Chapter 5: 5. Chapter 5: It's Too Hard! (1)

Chapter 5: It’s Too Hard! (1)

It was just too hard for her!

Lying on the *kang* last night, she had smelled this sweet scent. Although the smell was very faint and light, perhaps because a person’s sense of smell becomes sharper when they are hungry, she had still keenly caught it.

She had struggled and struggled last night, opening the wardrobe and seeing the persimmons.

But the persimmons were hidden so securely that it was clear the owner of the clothes didn't want anyone else to find them. Deep down, she still had a bit of self-respect and decent self-control. While swallowing her saliva, she endured the hunger and returned everything to its original position, not forgetting to hypnotize herself with the excuse that she would have sweet potatoes to eat this morning.

But right now...

Having learned from her hazy memories that this room originally belonged to the young man, and that the young man was her father, Shuyue felt a bit more justified in eating them.

A daughter eating her father’s food was only natural; at worst, she—she would just pay him back with filial piety later.

Shuyue wiped away her tears, her chewing not slowing down in the slightest.

With one persimmon down, she let out a small burp. While feeling aggrieved by the terrible environment, a sense of satisfaction from being able to fill her stomach unexpectedly emerged.

As for the remaining one, it had to be saved as emergency rations.

Shuyue glanced at it, and for fear that she wouldn't be able to resist eating it right now, she quickly put the persimmon back in its original place and closed the cabinet door.

Because of the appearance of the two persimmons, which felt like treasures to her, Shuyue got the idea to search the room.

The room was a bit old and hung with cobwebs, but the floor was very clean. There were few things in the room, and overall it looked very tidy. The double-door wardrobe and the long desk looked neither old nor new, but the wood was of high quality and featured carvings.

Shuyue paused; this was actually quite strange. How could this family, which looked so poor, afford such exquisitely crafted items that clearly looked valuable?

The things in the house were so simple that there was no need to rummage through them by hand.

The drawer of the long desk was empty; on the desk sat a kettle and an enamel tea mug. Inside the wardrobe, there was a quilt on the bottom, and in the upper compartment, a few men’s clothes were folded—much like the ones in the *kang* cabinet, all washed clean but covered in patches.

Shuyue developed a bit of affection for the young man she had never met, who only existed as a vague outline in her memory.

The wooden chest in the corner was made of camphor wood, and inside were all sorts of animal furs—there was even a wolf skin and a fox skin.

Shuyue’s gaze shifted to the bow and arrows on the wall. Her father must be very good at hunting, right? And the hunting grounds shouldn't be too far away, right?

If she could hunt...

Shuyue’s eyes brightened slightly.

A year from now, there would be a famine. Could she rely on hunting to earn money to trade for grain and stockpile it? Were there wood ear mushrooms, regular mushrooms, wild fruits, wild chestnuts, walnuts, or pine nuts in the forests or mountains where he hunted?

Could all of these be stockpiled as emergency rations?

There were few things in the house, and even fewer that belonged to little Shuyue.

On the footstool built of bluestone by the side of the *kang* sat a pair of children’s corduroy shoes.

The *kang* cabinet on the inside was empty. In the small compartment on the top layer, there was an aluminum kettle and a tea mug, and below were three sets of clothes she could wear now. That was everything.

Shuyue felt a bit regretful that there was no food among these things, but thinking of how the persimmons had appeared, she held a bit of expectation and slowly took the clothes out one by one.

The surprise came unexpectedly.

Tucked in the gap between two pieces of clothing was an oil-paper parcel, and inside was...

Fruit hard candy!

One, two, three...

There were nine in total, and on the side was a candy wrapper; it seemed one had been eaten previously.

(End of chapter)