Chapter 9: 9. Chapter 9: Ways to Earn Silver

Chapter 9: Ways to Earn Silver

Wen Nuan was sent back to her original spot by the big gray wolf.

By this time, Wen Ran had been searching for her everywhere nearby. She was so anxious that tears were streaming down her face, and she shouted loudly, "Third Sister! Third Sister! Where are you?"

Wen Nuan immediately responded loudly, "Ran-jie'er, I'm here! Right where I caught the pheasant!"

Hearing this, Wen Ran immediately turned around and ran back, shouting as she ran, "Third Sister, stay right there and don't move! I'm coming!"

Wen Nuan climbed down from the wolf's back and said to it, "You go back now! Don't scare my sister."

The big gray wolf nodded, turned around, and ran off.

However, it didn't leave entirely; instead, it stayed a short distance away, watching Wen Nuan.

Although there were no fierce beasts nearby because of its presence, sometimes reckless wild boars would wander in.

Wen Ran ran back, panting. Her eyes were red, clearly having been crying, and she was clutching a pheasant in her hand. "Third Sister, where on earth did you go? You scared me to death! I thought you had jumped off the cliff!"

If that had happened, she wouldn't want to live either!

A wave of guilt washed over Wen Nuan. "I'm sorry. I saw a pheasant and chased it to the foot of the mountain. I wasn't feeling hopeless; why would I jump off a cliff?"

Only then did Wen Ran notice that besides a wild rabbit, Wen Nuan was also holding a pheasant.

"You didn't feel hopeless before..." Wen Ran started, then stopped herself. "Third Sister, next time you see a pheasant, don't chase it, let me do it, okay? If that pheasant runs into the deep mountains, it'll be trouble!"

"I know. I just saw it running toward the foot of the mountain, so I chased it. Ran-jie'er, don't worry. Third Sister won't be foolish and do something like committing suicide ever again. Now that my body is better, I want to make sure Dad, Mom, and all of you live a good life." Wen Nuan said this solemnly.

She had to give her word; otherwise, the family would always worry about her committing suicide. What if Ran-jie'er had to keep watch over her all the time?

Wen Ran looked at her, still a bit skeptical. "You really won't feel hopeless again?"

"I swear!" Wen Nuan raised her hand.

Wen Ran immediately pulled her hand down. "Why are you swearing, Third Sister? I believe you!"

One shouldn't swear oaths so easily! She acted as if swearing was as simple as eating wild vegetables!

"Alright, let's go home! It's getting late, or it'll be a disaster when Grandma gets home!" Wen Nuan said.

"You know it'll be a disaster!" Wen Ran retorted crossly.

Wen Nuan rubbed her nose and said nothing.

And so, the two of them headed down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain was a small river with clear water where small fish swam by. This was the very river where the original owner had jumped in to commit suicide.

Wen Nuan noticed many river snails in the water.

It occurred to her that the people in this village never bothered to gather river snails to eat.

Since the Mid-Autumn Festival had just passed, it was the perfect time for river snails; they were empty of baby snails, and the meat was particularly plump and delicious.

Wen Nuan pulled Wen Ran to a stop and pointed at the snails in the river. "Ran-jie'er, let's gather some snails to take home and stir-fry."

"Snails? You mean these?" Wen Ran looked disgusted and shook her head. "These things are dirty, full of mud! You'll get diarrhea if you eat them."

Diarrhea meant going to the doctor and spending silver—it wasn't worth it!

"Yes, these snails! I have a way to make them spit out the mud in their bellies. Once they're cleaned out, they're delicious."

People called these things by different names in different places.

"How do you know that?" Wen Ran looked at Wen Nuan suspiciously.

Third Sister spoke as if she had eaten them before!

Wen Nuan:...

Could she please stop looking at her like that?

Wen Nuan coughed and feigned mystery. "Ran-jie'er, I'll tell you a secret, but don't tell anyone else! When I fell into the water and was unconscious for those few days, I had a very long dream. I dreamed of many people, and the people there knew many things. I learned a lot in that dream and gained many ways to earn money. One of them was stir-frying snails and selling snail rice noodles to earn silver. I don't know if the dream is real, so I want to try. If it is, then we'll soon be able to earn a lot of silver and live a good life."

"Dreams are all fake." Wen Ran almost rolled her eyes. She thought it was some big secret!

It was just a dream!

"I think it's real, especially real! I want to try. If it's fake, then so be it, but what if it's real? Then our family could earn a lot of silver, build a big house, buy land, open a shop, and Big Brother and the others could go to school and bring honor to our ancestors. Big Sister and Second Sister could come home too."

Wen Nuan's words touched Wen Ran. She also wanted to earn silver.

She glanced at the snails scattered across the shallow riverbed. It wouldn't hurt to try, anyway!

"Alright then, let's gather some and try. It doesn't cost any silver, after all."

Wen Nuan smiled. "Right, it doesn't cost any silver, so let's gather plenty!"

Wen Nuan bent down to roll up her pant legs.

"Okay. Hey, Third Sister, don't get in the water! I'll do it!" Wen Ran threw the pheasant onto the riverbank, skillfully rolled up her pant legs, kicked off her shoes—which already had holes in them—and stepped into the river to gather snails.

"Okay." Wen Nuan agreed. There were plenty of snails near the bank; she could reach them easily.

It was fine if she didn't get in the water.

"I'll go pick two leaves to carry them." Wen Nuan walked to the edge of the mountain and picked two large, round leaves to hold the snails.

In less than half an hour, Wen Ran had gathered two bundles of snails, and the two of them happily headed home.

The big gray wolf watched from the mountain as they entered their house before turning back.

When the two returned home, no one else had arrived yet.

"Third Sister, how do we handle these snails?"

Wen Nuan filled a basin with clean water and placed the snails—which had already been roughly cleaned of mud on their shells in the river—into the water. "Just soak them for a day and a night. Don't disturb them, and they'll spit out all the mud in their bellies."

Wen Nuan wanted to add some salt, but remembered that salt was expensive. The river water in ancient times wasn't polluted, so once the snails spat out the mud, they would be safe to eat.

"Ran-jie'er, let's kill the pheasant and make chicken porridge. We'll have delicious chicken porridge today!"

"Okay, let's kill one and keep the other to take to town with the rabbit to sell."

"No selling. Let's slaughter both. If we sell them, we'll just have to buy meat anyway! Let's eat them all."

Wen Ran thought about it and agreed.

Lately, because Third Sister had been eating minced meat porridge every day, her health had improved significantly. All the silver their grandfather gave them had been spent on meat.

The two half-grown children began to boil water to kill the chicken.

Both sisters knew how to kill a chicken, but they didn't know how to skin a wild rabbit, so they left it for Wen Jiarui to handle when he returned.

A perfect wild rabbit pelt could sell for twenty wen. Properly processed pelts could fetch fifty wen, though it depended on the quality of the fur.

An hour later, a pot of thick, smooth, and fragrant chicken porridge was ready.

Before eating, they sprinkled some chopped green onions on top, which enhanced the flavor and made the porridge smell even fresher and look more appetizing.

"It smells so good!" Wen Ran smelled the aroma and looked at the porridge in the pot, her stomach growling with hunger.

Wen Nuan was hungry too. She looked at the sun outside; it was high in the sky, right at noon. "Why haven't Grandma and Mom come back yet?"

At noon, Wen Jiarui and his two brothers didn't come home for lunch; only Madam Wang and Madam Wu did.

Early that morning, Madam Wang and Madam Wu had gone to the neighboring village to help the Feng landlord's family with laundry.

"They're a bit late today, maybe there's a lot of work! But they should be here soon." This happened sometimes, so Wen Ran didn't think much of it.

Just then, a woman's voice shouted from outside the courtyard gate: "Ran-jie'er, Ran-jie'er, are you home? Open the door quickly, something terrible has happened!"

"I'm here!" Wen Ran was startled and ran to open the bamboo gate.

Wen Nuan stood up as well.