CHAPTER 196: CHAPTER 196 ORIGINAL SIN 5

Yun Shuangshuang inserted one end of the hollow grass straw into the crack of the door, and said to Feng Jinyan, who had crawled in front of her, "Mom, come drink this. It’s wild egg, very nutritious, eat up quickly!"

Feng Jinyan was very hungry. She could only eat one meal a day on average, and it was still leftover scraps that didn’t fill her up. The bowl in Yun Shuangshuang’s hand emitted a tempting aroma.

She crawled to the door, eagerly took the straw that Yun Shuangshuang had fed through the door crack in her mouth, and took a deep sip. A rich and silky substance entered her mouth! So delicious! It tasted so good that the stomach, which was constantly aching from hunger, seemed soothed instantly. An unparalleled sense of satisfaction rose from her heart.

After taking a few sips and alleviating the hunger in her belly, Feng Jinyan seemed to remember something and stopped. She pushed the straw away and smiled at Yun Shuangshuang, "Shuangshuang, eat, delicious, Shuangshuang eat!"

Feng Jinyan’s words were intermittent, but the meaning was very clear. She wanted to leave this delicious food to Yun Shuangshuang to eat, and no matter how much Yun Shuangshuang said she wasn’t hungry, she insisted on making Yun Shuangshuang eat.

Seeing how Feng Jinyan refused to eat, Yun Shuangshuang, worried about the potential trouble if someone came back and saw them, got another hollow straw, put it in the bowl, and smiled at Feng Jinyan, "I’ll eat with Mom." As she spoke, Yun Shuangshuang pretended to drink a big sip.

Feng Jinyan didn’t know Yun Shuangshuang was pretending to eat. Seeing Yun Shuangshuang eat, she was satisfied and lowered her head to continue drinking slowly, seemingly wanting Yun Shuangshuang to drink more. Of course, she didn’t know that the entire bowl of egg broth was actually consumed by her alone.

After Feng Jinyan finished eating, Yun Shuangshuang quickly washed the bowl and started preparing the mushrooms she had collected. First, she laid out all the mushrooms carefully on a clean straw mat, then took out the wild vegetables that had been placed between the mushrooms, her fingers moving swiftly. One by one, beautiful, emerald green small baskets made from wild grass gradually formed in Yun Shuangshuang’s hands.

Soon, ten beautiful green baskets were formed from Yun Shuangshuang’s hands. She sorted the mushrooms by variety, putting one type in each basket. With this arrangement, the originally good-looking mushrooms looked even more high-end.

After putting the mushrooms into the bamboo basket, the sky was already getting dark. Yun Shuangshuang started busying herself with feeding the pigs and chickens and preparing dinner. There were still many wild vegetables she had gathered earlier. Although Yun Shuangshuang didn’t dig for wild vegetables today, she wasn’t short of food for the chickens and pigs at home.

When dinner was over, the Yun Family returned punctually: Yun Shuangshuang’s grandfather Yun Zheng, grandmother Wang Guixiang, father Yun He, uncle Yun Ling, and aunt Liu Mei, along with her younger cousin Yun Chen, who came into the courtyard shouting.

Yun Shuangshuang put all the mushrooms in the bamboo basket, covered them with grass, and placed them in an inconspicuous and cooler place, so no one noticed. Yun Shuangshuang planned to talk to the Yun Family about conditions once she sold the mushrooms for money.

One night passed, and early the next morning, Yun Shuangshuang put on a small basket laden with mushrooms and ran out without informing the Yun Family. Previously, Yun Shuangshuang went out early to dig wild vegetables frequently, so the Yun Family wouldn’t go looking for her just because she wasn’t seen early in the morning.

The village was not far from the outside town, about a dozen or so miles along a mountain road. If taking the village’s tractor, it would take an hour to reach there. In town, there was a small market, which, despite being small, had almost all the things needed for daily life. This included some seasonal vegetables and some wild mountain goods.

All the other stalls in the market were fixed, except for the vegetable-selling spots, which were occupied on a first-come, first-served basis. Many villagers nearby brought vegetables from their fields to sell, and they would leave once sold out, unable to stay permanently. Therefore, the market administrators didn’t charge monthly stall fees; they only required those selling vegetables to pay a two-yuan stall fee, allowing them to find a spot and sell for a day.

There was a family in Yun Shuangshuang’s village that drove a tractor specifically for taking villagers to town. They charged one yuan per trip, two yuan for a round trip, and along with the stall fee, it cost at least four yuan to go out once, but you could earn thirty or forty! Even subtracting expenses, the profit wasn’t small.

Moreover, they sold home-produced vegetables, eggs, and local specialties from the mountains, so there wasn’t much cost involved, naturally feeling like they were making a lot.

Money at this time had astonishing buying power, unlike later with inflation when spending a hundred yuan wouldn’t buy as much as ten yuan now would.

In the village, whenever it wasn’t a busy farming season and households had vegetables, they would take them to sell in town. Some stingy families even wouldn’t eat themselves and would sell the vegetables for money. Only during the seasons when vegetables were most abundant would there be exceptions.

Among all the vegetable sellers, the most popular were the various mushrooms of prized varieties, like those large mushrooms of different kinds Lin Shuangshuang had gathered yesterday! No matter the time, wild mushrooms from the mountains never worried about sales, especially those precious species picked by Lin Shuangshuang!

Yun Shuangshuang didn’t know what the name of the person who drove the tractor was, but because there were three brothers in his family, and he was the third, villagers all called him by his nickname, Hao Laosan, besides there being Hao the First and Hao the Second. Few people called them by their real names.

When Yun Shuangshuang arrived, it was just dawn. There were only four men sitting in the tractor, each carrying a large bamboo basket full of vegetables. Unfortunately, selling things required physical strength, and women carried less unless there were no strong laborers at home, it was usually assumed men would go.

A tractor could squeeze in eight or nine people with goods. When Yun Shuangshuang arrived, there was naturally space. Hao Laosan was smoking and chatting with the men waiting on the tractor for more people to come.

Yun Shuangshuang quickly put on a big smile and ran over to greet Hao Laosan sweetly, "Hello, Uncle Hao!" Yun Shuangshuang’s appearance took after Feng Jinyan, looking delicate and cute, and her smile hardly made anyone feel repulsed.

Hao Laosan tapped his cigarette and smiled as he greeted Yun Shuangshuang, "Ah, it’s little Shuangshuang! You’re out early to go dig wild vegetables?"

"No!" Yun Shuangshuang shyly smiled as she explained, "I want to catch a ride with you to the town to sell some mushrooms I collected myself, and then get some food for my mother. My grandma said there’s no extra food at home, so I thought I’d earn some money to buy some. I know it costs to ride your tractor. I don’t have money now, but if you look at these beautiful mushrooms, I’m sure I can sell them for money and pay you on the way back."

As Yun Shuangshuang spoke, she untied the backpack from her back and placed it in front of Hao Laosan to show him the carefully arranged precious mushrooms in neat little grass baskets inside the bamboo basket. Seeing these perfectly conditioned and precious mushrooms, even Hao Laosan was surprised. So many mushrooms in such great condition were something even experienced people wouldn’t necessarily be able to find, and surely they wouldn’t have trouble selling them.