Chapter 59: Scolding in front of her felt like corrupting a young child

"Never mind, let's just gather some firewood first. We can't make this trip for nothing," Mother Song comforted. "We can figure it out slowly when we get back, and see who was so heartless as to take all our wood."

"Got it."

The two of them didn't waste any more words. They briskly gathered the firewood, piled it up, and bound it together. Each of them shouldered a heavy load on a carrying pole, while their back baskets were stuffed with fine, dry twigs for kindling, piled high and packed tightly down.

"All right, let's take a break." Mother Song found a large, flat rock to sit on and patted the spot beside her. "Huan'ya, come and rest for a bit too."

"Coming."

Huan'ya clapped her hands, took out a flatbread from her bosom, and handed it to Mother Song. "Auntie, have some."

Mother Song took the cloth wrap, and when she opened it, the flatbread was still warm.

She took two pieces and gave all the rest back to Huan'ya.

Huan'ya didn't refuse; she was genuinely hungry.

With the first bite of flatbread down her stomach, Huan'ya let out a comfortable sigh. "I'm finally brought back to life!"

Mother Song looked at her with a smile in her eyes. "Were you starved?"

"Mm-hmm!" Huan'ya nodded, then quickly added, "I didn't get hungry this fast before. It's just that I've gotten used to eating regularly these past few days, so now I get hungry right on time."

Mother Song knew her past days hadn't been easy, but hearing this still tugged at her heartstrings. She stroked Huan'ya's head and said,

"Don't worry. From now on in our family, you'll have every single meal."

"Yes!"

Seeing how well-behaved she was, Mother Song's mood improved again. She swallowed a bite of the flatbread, took a sip of water, and then asked, "Huan'ya, how long do you think this firewood of ours will last?"

"If the kang is heated in the house, it'll probably just last until after the New Year."

It wasn't quite cold yet, so they weren't heating the brick bed, and they didn't use much during the day—just a bit for cooking.

But once winter arrived and they really started heating the kang, this pole's worth of firewood would be gone in half a month.

"It's fine, Auntie. We'll be done shelling the corn in a couple of days anyway, and I can just make a few more trips up the mountain."

Hearing this, Mother Song was reminded of what happened earlier, and she shook her head. "No, you'll still have to wait for me to come along. What if you run into that person again?"

"I don't think I will." Huan'ya had been pondering this question just now. "Auntie, the more I think about it, the more I believe that person just happened to run into me. They weren't following me."

She took Mother Song's wrist and said, "I looked back several times before I left. Those aunts didn't follow me, which is why I came over."

She kept looking back all along the way, and she had come back up shortly after returning home without delay, yet she hadn't seen anyone either.

If someone had truly been intentionally following her, she certainly would have noticed long ago.

Mother Song still shook her head. "I'll go inquire around the village later to see what's going on. We still don't know what Little Guiying actually said. If everyone thinks you found some kind of treasure, that would be real trouble."

Huan'ya had no choice but to say, "Then I'll go with you, Auntie."

"That won't do." Mother Song shook her head without a second thought. "You stay at home, I'll go."

Curse words in front of Huan'ya made her feel as though she were corrupting a young child.

Huan'ya felt a tiny bit disappointed, but she didn't want to cause trouble for Mother Song, so she dropped the subject.

After finishing the two flatbreads, the mother and daughter rested for a little longer before getting up to head home.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, the sun was blazing high.

Mother Song shielded her eyes against the glare, and seeing the layered clouds at the edge of the sky, her brow furrowed tightly. "It looks like it might rain."

"Let's go back and bring all the corn inside," Huan'ya chimed in. "And the perilla leaves too. I took a look this morning, and they're almost completely dry."

"All right, we'll take them in as soon as we get back, so they don't get rained on."

"Mm-hmm!"