Chapter 42 Picking Wild Mushrooms
Zhong Yuying glared resentfully at Tian Sisi, not expecting that after Tian Zhaodi’s bout of illness, her mind seemed to have become sharper, impervious to persuasion, completely unlike the previously gullible and easily coaxed Zhaodi. No, she must find a way to regain control over Tian Sisi, because without Sisi as a friend, Daddy surely won’t let her continue studying. She refuses to be like her older and younger sisters, toiling all day with her face towards the soil and back to the sky, keeping company with those filthy men.
She must persist with her studies, for only through education could she have the chance to leave this small mountain village and also have the opportunity to marry an outstanding man. She absolutely did not want to stay in this small mountain village and become an illiterate peasant woman, nor did she wish to be like most of the village girls, marrying crass and dirty rural men.
"Sisi, you have so many misunderstandings about me. I’ll come to find you again next time, I’ll take my leave first." Zhong Yuying awkwardly found an excuse to leave, turned around, and hurried away. The current Zhong Yuying did not have the thick skin and tactics she had in her past life when she was a mistress, thus when faced with just a few words from Tian Sisi and Donghua Jianguo, she could not keep up appearances.
Tian Sisi couldn’t care less about Zhong Yuying. The person she is now is not the same one from her past life. Moreover, her status is much higher than Zhong Yuying’s, so she does not really need to take Zhong Yuying too seriously. She closed the yard gate and then took a bunch of little tykes towards the back mountain.
When Jingzhe arrived, all things revived. The trees on the mountain all sprouted tender green buds, and the wild greens poked their heads out of the ground. Tian Sisi was delighted to find a wild peach tree that had even sprouted pale pink buds, with a few flowers half open as if bashful young maids—if only she had a camera to capture this beautiful moment!
The desire to earn money grew increasingly strong in Tian Sisi. No, tonight she would seek out Brother Xinhua and discuss the brewing business with him first. Once the spring plowing was over, they could get started.
"Sisi, we can start picking shepherd’s purse now! And there’s malan head, and lots of mushrooms. Let’s pick more and take them back for Granny to dry, so we can keep them for eating during New Year," Jianguo said like a little adult, having even planned what to eat for New Year.
Tian Sisi came back to her senses, saw the little ones had already started picking wild greens, and realized she was the oldest one still standing idle, blushing, she hastily crouched down to join Jianguo and the others in foraging. As it was still early spring, the shepherd’s purse and malan head were just sprouting, so they picked only a small basketful and decided to wait for the plants to grow bigger before picking more.