Jiang Pan’s family returned to the house and closed the door, sitting together. “The outside is in chaos now, and it’s unlikely our place will be peaceful. Your mother and I have decided to pack our things and leave with your brother-in-law’s village. Su Shi, what’s the situation with your maternal family? If they also want to leave, we can go together.”
The sudden decision of her in-laws to flee the famine made Su Shi panic. “Dad, Mom, I… can I go back to my mother’s house to ask?”
Chen Yuezhi nodded. “Alright, it’s too late today. Tomorrow morning, let Dalang accompany you back to your mother’s house.”
After the serious matters were discussed, San Lang quickly brought out the remaining roasted chestnuts.
Jiang Pan and his wife were also shocked for a while. Jiang Wan said, “Mom, tomorrow, my brothers and I will go up the mountain again. Maybe we can find more food. Grandpa and Grandma definitely won’t give us any grain, so we need to prepare more, otherwise we’ll go hungry on the road.”
The couple praised Jiang Wan while holding her.
However, neither of them took it to heart. After all, they knew the situation in the mountains very well. It was an unexpected stroke of luck that Jiang Wan could find these chestnuts today.
But such good luck didn’t happen every day.
The next morning, after getting Jiang Wan’s consent, Chen Yuezhi had San Lang get five jin of chestnuts and give them to Su Shi.
“Take these back. If your parents are unwilling to leave, you might never see them again. The family can’t afford to give anything good now. These chestnuts are for you to show your filial piety.”
Su Shi, with red eyes, took them. “Thank you, Mother.”
Five jin of chestnuts were indeed not much, but she had never expected Chen Yuezhi to give them. After all, even a three-year-old child knew how precious grain was now. The eldest branch had no stored grain, and to be able to spare five jin of chestnuts at this time was already a sign of deep affection.
After Dalang and his wife left, Jiang Wan’s family also tidied up, preparing to go up the mountain to chop trees.
They had already decided to flee the famine and would leave with Jiang Xiao’s husband’s village tomorrow, so they had to quickly make a cart to carry their luggage today.
Chen Yuezhi planned to go into the mountains to find some herbs, in case anyone in the family caught a cold or fever on the road.
Before going out, Jiang Wan leaned close to Chen Yuezhi’s ear and said, “Mom, if we leave, Second Uncle will definitely sneak in to steal things. Keep all the valuables on you, we can’t let him benefit.”
Chen Yuezhi glanced at her with a smile. “You’re too shrewd for your age. Don’t worry, your eldest sister-in-law’s things are all with me.”
It turned out that Chen Yuezhi had already gathered all the valuables in the house.
Having been married into the Jiang family for so many years, she knew the character of the people in the Jiang family better than anyone.
The family went up the mountain together.
Because the wood for the cart required higher quality, they had to go deeper into the mountains this time.
Jiang Wan sat on Jiang Pan’s shoulder, her eyes scanning the surrounding plants like radar. Unfortunately, many plants in the mountains had already withered. After searching for a long time, Jiang Wan didn’t find anything useful.
However, she wasn’t in a hurry and let Jiang Pan carry her forward.
When they arrived at the location, Jiang Pan found a flat spot and put her down. “Wanwan, you play here, don’t run around, understand?”
Jiang Wan nodded, raised her chubby hand, and waved. “You guys be busy, don’t mind me.”
Time was pressing, so the family quickly started working on a large tree nearby.
Jiang Wan looked around. Although they had reached the edge of the deep mountains, the surroundings were still desolate, with withered grass and trees, and no birds or beasts.
However, Jiang Wan decided to search carefully, in case she could find something useful.
So she stood up and prepared to walk around.
Chen Yuezhi called out to her, “Wanwan, where are you going? Come back quickly, don’t run around. Mom will teach you to recognize herbs.”
Jiang Wan’s eyes rolled, and she blurted out, “I need to pee!”
Being young, she wasn’t afraid of embarrassment.
Chen Yuezhi quickly put down what she was doing and was about to come over. Jiang Wan quickly ran a few steps. “Mom, don’t come, I’ll go by myself.”
Chen Yuezhi was a little worried and insisted on following. Jiang Wan stomped her foot. “Mom, I also have dignity!”
The little pink figure, pouting and stomping her feet, looked so cute that it made the whole family laugh.
“Alright, alright, Mom will give you some face. Then go quickly, don’t go far, just behind that tree, okay?”
Jiang Wan grumbled and ran behind the tree.
Once she was sure no one was watching her, Jiang Wan used the tree as cover and walked further away.
She had to be quick, otherwise her mother would surely realize she had gone far. Alas, being spoiled by her family too much also had its troubles.
Jiang Wan bragged in her heart with a smug expression, her round eyes scanning everywhere.
Suddenly, she noticed a hint of green in the dry grass pile over there.
Picking up a stick, she pushed aside the dry grass, revealing a plant with two leaves.
Jiang Wan was born in the post-apocalyptic era in her previous life. The plants in that world had long mutated and were almost nothing like the plants in this world. Therefore, she had no idea what this thin plant, which could be blown down by a gust of wind, was called.
However, she had a universal intuition!
Her intuition told her that this thing was very useful.
So, without any hesitation, Jiang Wan reached out, pinched the leaves of the plant, and began to channel her special ability into it.
Through the information transmitted by her special ability, she discovered that the roots of the plant were growing somewhat haphazardly.
Would these small roots be enough for two bites?
Jiang Wan frowned, pouring all her special ability into it.
But strangely, the roots of this thing grew very slowly! All her special ability was poured in, but the roots only grew to about the length of an adult’s palm.
Her special ability was depleted. It was clearly impossible to wait for her special ability to recover and then give it another boost.
So Jiang Wan had no choice but to dig it out with a stick.
Holding the root, which was half her arm long and sprawled out, Jiang Wan had a look of deep distress.
What the heck was this thing! It was too much of a rip-off! After pouring so much special ability into it, it only grew this much?
Was it enough to fill their teeth?
If she had known this thing was so troublesome, she would definitely not have chosen it!
She really wanted to throw it away, but after all, she had used her special ability to make it grow, so throwing it away would be an even greater waste.
So, Jiang Wan, with a look of disdain, carried the root with its two new leaves, which had just been stimulated by her special ability, and walked towards her family, stomping her short legs.
As soon as she reached the big tree, she saw Chen Yuezhi looking for her.
“Wanwan, why did you take so long? Huh, what are you holding?”
Jiang Wan shook her head, not wanting to talk much. She handed the root to Chen Yuezhi and walked back with her head down.
Her special ability was depleted, and she was unhappy!
She didn’t notice Chen Yuezhi’s shocked and stunned expression at the root at all.
After a while, she heard Chen Yuezhi’s slightly altered voice from behind: “His father! Come here quickly! Quickly!”
Jiang Pan was chopping wood and was startled by Chen Yuezhi’s voice, almost letting the knife slip.
Dropping the chopping knife, Jiang Pan walked over curiously. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Chen Yuezhi, with trembling hands, handed the thing to him. “His father, look at this thing. Isn’t it ginseng?”