Chapter 36
◎A Flash Flood, of All Things◎
The next day, Su Juesheng borrowed the book. Not only the plant guide, Zhou Shunian also gave them several books on medicinal herbs. His grandfather was an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and there were many such books at home.
Moreover, Zhou Shunian had also compiled a price list of common medicinal herbs that the pharmacy would purchase. This was a great help to them. The few of them memorized the books overnight, and the next day they went up the mountain with bamboo baskets and shovels for digging medicinal herbs.
To prevent snake bites, they all wore yellow rubber shoes, long-sleeved jackets, and carried sachets to repel mosquitoes and insects. To save time, they also brought a meal of dry rations in their bamboo baskets, so they could eat lunch on the mountain and not come back.
At six in the morning, after drinking a bowl of pumpkin and millet congee, Su Juesheng, Su Juexiao, Su Juesheng, Tangtang, and Wani went up the mountain.
At this time, there were not many people on Dagu Mountain. The fog in the mountains had not completely dissipated, and it was hazy. Dew dripped from the leaves into the mud, with a faint earthy smell. There were also many mosquitoes. After they went up the mountain, they separated. Tangtang pushed aside a clump of thorns that was blocking the way and buried her head in seriously identifying the various plants in the mountains.
In summer, the vegetation in the mountains was lush, and the rubber shoes were a bit slippery on the leaves. Tangtang walked through a small path and happened to see a grayish-white, round thing exposed in the soil around the roots of a pine tree.
She tried hard to recall the guide she had read last night and thought that this might be Poria. She was overjoyed, squatted down, and carefully dug away the surrounding soil.
The soil was a bit sandy and soft, not as firm as in other places. As the soil was dug away bit by bit, the outline of the thing became clearer. The grayish-white skin had some fine lines, it was wild Poria!
After some effort, she dug out a large, complete piece of wild Poria. It was heavy in her hand, and she estimated it to be over a catty. Tangtang thought of the price list Zhou Shunian had compiled. One catty of wild Poria could be sold for two yuan!
Her eyebrows raised in joy. She put the Poria into her bamboo basket. She wandered around and dug up some other herbs.
It was almost noon. Tangtang had only had a bowl of pumpkin and millet congee in the morning and was already starving. She found a small stream in a mountain gully, washed her hands, wiped her face, and took out the lunch she had brought from her bamboo basket.
She first took a sip of water. When she opened the lunchbox, there was a sorghum flour bun and a sweet potato inside. Eating the sorghum flour bun dry was a bit choking, so she broke it into small pieces and ate it with water.
The sweet potato was particularly sweet. Although it was cold, it was still very delicious.
The siblings searched in the mountains until it was almost dark before they went down. Before going down the mountain, everyone shared their results for the day. Among the few of them, Tangtang had found the most medicinal herbs. Besides a large, valuable piece of Poria, there was also a small bundle of honeysuckle. In addition, she had also dug up a few stalks of Codonopsis, with distinct, thick, and full rootlets, and a light earthy yellow skin, which showed good quality.
Next was Wani. She had also dug up two stalks of Codonopsis, a few stalks of Bupleurum, and a small pile of dandelions.
And the Su Juesheng brothers, regardless of the quality of the herbs, had also filled a bamboo basket.
Today’s results were quite fruitful, and everyone was very happy. The fresh medicinal herbs could not be stored for long, and some could not be dried directly. After searching in the mountains for two or three days, the herbs at home had filled two bamboo baskets. They decided to let Wani and Juexiao go to the commune pharmacy first to sell the herbs they had already dug up.
The purchase price at the pharmacy was similar to the price list Zhou Shunian had compiled. The pharmacy did not accept some of the poor-quality herbs. The large piece of fresh Poria that Tangtang had dug up was sold for two yuan.
In the end, the two baskets of medicinal herbs were sold for a total of five yuan.
This was when Tangtang and the others had just started digging for medicinal herbs and were not familiar with many of them.
Coming out of the pharmacy, Wani calculated. The medicinal herbs dug up in these three days were sold for five yuan. In the remaining two months, the hope of her saving up 45 yuan was very high!
This meant that she could continue her studies!
Perhaps because it was market day, there were many people on the street, and it was very noisy and lively. The sun shone on people, and even their palms were sweating. Wani clutched the two yuan and fifty cents that Juexiao had given her, a relaxed smile finally appearing on her face.
Su Juexiao suddenly asked her, “Do you want to eat a candied hawthorn skewer?”
Wani was taken aback. Her gaze fell on the vendor carrying a string of candied hawthorn skewers. The candied hawthorns were large and red, coated with a shiny sugar glaze. Just by looking at them, one could tell that one bite would be both sour and sweet.
She clutched the money in her hand. This money was to be saved for her studies. She swallowed her saliva. “I’m not eating.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Su Juexiao walk straight up, take out money, and buy two skewers of candied hawthorns.
He handed one of them to her. “Eat up.”
The candied hawthorns were skewered on a bamboo stick. The sugar coating was translucent from the sun. The hawthorns were as red as the lanterns of the New Year, and they were also coated with sugar frost. The hawthorns on the skewer were all very large and round. Some even had the unique white frost of hawthorn skin, which showed that they were good fruits freshly picked from the mountains.
The sugar coating on the outside of the hawthorns was very even and crisp. Looking at it reminded one of the melted rock sugar water on the stove, so sweet it would stick to your teeth.
Wani couldn’t help but swallow her saliva. With a crunch, she bit through the sugar coating. The sourness of the hawthorn mixed with the sweetness of the rock sugar, and a little astringency from the peel, slowly melted in her mouth.
It was indeed as delicious as she had imagined.
Wani looked at the candied hawthorn skewer in his hand, which hadn’t been touched for a long time. “Aren’t you eating?”
Su Juexiao shook his head, a smile on his face. “This is for Tangtang.”
…
“When will this rain stop?” Tangtang leaned against the door. The heavy rain hit the stone slab, and the splashing water hit her trouser legs, soon soaking half of them.
Seeing the dark clouds pressing down outside and the unrestrained heavy rain, she couldn’t help but sigh.
Many of the low-lying houses in the village had already been flooded. Fortunately, their house was on higher ground and was not at risk of being flooded for the time being.
Now, all the people in the production team who could be mobilized had been mobilized. The men, women, old, and young in the village spontaneously rushed to the fields, using ladles, wooden buckets, and rice jars to scoop the water out of the fields. If the rain rotted the roots of the crops, everyone would have to go hungry next year. The fields were a dark mass of people, lined up in a winding long queue like ants moving house.
A man in the fields bent over, lifted a wooden bucket full of yellow mud and water over his head, and his rough and gruff shout pierced through the rain. “Catch!”
On the other end, a woman wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat gritted her teeth and stood on her tiptoes, taking the trembling bucket. Her fingernails were filled with mud, and her arms were so sore she could barely lift them. But she gritted her teeth and, with a whoosh, poured the muddy water into the drainage ditch, then gritted her teeth and continued.
…
“If it keeps raining like this, there will be a flood.”
After Su Juexiao said this, Tangtang and Juesheng and the others all fell silent. Farmers mainly relied on the weather for their food. Not only would the allocated grain be scarce, but the price of grain on the market would also rise. If there was a flood, it meant that everyone would have to go hungry.
The rain lasted for more than half an hour before it gradually subsided. There was finally some hope of it stopping. From a distance, Su Juexiao saw a figure wearing a straw raincoat, yellow rubber shoes, and with trouser legs rolled up to the knees, walking towards Dagu Mountain.
He couldn’t help but frown. He casually picked up a dark blue oilcloth umbrella from the side and ran into the rain, not even hearing Tangtang calling from behind, “Second Brother, where are you going!”
This rain had been falling continuously for five or six days, starting from August. Last month, they had been constantly digging for medicinal herbs, and she had finally saved up twenty yuan. For the past few days, they hadn’t been able to go up the mountain to dig for medicinal herbs. There was less than a month left. Wani was so anxious that she was on fire, and two blisters had appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Finally, the rain had subsided. She thought, no matter what, she had to go up the mountain. No matter how much, or how good the quality of the herbs, there would be some harvest.
The muddy mountain path was ten times more difficult to walk than usual. Moss was wrapped in mud, and it was slippery to step on.
Wani used a cane she had picked up to walk up. Suddenly, her foot slipped, and she fell backward.
At the critical moment, Su Juexiao rushed up from behind, stepped on a relatively solid piece of mud, grabbed a supporting bamboo with one hand, and grabbed Wani’s wrist with the other, pulling her so that she wouldn’t fall into the mud.
The rain was not heavy, but the wind was blowing the leaves with a rustling sound. Su Juexiao could only raise his voice. “Wani, are you crazy?!”
As soon as Su Juexiao finished speaking, there was a rumble. A nearby earthen slope collapsed, and muddy water, mixed with loose stones, rolled down.
Dark clouds pressed down. The two’s faces changed in shock. This was a sign of a flash flood.
…
It wasn’t until the evening, after the adults had finished work, that they learned from Tangtang that Su Juexiao had gone out in the afternoon and hadn’t come back. They also learned from the villagers who had seen Wani that she might have gone up the mountain. Only then did they realize the seriousness of the matter.
The rain had stopped, and the muddy road, soaked by the rain, was in a terrible state. The villagers were simple and honest. Hearing that the two children from the Su family were missing, they all ignored what they were doing, put on raincoats, and held torches to help search.
Just as they reached the foot of the mountain, they saw Wani and Su Juexiao walking back together. They were both soaked through, covered in mud from head to toe, looking like two miserable mud figures.
Yu Yahong rushed forward and pinched Wani’s ear, both anxious and angry. “You damn girl, study, study, you don’t even want your own life. What’s the use of studying?! If you had died in the mountains today, I would have dragged you back from the underworld to skin you alive!”
“The family is as anxious as ants on a hot pan, searching all over the mountains for you two reckless brats. Just you wait until we get back, I’ll teach you a good lesson!”
Yu Yahong pulled Wani, hitting and scolding her, but she was her own daughter after all, and her eyes couldn’t help but turn red.
In the end, it was the production team leader who shouted through a loudspeaker, “Make way, let the children go home first!”
The crowd automatically made way. Su Huimin looked at the helpful villagers. “It’s good that the two children are fine. We really appreciate everyone’s help today. Come to my house for a cup of tea and a rest before you go.”
“We’re all neighbors. These two children are good children we’ve watched grow up. It’s too formal to say thank you!”
Before they came out, everyone’s dinner was cooking at home. Now that the people were found, they all said they had to go home for dinner and waved their hands, saying they would come for tea another day.
Yu Yahong no longer cared that Wani was covered in mud. She wiped away her tears and put her arm around her shoulder, walking towards the old Su family’s house.
Wani remembered that when the flash flood came down, it was Su Juexiao who had blocked the old tree root that had crashed towards her. She swallowed her throat. “Juexiao, thank you.”
…
It took Wani a full hour to wash off all the mud. Yu Yahong brought a large bucket of hot water, poured in half a bottle of white wine, and chopped two large pieces of old ginger into it. Her skin was soaked red, and her hair and skin were all smelling of wine and ginger. She felt light-headed, as if she were walking on clouds.
“You damn girl! Are you trying to drive our family to a dead end? A mountain collapse, a snake bite, falling into a ditch to feed the wolves—which of these is not more pleasant than studying?!”
“Medicinal herbs, medicinal herbs! All you see is that junk!” Yu Yahong couldn’t help but pinch her again.
Wani knew that she had caused trouble for everyone. She bit her lip and didn’t talk back, silently enduring her mother’s anger.
“Sister Wani, are you feeling better?” Tangtang’s voice came from the door.
“It’s Tangtang. How is your brother?”
“My brother has already taken a bath and is fine.” Tangtang was holding an enamel mug. “My mom brewed some old ginger and brown sugar water. She asked me to bring a bowl for Sister Wani.”
This brown sugar water was a rare good thing. A smile appeared on Yu Yahong’s face. “Thank you, your mom, for me.”
But when she faced Wani, her temper was not so good. She slammed the bowl in front of her with a clang. “Drink up! So you’ll have the strength to go and die again!”
At this moment, the eldest son of the second son, Su, and Yu Yahong, Su Shuanfu, walked in. “Mom, just let Wani continue her studies. How much money can a girl spend on her studies? If she wants to study, let her continue. Can’t our family of so many people support one girl’s studies? Wani’s grades are better than all of us. Maybe she can become the first person in our family to work outside in the future!”
Wani’s three older brothers, the second branch’s Shuanfu, Caogen, and Huwa, had all dropped out of school one after another due to poor grades.
Yu Yahong’s mouth twisted, and she couldn’t help but cry. If she could, why wouldn’t she want Wani to continue her studies? “But I have to be responsible for your future…”
“I know you’re worried about us building a house and getting married in a couple of years. Mom, the family’s situation is like this. Even if Wani doesn’t study, the family will still be in this mess. We’ll never save enough money to build a house. It’s not about that little bit of tuition and living expenses! Compared to Wani’s studies, even if we all remain bachelors until we’re thirty, it’s not a big deal. You can’t just break Wani’s dream of studying for the sake of a few adobe houses!”
Hearing her big brother’s words, Wani couldn’t help but feel a sting in her nose, and tears uncontrollably rolled down.
Shuanfu patted her head. “Wani, don’t cry. As long as you have the desire to study, our family will support you, even if we have to smash and sell the pot!”