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Once everything was tidied up, Yingbao went with her parents and younger brother to wish her grandparents a happy New Year.

On the way, they saw two children hopping along on bamboo poles.

The ends of the bamboo poles each had colored paper horse heads attached, which were the two horse heads Yingbao had given Yuanbao and Huzi.

“Ha ha! Drive! Drive! Charge!” Yuanbao, leading Huzi, raced away, attracting the attention of the nearby children who all followed.

Within the village, a few other children also had similar horse heads, so they all arrogantly lined up and competed to see who could run the fastest.

Those children without horse heads could only ride plain poles and followed at the end, looking lonely and rather unimpressive.

Seeing this made Yingbao want to laugh, and a sudden desire to try it came over her.

However, this was a boys’ game, and girls were not only unused to it, but were also not allowed to play.

Upon arriving at her eldest uncle’s house, they first bowed and wished their grandparents a happy New Year, then bowed to her eldest uncle and his wife. Later, when her second uncle arrived, they bowed to him as well, afterwards they bowed to their parents again.

After all this commotion, Yingbao felt quite dizzy from all the bowing.

Dani and the second girl didn’t get much rest either as they spent their time bowing as well.

After the New Year’s greetings, the eldest aunt started to prepare dumplings and rice cakes.

The dumplings were stuffed with shepherd’s purse and pork, they were absolutely delicious. Yingbao, being a small child, could only eat seven before she felt too full to continue, despite wishing she could eat more.

The rice cakes were made from glutinous rice and red beans, with honey added inside. Sweet and sticky, they were delicious.

Yingbao took a piece of the red bean rice cake in her hand and went out to play with Sister Dani.

There were few games that girls could play. Most of the time they stood on the sidelines watching boys zoom back and forth, riding their bamboo poles, dividing into two teams, playing war games.

Yingbao lost interest after a while and suggested going home to sleep.

There was still a lot of work to be done in her cave, and she couldn’t settle down.

So she bid goodbye to her cousin and went back home, climbing onto the ‘kang’ bed and burrowing into the quilt.

The first day of the New Year was a leisurely and jovial one. Other than eating and drinking, the villagers spend their time visiting each other to exchange New Year’s greetings.

Only Yingbao had a hard time, as she was busy working in her cave the whole day, rubbing both of her palms raw.

Sigh, she decided they must not plant so much grain next time. Relying on just one small person to do the work, and not allowing anyone to help, she was going to work herself to death.

The next day, Yingbao went with her parents to her grandmother’s house ten miles away to celebrate the New Year. They had lunch there and had to rush back in the afternoon.

In the evening, they met her aunt who had returned from the county town and collected a silk flower.

Yingbao’s aunt was in her thirties, sallow-faced, and not very well. This time she returned to her mother’s home with only her youngest son, who was about the same age as Yuanbao.

Yingbao wasn’t familiar with her aunt’s family. In her previous life, it seemed she had only met her once, and even after she herself moved to the county town, she never thought of looking for her aunt.

Busy as she was, the first lunar month passed by.

The spring rain kept drizzling for several days in the second month of the lunar year, known as Dragon’s Head Raising month. Before they knew it, the snow and ice had melted and the weather was starting to warm up.

In Yingbao’s cave, the five mulberry trunks had grown over a dozen adult’s palm-sized golden ears. They looked like golden pig’s brains, very beautiful and pleasing.

She carefully cut off one, put it in a pottery bowl, and split the root part into several sections to plant on a dozen or so dried mulberry trunks.

Before planting, she had drilled holes in the trunks with scissors and filled them with finely chopped wheat stalks and rice husks.

Afterwards, she watered them once a day, waiting patiently for them to sprout and grow again.

One day, Yingbao took Youyou, Dani and the second girl to pick wild veggies in a deserted field. They went into a small woods. While her two cousins weren’t paying attention, she took two golden ears from her cave and put them in her basket.

“Let’s go back.” Dani stood up straight, holding the basket, “I’ve already picked half a basket.”

Yingbao immediately nodded: “Let’s go home.”

The second girl also agreed.

The three little sisters each carried their baskets and walked back. When they passed a small ditch, Dani dipped the baskets into the water to rinse the veggies.

After washing, the veggies were tender and lush, and when cooked back home with soybean dregs, they were delicious and filling. This is the lifesaving meal for poor families during food shortages in the transition from winter to spring.

Villagers usually pick the veggies after the first spring rain, wash them clean and then dry them. They collect them in baskets, hanging them from the rafters as emergency food storage.

Occasionally, they would grab a handful, soak it in water and cook it with wild vegetables, which was enough for a meal or two.

Dani took Yingbao’s basket intending to help wash the veggies, but was surprised to find two strange mushrooms. Curiously, she asked, “Yingbao, what are these?”

‘Golden Ear.” Yingbao answered truthfully.

Dani was curious, “What is this Golden Ear? Where did you find it? Is it poisonous?”

Yingbao shook her head, “I found it in the forest. It’s not poisonous. Youyou loves to eat it, we can eat it too.”

Youyou turned her head and blinked innocently.

Dani picked up the Golden Ear and sniffed it, “Hmm, it’s kind of fragrant.”

The Golden Ear had a faint medicinal scent, similar to osmanthus flowers.

Dani also took it and sniffed, but she wrinkled her nose and put it back, “It doesn’t smell good.” She didn’t like the fragrance.

Yingbao held the two Golden Ears in her dress, and wagged her head, “This is a medicinal herb, it’s worth a lot of money.”

The two young girls neither agreed nor disagreed, washed the vegetables, and returned home with their younger cousin.

Once home, Yingbao handed the two Golden Ears to their mother, ‘Mom, can we cook this?”

Their mother looked at it and frowned, “What is this? Who told you it was edible? Baobao, if you eat something you don’t recognize, you might get poisoned. We mustn’t eat recklessly.”

Yingbao paused and made up a story, “This is Golden Ear. An old woman in West Village said it’s very valuable. It can sell for dozens of taels of silver per box in the city.”

“What?” Upon hearing the word valuable, their mother’s eyes widened, “Which old woman in West Village?”

Yingbao scratched her head, “I don’t know her name.”

Their mother automatically assumed it was the old woman whose son worked as a medicine clerk in the county, the grandmother of the midwife Aunt Wu from West Village.

If it was true what Wu’s grandmother had said, then it’s highly plausible. After all, her deceased husband had worked as a clerk in a medicine shop in town, and they had initially become wealthy by collecting and selling medicinal herbs.

And her son even had some understanding of Traditional Medicine Techniques, and her daughter-in-law was a well-known midwife in the village.

Their mother looked at the Golden Ears again, and wondered to herself, “Could it really be worth that much?”

They were in need of money at home. The last time when Jiang Erlang divorced, the fifteen taels of silver were borrowed from Jiang Da and Sanlang, with some help from their parents. They even had to sell two of their sheep for it.

Only two months had passed. Jiang Erlang had stopped taking medicine, but he was nowhere near able to repay the debts.

Moreover, Sanlang had said that there was no rush, they could repay the money whenever they were able to.

So, their mother was poor, so poor that she couldn’t even come up with thirty coins.

But she couldn’t tell her daughter about their difficulties.

“Mom, why don’t we let dad take it to the medicine shop in town to see if it’s worth anything?” Yingbao suggested.

Their mother was considering the idea.

Indeed, she should have her husband take it to the medicine shop for appraisal. What if it was really valuable?

“But, there are only two…” Their mother was hesitant.

Yingbao knew what her mother was worried about, and whispered, “I can find a lot more.”

She gestured with her tiny hands, “This much.”

“Really?” Their mother’s eyes sparkled, “Well then, let me go with you to have a look. ”

Yingbao shook her head, “No need, I will go get them now.”

With that, she ran out of the courtyard, dashed into the small forest by the entrance, and returned a moment later with two branches covered in Golden Ears. She handed them to her mother.

Their mother was astounded.

The two dark branches were covered with more than a dozen brilliant yellow Golden Ears, each larger than a fist, and incredibly beautiful.

“… ” Their mother carefully held the branches, cautious not to damage any of the Golden Ears.

“When your dad gets back, let him take these to Granny Wu in West Village to see if they truly are as valuable as we think.”

Yingbao: ..

Has one ever heard of the saying, shooting oneself in the foot?

“No! Let’s go to town instead, doctor Lee certainly knows more than old lady

Wii.

Their mother thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement..