“Alright, it’s just a small matter. Leave it to Uncle Wang—no problem at all. Let’s set off now, or the ox cart will leave soon if we’re late,” Uncle Wang said, patting his chest in assurance.
Liu Qingyan quickly wrapped the remaining copper coins carefully in a cloth pouch and handed them to Qingyi.
Xiaoyu looked at Liu Qingyan and said, “Qingyan, I’ll go to your house to find Qingyou. We’ll go up the mountain to dig wild vegetables together.”
“Alright, let’s go together then. I should head home as well,” Liu Qingyan replied.
She then said goodbye to Aunt Wang, “Aunt Wang, I’m leaving.”
With that, she linked arms familiarly with Xiaoyu and returned home. Xiaoyu took Qingyou with her to the mountain to dig wild vegetables, while Liu Qingyan stayed home alone.
At that moment, Doctor Song arrived again.
He said with concern, “Ah, I’m here to change your dressing.”
Carefully, he unwrapped the bandages and examined the wound closely, then exclaimed in surprise, “Girl, you recover incredibly fast! You won’t need another dressing change tomorrow. The wound has healed very well. Let me check your pulse again.”
Liu Qingyan extended her hand.
After taking her pulse, Doctor Song looked puzzled and said, “Girl, in all my years of practicing medicine, you are the fastest recovering patient I’ve ever seen.
Logically speaking, your family conditions aren’t good and you don’t have any nutritious supplements—so how are you recovering so quickly?”
“It must be that the heavens are taking pity on me, hehe,” Liu Qingyan replied lightly. She understood clearly that it was all due to the spirit spring water.
“Doctor Song, do I still need to take the herbal medicine today?” she asked.
“The medicine is already prepared. Drink it today to consolidate your recovery. Starting tomorrow, you won’t need medicine anymore, and I won’t need to come either. Just rest well and recover slowly,” Doctor Song instructed patiently.
“Thank you so much, Doctor Song. Please take care on your way,” Liu Qingyan said gratefully.
Before going up the mountain, Qingyou had already brewed the medicine for her sister and left it warming on the small stove.
Looking at the dark, unappealing bowl of medicine, Liu Qingyan hesitated—but then thought that it would be a waste not to drink it.
So she pinched her nose and gulped it down in two swallows. She then rinsed her mouth several times before finally feeling slightly better.
Since she had nothing else to do, she took out some mung beans and carefully began sorting them.
She meticulously picked out the bad, shriveled beans and those with insect holes, keeping only the good ones. She planned to sprout mung bean sprouts once Qingyi brought back the wooden basin.
After finishing, she felt a wave of sleepiness—she hadn’t slept well the previous night.
So she lay down on the old wooden bed and took another nap.
Qingyi and Uncle Wang went to town to buy things, and Qingyi even paid for the round-trip ox cart fare.
Old Grandpa Wang saw that the water jar they bought was very heavy. Upon learning it was purchased by the three children of the Liu family, he kindly helped deliver it to their home.
Grandpa Wang made his living driving an ox cart to transport passengers. His family was not wealthy—he had two sons and one daughter, all of whom were already married.
Since his sons could handle the farm work, he bought an ox cart and supplemented the family income by ferrying people.
He was honest, kind, and warm-hearted, and whenever he saw the lonely children, he would help whenever he could.
It had to be said that most villagers in Nangang Village were simple and kind-hearted, though there were also a few troublemakers and rogues.
Uncle Wang struggled quite a bit to move the large water jar into the house.
Liu Qingyan had already heard the noise outside and came out to greet them, saying gratefully, “Uncle Wang, thank you so much! You’ve really helped us a lot.”
“Don’t be so polite, it was just a bit of effort. Alright then, I’ll head back,” Uncle Wang said with a smile.
Qingyi hurried out to see him off.
Looking at the newly bought water jar, bucket, and wooden basin, Liu Qingyan felt indescribably happy.
Their home finally felt like a real home—warm and complete.
“Qingyi, let’s wash the water jar and bucket,” she said.
“I’ll do it myself, sister. Your injury isn’t fully healed yet,” Qingyi said worriedly.
“I’m much better today. Doctor Song already said I don’t need medicine or dressings anymore. It’s fine now.
The jar is quite heavy—you can’t handle it alone. We’ll do it together,” she insisted.
The siblings worked together and thoroughly washed both the jar and the bucket twice.
After that, they ran out of water at home, so the two of them went to the river and carried back four buckets of water, finally filling the large jar.
At that time, Qingyou also returned from the mountain with a basket full of fresh wild vegetables.
Seeing the new water jar at home, she was extremely excited. Now they could store more water and no longer worry about shortages.
The water jar was a major purchase for the family, costing 200 wen. Together with the wooden basin and bucket, the one tael of silver they once had was now reduced to only 50 wen.
Qingyi handed the remaining 50 wen to Liu Qingyan and said a little sadly, “We spent that one tael of silver so quickly… now there’s so little left.”
Seeing the boy’s downcast expression, Liu Qingyan quickly comforted him, “Don’t worry, second brother. I’m here. Come, I’ll teach you and your sister how to sprout mung beans.
If this sells well in the future, our siblings will be able to live better lives and never worry about food again.”
The two children had never heard of bean sprouting before, and immediately looked at her with curiosity, eagerly helping her.
Although Liu Qingyan had never personally sprouted beans before, she had seen her mother do it in her past life, and her mother had explained the process in detail.
She especially loved mung bean sprouts—when stir-fried, they tasted incredibly fresh and delicious.
Homemade sprouts tasted far better than those sold outside, so she remembered the method very clearly.
The first step was to wash the mung beans thoroughly and soak them in water overnight.
They had never heard of mung bean sprouts being sold in town or the village.
They had even asked Uncle Wang, Aunt Wang, and even the village chief’s family, but no one had heard of them. This meant mung bean sprouts didn’t exist in this era yet—clearly a business opportunity.
However, bean sprouting takes about five to six days, so they couldn’t just sit idle.
Liu Qingyan asked, “Qingyou, is Xiaoyu still going up the mountain to dig wild vegetables tomorrow?”
“Yes, Sister. Xiaoyu is going, and Tieniu-ge will also go,” Qingyou replied.
“Alright, I’ll go to the mountain tomorrow too. We’ll go together. Qingyi, you’ll be in charge of gathering firewood.”
“Sister, your injury isn’t healed yet—don’t go to the mountain,” Qingyi said worriedly.
“I’m fine now. I’m much better. Doctor Song said I recover quickly and I’m already okay.”
That night, Liu Qingyan made dumpling-style soup with coarse flour and added fresh wild vegetables inside.
It tasted much better than plain coarse grain porridge and was no longer hard to swallow.
The three children all ate until they were full. They had never been able to eat their fill before, so the feeling of being full was incredibly wonderful—no longer worrying about waking up hungry in the middle of the night.