Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Leisurely Days

Early in the morning, Gu Qinghuan heard some juicy gossip, which put her in a great mood as she headed back to her little courtyard.

On her way home, she secretly took a wild pheasant out from her space, knocked it out with a stone, and decided to stew it as a little celebration since she was in such high spirits today.

That’s the good thing about living at the foot of the mountain—no one bothers you. The only neighbors are a grandfather and grandson in the cowshed not far away, but they’re so quiet you can almost forget they exist.

Carrying the pheasant home, she walked in to find Zhong Zijun and the two kids staring at her in shock.

Gu Qinghuan had already thought up an excuse.

“I just picked it up by the roadside on my way back.”

Zhong Zijun was a bit skeptical—after all, pheasants aren’t exactly lying around like rocks—but she didn’t dwell on it. Meat in hand, who would question where it came from?

“I’ll make chicken stew with mushrooms for lunch. I saw the hazel mushrooms you’ve been drying are almost ready—perfect for chicken stew.” Zhong Zijun immediately started planning lunch.

In these times, collective property is everything. If you don’t eat it quickly, you’ll have to waste time explaining if someone finds out.

The two kids had no objections, naturally following Grandma’s lead.

Gu Qinghuan couldn’t have been happier. Ever since coming to the 1970s, she’d been so hungry every day her stomach felt glued to her back. Just hearing there’d be something rich and meaty made her mouth water.

Breakfast was in the east room, to accommodate Xu Huai’an.

He’d woken up dazed again, not speaking or responding, lost in his own thoughts.

But when it came to washing his face and hands, he was surprisingly cooperative.

It was strange—last night, they hadn’t tied Xu Huai’an’s hands, and he hadn’t had any violent outbursts.

So Gu Qinghuan decided to leave him untied for now.

If he showed any signs of going berserk again, they could always tie him up then.

Keeping him tied up long-term would restrict his blood flow and do serious harm to his body. His hands were already stiff and would need time to recover.

Breakfast was corn grits porridge and a boiled egg for each person.

Gu Qinghuan wanted to fry the eggs—fried eggs are tastier—but Zhong Zijun said it was a waste of oil. Boiled eggs were enough to give the kids some nutrition; the adults would skip them. It was better to be frugal.

So Gu Qinghuan gave up on frying eggs, but still boiled five eggs, one for each person.

Zhong Zijun scolded her again.

“You’ve been getting more and more extravagant lately. We’re having chicken stew for lunch—why insist on eggs for breakfast? If you keep living like this, no amount of food will last.”

Zhong Zijun worried her daughter didn’t know how to run a household. Now that she was married, she had to take care of everyone, not just herself.

The whole family was living off her son-in-law’s pension. They couldn’t afford to eat like this all the time.

“Mom, I know. But look, everyone except me needs to build up their strength. Trust me—eating well and recovering quickly is more important than anything.

Xu Huai’an is so thin, a gust of wind could blow him away. He needs to eat better, too.”

Gu Qinghuan couldn’t exactly tell her mom she had plenty of money, so she just “humbly accepted” the criticism and kept doing things her way.

She still had over two thousand yuan in her space, four hundred from the pension, another four thousand from selling the watch, and four bottles of Maotai liquor left to sell.

Maotai from the seventies could fetch at least fifty thousand apiece in the future. Even now, she could easily get five hundred yuan per bottle.

Four bottles would be nearly two thousand.

All together, she had almost nine thousand yuan saved up—she could eat meat every day if she wanted.

But Zhong Zijun didn’t know any of this.

She looked at her daughter, worried sick, her food losing all flavor.

While eating, Dabao suddenly remembered something and asked, “Mom, where did the wild vegetables I picked go?”

That morning, the two kids had wanted to show off their wild vegetables to Grandma, but after searching the whole kitchen, they couldn’t find them.

Gu Qinghuan paused, then calmly replied, “I took them to the county to sell yesterday morning.”

“Do city folks eat wild vegetables?”

“How much did you sell them for?”

Zhong Zijun and the kids all looked at her expectantly.

Gu Qinghuan held up two fingers.

“Twenty cents? That much! I’m going up the mountain this afternoon to pick more wild vegetables and sell them for money!” Dabao’s eyes lit up, as if a whole new world had opened up.

So young, yet already understanding the importance of earning money—if they had money, Grandma wouldn’t have to skimp on eggs, Dad could see a doctor, and they’d have clothes and food.

“I want to go too!” Beibei quickly raised her hand, head popping up from her bowl.

Zhong Zijun thought selling wild vegetables for twenty cents was pretty good—at least it was some income.

She did wonder, though, do city people really buy wild vegetables?

Gu Qinghuan had originally wanted to say two yuan, but seeing their reactions, she decided to stick with twenty cents. Any more might scare them.

The kids had been cooped up at home for days while she was busy, so taking them out for a walk today sounded like a good idea.

“Alright, finish your breakfast and I’ll take you up the mountain for a bit.”

Autumn in the mountains is full of surprises—gathering firewood, picking mushrooms, collecting hazelnuts, getting some persimmons, or picking up chestnuts, all to prepare for winter.

The two kids quickly buried their heads in their porridge.

Xu Huai’an sat quietly to the side, almost invisible, battling his porridge in silence and ignoring everyone.

But at least he could feed himself now—a big improvement.

Gu Qinghuan suddenly remembered she still had a batch of persimmons and chestnuts she’d moved into her space that she hadn’t dealt with yet.

There was no way the family could eat them all.

She planned to save some for winter and sell the rest through the vending machine.

These were pure, wild chestnuts and persimmons.

After breakfast, she gave Xu Huai’an his medicine and, as usual, poured everyone a cup of spiritual spring water.

The two kids washed the dishes while Gu Qinghuan cleaned the pheasant and started stewing it in the iron pot. Zhong Zijun could watch the fire.

With such a good dish, they had to have steamed rice to go with it.

“Mom, I’m taking the kids out for a walk. At eleven, please start a pot of rice—the rice is under the cupboard.”

If she didn’t let Zhong Zijun do anything, her mom would be unhappy. Watching the fire was fine—she could do that with one hand.

“What? White rice? Gu Qinghuan, do you have money burning a hole in your pocket? Steamed cornbread is good enough—why waste rice?”

Zhong Zijun wanted to grab her daughter by the ear and yell, “What are you thinking? Don’t you care about our future?”

Dabao and Beibei hid behind Zhong Zijun, giggling. They weren’t about to tell Grandma that they’d already had white rice a few times—so delicious!

Seeing her usually gentle mother getting more and more worked up, Gu Qinghuan found it funny.

“Anyway, I don’t care. I’m having white rice for lunch today, no matter what.” She shamelessly insisted.

The two kids were surprised by how their mom and grandma interacted and burst out laughing.

Zhong Zijun gritted her teeth. “Fine, I’ll make it! At worst, you all eat white rice, and I’ll just have cornbread. That’ll save some.”

Just before leaving, Gu Qinghuan poked her head back in through the door. “Mom, make enough for five people. If you make less, I won’t eat lunch today.”

“Fine, don’t eat then!”

Zhong Zijun was so mad she wanted to find something to hit her daughter with. That girl really needed a lesson.

But Gu Qinghuan’s reverse psychology worked—afraid her daughter would really skip lunch, Zhong Zijun reluctantly steamed enough white rice for five.

Gu Qinghuan took the two kids, carrying baskets and sacks, and leisurely headed up the mountain."

"Chapter 35: Teaching Children, Schisandra Berries, and Studying