Crossing the Unknown Country

Su He thought that since she was still young, she could find some herbs to sell and make some money, which would at least solve some of the problems. Her current age meant that she couldn't do anything, so she could only use her elder and second brothers, who were responsible for taking care of her every day.

At night, Su He slept with her parents, and her two brothers lived next door. On the earthen kang in the room, there was a straw mat underneath, a rag sheet on top, and a heavy cotton quilt. Su He and her parents shared a quilt, which was big enough to cover two adults and her. She decided to ask to live with her brother tomorrow, as the big kang there was more than enough space for three children. The earthen kang here was just a pile of earth, so how could there be a fire pit? Su He was puzzled, but then she thought that many things in her time were invented accidentally, and then she thought that it was simple, so why didn't they think of it? Most people here can't read, so they don't think about anything.

She fell asleep with her mind wandering, because she had just recovered from an illness this afternoon and had no time to spare from picking wild vegetables, so she slept soundly the whole night. If she didn't want to go to the toilet in the morning, she probably wouldn't have wanted to open her eyes. When she opened her eyes in a daze, she found that there was no one in the room, and she was the only one lying in bed. She got up, put on her clothes, combed her hair hastily, and got off the kang. She pushed the door open and saw that the sun had risen outside, hanging red in the east. Her brothers were there, one feeding the chickens and the other weeding in the vegetable field. His father was carrying water to the water tank. He easily carried the two large wooden barrels full of water. It seemed that the well was quite far from here, next to a house in the middle of the village.

Life here is really not easy. Just to get clothes and food is very tiring. The family has to carry water from far away. The family wears cloth clothes that are not washed and easily torn. They have to chop wood every day to make fire. The rest of the time is spent on growing food. Every day is full of food and clothing. If these are not solved, they will always be so tired and poor. Her mother works during the day and comes back to wash and mend clothes at night. Her father works during the day and teaches the two children to read and write at night, and weaves things like baskets and baskets.

Su He had learned to weave straw mats. She could use ordinary wider straw and dry it to make beautiful straw mats, baskets, bags, baskets, katydid cages, and green katydids. She needed to learn these from her father first, and then make them up by herself to make them believe that she made them up unintentionally.

The two brothers did not go to the fields during the day, but took Su He to the mountains to collect firewood, cut grass and feed chickens. The three of them each carried a small backpack, which was obviously handmade by her father. The craftsmanship was just okay, which was not good enough for Su He, who had studied weaving.

Su Feng and Su Run took Su He up the mountain. Because they were young, the three of them used to be active at the foot of the mountain. Su Feng took out a sickle and started to cut dead branches and dry thorns. Su Run took Su He with him, one to weed the chickens and the other to weed wild vegetables. When Su He saw some mushrooms, he picked them and put them in his backpack.

Su Run said to Su He: "We are young and can't tell which ones are edible, so don't pick them."

Su He said: "I will only pick two things I know about, and I won't pick the things I don't know about randomly."

The adults here can basically recognize mushrooms. Having lived through the famine, most of them know what is edible and what is not. At most, they can feed chickens to know whether they are poisonous or not. It’s just that the children don’t remember clearly, so their parents don’t let them pick them. Some children have good memories and will pick the ones they know and take them home. Boys are generally careless and don’t like to remember these things.

Su He had a good memory since she was young. When her brother and she learned to write, she watched from the side. She couldn't write but could read. At that time, their father praised her sister for being smart. So they believed that Su He remembered these things and didn't stop her. Su He saw some Artemisia and Ephedra, and they could weave things. Ephedra is also a herbal medicine. She called her second brother to help her cut some, go home to dry and prepare, as for selling money, she would have to go to the town's medical clinic to see. She told her second brother that she wanted to learn from their father to weave something, this grass is softer and easier to use. Su Run always responded to his sister's requests. The two of them helped Su He fill up first, and then Su Run went to cut her own.