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

After two days of work, the barren mountain belonging to Li Hu's family was finally cleared. Chen's father and Chen Dashan were exhausted, but happy.

That evening, Li Hu insisted on treating Chen's father to drinks. Chen's mother cooked a few dishes, and Su Xiaoyin brought out a plate of stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork. The two of them then drank in Li Hu's courtyard.

Li Hu raised his wine glass and said to Chen's father, "Brother Chen, I can't thank you enough for such a great kindness. This glass is for you."

Mr. Chen waved his hand: "Don't mention thank you. Back when you were in the village, you helped my family a lot. Now that you're in trouble, how can I just stand by and do nothing?"

Li Hu took a sip of his drink, then suddenly remembered something: "By the way, Brother Chen, I heard you say your kids are almost old enough to go to school?"

Mr. Chen nodded: "Yes, the four of them, including Shi Tou, are all five years old by the traditional Chinese age reckoning. His mother and I have discussed sending them to school in a couple of years. We don't expect them to pass the imperial examinations; we just want them to be literate so they won't be deceived in the future."

Li Hu said, "Brother Chen, I recommend a school to you. My son Li An studies there. It's run by a scholar named Liu from the county town, and it specializes in early childhood education. The tuition is cheap, and the teaching is excellent. If the child has the talent for the imperial examinations, he can transfer to the school run by Scholar Huang for further studies."

Mr. Chen's eyes lit up: "That's great! I'll go and find out more about it later."

Li Hu said, "No need to ask around, I'll write down the address for you tomorrow. Just go directly to Liu Xiucai and say that I introduced you, he'll definitely take care of you."

Mr. Chen quickly expressed his gratitude.

The two drank and talked for a while longer before Mr. Chen got up to take his leave.

---

When Chen got home, his mother was still awake. Seeing his father return, she asked, "Why are you so late?"

Mr. Chen told her about Li Hu's recommendation of the school. Mrs. Chen was pleased to hear this: "That's great, let's go and take a look. If it's suitable, we'll send Shi Tou and the others there in a couple of years."

Mr. Chen nodded, then remembered something: "Oh right, I need to talk to Dashan tomorrow about how to arrange things at home. Xiaohe went to learn about fruit trees, and the work in the fields is finished. Now it's time to get busy with things on the mountain."

Chen's mother said, "Okay, we can discuss it slowly tomorrow."

----

Early that morning, before dawn, Chen Xiaohe and Brother De left together.

Mr. Chen saw them off at the village entrance, watching their figures disappear into the morning mist before turning back. Brother De drove the mule cart, with Chen Xiaohe sitting beside him, carrying a bulging bundle on his back—containing the dry rations and changes of clothes that his mother had prepared overnight. This trip would take at least half a month to return.

When they got home, Chen Dashan was already up and busy in the carpentry workshop. Chen's father walked in, glanced at the neatly stacked pen holders, and asked, "How much longer until Manager Sun's order?"

Chen Dashan looked up and calculated: "It'll be finished in about twenty days. All that's left is polishing and oiling, hurry up."

Mr. Chen nodded: "Okay, you stay home and handle the orders. During this time, have your mother set up a stall in the county town, and I'll go up the mountain. All the mountain vegetables are ready for harvest, so we need to hurry up and pick them. Besides what we deliver to Wang's restaurant, we also need to dry some for our own family."

Chen Dashan said, "Dad, are you sure you can go up the mountain alone? Or should I..."

Mr. Chen waved his hand: "No need, you go about your business. I'm familiar with the work on the mountain, it's fine."

After saying that, he slung his basket over his shoulder, picked up a small hoe, and headed up the mountain.

---

Spring is in full bloom on the mountain.

Chen's father walked up the familiar mountain path, his eyes scanning the surroundings. The wild vegetables along the roadside were growing well—shepherd's purse, sow thistle, and dandelions, growing in clumps. He squatted down, dug some up with a small hoe, and put them into his basket.

Further up, there was a mixed forest. Mushrooms were sprouting in the clearings. Father Chen carefully identified them, picked the edible ones, and gently put them into his basket.

As he was picking, he suddenly saw a cluster of new green leaves—toon buds! The toon tree wasn't big, but the tender buds on its branches were bright red and looked very fresh.

Mr. Chen walked over, carefully plucked a handful of toon sprouts, and put them in the basket. He then looked at the tree again—the trunk was only as thick as an arm, so it must have grown in the last two years. An idea struck him, and he looked around the neighborhood and sure enough, he found a few more saplings.

"Good stuff," Mr. Chen muttered, marking each sapling so he could bring tools to dig them up in the afternoon.

After finishing this patch, he walked around to other places. Along the way, he didn't miss any medicinal herbs he saw. He dug up Bletilla striata, Sophora flavescens, and Bupleurum chinense, wrapped them in grass leaves, and put them in his basket.

Seeing that it was getting late, Chen's father carried a full basket of mountain goods down the mountain.

---

I got home just in time for lunch.

Su Xiaoyin had already set the table: steaming hot multigrain porridge, cornbread, and a plate of stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork. Mr. Chen washed his hands and sat down to eat.

Chen's mother asked, "How much did you pick today?"

Mr. Chen handed her the basket: "Quite a lot. Mushrooms, wild vegetables, and toon sprouts. Oh, and I found a few toon saplings on the mountain. I'll dig them up this afternoon and plant them on our barren mountain."

Chen Dashan put down his bowl and said, "Dad, I'll go with you this afternoon. We'll dig together, and hurry up. Once we're done, we can plant them directly on the mountain, saving us the trouble of going back and forth."

After thinking for a moment, Mr. Chen nodded: "Okay, then you can come with me."

After finishing their meal, the father and son shouldered their hoes and carried their sacks, heading back up the mountain.

---

When they arrived at the spot with the Chinese toon saplings, Chen Dashan looked at them and said, "Dad, these saplings are good. We can dig up two or three of them directly."

Father Chen squatted down and began to dig. As he dug, he said, "Dashan, we already have several Chinese toon trees on our barren mountain. If we dig up a few more, they'll grow into a whole patch in a few years."

Chen Dashan also squatted down to dig and said, "Dad, I'm thinking, when the kids grow up, our family can open a general store in the county town. What do you think?"

Mr. Chen paused, his hoe still in his hand. "Open a general store?"

Chen Dashan nodded: "That's right. When the time comes, we can sell all our family's things in the shop. My and Xiaohe's wood carvings and bamboo weaving, Xiaoyin and Xiaoqing's hair ties and embroidery, mountain products, and surplus grain can all be sold."

As Chen's father listened, he picked up his hoe and started wielding it again: "Go on."

Encouraged, Chen Dashan continued, "In the spring, when food is scarce, city dwellers have no vegetables to eat, but our family can sell wild vegetables. We have plenty of wild vegetables on our mountain, both dried and pickled, we can sell them. Later, when the fruit trees bear fruit, the good-looking fruits can be sold fresh, and the less attractive ones can be made into dried fruits and sold as well. There are also dried mushrooms, dried wood ear fungus, chestnuts, and hazelnuts, all of which are good products."

Mr. Chen nodded, a smile appearing in his eyes: "Your idea is good."

Chen Dashan said, "I was just thinking about it. I figured we have a lot of stuff, and selling it all from a stall is too scattered. If we had a fixed shop, we could put all these things in there, and city people could just go to the shop and pick out whatever they wanted. Over time, we'd build up a reputation, and we wouldn't have to worry about business."

Mr. Chen said, "After you finish digging up this sapling, let's look around and see if there are any other saplings. The more the merrier."

Chen Dashan smiled: "Okay, Dad."