Chapter 9: 9. Chapter 9: This Dad is Different (2)

Chapter 9: This Dad is Different (2)

Shuyue rubbed her temples. Her head ached, and she felt a bit troubled. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Do you know where there are persimmons?"

Did she need to find a way to return those persimmons?

Although her dad wasn't the type to go hunting, there had been old hunters in the village. Since there were hunters, there must be mountains or woods near the village. In a situation where a whole family could only eat bran and wild vegetables, those two persimmons probably weren't bought, right?

Er'ya waved her hand.

"Want to eat persimmons? Forget it.

There are persimmon trees on the mountain, but the places that are easy to pick from were picked clean long ago. Ordinary people don't dare to go deep into the mountains!"

Er'ya smacked her lips; she wanted to eat persimmons too. Her eyes flashed. "If you really want to eat some, Sister Chunhua might have some. She likes eating them."

She remembered that when Shuyue first arrived, Sister Chunhua had even slipped her a piece of candy.

Sister Chunhua was so good to Shuyue; if she went to ask her for persimmons, she would probably give her some, right?

Shuyue didn't know that the candy in her pocket had come from such a source. As for the strange logic in Er'ya's words—that someone would have something at home just because they liked to eat it—Shuyue didn't understand.

But Er'ya's words seemed to confirm her suspicion that the persimmons she ate were indeed kept by her dad to please a young lady.

She tried hard to keep a straight face and let out an "oh," saying nothing else. Inside, however, she was wondering if she could take the candy in her pocket and trade it with someone in the village for one.

But she didn't know the prices here. She felt that with the candy being so small, she really wasn't sure if she could trade it for a persimmon.

While Shuyue was thinking, she slowly gnawed on her sweet potato. Er'ya's gaze, at some point, had become fixed on...

The sweet potato in her hand.

Shuyue guardedly hugged the sweet potato, stood up, and ran toward her room on her short legs. Whether persimmons could serve as emergency rations was already a question mark, so to protect her sweet potato, face and image were unimportant!

Er'ya: "..."

Tch, stingy.

Er'ya felt disdain in her heart, but what she shouted was, "Hurry up, let's go catch fish."

"Got it!"

Shuyue replied. She went back into her room, took out the oil-paper wrapping that held her candy, and unfolded it, laying it flat on the long table where the sunlight hit. Then, she tore the sweet potato in her hand into strips and arranged them neatly on the oil paper to dry.

Perhaps it was the variety, but the sweet potato had many fibrous threads, which actually made it quite easy to tear.

The sweet potato Shuyue had been given weighed about a quarter of a jin. She hadn't moved much after eating the persimmon in the morning, so she wasn't particularly hungry yet. Having had a few mouthfuls of porridge earlier, she had only eaten a small portion of the sweet potato, and now she wasn't very hungry at all.

Her own dad was unreliable, and the persimmons were suspected to have an owner. A sense of urgency rose in Shuyue's heart.

She was young and had a small appetite. Even though she wasn't full, she decided to save the rest as emergency rations.

She was worried she would get hungry while out later. Thinking of that burning, searing sensation in her stomach, she felt a bit intimidated. She found the only empty candy wrapper, wrapped a small piece of the sweet potato root in it, and put it in her pocket, planning to eat it when she got hungry.

Everything settled, Shuyue stepped on a stool to close the window, locked the door when she went out, and kept the key safely in her pocket. She put the sweet potato root and the fruit candy away, then finally picked up her small basket and headed out.

Shuyue was quite envious of Er'ya's large back basket, which could hold so much, but she knew her own limits. She had very little strength, and the main purpose of this trip was actually to scout the path and, at most, find some wild vegetables. This basket, about fifteen centimeters in length, width, and height, was already enough.

Er'ya glanced at the door Shuyue had locked, smacked her lips in regret, dragged out her back basket, and called for her to head out.

(End of chapter)