Although she didn’t look toward Fu Yasong, Zhao Shiyu could still sense from the corner of her eye that he was secretly staring at her. But as they left the tea stall and the distance between them grew, she could no longer hear his inner thoughts.
Zhao Shiyu didn’t pay it much mind.
Though he was clearly someone who had been reborn, judging by his thoughts, he actually knew very little about her situation.
She had no idea what had triggered his rebirth, but it was highly unlikely to have anything to do with her.
Besides, with Madam Jiang right beside her, it wasn’t convenient for her to linger there any longer.
The two walked onto the main road, preparing to head home on foot, when they saw an ox cart approaching from the road leading out of Qingshui Town.
Madam Jiang hurried over to ask about its route. Once she confirmed it would pass by the mountain path leading to Zhao Family Village, she quickly paid for two fares and waved Zhao Shiyu aboard.
After getting off at the fork leading into the mountain trail, mother and daughter continued home one after the other.
As they walked, Zhao Shiyu began discussing things with her mother.
“Mother, from now on, when I go up the mountain to gather medicinal herbs, you’ll need to help cover for me. Don’t let Grandma keep catching me and scolding me. Whatever money I make from selling the herbs, we’ll split it fifty-fifty.”
“Fine,” Madam Jiang agreed readily. “But you have to promise me one thing—you’re only allowed to wander around the outer edges of the mountain. You are absolutely not to go deeper inside. Otherwise, forget your grandmother—even I won’t allow you to keep going up there. Do you hear me?”
Naturally, Madam Jiang agreed without hesitation.
Her daughter was now capable of bringing income to their second branch of the family, and half of that money would go directly into her own pocket. What was there to be dissatisfied about?
And judging from her youngest daughter’s behavior today, any money that landed in the girl’s hands would just end up exchanged for food and stuffed into everyone’s stomachs.
At least the benefits weren’t going to outsiders.
Maybe she, her husband, and the older brothers and sisters would all get to enjoy some of it too.
After all, the siblings in their family had always gotten along well. Little Seventh wasn’t the type to hog all the good things for herself.
Still, some warnings had to be repeated several times.
The child was young, and she might not fully understand the dangers lurking deep in the mountains.
Making money was important, yes—but not at the cost of her life.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, her younger daughter spoke again.
“And Eighth Sister, Shiying—you need to help me with her too, Mother. She’s like a little shadow, always sticking to me wherever I go. Even this time, I had to go through a lot of trouble to avoid her just to hide these herbs.
From now on, when I leave the house, help stop Zhao Shiying. Wait until I’m gone before letting her out.”
“Of course. I noticed long ago that that little girl is no good,” Madam Jiang said immediately. “She’s got more schemes than holes in a sieve. If she were plotting against outsiders, I might not say anything. But scheming against her own sisters? Just look at how she acted this morning—it’s disgusting to watch. I can’t stand people like that.”
“Exactly. I’m already so fed up with her,” Zhao Shiyu complained. “She talks prettier than anyone, but all she really wants is to take whatever I get for herself. Does she really think no one can see through that?”
“When you get down to it, she’s just like her mother,” Madam Jiang sneered. “Both of them are the type who can’t bear seeing others do well because their own lives are miserable. They’d rather everyone in the world live worse than they do. As if they have the fate for that!”
It was obvious Madam Jiang had been harboring resentment toward Madam Yan for a very long time.
Mother and daughter traded complaints back and forth, denouncing Zhao Shiying and Madam Yan as they walked.
Oddly enough, the atmosphere was rather harmonious.
When they reached the foot of the mountain near Zhao Family Village, Madam Jiang suddenly remembered what she’d said before leaving home that morning.
She stopped and turned to Zhao Shiyu.
“Little Seventh, it’s still early. Let’s dig some wild vegetables before heading back.”
“Alright.”
Zhao Shiyu naturally agreed.
It was the perfect opportunity to see if she might stumble upon Paris polyphylla or white flower snake-tongue grass.
Unfortunately, this area had already been trampled over countless times.
Even if there were medicinal herbs here, they’d only be the cheap, common kinds. There was no chance of finding anything so valuable.
After scanning the area and finding nothing, she focused on digging wild vegetables alongside her mother.
Working together made things go quickly.
Before Zhao Shiyu knew it, their basket was already nearly half full.
Though, to be fair, most of it had been dug up by Madam Jiang.
Madam Jiang weighed the basket in her hands.
“That’s enough for today. This should be plenty for everyone’s dinner tonight—”
Before she could finish speaking, a rabbit suddenly shot out from the grass ahead.
It froze for a brief moment, staring straight at mother and daughter.
They locked eyes for two seconds.
Then it turned and bolted.
Madam Jiang immediately gave chase, but after only a few steps, Zhao Shiyu called out to stop her.
“Mother, you won’t catch it. Rabbits are too fast. You need to set traps ahead of time or find their burrow.”
“Ah, what a waste,” Madam Jiang sighed bitterly. “That was meat! Even if we couldn’t sell it, eating it ourselves would’ve been good.”
She was full of regret.
The last two rabbits Zhao Shiyu had caught had been by first locating their burrow.
She’d blocked the main entrance, then searched the surrounding area until she found two more exits and blocked those as well.
After confirming there were no other openings, she reopened one entrance and secured her basket there.
Then she lit a fire at another opening, smoking the rabbits out.
Otherwise, with how agile rabbits were, catching them by hand was nearly impossible.
Though disappointed, Madam Jiang understood this well enough and didn’t dwell on it.
Mother and daughter headed home.
Before they even reached the front gate, they saw someone sitting on the large bluestone outside.
Looking closer, who else could it be but Zhao Shiying?
Thinking back to everything her daughter had said about this niece during their walk, Madam Jiang shot the girl a look of disgust.
Then she noticed Zhao Shiying’s eyes fixed intently on something.
Following her line of sight, Madam Jiang realized she was staring at her younger daughter.
More precisely, she was staring at the bundle hanging from Zhao Shiyu’s chest.
How shallow.
Madam Jiang’s heart filled with disdain.
She gave Zhao Shiyu a tug and shifted her own body to block Zhao Shiying’s view.
Only then did Zhao Shiying seem to snap back to herself.
“Seventh Sister, you’re back? What did you buy? Can I have a look?”
“Buy?” Madam Jiang immediately caught the trap in her wording.
“This isn’t something we bought. It’s snacks her grandmother and uncle’s family gave her—for the siblings to share. If you want some, have your mother take you back to your own grandmother’s house and ask for it.”
This little niece really was no good.
At such a young age, her scheming mind already had more holes than a sieve.
What did she mean by “buy”?
Wasn’t she subtly implying that Madam Jiang hadn’t actually returned to her maiden home?
If Madam Jiang had let her guard down and accidentally admitted the pastries were purchased, wouldn’t that have been a direct confession?
No wonder Little Seventh had complained about her.
“Second Aunt, I was only asking out of curiosity. I didn’t mean I wanted any. How could you say that about me?”
Tears welled in Zhao Shiying’s eyes as she looked at Madam Jiang.
Her face was full of grievance.
For a brief moment, Madam Jiang wavered, almost thinking she had misunderstood the girl’s intentions—
Until one sentence from her younger daughter snapped her back to her senses.