Chapter 12: To Feed Them Well

The little beans froze at the mention of eating eggs?

Was old lady actually asking them?

From birth, they could hardly even eat their fill of rice, let alone have the fortune to taste an egg; this scene made their mouths water with envy.

But they instinctively declined, "Old lady, we dare not eat, we are afraid of being scolded by Granny..."

Jinpan was the smoothest talker, "Right, all the good food belongs to the old lady at home, we do not eat..."

Ming Zhu sneered, "Don't pretend with me, from now on, you do not have to pretend in front of me, your old lady, and do not be afraid of Granny. I will not tattle on you to her anymore. If there is anything delicious, I will secretly share some with you. Will you eat it or not? If you do not eat it, you will miss out."

The three little beans immediately abandoned their hesitation and pounced forward, standing in front of Ming Zhu, looking longingly at the egg crumble in her hand, showing their desire yet not daring to reach out and take it.

Ming Zhu divided the egg crumble into three portions, handing them to the three little beans. They looked at Ming Zhu and then at the egg crumble in their hands, not caring that the whites and yolks were mixed with bits of eggshell, they stuffed it into their mouths wholeheartedly.

It took just a few bites to swallow it down, eyes closed as if savoring the delicious taste of the egg.

The youngest, Jinpan, even licked every bit of egg crumble from his hands clean, exclaiming, "Eggs are really tasty, if only I could eat two eggs every day like the old lady in the future, that would be so great."

Ming Zhu felt both embarrassed and heartbroken upon hearing this.

She thought to herself that, once she completed the System mission, she must let the little beans have another meal with eggs no matter what.

And ensure they had their fill of food.

"Alright, now that you have finished eating the eggs, help your old lady gather some Yellow Pine Mushrooms. We'll go home and cook mushroom soup, and if we have extra, we can sell them in town for money to buy you big meat buns," she continued.

The little beans, having just finished eating the eggs and hearing such a beautiful prospect described, were excited.

"Okay! Let's listen to the old lady!"

"I'll listen to the old lady..."

"But these Yellow Pine Mushrooms are really rare, very rare. The last time Aunt Chun Ni collected that small half pound, it took her half a month of daily foraging in the mountains to find enough, and other villagers also wanted to collect them, wandering around for a month and hardly finding a few."

Ming Zhu patted her chest, "No problem, we'll collect them if they're there, no big deal if not."

With the System's scanning ability, harvesting mushrooms would be efficient and not so exhausting.

Collect them if they're there, and it's fine if not.

There's no rush.

As it turned out, their luck wasn't bad.

They crossed the hill beneath their feet and reached the edge of the big mountain. With the System's guidance, they could clearly see where the mushrooms were and where they weren't.

She directed the little beans where to pick.

Each one they picked was spot on.

The little beans were thrilled.

She actually found another ten or so tiny yellow pine mushrooms.

Seeing that it was getting late and that her current body had reached its limit, Ming Zhu knew she could find more mushrooms further into the mountains, but moderation is key. After thinking it over, she decided to suppress the urge in her heart.

She called out to Little Bean, "It's getting late and we've searched all around here. Let's deliver the pig forage home so our families won't worry. We'll come back tomorrow to look for yellow pine mushrooms."

Little Bean was somewhat reluctant to leave, as finding so many yellow pine mushrooms meant they might manage to get a full meal at noon.

But when the old maid spoke, Little Bean didn't dare disobey, especially since it really was past midday – something they hadn't noticed due to the excitement and focus on mushroom picking. Now reminded, their stomachs indeed began to protest.

The Little Beans hoisted the pig forage baskets on their backs and hurried home as if flying on the wind.

If they returned too late and angered their grandmother, they feared they might not even get lunch.

Little Bean, quick on their feet, led the way, while Ming Zhu, panting heavily and stumbling, managed to keep up behind them.

By the time they descended the mountain and reached Qilidun Village, it was already late afternoon.

Ming Zhu was completely disheveled, her hair was messy, her clothes were torn by branches in several places, not to mention the dried leaves and dirt that covered her, making her look utterly bedraggled.

Amidst the unusual stares of the villagers, Ming Zhu gripped the yellow pine mushrooms wrapped in leaves and hurried through the village to her home.

Behind her, the gossip of bored village women could faintly be heard.

"Isn't that the old Wang Family girl? What the hell happened to her? Could it be she's acting recklessly because the Song Family Boy wants to call off their engagement?"

"Exactly. Who could afford to keep the old Wang Family girl? She's lazy and gluttonous – only Grandma Wang Zhang spoils her like a treasure. Look, the young ones from the Wang Family have to go up the mountain to gather pig forage, yet here she is, the old maid, prancing around and ending up in such a state, tsk tsk, the Old Wang Family too..."

...

The rest of the words were scattered in the wind; Ming Zhu pretended not to hear. Since she took on the identity of Wang Yongzhu, she knew that such idle chatter was inevitable.

Following Little Bean to the doorstep, she hadn't even entered the courtyard when she heard Grandma Wang Zhang, her body's own mother, scolding: "You little brats, were you sent to gather pig forage or to run wild? All of you have vanished, and you've only gathered so little forage after half a day? What use it is to feed you? Where is your aunt? Have you seen your aunt?"

Ming Zhu hurried into the courtyard, "Mom, I'm back."

Old Granny Zhang caught sight of her darling bedraggled daughter, who looked as though she had rolled around in mud three times, and gasped in shock, slapping her thigh, "My dear Zhuzhu, what happened to you? Did someone bully you? Tell mom, and I'll confront them!"

As she spoke, she affectionately started to brush off the dried leaves and dirt from Ming Zhu's body while cursing, "Which heartless scoundrel dared to bully my eldest daughter? That rotten scum – they better pray I don't find out..."

Fearing that Grandma Wang Zhang might curse even more foully if she went on, Ming Zhu quickly interjected, "Mom, no one bullied me. Today I went up the mountain with Jinpan and the others..."

"You little brats, your aunt went up the mountain with you and came back looking like this? What are you good for? Are you trying to rebel or what?" Grandma Wang Zhang began to scold, "Seems like you don't want to eat anymore. It took you half a day to gather a little pig forage, and you didn't even look after your aunt properly. Do you still have the face to eat?"

The three Little Beans' faces immediately fell, their eyes brimming with unshed tears.

Seeing trouble brewing, Ming Zhu knew if Grandma Wang Zhang continued to scold like this, the good rapport she'd just started to build would be lost!

She hurriedly presented the yellow pine mushrooms, wrapped in leaves, to Grandma Wang Zhang, "Mom, you're being unfair to Jinpan and the others. Look, what's this?"

Grandma Wang Zhang unwrapped the leaves, her eyes lighting up, "Yellow pine mushrooms? Zhuzhu, where did you get these?"

Ming Zhu quickly credited the Little Beans, "Jinpan and the others found them. That's why we came back late! Mom, I've heard that these yellow pine mushrooms are quite valuable. Jinpan and the others searched several mountains to find them today. Mom, do you see how many there are?"