Chapter 15: The Chosen One
The idea was beautiful, but when Huai Yu woke up the next day, she stared blankly at her empty palm.
To do a good job, one must first sharpen their tools.
But right now, she didn’t even have a knife.
She sighed, her young face full of the melancholy of life.
But it’s alright, looking at this house in front of her, she knew just how capable she was. Whatever she wanted, she would have sooner or later!
Huai Yu lifted her spirits!
Hearing the broadcast that started at 8:00 AM every day, she put on the clothes she had baked by the fire until midnight yesterday, which were now dry and stiff. She dragged her vine net bag, with a big red bucket hanging on her arm, and once again headed toward the Rose Corridor Area 8.
Rose, oh Rose, please be a little more sensible and don’t make any noise again—if necessary, I’ll knock on you again!
By now, after traversing the Rose Corridor for the third time, Huai Yu was quite skilled.
She carefully carried her small belongings through the dense branches and leaves, standing at the foot of the mountain, breathing in the thick atmosphere unique to Mount Sanqing. At this moment, she stepped forward with large strides.
The vine net bag had become dry and brittle after several days of use, so now it couldn’t be folded very small. Huai Yu dragged it through the forest, struggling through the trees, and after quite a bit of effort, she finally reached deeper into the mountain.
The forest only let in a dim light from the sky. Because heavy rain was approaching, the past few days had been overcast, with no sunlight in sight.
Unfortunately, it was still too early for the buds to sprout much, leaving only bare tree trunks everywhere…
No, wait!
There’s food!
Ahead, on a tree, tiny tender leaves just one centimeter in size were densely growing, with pearl-like flowers in the middle, resembling grains of rice!
This can be eaten!
But it was still early, and picking it too early might make it lose its freshness. Huai Yu hesitated for a moment and decided to come back later.
With the pearl flowers in her mind, she didn’t dare wander too far, staying nearby to avoid getting lost.
Sadly, this area was filled with tall trees and red pines, but she hadn’t found a single pine cone on the ground. After much searching, it was still fruitless.
During this time, she saw a thick, dry tree lying on the ground. Huai Yu stared at it for a while, becoming more and more regretful the more she looked.
What a good tree!
If she could drag it back to her house, the bark could be peeled off to make fire, the trunk could be sawed into stools or tables, and it could even be split into firewood!
It would be perfect!
She didn’t dare imagine how lively and cheerful she would be if she had this big tree trunk.
Unfortunately, reality was cruel.
The tree trunk was simply too large for Huai Yu to move.
And with no rain, although the trunk showed signs of decay, there was not a single mushroom growing on it.
Sigh.
She sighed and gently patted the tree trunk, “What a beautiful waste.”
Just as her voice fell, she heard a faint “crack” sound.
Huai Yu stood upright, and to her surprise, a pine cone fell from the center of the tree trunk.
Her eyes lit up, and she quickly walked over.
It turned out to be a pine cone from a Huashan pine, though it was smaller than the large ones she had found before.
But when she pried open the scales, there were still pine nuts inside—small but plump!
With excitement, she stared at the tree trunk’s center, found a branch, and poked at it. Unexpectedly, she poked a hole through the decaying bark!
She reached inside with her hand and felt something… Hey!
Another pine cone!
What was this?
It was a squirrel’s treasure cache!
No wonder she hadn’t found any elsewhere on the mountain—this was where they had been hiding their treasures!
As expected of me, the Chosen One!
Huai Yu felt a surge of energy. She grabbed the branch and began prying at the decaying bark, quickly opening a gap on the side of the tree trunk.
The decaying bark fell off, revealing a tunnel inside the tree—like something had made a hole through it.
This poor big tree might have died because the center hollowed out, and then it fell, eventually becoming the squirrel’s treasure hoard…
Now, it all belonged to her!
She used a thin branch to continue prying, pushing everything toward the opening she had created.
With continuous scraping sounds, the tree hollow soon piled up with small mounds.
Acorns, chestnuts, fruit pits, walnuts, hazelnuts… and peanuts!
Plus, more and more small pine cones.
These things took up more space than dried fruit, filling the tree hollow. Now, as she pushed it out, it had formed a small mound!
Huai Yu squatted down, a smile she couldn’t suppress on her face!
With both hands, she filled her red bucket, big enough to hold 40 liters of water, with a mix of small nuts, nearly filling it halfway!
Then, the pine cones began to pile up until they were almost spilling over…
She decided to take off her jacket and shove the remaining pine cones into it, tying it tightly with the thick elastic string from her head. She wrapped it a few times, creating another big bundle!
By the time the last handful of hazelnuts was placed into the red bucket, and the last pine cone slid awkwardly from the gaps, the big tree couldn’t provide any more.
Huai Yu happily withdrew her hand: “Big tree, big tree… Only a hollow tree is a good big tree…”
After all this effort, Huai Yu didn’t know how much time had passed. She looked at the sky and decided it was time to head back.
However, on her return, as she veered off the path, she saw slender wild plants poking through the dead branches and leaves, their tips curled into cute little circles…
It was bracken!
Huai Yu froze in place, looking at the heavy, full bucket and the cumbersome bundle she was carrying, then glancing at the vine net bag with holes in it that she couldn’t use…
Damn! Why are there so many good things today? Could she really be the Chosen One?!
She hesitated, then put down the bundle and carefully looked around this patch of bracken. At the foot of the mountain, she also found some fresh shepherd’s purse…
Huai Yu: …
She looked at her body—there was really no room left to carry anything!
After thinking for a moment, she decided to take down the thin vines she had been carrying and began tying them to nearby trees to mark her path. She extended the markers all the way to the pearl flowers.
For now, she would head back, and in the afternoon, she would visit the market.
Tomorrow, tomorrow she would come back for the wild vegetables!
From today on, Mount Sanqing was her home!
…
All these heavy items were many times heavier than the waterproof tarp, and she needed to navigate carefully through the mountain. Huai Yu was sweating all over but finally managed to carry everything back successfully.
She could even proudly say: Not a single pine cone was dropped!
Now, she looked at the sky, and with no time to sort through the things, she could only drop off what wasn’t needed, pick up the bucket, and head to the bus station!
