She vaguely remembered the day when Chen Zhu left, Lin Yuan with tears streaming down her face, handed over two taels of silver to him, which Lady Liu had obtained by selling her bridal silver hairpin. Speaking of which, Lady Liu didn't like Chen Zhu very much, always feeling that he was too cunning, but there was nothing she could do since her eldest daughter, Da Ya, liked him, and given the notorious reputation of Little Disaster Star, she was grateful enough that his family would not despise Da Ya, so when she heard that Chen Zhu was going to the capital to take the exam, she quickly scraped together some silver for him, frankly hoping that Chen Zhu wouldn't forget her Da Ya in the future.
Every time she thought of Chen Zhu's characteristic Little White Face look, Lin Yuan felt a bit disgusted, despite having agreed to take care of the two elderly members of the Chen family, and indeed, she had been taking good care of them with all her heart for the past half month. But yesterday, such a big incident had occurred in her family, and although those two lived just next door, how could they not know to come over and check?
"Okay, big sister, let's not talk about this anymore. It was just something our parents mentioned in passing; it shouldn't be taken seriously." The one who liked Chen Zhu was the former Lin Yuan, she definitely didn't like this kind of White Face who could only study and did no labor—what was the use of being good-looking? You needed to have the strength to work and earn money.
The breakfast they warmed up was last night's chicken soup, Lin Yuan had added extra water when making it, so it was just right for another meal today. After everyone had eaten, Lin Yuan picked up the bamboo basket and prepared to head up the mountain.
"Big sister, I'll go with you," said Xiao Linshuang, always enthusiastic about everything, even going up the mountain, which could be tiring and potentially dangerous, didn't deter her.
"No," Lin Wei cleaned up the dishes and came out with a small bamboo basket on her back, "The mountain roads are rough, and you're too small to go. Let me accompany you, big sister. I'll go gather some mugwort to bring back, so you can have a good night's sleep."
Though Lin Wei was somewhat timid, she was very attentive. She had seen Lin Yuan toss and turn all night without sleep, which was why she proposed to go up the mountain together.
Lin Yuan nodded, "Yes, little sister, be good, big sister will be back soon. I'll make you something delicious for lunch. Stay at home and wait, our parents need you to take care of them."
Xiao Linshuang knew that being small, she could end up causing her sisters trouble if she went up the mountain. Thinking of their parents at home, she quickly patted her chest and promised to take good care of them.
Before leaving, Lin Yuan also told Xiao Linshuang to lock the front door properly; she was mainly afraid that people from the old house might come to make trouble today, and she wasn't quite at ease with Xiao Linshuang being at home alone. So she quickened her pace, hoping to be back before lunchtime.
Although the Lin family's house was close to the foot of the mountain, there was no direct path up the mountain from there, so they had to head to the village to take the main road. The Lin Yuan Sisters left early, and at this time the road was almost empty; chatting and laughing together, they enjoyed a pleasant walk.
In the Lin family's hollow, there was a creek that flowed down from the mountain, and by the village, it turned into a river of moderate size. Before going up the mountain, they would pass this river. Lin Yuan, with sharp eyes, spotted a few wild ducks in the grass—where there were wild ducks, there had to be wild duck eggs.
Lin Yuan got excited, glanced around and saw no one was passing by, and hurriedly signaled Lin Wei to crouch in the grass and stay still. She put down her small bamboo basket and crept along the riverbank, finding several wild duck nests along the way, but they were all empty, probably taken by other villagers. She did not give up, and finally in a particularly hidden and tall grassy puddle, she found wild duck eggs!
There were three of them, and they looked like they had been laid not too long ago. Lin Yuan happily tucked the eggs into her bosom; it seemed they were indeed going to have a good haul today. They had found eggs just as they left the house!