After returning from the South Slope, Yingbao faithfully stayed home, spending time teaching her little brother to speak and memorize texts, and visiting the cave dwelling to tend their crops whenever she had a chance.
The golden and snow ear mushrooms that she had harvested and sun-dried some time ago were completely dry now and, to her delight, none of them had rotted. She packed them neatly into a bamboo basket.
New mushrooms were sprouting from the ten mulberry trees. The sight of the golden mushrooms and the translucent, white snow ear mushrooms was particularly pleasing to the eye.
The cotton seeds she had planted were already sprouting and growing vigorously.
In a blink, it was time to celebrate the kitchen god festival, when the third eldest of the Jiang Family took a break to go to the South Slope again. He instructed Wang Ke and his two sons to take a break for the New Year celebrations and to resume work afterwards.