Of course, before leaving, she didn’t forget to grab a bamboo basket.
While hunting today, she thought of an idea on the mountain, but was unsure if it would work, so she planned to check it out and pick so berries while she was there.
After these couple of days, if she wanted to eat berries again, she would have to wait until next year.
Since she went directly up the mountain from behind her house, nobody noticed her, and with Little Black accompanying her, her parents weren’t particularly worried.
The basket wasn’t empty; it was filled with juicy berries, mainly for appearance’s sake. In case soone was at ho, it wouldn’t raise any suspicions.
As it turned out, no one was ho, but when she ca back, her father called her from near the pigpen, reminding her to let the adults know whenever she went out.
She then went to the kitchen, pretending to be making jam, and filled two one-pound jars with the jam Ling’er had made in the space, while leaving two or three pounds of berries.
This was basically the last ti they’d eat this for the year, and the ones from the space were much tastier than the ones picked from the mountain.
Regarding the jam, just as Xiaomi had predicted, the jam they made only held an advantage for three days before chefs figured out the thod and recipe.
Since it was too simple, an easy tweak would lead to success, making it semi-public, and with a little inquiry, anyone could find out.
Fortunately, they were quick, and those first few days allowed them to earn quite a bit.
As for next year, well, they’d see next year.
She divided everything in half, and even made a show of putting the jam jars in a wooden basin to cool with well water, to avoid the suspicion of ’freshly made’ jam being cold.
After finishing all this, Xiaomi went back for a nap.
After all this tinkering, Xiaomi made up her mind and had a rough idea of what to do.
In the evening, when Jiang Yu and the others returned, Xiaomi mysteriously pulled Wei Ziang aside.
"Brother, co back early tomorrow."
"Co back early? Is sothing up?" Wei Ziang was puzzled.
Wasn’t she just urging him to go back to school early a few days ago? Why is she now asking him to return early?
"Just co back early! I have sothing important. See if you can discuss with the teacher about attending school in the morning and coming ho at noon."
According to Jiang Wei, although Wei Ziang had missed half a month of school, he kept up with the coursework, and when he returned to the classroom, the teacher even praised him for it.
Tomorrow he would try things her way first, and then let Wei Ziang decide whether to develop both literarily and martially or focus on his studies.
Seeing Xiaomi’s deliberate mysteriousness, Wei Ziang pretended to hesitate for a mont, then nodded, "Alright, I’ll ask the teacher for a half-day off tomorrow."
"Xiaomi, Ziang, what are you two up to, whispering every day?" Jiang Yu called out; "Dinner’s ready, just waiting on you two."
"Coming, coming, why so early today?" It wasn’t even dark yet.
"Mom said you caught a lot of ga today, so we cooked up a feast tonight. Impressive, Xiaomi, your archery skills are getting better and better."
These words Xiaomi loved to hear, and she instantly grew proud, saying, "Of course, I’m going to get even better!"
"You, you. As a girl, not feminine or gentle at all, always doing things like boys do."
Second Aunt, holding a bowl of soup, happened to overhear Xiaomi’s bragging and couldn’t help but nag a little.
However, surprisingly, the first to express dissatisfaction with Second Aunt’s comnts wasn’t Xiaomi herself, but her eldest brother, Jiang Yu.
"Mom, Xiaomi’s not like other girls; she’s different. I think Xiaomi should just do whatever she wants. If she were like everyone else, she wouldn’t still be Xiaomi!"
Xiaomi is like a lucky star sent down to us, so she’s naturally the special one!
If she were just like an ordinary girl, how could she be a lucky star?
"Yu’er is right. Xiaomi just needs to know how to read and be polite. She just doesn’t like doing needlework. I think it’s great that she’s doing what she enjoys now."
Uncle Liu, stroking his beard, sided with Jiang Yu.
"I can’t argue with you guys. Let’s eat first. Xiaomi caught all of today’s ga, and I’ve been stewing it all afternoon."
Second Aunt only said it in passing, and wasn’t really dissatisfied with Xiaomi’s hunting habits.
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