The girl was momentarily speechless from Ye Qing’s retort and immediately became agitated. Pointing at the persimmon trees, she shrieked,
“Those are ours! I found this place two days ago! If the persimmons hadn’t been so astringent and impossible to eat back then, I would’ve picked them all clean already! If I hadn’t held back, would it be your turn to sneak here and steal them?”
As she spoke, tears began streaming down her face.
“Give us back our persimmons! We worked so hard to find this food! During a famine, every grain of food is precious. How can you be so shameless and steal our things?”
The way she said it made it sound as though Ye Qing were some unforgivable thief who had stolen their lifeline.
Ye Qing was so angry that she laughed.
She had seen people falsely accuse others before, but never anyone this shameless!
Could the trees growing in this barren mountain really become that girl’s private property?
Just as Ye Qing was about to reason with her, the young man standing behind the girl suddenly spoke.
He was about a head taller than her, around seventeen or eighteen years old, with delicate features, though his complexion was poor.
He reached out and grabbed the girl, frowning as he scolded in a low voice, “Chunxing! Stop shouting!”
Being pulled back only made Chunxing feel more wronged. Twisting her body, she cried,
“Brother Yunsheng! Look at her! She stole our persimmons! We were saving them to share with our uncles and elders. Look how many she’s eaten! When my father and the others come back later, there definitely won’t be enough to go around!”
Ignoring Chunxing’s cries, Yunsheng simply looked at Ye Qing, his gaze filled with caution and scrutiny.
The paths deep in these mountains are nearly impossible to traverse. An ordinary person couldn’t get in here. This kid doesn’t look very old, yet he’s clean and carrying a knife. He definitely didn’t wander in by accident.
Either he’s exceptionally capable, or he has something to rely on. It’s best not to offend him lightly.
He released Chunxing’s arm, stepped forward, and cupped his hands toward Ye Qing.
“This little brother, Chunxing is young and spoke too harshly. Please don’t take it to heart.”
“To tell you the truth, we’re refugees as well. Our hometown was struck by disaster, and many people starved to death. We had no choice but to flee all the way into these mountains.”
After a pause, he pointed at the persimmon trees.
“Chunxing discovered these trees by chance a few days ago. At the time, the persimmons weren’t ripe yet—they were bitter and astringent, completely inedible. So we thought we’d wait a few more days for them to ripen and then pick them to fill our stomachs.”
“If you want to eat some, that’s actually fine. It’s just… we’ve been hungry for far too long. There are elderly people and children in our group, and they can barely hold on anymore.”
The moment he said this, Chunxing cried even harder, tears and snot covering her face.
“Brother Yunsheng! Why are you still speaking for her? Everyone in our group is starving! These persimmons are ours! Ours!”
With her arms crossed, Ye Qing watched the scene coldly and nearly burst out laughing.
Good grief. One playing the bad cop and the other the good cop—they really made quite the act.
Raising an eyebrow, she deliberately lifted the persimmon in her hand and took another huge bite right in front of Chunxing, smacking her lips loudly.
“Tsk, these persimmons are really sweet! You say they’re yours? Where’s your proof? Did you sign a deed for them? Or plant a boundary marker? Things in the mountains belong to whoever finds them. I picked them first, so they’re mine.”
Her words only added fuel to the fire.
Chunxing’s face turned red with anger as she jumped forward.
“Give them back! You thief! I’ll beat you to death!”
With a scream, Chunxing charged at her. Despite her thin frame, she moved like a spring, reaching directly for the persimmon in Ye Qing’s hand.
How could Ye Qing let her touch it?
With a flick of her wrist, she easily dodged and casually stepped back two paces, raising an eyebrow.
“What? Since you can’t win an argument, you’re resorting to force? Since when did the rules of the mountains become that whoever shouts the loudest is right?”
Chunxing missed completely. She stumbled and nearly fell flat on her face, but Yunsheng quickly caught her from behind.
Turning around, she cried,
“Brother Yunsheng! Look at her! She’s bullying me! Hurry and help me get them back!”
Yunsheng’s expression darkened further.
This skinny-looking kid moved with surprising agility. He definitely wasn’t an ordinary refugee.
Taking a deep breath and suppressing his unease, he spoke again, his voice carrying a hint of restraint.
“This little brother, everything can be discussed. We—”
“Discuss?”
Ye Qing interrupted him directly, waving the persimmon in her hand.
“Discuss me handing over all the persimmons I’ve picked to you? Or discuss me giving you these two persimmon trees?”
She let out a derisive laugh.
She couldn’t indulge this kind of shameless behavior.
“In these years of famine, who’s not suffering? Who doesn’t have it hard?”
Her voice grew colder.
“If I soften my heart today and give these things to you, then tomorrow won’t every stray cat and dog come and try to take my food? To put it bluntly, these persimmon trees grow here. You found them, and I found them too. Why should they belong to you?”
“I saw them first!” Chunxing shouted at the top of her lungs.
“I saw them days ago! If the persimmons had been ripe, I would’ve picked them already!”
“If seeing something first makes it yours?” Ye Qing laughed.
“Then let me tell you this: I saw the rabbits in these mountains yesterday. Does that mean every rabbit here belongs to me? I also saw the stream on the other side of the mountain. Should that stream take my surname too?”
Those words left Chunxing speechless.
Her little face turned bright red. Tears fell even faster, but she couldn’t say a single word in response.
Yunsheng’s lips moved as though he still wanted to say something, but Ye Qing gave him no chance.
“Besides…”
She pointed at the densely packed persimmons hanging from the trees.
“There are at least several hundred persimmons here. Even if you picked every single one, how many days could they feed your group? At most, it’d be one full meal.”
“Instead of arguing with me here, you’d be better off finding more food. That’s a lot more useful than acting like a shameless moocher.”
Chunxing had been completely defeated and could only turn to Yunsheng with tearful eyes.
“Brother Yunsheng…”
Yunsheng’s brows knitted tightly together. He looked at Ye Qing, then at the pitiful, crying Chunxing, his heart filled with conflicting emotions.
He knew Chunxing had no reason on her side.
But the elderly and children in their group hadn’t had a full meal in days.
To them, these persimmons were life-saving food.
He gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and bowed deeply to Ye Qing.
“This little brother, I know we’re in the wrong. But I beg you… could you… could you share some of the persimmons with us? We…”
His voice grew softer and softer until he finally lowered his head, not daring to meet Ye Qing’s eyes.
Chunxing stopped crying as well and looked at Ye Qing with swollen, red eyes filled with a trace of hope.
Ye Qing remained silent for a few seconds.
There was already enough food in her space for her to eat. And considering how polite this Yunsheng was, she slowly turned the persimmon in her hand.