Zhou Gu'er looked at the great mountain. Truth be told, there were plenty of things on it, including a lot of wild game. She didn't know if there were tigers deep in the mountains, but black bears, wild boars, roe deer, and pheasants were numerous.
If she had the skill, she could hunt some pheasants or roe deer, but she didn't. She didn't know how to use a hunting rifle. As for digging pits and such, having lived in the mountains, Gu'er knew she wasn't capable of it. Small animals wouldn't just fall into a simple hole.
As for the large pits—the big traps—it took several young men working together to make one. It had to be done in the winter, and you needed someone with an excellent sense of direction. Otherwise, when the mountains were a vast expanse of white, even if you found a wild boar dead in your trap, you wouldn't be able to get it back.
Gu'er remembered a story about four young men from the next village. A few years ago, they'd caught a wild boar in a trap, but while carrying it out, they lost their way back. And these were men who spent their entire year trekking through the mountains. A few days later, two of them made it back. The other two never did—they were said to have frozen to death deep in the mountains. If even they met such a fate, for Zhou Gu'er to try this alone would be suicide.
So, wild boars and black bears were out of the question. She prayed she would never run into either of them. One gore from a wild boar or a single swipe from a black bear, and her life would be over.
Of course, there were other things on the mountain. Wild vegetables at this time of year, and later on, mushrooms, wood ears, hazelnuts, pine nuts, and mountain walnuts. There were also things like mountain peppercorns and schisandra berries. As long as you put in the effort, you could gather them, and whatever you gathered was yours.
These things were all considered delicacies later on, and quite famous too, but now...
Zhou Gu'er shook her head. 'No one cares about wild vegetables, not unless they're starving. As for wood ears and mushrooms, people in the countryside care even less. They're a bit of a novelty in the city, but anyone with relatives in the country gets them for free, so they don't sell well. And selling to other provinces? This isn't an era of rapid economic development where everything is convenient. Trying to sell goods far away is no easy task.'
'It's so hard to make use of the resources around me.'
Still, the wild vegetables weren't a complete dead end.
Zhou Gu'er shifted, sitting up straight.
The crops in the fields weren't ready for harvest, and the radishes, cabbages, and potatoes stored over the winter were nearly gone. Even what was left was shriveled, dry, and unappetizing.
Getting fresh greens right now was no easy feat, especially in the Northeast. Without greenhouses, wanting to eat fresh vegetables was a luxury. For a long time, vegetables here were even more expensive than meat.
'Even if no one cares for wild vegetables, they're still greens,' she thought. 'If I wash them, arrange them neatly, and take them to the city, surely someone will buy them. They'll just be cheap, that's all.'
But she knew very few people bothered to sell them. First, rural people assumed city dwellers wouldn't be interested. Second, they rarely cleaned the vegetables properly before selling them, and city folk found them dirty and a hassle to prepare. Third, most people at the time simply lacked the business acumen. And fourth, transportation was a major obstacle.
Take their village, for instance. It was considered close to the city, but it was still many miles away. There were no buses; you had to rely on on your own two feet. Walking to the city and back would be utterly exhausting. And very few families owned a bicycle back then.
'If I were to go to the city, it would be almost noon by the time I walked there from the village. After selling my things and walking back, it would be the middle of the night. For a full day's work, I'd probably earn a few dimes at most.' So, when you calculated it out, it really wasn't worth wasting a whole day just to dig up some wild vegetables and sell them in the city.
'If only transportation were a bit more convenient. If only I had a bicycle. If only I knew someone in the city who could help me sell them, things would be so much easier.'
'A pity...'
Zhou Gu'er shook her head. She didn't know anyone in the city. She had to rely on herself for everything.
Gu'er dug up a good amount of dandelion greens, then picked some tender cucumber-fragrant greens and some hairy-stem greens as well.
These plants grew all over the mountainside; they were everywhere. In no time, her basket was full to the brim.
'These wild vegetables are completely natural, with no pesticides. They're good for you, but people these days just don't recognize their value.'
Dandelion greens could be eaten raw with dipping sauce, but others like the hairy-stem greens had to be cooked. And cooking required oil and salt, otherwise they wouldn't taste good.
But in this day and age, oil and salt were precious. People were reluctant to use them even for regular stir-fries, so who would waste them on wild vegetables? Without seasoning, you could imagine how terrible they would taste. This was another reason they were so unpopular.
But Zhou Gu'er still wanted to try.
When she got home, Zhang Da was long gone.
As Gu'er washed the wild vegetables in the kitchen, Li Hua whispered to her, "Your father didn't agree to Zhang Da's proposal. Zhang Da got really angry. He raised his voice, shouting a few times, and even offered to increase the betrothal gift to thirty-five yuan. Your father paused for a long while before saying no. He said that since I was the one who brought you into this family, the villagers would gossip about him if he married you off poorly. Zhang Da was so mad he stormed off, cursing up a storm."
Gu'er listened, not stopping the work in her hands. 'I expected as much,' she thought. 'With the bait I've dangled for my adoptive father, he won't agree so easily. But I have to let him get a taste of the reward soon.'
"Now I can finally relax. I guess your father has some conscience after all. If he'd married you off to Zhang Da, how would you ever manage?"
Li Hua let out a long sigh of relief. She had been truly terrified.
Gu'er, however, disagreed. 'Zhou Mazi, have a conscience? That's a joke. If someone offered enough money, he'd sell off Du Feng'er and Zhou Duo'er, let alone an adopted daughter like me.'
"Why are you washing them so clean? No one likes to eat this stuff anyway. Just give them a rinse so there's no dirt."
Li Hua couldn't help but say something when she saw her daughter washing the vegetables over and over. She herself would wash them twice at most, just enough so you didn't get a mouthful of dirt. Besides, even if there was a little dirt, it was fine. They were all farm folk; who could be that fastidious?
Getting water for the house wasn't easy; you had to go fetch it. She and Gu'er were the ones who did the heavy lifting, so they knew how tiring it was and were always very frugal with water.
But she'd noticed that ever since her daughter got sick that one time, she had become much more particular about cleanliness. She washed vegetables several times, and she washed her face, hands, and feet every single day. She found it a little strange, but then she figured her daughter was just growing up and becoming more conscious of her appearance, so she didn't think too much of it.
After washing everything thoroughly, Gu'er blanched the cucumber-fragrant greens and hairy-stem greens in hot water.
"Mom, I'm going to use a little oil."
Gu'er crushed some coarse salt, sprinkled it evenly over the greens, and then called out to Li Hua.
"Why are you putting oil on wild vegetables? What a waste. Just eat them as they are."
Li Hua didn't see the point.
But seeing the way Gu'er was looking at her, she thought for a moment, then took out the oil bottle and let two drops of oil fall into the bowl.
Seeing the pained look on her mother's face, Zhou Gu'er felt a mix of amusement and sorrow.
"Mom, try some."
Zhou Gu'er added a bit of toasted chili pepper, mixed it all together, and then picked up a piece with her chopsticks for Li Hua to taste.
"Huh?" Li Hua's eyes lit up. "You know, it's actually crisp and fragrant. Why did I never think this stuff could be so delicious? It tastes nothing like it used to."
This was a world away from the bitter wild vegetables she remembered.
"We used to eat it without oil or salt, so of course it wasn't good."
Zhou Gu'er smiled and took a bite herself. The fresh fragrance filled her mouth. It really was delicious.
"That's true. Before, just filling our stomachs was enough. Who would have prepared it so meticulously?"
Li Hua nodded in agreement.