Chapter 4: Is It Possible This Isn’t A Radish
“Nan Nan, come here quickly, there are eggs here too!”
Watching Lin Nan excitedly trying to grab the wild chicken with his little hands, Lin Xin smiled and called him.
“Coming!”
“Wow! So many wild eggs, enough for us to eat for a long time.” Lin Nan happily said to Lin Xin.
“Yeah, hurry up and pack them away! Let’s find a place where sister will make bird eggs for you.”
“Okay.” For gathering wild eggs, Lin Nan seemed very experienced. He first pulled up a few clumps of wild grass to pad the bottom of the back basket, then carefully placed the wild eggs on the wild grass, and finally picked a few big tree leaves to cover them before standing up and looking at Lin Xin.
“Nan Nan is so great!” Lin Xin was never stingy with praise for obedient children.
“Hehe!” Lin Nan smiled shyly, his little face flushed with excitement.
“Let’s go, find a place with water where sister will make you something delicious.”
“Okay.”
The siblings discussed as they shuttled through the forest. Lin Xin occasionally pulled up a handful of wild grass from the ground and threw it into the back basket. Every time she did, Lin Nan looked at her hesitantly, and finally spoke up with entanglement: “Sis, what are you doing with those grasses? They can’t be eaten.”
Can’t eat? Lin Xin narrowed her eyes slightly. Perilla, cilantro, chives, herbs, and lemongrass can’t be eaten? Heavens, the people in this world really don’t know good stuff.
“Nan Nan, don’t worry, sister has tried these, they are all edible. You’ll know once we cook them later.”
“Sis, sister······” Hearing Lin Xin say this, mist immediately clouded Lin Nan’s big eyes, and he choked out a call of sister.
Before, every time sister cooked, she ate very little, and when asked, she said she had eaten in the mountain. So sister had actually been eating wild grass all along?
“Sis, when I grow up, I will definitely be good to you. I will earn a lot of money to support you.” Little Lin Nan made up his mind in his little heart and silently told himself.
Lin Xin, who had no idea what the little guy had imagined, was baffled. How did this kid start crying in just a moment?
“What’s wrong?” Lin Xin picked up Lin Nan and asked.
“Nothing, just feeling that having a sister is so great. I like sister so much.” Lin Nan hugged Lin Xin’s neck shyly and said, while wiping his tears on the clothes on Lin Xin’s shoulder.
“Yeah, sister likes Nan Nan too.” After comforting the child, and finding a not-too-deep pool of water, Lin Xin put down Lin Nan and began preparing food.
With wild chicken, seasoning, water, mud, and leaves, beggars’ chicken was all set?
While marinating the chicken, Lin Xin gave Lin Nan a task: “Nan Nan, you watch the wild chicken here. Sister will go pick some firewood. You wait obediently, sister won’t go far. If anything happens, shout loudly, okay?”
“Yeah yeah, I got it. Sister, you go! I will definitely watch the wild chicken!” Lin Nan patted his chest to show he was capable too.
Lin Xin smiled and pinched his little nose, then carried the back basket and left.
She needed to carry out her herbal medicine plan, and with Lin Nan watching nearby, it wasn’t convenient.
Rounding a fork in the road, she chose a spot where she could see Lin Nan by tiptoeing, then Lin Xin put down the back basket and began searching for seeds in the space.
“Where is it? Not this one, not that one either. Ah! Found it!” After rummaging through a big packet of seeds for a long time, Lin Xin finally found what she wanted, took one in her hand, and began accelerating its growth.
Enveloped in a green glow, that seed quickly sprouted, grew leaves, bore fruit, and withered. A white plump ginseng appeared in Lin Xin’s palm, almost as thick as a baby’s arm, with dense and gnarled roots.
Lin Xin looked at it satisfied, like looking at a pile of silver. She smeared some mud on the ginseng, casually picked a few dry branches and stuffed them into the back basket, wrapped the ginseng in a big leaf, and went back.
Lin Nan obediently guarded the wild chicken, occasionally glancing toward the direction Lin Xin left. When he saw sister’s figure appear, his big eyes lit up instantly, and he ran over to tug at Lin Xin’s clothes, “Sis, sis, you’re back!”
“Back. Nan Nan, come see what sister found.” Lin Xin put down the back basket and showed him her results.
“Sister is amazing, found so much firewood, can use it for a long time. Hmm? What’s this? Radish? Why does this radish look so weird?” Lin Nan dove headfirst into the back basket, inspecting everything inside like a little steward, and finally directed a soul-searching question at the ginseng.
Lin Xin: “······” Is it possible this isn’t a radish?
“Nan Nan,” Sister rarely spoke to him in this tone, so Lin Nan also put on a serious little face, looking solemnly at Lin Xin.
“Pfft!” Lin Xin was amused by his little expression. “No need to be so serious. Sister just wants to tell you, this thing is worth way more than radish. After we finish eating the chicken, we’ll go to town to sell it, exchange it for money to buy Nan Nan tasty things, and buy Nan Nan a few clothes too. Okay?”
“Okay, and buy for sister too.” Lin Nan was a good child who shared fortune with his sister.
“Yeah yeah, sister has some too, everyone does.” Lin Xin once again sighed at how sensible this child was, not naughty at all.
Hehe, mine, the one I raise.
Unexplainably proud!
The wild chicken didn’t have much meat, but luckily the siblings didn’t eat much, so it was just right when divided.
After eating and destroying the evidence, Lin Xin packed away the ginseng, picked up Lin Nan, and went down the mountain.
At the foot of the mountain, they ran into a few villagers who had also gone into the mountain to gather firewood.
“Xin Yatou, you’re back early!” A plump auntie scrutinizingly looked at the branches in Lin Xin’s back basket, curled her lip and said: “You gathered so little firewood this early in the morning? And bringing your younger brother? Not to nag you, but your family only has this one last seedling left. You still bring him into the mountain—what if something happens? How will you explain to your deceased parents?”
Lin Xin narrowed her eyes. Her mind only had the plot, and the original owner’s memories were few. Besides Lin Nan and the people at the old house, there was nothing much, so she didn’t recognize who this was, but it didn’t stop her from having a bad impression. She didn’t miss the malice hidden in the woman’s eyes when looking at Lin Nan.
“Yeah, Auntie, aren’t you back early too? Could it be you got up early just to pollute the air?” Was Lin Xin the type to suffer losses? Absolutely not!
“Wh-what polluting the air? What do you mean? Such a young age and spouting nonsense no one understands. No wonder Third Aunt doesn’t trust leaving Nan Nan for you to raise, afraid she’ll raise something as clueless as you.” Though the auntie didn’t understand Lin Xin’s meaning, she instinctively felt it wasn’t good and immediately flipped out to scold.
A young wife who came with her couldn’t stand it, glared at the fat auntie and spoke up: “Lin Shenzi, your nosy habit is acting up again? How the little girl raises her younger brother is her business. Besides, can’t you see what Third Aunt is scheming? Why do you love sticking your nose in? Forgot the last lesson?”
“You!” Lin Shenzi wanted to scold the young wife again, but for some reason, she opened her mouth and closed it.
Lin Xin got it—this was bullying the weak and fearing the strong!
