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

For six consecutive days, the Chen family delivered the freshest wild vegetables to the Wang family restaurant early in the morning. That day, just as dawn broke, Chen's mother returned from the county town, her face glowing with morning dew and the light of a bountiful harvest. As the family sat around the main room of the old house for breakfast, she cleared her throat and took out the blue notebook she used for keeping records.

"I've settled the accounts for the wild vegetables I delivered these past few days." Mother Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it carried the certainty of the head of the household. "Toona sinensis, shepherd's purse, and several other seasonal wild vegetables, all added up, sold for a total of one tael of silver and six hundred and twenty cash."

This number immediately made Chen Xiaohe, who was engrossed in eating his porridge, look up, his eyes lighting up. Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing also put down their chopsticks.

"Adding to the two taels of silver we earned from selling bamboo shoots," Chen's mother continued, her finger lightly tracing across the ledger, "at the beginning of this spring, we've already brought in three taels, six mace, and twenty cash just from selling mountain products." She paused, glancing around at everyone, "and that doesn't even include the dried mushrooms and wild vegetables we made ourselves, or the slightly inferior bamboo shoots that we dried. This year, we've had a good start."

A joyful silence filled the main room, broken only by the soft crackling of firewood in the stove. Three taels and six mace of silver was a substantial and reassuring fortune for this family, who had only just established themselves last autumn.

Chen's mother and Chen's father, who was sitting beside her, exchanged a glance, and Chen's father nodded slightly. Chen's mother then said, "Your father and I have discussed this money. The change of 620 cash will be divided between your two families, 310 cash each, to help with your own household expenses. As for the remaining three taels of silver," she said solemnly, "we'll use it for something important—to buy piglets."

"Buy piglets?" Chen Xiaohe blurted out. "Mother, what's the price of piglets now? Is three taels of silver enough?"

Mr. Chen took over, his voice steady: "I've inquired. Old Man Chen from our village, his wife is a skilled pig farmer, and every year her piglets are strong and healthy, rarely getting sick. Considering we're from the same village and have often helped each other during the autumn harvest, she promised to save two good ones for us, one tael of silver each."

"One tael of silver each?" Chen Xiaohe clicked his tongue. "That expensive?"

"Expensive?" Father Chen glanced at his youngest son. "This is already a price we're offering as a favor. If someone from another village came to buy it, it would cost at least one and a half taels of silver. Old Chen's piglets are in high demand. If it weren't for the fact that we've been exchanging labor with them during the busy farming season these past few years, we might not have had this opportunity."

Chen's mother nodded and added, "The piglets can be brought back tomorrow. We'll raise two. One will be kept in the pigsty near your new house, where you two brothers can raise it together, taking turns feeding and cleaning. We'll sell it at the end of the year and split the money 50/50. The other one will be kept here at the old house, where your father and I will take care of it. We'll slaughter it at the end of the year, keeping half for our own New Year's celebrations and making cured meat, and selling the other half. That way, we'll have both cash in hand and meat to eat for the New Year."

She looked at her two sons and said, "Don't do anything today. Just thoroughly clean both the old and new pigsties. Repair what needs repairing, add new soil where needed, and make them spotless so we can get ready to receive the 'golden nugget'."

Chen Dashan calmly agreed: "Okay, Xiaohe and I will get it done after breakfast."

Then Chen's mother remembered something else and said, "Oh, right, I heard that the village head's family hatched a lot of chicks, ducklings, and goslings this year, and they're growing very strong. I'll go again in a bit and buy some. With spring coming, it'll bring some life to the yard, and we can keep getting more eggs and ducklings."

After pondering for a moment, Chen Dashan said, "Mom, as for chicks, Xiaohe and I will raise twenty over at our new house. We'll need one rooster and nineteen hens. That way, we'll have a good surplus of eggs this year, and we can have chicken at the end of the year. As for the ducks and geese, we'll raise them near the old house, close to the stream. Once they're bigger and can swim, they can catch some fish and shrimp for extra food. We'll raise ten ducks and four geese; they'll be good for guarding the house."

This arrangement was well thought out, and Chen's mother was very satisfied: "Okay, we'll do it your way. I'll go to the village head's house now, or the good ones will be taken if I'm too late." As she spoke, she didn't even bother to eat her meal properly, grabbed a pancake and stuffed it into her bosom, and rushed out the door.

Father Chen put down his chopsticks and said to his two sons, "Then let's set off. Da Shan and Xiao He will clean up the pigsty, and I'll go take another look over the wasteland."

Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing quickly got up to clean the dishes and tidy up the stove. After tidying up the house, the two sisters carried baskets on their backs, picked up small hoes, and prepared to go up the mountain.

"Mom and Brother Dashan are both busy, so we can't be idle either," Su Xiaoyin said to her sister. "Although wild vegetables on the mountain aren't fetching a good price now, let's pick more, dry them, and store them for our own consumption in the winter. That will save us a lot of money on dried vegetables. We'll also check if we've missed any mushrooms or wood ear fungus."

"Okay!" Su Xiaoqing nodded vigorously. "Sister, let's walk towards the valley. I think we saw some wild jujube trees last time. It would be great if we could find some saplings."

The two sisters went into the mountains together. After the concentrated harvesting of the previous days, the wild vegetables in the spring forest were fewer in number, but with careful searching, they still found quite a few fresh and tender produce. They specifically chose those wild vegetables with thick leaves suitable for drying, and they didn't let any edible mushrooms or wood ear fungus go to waste. Their baskets gradually filled up.

On a sunny hillside, Su Xiaoqing, with her sharp eyes, pointed behind a clump of bushes: "Sister, look! Isn't that a jujube tree?"

The two walked over and saw several not-so-tall trees with gnarled branches and leaves that shimmered with a glossy green in the sunlight. The withered jujube stem marks left from last autumn were still faintly visible on the trunks. They were indeed wild jujube trees. Two of them looked quite young, only about five or six years old, with trunks only as thick as a child's arm.

"This jujube tree isn't very big. It would be great if we could transplant it back to our yard." Su Xiaoqing touched the rough bark, her eyes full of longing. "When it bears fruit, we can pick the jujubes in the fall and eat them. We can also dry them and eat them as a snack in the winter."

Su Xiaoyin was also somewhat tempted, but still cautiously said, "Moving trees is a big deal. We need to ask our parents, and also see what Brother Dashan and Brother Xiaohe think. If it's feasible, that would be great."

In the afternoon, when the two sisters returned home with their full load of harvest, Chen's mother had already returned with the poultry chicks she had bought. Several areas in the old house courtyard were temporarily fenced off with old fences, where fluffy, chirping chicks, waddling, quacking ducklings, and a few goslings with longer necks and louder calls were kept, creating a lively scene.

"You're back?" Chen's mother was bending down to add crushed rice and fine vegetable leaves to the chicks' feeding trough. "I bought all the chicks, the number Dashan said. They'll be raised at the old house for a few days while I look after them. Once they're bigger and stronger, you can take those twenty chicks back to raise."

Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing put down their baskets and came over to take a look. The little yellow and gray creatures huddled together, pecking at food and drinking water, creating a lively and interesting scene.

"Mom, we found some wood ear mushrooms on the mountain and dried them behind the house," Su Xiaoyin reported, then hesitated before adding, "Also... we saw a few wild jujube trees on the mountain, two of which aren't very big. We were thinking, could we... transplant one of them back to our own yard and plant it? When it bears fruit, it'll be another harvest."

Chen's mother straightened up, wiped her hands, and asked, "How big is the tree? If it's an old tree with deep roots, it can't be moved; if the roots are damaged, it won't survive."

"Not very big," Su Xiaoqing quickly gestured, "It looks like it's only five or six years old, but the trunk is this thick." She drew a small circle with her hand.

Chen's mother thought for a moment and said, "It sounds like we could give it a try. But transplanting a tree is a technical job; it depends on how deep the roots are and when we choose the right time. Let's discuss it together when your father and the others come back tonight. If it works, it would be a really good thing; having a fruit tree in the yard would look festive."

In the evening, Chen Dashan and Chen Xiaohe cleaned the pigsty thoroughly, adding fresh, dry soil and straw. Father Chen also returned from the wasteland, bringing back more detailed terrain information. The family ate a lively dinner, then sat around in the main room, discussing their day's experiences and their plans for the future.

When Su Xiaoyin brought up the idea of ​​transplanting the jujube tree again, Chen's father, smoking his pipe, pondered, "Wild jujube trees... are hardy, so they shouldn't be difficult to transplant. A five- or six-year-old tree shouldn't have roots that have grown too deep yet. It's early spring now, the sap is starting to flow, so transplanting should be easier. Tomorrow I'll go check where the tree is exactly and what the soil is like. If it's suitable, I'll pick a cloudy day, take a clod of soil, carefully dig it up, and plant it."

Chen Dashan added, "The patch of land in the east corner of our new courtyard is sunny and the soil is fertile. If Dad thinks it's suitable to transplant it, then let's plant it there. I'll help dig the hole tomorrow and get ready."

The suggestion was approved by the whole family. Looking out at the deepening night and listening to the faint chirping of chicks coming from the yard, everyone was filled with concrete hopes for the future—piglets soon to be put into the pen, poultry growing up, reclaimed land, and perhaps, a jujube tree taking root and bearing fruit in their own yard, symbolizing sweetness and peace. Life, in this mundane yet steady planning and labor, gradually became richer.