Relying on Each Other

As the sun set, a frail figure walked along a mountain path. Two bloodstains marked his face, likely from scratches by thorns on the mountain. He wore faded blue hemp clothing, patched and mended everywhere, with frayed threads hanging from the cuffs. His shoes were so worn that his big toe was visible. He carried a large bamboo basket filled with various mountain herbs.

The boy was named Er Gouzi, originally Wang Hong, from Wang Family Village. Not a single person in the entire village could read or write; this name was given by an old fortune teller in town for ten copper coins. The adults believed a humble name would make him easier to raise, so they usually called him Er Gouzi.

The village had many children with dog and pig names. There were six boys named Gouzi alone, and Wang Hong was only the second, hence Er Gouzi. Er Gouzi thought his nickname was quite good, much better than nicknames like "Cow Dung Heap" or "Roundworm."

Wang Hong was twelve years old this year. His mother died when he was five, and his father never returned after entering the mountains last spring. The villagers said he encountered a wolf pack and was devoured.

This left Wang Hong and his eight-year-old brother to depend on each other. His brother was named Wang Yi, nicknamed Si Gouzi. When their father was alive, they rented ten mu of land from Steward Wang, and life was just barely manageable.

After their father's death, Steward Wang, seeing the brothers were too young and fearing they couldn't farm the land properly and pay rent, took the land back. After all, the area was densely populated with few land resources, and there were plenty of people waiting to farm for them.

As for hunting in the mountains, no one was willing to bring along a burden like him. He'd be too slow to keep up with the prey and might end up becoming a meal for the mountain beasts himself.

With no other options, Wang Hong could only gather herbs in the relatively safe outer areas of Cangyun Mountain and sell them to the town's apothecary for a few copper coins.

His younger brother spent his days wandering the fields and roadsides, looking for wild vegetables and collecting firewood. He was also responsible for washing clothes and cooking.

Er Gouzi walked along, calculating his day's earnings. His luck had been terrible today. He had wandered the mountain all day and only managed to collect an ounce of honeysuckle, half an ounce of Pinellia ternata, and a few other herbs like wild chrysanthemum, Schizonepeta, and Gelsemium, which would sell for at most two copper coins.

He also found three bird eggs, about the size of a finger, and a handful of wild fruits.

Although the outer reaches of the mountain were safer, with no large beasts roaming, anything valuable had long since been picked clean by everyone else.

In Wang Family Village at the foot of the mountain, smoke wisped from chimneys. A few children were playing at the village entrance. Wang Family Village only had a few dozen households, all tenant farmers of Steward Wang from the town. They made a living by farming, and during the off-season, they would hunt and gather herbs in the mountains to supplement their income.

In good years, they could barely manage to get by. In bad years, selling children was not unheard of.

From a distance, he saw a child about seven or eight years old squatting by the entrance, sorting through wild vegetables. He was very meticulous, carefully shaking the dirt off each vegetable, plucking the leaves one by one, and removing any parts damaged by insects.

Wang Hong tiptoed up behind him, who hadn't noticed him yet.

"Ah!" Wang Hong suddenly shouted, startling Wang Yi into sitting down on the ground. When he saw it was Wang Hong, he was so angry that he smeared the mud on his hands all over Wang Hong.

Wang Hong dodged and weaved as his younger brother chased him. Once his brother had vented his anger, Wang Hong took out a small bundle wrapped in leaves from his basket, carefully stitched together with grass stems.

"Little brother, look what I have!"

Wang Yi's eyes lit up. He snatched it over and said, "This is compensation for scaring me."

The younger brother gently opened it. Inside were some raspberries, clusters of tiny beads the size of millet, each about the size of a thumb. When ripe, they were pitch black. They were sweet with a hint of sourness, and his younger brother's favorite.

"Wow, so many berries! I found a lot of wild vegetables today too." The younger brother's eyes narrowed into slits as he smiled, popping a few into his mouth.

"Mmm... delicious!"

He then grabbed a handful and stuffed them into Wang Hong's mouth.

"I found several raspberry bushes in the mountains, and many more are still on the trees, not yet ripe. I'll pick them in a few days. You eat these. I'm going to cook."

Wang Hong grabbed a handful of rice and put it in the pot with plenty of water. After it boiled, he stirred it slowly with a wooden spoon while it simmered.

His younger brother helped tend the fire beside him, occasionally popping a few raspberries into his mouth and feeding some to Wang Hong.

After about half an hour, the water and rice in the pot had fused into a thick white porridge. He then added shredded wild vegetables and cracked three bird eggs into it. He gently stirred with chopsticks, and the porridge floated with green leaves and wisps of egg. A pinch of salt for seasoning, and a pot of fragrant and appetizing wild vegetable and egg drop porridge was ready. They poured two large bowls and sat on a large rock by the door, slurping it down noisily.

As night fell, watching his younger brother sleep soundly beside him, Wang Hong couldn't sleep. Ever since his father died last year, he had relied on gathering herbs in the mountains daily and selling them to the town's apothecary to earn enough copper coins to barely support the two of them.

Often, they didn't know where their next meal would come from. He still vividly remembered last winter, when the snow sealed the mountains for two months, and the land was a vast expanse of white, making it impossible to find any food.

The brothers dug up grass roots from the snow to fill their stomachs, often waking up hungry in the middle of the night. Fortunately, they managed to trap a wild rabbit, and with the grass roots, they survived the last ten-plus days. Winter was approaching again. His younger brother had dried over twenty bundles of wild vegetables, which would have to last them until the next spring when new vegetables could be harvested, but they were still far short.

This year, by saving every penny, they had managed to save over twenty copper coins, which could only buy a little over two pounds of rice. It seemed he would have to venture into the deeper mountains tomorrow.

In fact, the depths of Cangyun Mountain also contained some precious medicinal materials. Last year, Wang Laoqi had found a ten-year-old ginseng root there and sold it for four taels of silver.

One tael of silver was equivalent to one guan of copper coins, which was a thousand wen. Two taels of silver would be enough for the brothers to live for a year.

However, the mountains were also full of wild beasts. Normally, hunters would gather five or six people before daring to enter the mountains, and even then, injuries and deaths occurred from time to time. Rather than wait to die at home, it was better to take a gamble in the deep mountains.

The next morning, Er Gouzi tidied himself up, packed a steamed bun and a hunting knife, and set off into the mountains with the dew.

After venturing more than ten li into Cangyun, he found ancient trees towering into the sky, with trees as thick as several people embracing them everywhere. The ground was overgrown with thorns, and his clothes and pants were torn in several places.

Wang Hong held a long stick to clear the path, pushing aside the obstructing thorns, his eyes carefully scanning his surroundings. Suddenly, his face showed surprise. Following his gaze, he saw a small clump of lush green plants not far to his left. Its stems were like penholders, covered with small white flowers, and its leaves grew in pairs, shaped like bamboo leaves.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! So much Solomon's Seal." He said, taking out a small medicinal hoe and carefully digging. In a short while, he had collected thirteen Solomon's Seal plants. One of them was eight years old, two were six years old, and the rest were between three and five years old.

He didn't pick the small seedlings, leaving them for others. This was an unwritten rule among herb gatherers. They picked the large ones and left the small ones. When picking ginseng, they would scatter ginseng seeds around the area afterward. For plants with roots, they would leave small root segments in the soil. For those with vines, they would leave some vines. If they harvested them all destructively, those precious medicinal materials would have long since become extinct.

Afterward, he found a few less valuable herbs and a wild walnut tree, collecting twenty to thirty wild walnuts. Walnuts wouldn't spoil and could be saved for winter.

At this moment, Wang Hong discovered a wild kudzu vine and was digging enthusiastically, his rear end sticking up. The kudzu root could be eaten raw, tasting sweet and quenching thirst. He tore off a small strip and chewed it with satisfaction. Kudzu root could also be boiled and eaten, tasting somewhat like boiled yam, and was very filling. It could also be sold as medicine.