mincing steps. Her mouth spoke polite pleasantries, but her eyes were full of mockery: “What kind of wind blew you over here today? You usually wouldn’t even deign to look at people straight, and yet today you’re actually lingering right at my doorstep without leaving—how rare!”
Because of the original owner’s sensitive and suspicious personality, she had always kept to herself in the village, constantly feeling like people were gossiping behind her back and looking down on her, which led her to look down on everyone else equally.
Whenever well-meaning villagers greeted her, she acted as though she hadn’t seen them at all, holding her head high and refusing to bestow even a single glance upon anyone.
“I came by to trade you for a few things!” Zhao Yaoyao stated her purpose straight away. “Look at this pair of earrings—how many old hens can these exchange for?”
Under the sunlight, the finely crafted pair of silver earrings emitted a silvery-white gleam, instantly capturing Ma Xiaolian’s attention.
Even as her mouth muttered that she felt embarrassed, her hands had already reached out to grab them: “Wouldn’t this be a bit much?”
“There’s no rice left in the pot at home, and I want to improve the family’s meals a bit, so I came over to trade for some food.”
Zhao Yaoyao spoke with total ease and frankness, completely devoid of any sense of shame, a faint smile resting upon her pale little face.
“Since you put it that way, your older sister here won’t rip you off. I’ll give you half a bag of rice and pick out three old hens for you—how’s that?”
Zhao Yaoyao knew the other party was taking advantage of her. After all, old hens in this era only cost two or three yuan; three old hens valued at ten yuan, combined with rice at twenty cents per catty where half a bag was only ten catties (costing two yuan), brought the total to just a little over ten yuan.
“Xiaolian sister, I see you’ve raised several sheep over at your place. Why not throw one in? Add that to what you just mentioned, and this pair of earrings is all yours.”
“These were bought at the department store, and they cost fifty yuan when I bought them. If the family weren’t completely out of rice to cook with, I wouldn’t be selling them either.”
Zhao Yaoyao said it with a light, breezy tone.
She wasn’t worried that the other party would refuse. Even if she took away a sheep, the other woman would still be making a profit—just slightly less of a profit than a moment ago.