Lin Xiaohe patted her little sister’s head. “Then I’ll cook some wild vegetable soup. You go check on Mom and Dad—I can handle this on my own.
After we’ve eaten, I’ll explain everything to everyone.”
“Okay, whatever you say, Sis!” Xiaogu’s lips were pale from hunger, but she was still a lively one.
Back when times were good, she’d been a little troublemaker. After things got hard, she’d quieted down quite a bit.
As for the wild vegetable soup—it was really just a pot of boiling water with wild greens thrown in, no salt, no oil.
But even that was a rare meal, and no one was about to complain.
The family didn’t have enough bowls, so Lin Xiaohe served Mom and Dad first.
The couple lay in bed, their faces flushed red, gritting their teeth against the pain so as not to cry out and worry the children.
“Xiaohe… wh-where did you get the wild vegetables?” Lin Cai could barely speak through the pain, forcing himself to take several deep breaths just to get the words out.
“Mom, Dad, I think we’re saved!” Lin Xiaohe rarely let herself act so childish, her face beaming with pride. “Dad, do you remember that jade pendant you gave me? It shattered last night. Today it cut me—look at my palm.”
Lin Xiaohe held out her hand.
Lin Cai shook his head with effort. “There’s… nothing… there…”
Hearing that, Lin Xiaohe pulled her hand back. But the pattern was still there!
She showed it to her little sister.
Xiaogu looked closely for a moment and shook her head too. “Sis, I don’t see it either.”
“So only I can see it—none of you can. Now, if I clench my fist, I can go to another place, and that place is covered in wild vegetables everywhere!
Even if we only eat wild greens, we can still make it through!”
Lin Xiaohe had made up her mind—starting tonight, she’d go over every day to pick more wild vegetables, bring them back, dry them, and store them.
She would not let her family starve!
“My other hand can go to yet another place—lots of huge trucks there!”
She’d only ever seen military trucks on the county roads, and those had seemed enormous to her. But compared to the vehicles she saw over there, they were nothing.
Lin Xiaohe chattered on with relish about everything she’d seen.
Her family listened, equal parts shocked, amazed, and frightened. What kind of place was that?
“Xiaohe, is it dangerous? It sounds so strange…” Liu Yuexiu wanted to reach out and touch her daughter, but couldn’t even lift her arm.
A beam had fallen on one of her hands and a leg—she’d been lying sideways to shield the children in her arms.
“Of course not!” Lin Xiaohe wasn’t entirely sure either, but they needed to survive, and this was the best way.
“Don’t worry—surviving a great disaster brings good fortune later. We’ll be fine from now on!
Besides, we’re living in the ancestral hall now. Our ancestors will protect us.
Alright, alright, eat up quickly, then get some sleep.”
After finishing her own portion, Lin Xiaohe sat on the doorstep, chin resting on her hands.
She was debating whether to make another trip before dark to dig up more wild vegetables, just to set her mind at ease.
“Xiaogu, want to come with me?” She bolted the ancestral hall door from the inside and took her sister’s hand.
“Yes!” The little one responded immediately.
Lin Xiaohe slung the basket over her right arm, took her sister’s hand with her right hand, clenched her left fist, and silently chanted that she wanted to go over.
A dizzying spin later, and the next second they were standing in that familiar place.
Her first thought was to check if her little sister had come along with her.
Seeing that she was still holding her sister’s hand, she let out a huge sigh of relief.
Xiaogu’s eyes went wide with shock. “Sis! This is amazing! Where are we?”
“I don’t know either, but there are tons of wild vegetables here. Let’s hurry up and dig!”
The two didn’t dwell too much on where they were. Their hands practically blurred with speed as they frantically picked the wild greens.
“Who are you guys? I’ve never seen you before.”
A little girl’s voice rang out beside them, making both of them jump.
Lin Xiaohe forced herself to stay calm and slowly turned around. A girl about her age, carrying a backpack basket, was watching them curiously.
When they didn’t respond, the girl didn’t seem to mind. “You’re from down at the foot of the mountain, aren’t you? You can tell you haven’t seen much. What’s so great about those wild greens? They’re all small and puny.”
“We mountain folk just use them to feed the pigs. The ones in my basket are the ones that actually taste good.
If you walk a little further ahead, near the water, you can find these big, delicious ones—not bitter at all. Even better than homegrown veggies.”
With that, the girl skipped off with her basket bouncing on her back.
Then she seemed to think of something and came back.
“Here, I’ll share some with you. It’s getting late, so you’d better head down the mountain soon. There are wild animals up here at night.”
She took off her basket and, without a hint of reluctance, dumped half of it into their basket.
Why feel sorry about it? She could just pick more whenever she wanted.
“Why are you carrying such tiny baskets? It’s such a long walk up the mountain. Next time, bring a big backpack basket like mine. It’s not like wild greens are heavy.”
After the girl walked away, Lin Xiaohe kept studying her.
She had the same sallow, gaunt look as herself—even her hair was yellowing.
No wonder no one had noticed anything off about them.
But if her life wasn’t exactly easy either, why was she so generous?
“Xiaogu, we’ll leave in a bit.” She watched until the girl was out of sight, waited a little longer, then quickly took her sister’s hand and headed back.
The two reappeared in the familiar little room inside the ancestral hall.
Xiaogu was grinning so wide it looked like her mouth might split. “Sis! This is great, this is just great! Now we can go pick wild vegetables every day and never go hungry again!”
Lin Xiaohe tapped her sister’s naive little head. “Just wild greens won’t fill our stomachs. At best, they’ll keep us from starving to death.”
“Go check on Mom and Dad, and see how little sister is doing. I’ll go cook the wild vegetables.”
The greens the girl had given them were completely different from the ones they’d picked themselves.
What she’d given them were giant purslane leaves!
Compared to what they’d gathered, it was like comparing thin chopsticks to thick fingers.
Normally, purslane as thick as chopsticks was already hard to come by.
But the purslane that girl gave them was as thick as a finger!
Lin Xiaohe planned to try this purslane tonight.
There wasn’t anything complicated about how to cook it.
Just add some water and boil it.
She checked their grain sack—there was barely anything left.
Gritting her teeth, she still scooped out a handful of crushed corn, added some water, and put it on to cook. Once it was done, she’d add the purslane.
Mom and Dad were both injured—they needed some real food to recover.
“Sis! Oh no! Mom and Dad are burning up—their faces are bright red!” Xiaogu came running over in terror, her face full of fear.
Lin Xiaohe’s heart sank. The barefoot doctor had said there was no more fever medicine left—they’d have to wait for the commune’s next shipment, or else go to the county hospital.
Waiting would take forever, and going to the county hospital meant they had no money…
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