"Isn't that the truth."
Xu Nian'an remembered how that aunt was the first to buy Mung Bean Jelly, and only then did business pick up. In and out of his words, he felt grateful to her.
Carrying the buckets, Xu Nian'an suddenly said, "Little sister, when did you get so good at talking?"
Xu Nian'an glanced at Xu Nianhua. The Xu Nianhua from before had a kind heart but wasn't very talkative. Her favorite thing was to purse her lips and smile, her brows curved so beautifully when she laughed.
But, whether it was just Xu Nian'an's imagination or not, it seemed like Xu Nianhua was now a little livelier.
Especially just now, when they were selling and calling out for business. Never mind Xu Nianhua being just a young girl—even he, standing there, didn't know what to do!
Yet Xu Nianhua wasn't shy at all, nor afraid. She kept hollering, and when faced with Aunt Wu's doubts about the price, Xu Nianhua handled it calmly. That made Xu Nian'an feel like his little sister had really changed.
Xu Nianhua tensed up inside, afraid Xu Nian'an might suspect something. She smiled sweetly and said, "Second brother, I just watched how others sell things, so I followed and shouted. Now that I think about it, I still feel a bit nervous!"
Xu Nianhua swallowed, and tried to change the topic, saying, "We've got plenty of Fruit Jelly at home, but I think we still need to pick more Fruit Jelly."
"I thought so."
Xu Nian'an listened to her and didn't think much of it. His little sister becoming more lively was a good thing.
The two siblings, carrying their hope for the future, headed home just like that.
As soon as they got home, Ji Ying was out back digging up the vegetable garden, just about to ask the kids how Mung Bean Jelly sales went, when she saw the two put down their buckets, grab a long-sleeved shirt, pick up two woven bags, and run toward the back mountain.
"Nian'an, Nianhua, where are you going?" Ji Ying called out from behind.
Xu Nianhua replied, "We're just going to the back mountain, we'll be back soon."
Xu Nian'an and Xu Nianhua, the siblings, ran all the way to the back mountain and found several Fruit Jelly trees, loading all the Fruit Jelly from the trees into the woven bags.
Fruit Jelly trees in Shuangzhu Village aren't especially many, but they're not especially few either.
The two woven bags were stuffed full.
Xu Nian'an picked from the tree, while Xu Nianhua followed behind, gathering from the ground.
So others wouldn't know they were carrying Fruit Jelly, they threw in plenty of rabbit grass too.
On the way home, whenever Xu Nian'an bumped into someone, he said they were out on the mountain gathering rabbit grass.
Xu Nianhua dragged two logs, and though it was just two, the family needed wood right now, so even two weren't too few for her.
"The rabbits at home just got born, you don't need so much rabbit grass!" Ji Ying looked at the two bags of rabbit grass and couldn't help but complain.
The four little rabbits came from splitting up the family. Grown rabbits weren't theirs, but with these newborns, they got an extra one.
Four little rabbits didn't eat much rabbit grass at all.
"Heh heh."
Xu Nian'an grinned, lifted up the layer of rabbit grass on top, and underneath, the woven bags were full of Fruit Jelly.
"Did you guys pick all the Fruit Jelly from the mountain?" Ji Ying looked at the two bags and asked, "Even if you sold all your Mung Bean Jelly today, you didn't need to pick them all!"
"Mom, Fruit Jelly is great—even if we can't use them all now, we can dry them and save them for next year."
Xu Nianhua definitely didn't mind having too much. There's still over a month before school starts in September. In that month, they need to make even more Mung Bean Jelly!