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Yingbao stayed there for four or five years, enduring daily whippings and being forced to learn acrobatics and song-and-dance routines, learning how to charm and please people.

It was in that place that she learned to read and understand scripts from an elder sister.

It wasn’t until she was fourteen that her biological father, Chen Changping, passed the scholar examination. The Han family feared that her shameful past as a slave would be discovered, so they redeemed her.

After all, Chen Changping was now a man of distinction. The imperial court valued family ties and filial piety. If someone were to report that he had sold his daughter into slavery, he would be barred from taking the official examination, and even if he had passed, his results might be revoked. In severe cases, his scholar status could even be stripped away.

That was the truth, not what was written in the book, that she was sent to the countryside.

Ha-ha, it’s not worth reading such a book filled with nonsense, describing a deer as a horse.

The next day, when she woke up…

Yingbao checked her wrist; the charred area had begun to heal and didn’t hurt much anymore.

“Indeed, the Five Ding Herbs are a treasure of nature.” She was both surprised and pleased.

Judging by this rate of recovery, in a few days, the wound should be scabbed over. What she was unsure about was whether the birthmark had been removed.

Upon thinking, Yingbao took out a large batch of Five Ding Herbs, chewed them for a while, and swallowed them.

They tasted fresh and slightly sweet as soon as they entered her mouth. She couldn’t describe the taste, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

She may have eaten too many this time, as she only felt a warm stream flowing through her entire body, making her feel cozy and comfortable.

Her mind became clear in an instant, and her body filled with vigor.

She stretched her legs, joyfully dressed herself, wrapped her wrist, opened the door to her room, only to find that it had snowed outside.

The pristine snow had blanketed the courtyard up to the thickness of half a knee.

Yingbao rubbed her face, steps on the snow with her cotton shoes, but she felt

unusually cheerful.

Youyou was calling her from the newly built straw shed, and the hens were clucking away nonstop.

Yingbao ran over, dipping one foot deeply in the snow and raising the other, placing some straw and a few beautiful green soybean sprouts in Youyou’s stone trough.

The straw was leftover from the rice harvest in their own paddy field, while the bean sprouts were produced in the cave dwelling.

Youyou didn’t mind the fewer green plants and slowly chewed down the straw and bean sprouts.

Yingbao then scattered some barnyard millet and a handful of shepherd’s purse for the chickens before she picked up four eggs from the chicken nest and put them into the egg basket.

Her father couldn’t bear to kill these five chickens after all and bought new ones to boost the body of his wife.

Jiang Erlang built another straw shed in the courtyard for the chickens to perch and made a cozy shed for Youyou as well.

The kitchen is finally a lot cleaner without the daily chore of cleaning up chicken droppings and that stench of chicken feces.

“Baobao, why are you up so early?”

Her father, Jiang Erlang, was carrying a bucket, heading out of the courtyard.

Seeing his daughter already busy in the chicken pen, he said, “It’s cold outside. Don’t catch a chill. Come back inside. I’ll cook in a while.”

“Alright.” Yingbao clapped her hands together and then hopped back to the east room to check on her brothers.

The two little ones were already awake, and Chunniang was feeding them.

Yingbao peered over the edge of the kang (a traditional Chinese heated bed) at the brother in her mother’s arms, wishing they would quickly grow up so she could take them out to play.

Chunniang gently said to her daughter, “Come up here on the kang, it’s cold on the ground.”

“Alright.” Yingbao quickly climbed up onto the kang and sat next to her mother.

Now her daily task was to take care of her brothers, freeing up more time for her mother to rest.

The family would only improve as long as her mother got a good rest and regained her strength.

Yingbao thought about the Five Ding Herbs in the cave dwelling and hesitated whether to give her mother some.

But her brothers were still breastfeeding, and she couldn’t guarantee that the herb wouldn’t affect the babies’ normal development.

She decided to wait until her brothers were weaned and then feed it to her mother.

As for her father, Jiang Erlang, he was young and strong and didn’t need any tonics at all.

Jiang Sanlang came in from outside, bringing in the chill of winter. He placed the cleaned chamber pot in the small partition, and chafing his palms together, he said, “Spring Maiden, Elder Brother and Second Brother are planning to go hare hunting on South Mountain once the snow stops. Should I go with them?”

While he was asking for her opinion orally, his eyes were steadfastly fixed on his wife, full of anticipation.

Spring Maiden sounded a bit annoyed, “The snow is still falling, isn’t it? We’ll talk about it once it stops.”

Jiang Sanlang gave a sly chuckle, “Understood. I’ll go prepare the meal now.

What would you and our daughter like to eat?”

Most of yesterday’s leftovers were given to the neighbors who had helped out. Only a little was left at home, just as much as a family would need for a day.

“Make whatever you want. I’m a bit low on milk. How about some fish soup? And boil an egg for Yingbao.” Spring Maiden looked down at her two sons and slightly furrowed her brows.

These two little bugs ate so much that her breast milk supply was insufficient.

“Alright, we’ll have fish soup noodles for breakfast, and I’ll also boil eggs for you and our daughter.” Jiang Sanlang leaned over to look at his son and then turned to leave the room.

Yingbao blinked her eyes, climbed down from the kang bed, and followed him out.

When they reached the kitchen, Yingbao volunteered to sit at the back of the stove to help stoke the fire. She asked, “Dad, is it that our house is out of fish?”

After looking around for a while, Jiang Sanlang indeed found no fish at home. Scratching his head in vexation, he said, “Yes, we’re out of fish. How about making chicken soup noodles for your mother instead?”

While saying this, he began scooping out flour to knead, preparing to roll out noodles.

Chicken soup was readily available, which still had a bit of chicken meat left. It should be enough for his wife and daughter for one meal.

“Dad, can we go fishing by the river after we eat?” Yingbao grabbed a handful of dough and rolled it in her hands while blinking expectantly.

There were fish in winter too. She had once seen people cut through the ice on frozen lakes in the north to fish.

“Sure, we’ll go borrow a fishing net from your Uncle later.” Jiang Sanlang sighed, “But I doubt we’ll catch anything.”

It was very cold outside with the snow falling, and the river should be freezing over. All the fish would probably have sunk to the bottom.

Yingbao asserted, “How would we know if we don’t give it a try?” She had food pellets for royal deer, which deer and chickens would fight over to eat. Perhaps the fish would like them too.

Jiang Sanlang nodded, “Mhmm, my daughter is right. How would we know if we don’t give it a try?”

With a freezing day and snowfall, there was no way to buy fish in town. His wife was waiting for fish to help boost her milk supply, and their sons were close to going hungry. They had no choice but to brainstorm solutions.

After they’d had breakfast and tidied up, Jiang Sanlang was about to step out when his little daughter followed him, “Dad, take me with you.”

Jiang Sanlang shook his head, “No! It’s cold outside. And the riverside is slippery. What if you fall into the river?”

“I want to go.” Yingbao was determined, “Maybe I’m better at fishing than you, dad.”

Jiang Sanlang guffawed and ruffled his daughter’s hair, “You little imp. Fine! I’ll take you with me. But you must behave there and not wander around.” “Mhmm.” Yingbao joyfully sprinted over to her father, who then picked her up and put her in the carrying basket.

Jiang Sanlang glanced outside and seeing that the snow was still falling, turned back inside to pick up a colorful tiger-head hat and put it on his daughter. He also put on a traditional broad bamboo hat himself.

With the carrying basket on his back and having borrowed a fishing net from his elder brother’s house, Jiang Sanlang headed to the riverside.

However, unbeknownst to him, he was followed by three lads.

One was his elder brother Jiang Dalang, one was his second brother Jiang Erlang, and the third one was Jiang Dalang’s second son, Jiang Quan.

Jiang Yuanbao also wanted to follow them, but after being beaten up by his mother a few times, he ran back into the house crying.

Arriving at the river’s edge, they saw a fog of snow over the river’s surface and a thin layer of ice along the water’s edge.

“It’s going to be tough.” Jiang Da bo suggested, “The fish must be sunk to the river’s bottom. We can only fish if we row to the middle of the river.” Jiang Sanlang and Jiang Erlang also thought the same.

Yet, Yingbao wanted to give it a shot. Clinging onto the carrying basket she called out, “Dad, put me down.”

Jianz Sanlanq, left with no choice, put his daughter down.

Just as Yingbao was about to run towards the water, Jiang Sanlang grabbed her,

“No running around. Just stay on the riverbank and watch.”

Yingbao could only tug at the fishing net her father was holding in his hand, plead, “Then Dad, you take me to the river’s edge. I have bait. Let’s just give it a try.”

She had already prepared the bait.. How could she be content without giving it a try?