Chapter 45: Chapter 45: After the Path Was Cleared

Glancing at Xu Shuhua, Yu Zhenmin waved his hand at the people gathered around. “Alright, that’s enough, don’t crowd around here anymore. Go do what you’re supposed to do! And don’t go blabbing about how our family is making money. If every household goes out and picks groundcherries to sell, you’ll be the ones crying!”

The Yu family members weren’t fools, of course—they would never go around telling others about their family’s money-making business. Hearing Yu Zhenmin’s words, they all nodded in agreement.

After washing her hands and face and changing her clothes, Xu Shuhua came out and took Yu Nuannuan from Chen Qiaoqin’s arms. “Qiaoqin, you go get busy. I’ll take Nuannuan out for a walk with Old Fourth.”

Groundcherries were something they’d already figured out how to sell at home, and business was good. They could definitely keep selling them tomorrow. But they couldn’t just appear out of thin air—they still needed time to pick them.

So Xu Shuhua decided to take Yu Hai and Yu Nuannuan out now, and bring back some groundcherries when they returned.

Hearing this, Yu Hai looked at Xu Shuhua, and their eyes met. Mother and son didn’t need to say a word—they both understood each other instantly.

Yu Hai immediately went to get a basket and slung it over his back. “I’ll gather some firewood on the way back, too.”

With that, Yu Hai followed Xu Shuhua out the door.

Watching them leave, Yu Zhenmin felt a burning curiosity, but in the end, he managed to suppress it.

After Xu Shuhua and Yu Hai left the house, they headed for the hills behind the village.

Their area was actually more of a plain—there weren’t any real mountains. What they called “mountains” were really just rolling hills. The hills weren’t high, and there weren’t any tall trees, mostly just low shrubs, some poplars and paulownias, various wild fruit trees, and bamboo. Besides that, there was wild grass everywhere and a few small wild fruit plants.

Groundcherries were one of them.

Wild pheasants and rabbits were rare in these hills, let alone any large wild animals. So even though the sun was already setting and it would soon be dark, Xu Shuhua wasn’t worried about safety at all.

This was actually Yu Nuannuan’s first time in the hills. Even though she was being carried, she still found it all new and exciting.

Unfortunately, in the height of summer, especially in the evening, the hills were full of mosquitoes and bugs.

Not long after they entered the hills, Yu Nuannuan felt something bite her arm.

She squirmed, and Xu Shuhua immediately noticed something was wrong. She quickly slapped and killed the mosquito sucking blood from Yu Nuannuan’s arm.

Seeing the little spot of blood, Xu Shuhua’s lips trembled with heartache.

“Oh, my poor little Nuannuan! You’ve really suffered! That’s enough, Old Fourth, let’s not go any further. There’s no one around at this hour anyway—let’s just do it here!”

Yu Hai looked around cautiously, making sure there really was no one nearby, then took a groundcherry out of his pocket. He’d set this one aside earlier.

Yu Hai split the groundcherry open and poured the pulp into Yu Nuannuan’s soft, white little palm.

And once again, something miraculous happened.

Even though Yu Hai had seen this scene many times before, it still amazed him every time.

Xu Shuhua was a bit calmer than Yu Hai. Once she saw the groundcherries had grown, she immediately urged Yu Hai, “What are you standing there for? Hurry up!”

Yu Hai snapped out of it, quickly took off his basket, and began picking groundcherries.

Xu Shuhua, holding Yu Nuannuan in one arm, picked with the other.

They were a bit slower this way, but it was better than nothing.

The two of them hurried as much as they could, and finally, after twenty minutes, they managed to pick all the groundcherries."

"