CH 5

Chapter 5 – Setting Up Home

One need not worry about food in a place backed by mountains as the mountains would be full of food ingredients.  If the mountains are high enough, there would be water and once there is water there would be plants.  Wherever there are plants, animals will come to feed on them and a circular food chain will then be created.

In her case, it would be better for her to have less contact with people.  If she gets to know more people, it would be difficult to guarantee that one day she would not meet a high-level Taoist priest who could see through her origin at a glance.

In this world, anything can happen.  Expect the unexpected and nothing is impossible, otherwise, she would not have changed from Li Shuangjing in the 21st century and arrived here to become Li Jing’er who is a mother.

“Why don’t you go to the capital?  It’s a place where you can make lots of money.”

Madam Zhou seemed to be seeing the money rolling in her smile was bright and her eyes lighted up.

“I just want to be safe and stable.  My child is still young.”  After feeding the child, Li Jing’er adjusted her clothes and placed her daughter on her shoulder to gently pat the child on her back.

Madam Zhou looked at the little child who did not look fat but looked lovable and then turned to look at her daughter who was almost 10 years old.  She sighed with concern.

“It’s all paying debts to our children.  I don’t know whether these two children of mine will be able to grow up.  In the past, I lost one……..”

(Paying debts to children means that the parents have to work hard without slacking to make money to raise the children and it is similar to paying debts to their debtors.)

The previous child was about 7 to 8 years old when he died.  So Madam Zhou was very concerned about the two children who are still alive.  Because of the children, the family left their hometown to try their luck in seeking a better future.  There was no future in farming even if they work hard for a lifetime because they had to rely on the weather for food.

Mothers would feel very emotional once the topic touched on children and the group of refugees sat around the place without a smile on their faces.  Upon seeing this, Li Jing’er hugged her daughter even tighter and sat closer to a few friendly families.

With her back resting against the tree and the bamboo basket gripped between her legs, she fell asleep with steady breathing.

The next day, she deliberately woke up a little later.  She split up with the earlier group of refugees who were heading to the capital and headed in a different direction.  She knew that some people would be setting up sheds to distribute food such as porridge along the route to the capital.  However, she was not a beggar and did not want the donated food.  She was used to relying on herself and wanted to use her hands to pave a future for herself.

So she tied her daughter in front of her chest and the bamboo basket on her back.  She rolled up the quilt, tied it tightly, and then fastened it horizontally on her shoulders.

But……..whose child is this?

A little girl about 3 to 4 years old dressed in old clothes was clinging to Li Jing’er’s skirt.  Her eyes were filled with tears and it was not known how long she had been crying.  She looked around and saw that almost all the refugees had left.  The only refugees left behind were dozens of elderly people who were weak and old and they were walking slowly away.

“Where are your parents?”

The little pumpkin whose eyes were as red as a little rabbit was choking and wiping her tears.

“My mother is not my mother……..my father doesn’t want me anymore.  They said I’m a ‘money-losing commodity’.”

(Money-losing commodity refers to daughters only because the parents have to spend money to raise a daughter.  The parents will have to raise her and give her a dowry when she marries.  After marrying, she will follow the husband and become another family’s daughter-in-law, giving all the benefits to others.  That is the reason why many elders favor sons and treat daughters as money-losing commodities.  This is especially so during ancient times.)

What’s this?!  An abandoned child?!

Li Jing’er, who was suddenly shocked, did not know whether to laugh or cry.  She could still afford to raise one daughter but with two children about the same age, it would be exhausting.  She felt extremely distressed but was not as heartless and ruthless as Little Pumpkin’s parents to leave her behind.   The mother who was not her mother was most probably a stepmother and the child was left behind without a thought.

“Auntie, I’m hungry.”

A firefighter’s priority is to save people.  Looking at those pure tear-filled eyes, Li Jing’er’s heart softened and she took out a flatbread that was smeared with meat sauce.  After tearing off a piece, she handed it to the little girl with the thought that saving one child meant it was one child saved and it could be considered as they were fated.

***☆☆☆***

One year later.

“Mother, Mother, come home for dinner!”

And the empty valley reverberated:  Come home for dinner!……… come home for dinner!……… come home for dinner!……..

The waves of echoes were full of cute childish voices.

The long continuous range of mountains stretched for hundreds of miles with no end in sight.  The hills were stacked one on top of the other and if one is to count…….the hills, big and small, were in the hundreds.  Several of those mountains rose high into the sky and for many years, the snow-capped peaks had never melted.  Mists swirled around, lingering and looming between the peaks giving them the appearance of fairy mountains just as the rumors described.

On a slightly lower hillside surrounded by emerald greenery where the base of two mountains converged, smoke was twirling up into the air accompanied by the fragrant aroma of rice.

But no matter if one looks from a distance or close up, one would not be able to see even a trace of the house.  The white smoke seemed to be seeping out from the cracks in the rock as it slowly drifted along with the wind into the distance.

Upon hearing the shouts of the child, a young woman with her hair combed up in a man’s hairstyle emerged from the wild forest.  On her back, she carried a bamboo basket that was filled with wild fruits, mushrooms, and duck eggs.  In her hand, she was holding a cloth bag, and inside was a honeycomb with tempting yellow honey dripping out from the bottom of the bag.

“Be a little quiet or you’ll scare away all the wild ducks and wild sparrows that are returning.  Later, we might not be able to retrieve the trapped prey.”

Animals are a lot more sensitive than people and panic at the slightest movement.  However, birds are also very sluggish and they tend to return to their original places after getting over the fright.

“Mother, are the persimmons ripe again?  Will we be making persimmon cakes this year?”

A five-year-old boy wearing stain-resistant pea-green color trousers was hopping and running toward the woman.  Although knowing that he was not strong enough, he still insisted on taking over the bamboo basket that was heavier than him.  It was to show that he had grown up and is a young man who can be the pillar of the family.

“Be careful, Shuangming.  You won’t be able to carry it, let Mother do it.”

This child!  He loves to do things beyond his ability and always considers himself the eldest son of the family.

“Mother, I can do it.  Let me try.”

The little body was not even as tall as the bamboo basket.  Although he dragged and pulled hard, the bamboo basket remained in the same place.

“Okay, you can try.”  She smiled and held out her hand to lift it from behind.  With two fingers hooked to the basket, she moved a few steps forward with the bamboo basket that weighed thirty to forty catties.

“Mother, it moved?”  Xiao Shuangming was so surprised that he grinned.

“Right!  It moved!  My son is so powerful that he can go up the mountains to fight tigers.”

With a smile, she teased and stroked her son’s head to encourage him.

“Alright, I’ll go up the mountain to fight tigers and get Mother a tiger skin to make a cloak.”

He puffed up his little chest and made a grand wish.

Upon hearing him, she chuckled and said.  “Will Mother look nice in tiger skin?  You should say that you will hunt a few snow foxes to make a cape for your Mother.  That should look majestic and much better.”

He thought for a while and his face wrinkled up like a little old man.

“I’ve never seen a snow fox……”

He had seen a few of those foxes with yellow fur.  They were cunning and timid and they run very fast.

“Mother, Elder Brother, you’re home!”

From the narrow crack in the rock………   A beautiful little girl appeared from behind the rock.  She was wearing clothes that looked new but were from the previous year.  This year, she did not seem to have grown taller so she continued to wear the clothes until the coming New Year when new clothes would be sewn.

On a closer look at the place where the little girl appeared, it was a house…….and to be specific, it was a stone house.  It was similar to a cave and the entrance was not big.  A taller adult had to bend down to walk in and out and there were four ventilation windows on the left and right but they were as small as the width of a child’s waist.

It was very hidden and very few people moved around this place.  The main purpose was to guard against intruders and there was a wooden door with three wooden latches.  They were placed on the upper, middle, and lower sections of the door to prevent people from coming in.  Even if they want to come in through the window, it was impossible because their heads would get stuck in the small windows if their heads are a little bigger.  It was difficult to enter or leave, therefore it was safe to live here.

The place was accidentally discovered by Li Jing’er.

The little girl who called out to Li Jing’er was the little pumpkin that was abandoned by her parents at that time.  Initially, when she picked up the child she wanted to find a good family to adopt her.  Unexpectedly, along the way, she picked up a total of 7 children both males and females, and the oldest was less than 10 years of age.

Later, 4 of the children were adopted since parents who lost their children in times of disaster also needed comfort.  One of the children who was separated from his family was reunited with his family when they finally found him.

Shuangming’s parents died in the floods but he and his grandfather escaped.  Both of them were hungry and tired and finally fell sick.  Li Jing’er met them when she took refuge in the same ruined temple as them.  The old grandfather could not hold on any longer and before he died, he entrusted his little grandson to her.

But Shuangming was also severely sick and at one point, he lost consciousness due to a high fever.  When the doctors looked at him, they shook their heads and told her to make preparations for his funeral.  But Li Jing’er refused to give up and kept using spirits to cool down his body.  She fed him medicine five times a day and finally, she managed to save his life.

Initially, she thought that the high fever would have damaged his brain and affected his intelligence.  However, Shuangming forgot all about his past, and the moment he woke up, he hugged Li Jing’er tearfully and called her ‘Mother’.

Upon seeing this, the little pumpkin also called her ‘Mother’, hugged her thigh tightly and refused to let go.

Raising a bun is just raising a child and raising three buns is also raising children.

She gritted her teeth and accepted her fate.

Or else can she be so heartless as to just throw the children by the roadside?

After deciding to raise the two children, Li Jing’er went to the government county to file the case stating that the children were picked up and not kidnapped.  And if any of their relatives come to look for them, they would be returned to their families.

However, no one came forward to claim the children after the case was filed so she set up her own household.  She placed the children under her name and all of them were surnamed Li.  One was called Shuangming while the other was called Shuangzhen and they became siblings with her daughter, Shuangyue.

The only difficulty she faced was that the expenses became higher once the number of children increased.  Moreover, Shuangming needed money to see the doctor and buy medicine.  With 6 taels in hand, it was truly not enough and her hope of renting a small courtyard for them to stay temporarily was dashed.  So they had to temporarily squeeze together with several adults and children and stayed in a mountain hut.  The roof of the hut had a big hole and when the cold winds blew in the night, it was freezing cold.

By the time she finally reached the mountains in the north, it was already late autumn.

With only a few coins left, she found an old woman named Grandmother Hu to temporarily watch over the children for her.  Then she went up the mountain alone to look around and find out if there were any valuable commodities in the mountains that could be exchanged for silver.

Once she left for the mountains, she was gone for a full day and it was until the next morning that she finally returned.