"What can you earn money from in the mountains?" Xu Nian’an replied without even lifting his eyelids.
The bamboo and trees in the mountains are indeed valuable, but, at most, they could earn labor wages. And, that also depended on when there was work available at the village’s forestry station.
Forget it, although they grew up on the edge of the mountain, they still didn’t have the skills for hunting.
"There are plenty of ways to make money, like gathering medicinal herbs. It’s better than just staying at home, right?"
Xu Nianhua urged, "Second brother, will you go or not?"
Xu Nian’an looked at her long clothes and pants and couldn’t bring himself to say ’no’.
He couldn’t let her go to the mountain alone.
Before long, Xu Nian’an had changed into long sleeves and pants. Now, in the midst of summer, with many mosquitoes, snakes, and ants on the mountain, long sleeves and pants were safer.
As they were leaving, Ji Ying interrogated them for quite some time until Xu Nian’an said they were going to the mountain to pick some sour plums.
Ji Ying mumbled, what’s so good about those sour and astringent plums that aren’t even sweet?
"Right now is precisely the season when plums are ripe," Xu Nianhua thought of the sour plums and couldn’t help craving them.
"They are so sour, what’s good about them?"
Xu Nian’an smacked his lips without any interest in the plums.
On their way up the mountain, Xu Nian’an chopped wood as they were living in an old house and short on firewood.
Xu Nianhua followed suit in chopping wood. Although she hadn’t done such tasks for many years, she still knew how, but had ignored how frail her body was...
"Sit on that rock and rest, don’t tire yourself out," Xu Nian’an suggested, drenched in sweat as he tied up the firewood they both had chopped. He continued, "I’m not criticizing you, but going up the mountain in this summer heat, you really want to drive yourself crazy!"
"With your skinny arms and legs, you’re gasping for breath after climbing just a few steps."
Xu Nian’an’s disdain was never concealed.
Xu Nianhua looked sheepish, but still argued, "Second brother, it’s exactly because I’m weak that I need to climb more mountains, to strengthen my body."
Her eyes darted around as she wiped the plums she had picked clean and popped them into her mouth, the sourness seemingly strong enough to erode her teeth.
But the taste wasn’t bad.
How can money actually be made?
There were plenty of medicinal herbs on the mountain, but she didn’t recognize them!
Suddenly, her eyes lit up, pointing to some fruits in a tree not far away, she asked, "Second brother, what is that?"
Xu Nianhua was visibly excited.
Xu Nian’an followed her gaze and said, "Bixi fruit?"
"Yes, yes, yes, also called Fruit Jelly!"
Xu Nianhua said excitedly, "Second brother, hurry and pick that, I want that fruit!"
"You want to eat mung bean jelly?" Xu Nian’an asked.
Xu Nianhua nodded vigorously.
Xu Nian’an picked some of the fruits, but Xu Nianhua felt it wasn’t enough and asked him to pick more.
"What do you want with so much Fruit Jelly? If you want to eat, we can just make it at home," Xu Nian’an said.
Although the mung bean jelly made from these fruits tasted good, it was quite a hassle. To exert so much effort for a bite of jelly seemed less worthwhile than making something else.
"Second brother, I have a wonderful use for it," Xu Nianhua said.
She thought about the summer season, and how selling the mung bean jelly would surely make money!
The jelly-making process was simple, but it wasn’t a unique business.
However, Xu Nianhua wasn’t worried. Making mung bean jelly almost cost nothing, with the only significant expense being labor and some brown sugar. If she could use the mung bean jelly to save up some capital, that would always be good.