Chapter 37: Empty Basket, Empty Heart
The heavy rain lasted for three whole days.
It only paused briefly a few times, never for more than an hour. The rest of the time, the rain just fluctuated between heavy and light.
The morning news still started at 8 a.m. sharp. Today’s weather forecast predicted cloudy skies turning into light rain. Huai Yu looked at the sky and hesitated over whether she should head into the mountains.
The nearby pond was muddy and turbid, and it would probably take quite a few days to clear up. The small ponds that used to hold just half their capacity were now level with the banks.
But with the water so heavily polluted, it would probably be a long time before they could use it properly again.
She puffed out her cheeks in frustration.
Still, no matter what, it had been a precious spring rain. Now that the sky was clearing up, she could see fresh green sprouts on the distant mountains. It was as if a fuzzy layer of new green blanketed the surrounding grasslands — the colors were especially vivid and fresh.
Huai Yu squatted down and touched the new grass. It felt tender and soft. She wondered if she could eat it once it grew into thatch sprouts…
She carried a few sticks of dry firewood back from the shed. Even in broad daylight, she couldn’t let the fire go out.
Because of the continuous rain, even though she had chosen a high spot to build her house and had laid a layer of blue bricks underneath, the rain still seeped in until the house was almost flooded.
Without the fire drying it out, she might as well have been living in a puddle.
But then again, with the fire burning, the house was filled with damp, warm mist… If the rain didn’t stop soon, Huai Yu suspected she’d break out in rashes.
She sighed, thinking how wonderful it would be to have a proper house.
But building a house needed money, and right now she only had the 200 points Lin Xuefeng had given her, plus some leftovers from before. What she really needed was more savings — otherwise, she’d be helpless when trouble came.
So she added more firewood to the fire, glanced at the bean sprouts that were growing slowly because of the low temperature, then put on her raincoat and boots, slung a basket on her back, pushed her bicycle, and headed out.
Even though people said not to eat wild vegetables or mushrooms after heavy rain, Sanqing Mountain was huge. She had to try!
Her sturdy old bicycle was hard to ride on the muddy ground, but it was still better than walking. It only took her ten minutes to reach the Rose Corridor, Area 8.
She parked her bike by the roses and reached out her hand, but hesitated.
“Um… the rain’s stopped. Are you in a good mood? If you are, can I sneak through?”
The Rose Corridor didn’t respond — only shook its branches slightly, sending droplets and soggy petals raining down.
Huai Yu gathered a bunch of thorny flower branches and pleaded, “Please! I’m starving!”
After a moment, the branches slid apart with a rustling sound, opening up a path amid the falling droplets.
Huai Yu beamed, “You’re such a good flower!”
She expertly made her way through the corridor — only to be stunned by the sight ahead.
Sanqing Mountain had come alive.
No — not alive, but… when she had come before, though there were hints of spring, it had been mostly dead branches and withered leaves.
Now, after several rains, from the slopes winding up from her feet, mushrooms and tender leaves were bursting through the layers of dead leaves. Here and there, tiny flowers in purple, blue, pink, and yellow were blooming.
Raindrops clung to the blue-purple petals, making the flowers look almost transparent.
So beautiful!
She climbed the rocky path, passing by scattered clusters of mushrooms. But it was still too cold, and they hadn’t grown into large patches yet. Huai Yu reluctantly gave up for now.
The wild vegetables were just starting to sprout too. Rainwater was forming streams down the mountain, and the wild grasses on either side grew lush and thick. It wasn’t long before she spotted a clump of jiecong (wild onions).
The tender green leaves seemed to have grown wildly in the past few days. When she reached out to pull them up, she could feel how “dirty” they were.
After a pause, she still picked two plants, shook off the dirt, and dropped them into her basket.
Further ahead, she saw a thicker patch of wild e shen (a herb), but they were still young and small.
She grabbed a handful. They smelled strong but… also felt “dirty.”
Standing in this treasure trove of a mountain, Huai Yu sighed gloomily. Being surrounded by treasure but unable to use it — it was such a bitter feeling.
Thinking it over, she still couldn’t let it go and went to check on the fiddlehead ferns and shepherd’s purse that had been growing well even before the rain. The area was bursting with vitality again, the previously picked-bare ferns had regrown like bamboo shoots after rain, and the shepherd’s purse at the foot of the slope was a lush green carpet — it looked wonderful!
But Huai Yu almost cried with regret.
None of it was edible!
Everything was heavily polluted, even worse than the landscaping plants she had seen in the city.
Even the weeds outside her treehouse were better.
Her boots squished into the soft plants without much mud, but her heart felt heavy and caked with sludge.
She wore an oversized raincoat and boots, her small figure carrying a huge, nearly empty basket — inside were just a handful of e shen leaves and two jiecong plants…
Not even enough to cover the bottom of the basket.
Halfway back, Huai Yu remembered something and turned around.
The wild vegetables were so polluted — she didn’t dare purify and sell them at this critical time.
But… if she couldn’t sell them, couldn’t she at least eat them herself?
Even without seasonings, they had to taste better than nutrient paste, right?
Gritting her teeth, she put down the basket and started picking again — a bit more fiddlehead fern this time. Maybe she could find a way to pickle them. Shepherd’s purse wasn’t worth picking — it didn’t store well, and without eggs to pair it with, it would just taste like grass…
Better forget it.
Since salt was too expensive, she didn’t dare pick too much fiddlehead either. Altogether, she only filled about a third of the basket.
Still unwilling to give up, she swung by another patch and grabbed another handful of jiecong and e shen.
This mountain trip was seriously depressing.
Huai Yu pedaled her bike back, prepared for disappointment, but facing reality was still too harsh. Was she really going to rely only on bean sprouts for income for a long time?
Growing bean sprouts wasn’t hard. She’d seen this morning that her beans had already sprouted over two centimeters. But she had no idea if she could still buy beans easily now — or how much they would cost…
And what about her yam beans and peanuts? With the soil and water polluted, who knew when she could plant them?
Huffing and puffing on her clunky bike, her basket empty, her heart even emptier.
By the time she got back to her treehouse, the sky had darkened again. Huai Yu glanced subconsciously at the Rose Corridor, which under the gloomy light looked like a painting, and couldn’t help mumbling:
“You’re so fierce… even Lin Xuefeng didn’t dare fight in front of you. So how did he manage to go to the wilderness?”
