After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

Just as the two were about to turn around, Su Xiaoqing suddenly stopped: "Sister, wait! Look at this—"

She squatted down and pointed to several inconspicuous plants. The leaves were peculiarly shaped, and the stems were somewhat reddish; they were the herbs that Doctor Li had taught them to recognize before.

"Is this Sophora flavescens?" Su Xiaoyin leaned closer to examine it closely.

"Yes, and this too, Bletilla striata." Su Xiaoqing excitedly pointed it out to her sister. "Doctor Li said that the clinic buys all these herbs, and the prices are pretty good!"

The two sisters exchanged a glance and smiled. Today had been a very fruitful day—wood ear fungus, mushrooms, wild eggs, and herbs. Although there weren't as many mushrooms as they had expected, all of these things combined made the trip worthwhile.

The two carefully dug out the herbs, put them into their baskets, and then walked down the mountain, satisfied.

---

On the way down the mountain, Su Xiaoqing muttered to herself, "Sister, we picked so much stuff today, but not many mushrooms. Maybe it's not the right season yet?"

Su Xiaoyin nodded: "Probably. It's only the end of May. There will be plenty of mushrooms in June and July when there's more rain. We'll come more often then."

Su Xiaoqing suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, sister, we need to make the things we need to sell for the Dragon Boat Festival in advance. In previous years, our sachets, colorful ropes, and little cloth tigers sold particularly well for the Dragon Boat Festival. We can't afford to delay this year."

Su Xiaoyin thought for a moment and said, "You're right. How about this, starting tomorrow, we'll work on the large embroidery pattern 'Wealth and Longevity' in the morning, and in the afternoons we'll make the small items we'll sell at the stall. We're skilled at making sachets and colorful ropes, so we can do them quickly."

"Okay!" Su Xiaoqing nodded. "When I get back, I'll tell my older brother and Xiaohe to get ready too. Bamboo baskets and wooden horses for the Dragon Boat Festival sell quite well in previous years."

The two sisters chatted as they walked briskly down the mountain. Their baskets were heavy, but their hearts were full. That's life—busy day after day, but every bit of work makes the family a little better.

---

Back home, Chen Dashan was still busy in his carpentry workshop. Hearing the noise, the four children all ran over.

"Mom! Aunt! You're back!" Shi Tou was the first to rush over, peering curiously into the basket on his back. "What did you pick?"

Su Xiaoyin smiled and patted his head: "I picked a lot of things. I'll cook something delicious for you guys tonight."

Su Xiaoqing took out the wild eggs to show the children: "Look, wild eggs! I'll boil them for you to eat tomorrow morning."

The four children gathered around the few tiny wild eggs, chattering excitedly about them.

Chen Dashan came out of the carpentry workshop and took the basket from his wife's back: "Are you tired? Take a rest and have some water."

Su Xiaoyin shook her head, a smile on her face: "Not tired. Today's harvest was good. We picked a lot of wood ear mushrooms, as well as mushrooms, wild eggs, and dug up a few medicinal herbs." She paused, "By the way, Dashan, Xiaoqing and I discussed that we need to prepare the things to sell for the Dragon Boat Festival in advance. You guys also need to start making things, such as bamboo baskets and wooden horses, all of which need to be prepared in advance."

Chen Dashan nodded: "Okay, I'll talk to Xiaohe. Master Zhou's table and chairs are almost finished, so we'll have time to work on these next."

The family chatted and laughed, filling the courtyard with a warm atmosphere. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground. Life, like these shadows, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, always moves forward, carrying hope and aspirations.

----

The afternoon sun was scorching, and even the old hen in the yard hid in the shade against the wall, listless and unwilling to move. Chen Dashan was busy in the carpentry workshop making twenty sets of tables and chairs, with wood shavings piled up at his feet and fine beads of sweat on his forehead.

Is Dashan home?

A shout came from outside the courtyard gate. Chen Dashan put down his plane, peeked out, and saw it was Chen De, the eldest son of the village head. He quickly went out to greet him: "Brother De? What brings you here today? Come in and sit down!"

Chen De followed him into the courtyard. Chen Dashan moved a stool to a shady spot, then went inside to pour a bowl of cold tea and handed it to him: "Brother De, have some water. It's unbearably hot today."

Chen De took the bowl, gulped down a large mouthful, and then let out a long sigh: "That's right, I came back from the fields and it was so hot. I suddenly remembered that I needed to talk to you, so I didn't go home to rest and came straight over."

Chen Dashan sat down beside him and said, "Brother De, just say what's on your mind."

Chen De put down the bowl and said seriously, "I want to challenge you to a few sparring matches."

Chen Dashan was taken aback: "Arrogance? Brother De, what kind of arrogance are you trying to put on?"

Chen De explained, "My family grew a lot of vegetables this year. You know, we have a lot of family members and a lot of land, plus land on the barren hills, so we can't eat all the vegetables we grow. We sold some in the county town, and the rest we couldn't sell, I dried into vegetable preserves the next day." He paused, "Dried vegetables can be stored, and in winter they can be sold in the county town for more money than fresh vegetables. But the problem is—there are too many."

He gestured and said, "This year, the vegetable gardens at home had a good harvest, and with the mountain vegetables and dried wild vegetables from the mountains, we accumulated several large baskets. There simply wasn't enough space at home to store them all. So my dad and I got together and decided to dig a cellar specifically for storing these mountain produce and dried vegetables."

Chen Dashan nodded: "A cellar is good, it's cool and well-ventilated, and it can keep things stored there."

"Yes," Chen De said, "but the cellar is dug, and the things are piled up in a mess. It takes forever to find anything. I was thinking of having you build a shelf inside so that the things can be categorized and put up for easy access. That's why I came to ask if you have the time and how much it costs."

Chen Dashan thought for a moment: "I need to check the dimensions of the cellar and how many shelves I need to make."

Chen De stood up: "Are you free now? I'll take you over to get your measurements taken."

Chen Dashan nodded, went back to the carpentry workshop to get a ruler and notebook, and called out into the house, "Xiaoyin, I'm going to the village head's house for a bit, I'll be right back!"

Su Xiaoyin's voice came from the east wing: "I know, go ahead!"

---

The two walked towards the village head's house, one after the other.

Upon arriving at the location, Chen De led Chen Dashan directly to the backyard. Chen Dashan was astonished to see that the cellar was quite large. The entrance was located in a corner of the backyard, covered with wooden planks. Lifting the planks revealed a dark hole below, with a wooden ladder leading down.

"Brother De, isn't this cellar a bit too big?" Chen Dashan asked, somewhat surprised.

Chen De chuckled: "Even this isn't enough for me. You know, we have a lot of barren mountains, and we produce a lot of mountain products. This is only the second year, and the output is already this much. In the coming years, as the trees and saplings grow, there will only be more. The cellar won't be big enough then."

Chen Dashan nodded and went down the wooden ladder into the cellar. Chen De held a torch up above to light his way.