It was just two young girls, one of whom had even come from out of town, so Old Man Wang didn’t take them seriously at all.
He continued selling his frozen mushrooms as usual, and whenever someone asked about them, he’d point at the girls’ stall and say their mushrooms were past their prime and no good. Yet, fewer and fewer customers came his way.
Meanwhile, over at Yan Xue and Liu Chuncai’s side, people stopped by frequently, sometimes even gathering in small groups of two or three.
With nothing else to do, the old man squinted his aged eyes and observed them closely. The more he looked, the more puzzled he became—why were people actually buying from them?
What’s more, some customers clearly came from his side, asked about the prices, and even after hearing him badmouth the girls’ goods, they still turned around and bought from those two young girls instead.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Old Man Wang pretended he needed to use the restroom and asked a neighboring vendor to watch his stall. He planned to walk past the girls’ spot to see what was really going on.
But the moment the two girls saw him approaching, they acted as if he were the plague, immediately packing up their things and moving to another location.
Old Man Wang instantly recalled Yan Xue’s earlier remark: "If you step in dog poop in the morning, do you just stand there in it instead of cleaning up and moving away?" His face turned as dark as his old cotton-padded jacket.
“How much are they selling theirs for?” he asked another vendor nearby.
Old Man Wang suspected Yan Xue and Liu Chuncai had slashed their prices—otherwise, why would people buy from them instead of him for the same product?
But the vendor, shivering from the cold, stomped his feet and said, “Three yuan and four mao per jin.”
“Three yuan and four mao? That sells?” The old man wondered if his hearing was failing him in his old age.
“Why would I lie to you?” The vendor, already freezing, grew irritated. “Believe it or not, suit yourself.”
Old Man Wang refused to accept it and decided to investigate further. Everyone confirmed that Yan Xue and Liu Chuncai were indeed selling at three yuan and four mao, though some mentioned prices as low as three yuan and two mao. The specifics were unclear, especially since Yan Xue had deliberately picked out the larger mushrooms in a secluded corner where no one could see.
Completely baffled, the old man considered following them again to get to the bottom of it. He might have been shameless enough to try, but he certainly couldn’t match the speed at which those two girls fled.
Yan Xue and Liu Chuncai comfortably set up shop at a third location and sold until the afternoon. By then, only a small portion of the larger mushrooms remained, and even the smaller pile was nearly gone.
Yan Xue simply combined the leftovers. “These scraps have some debris mixed in. Either we sell them cheap or take them home to eat ourselves.”
“Let’s just take them home.” The young girl had clearly had enough of standing out in the freezing cold.
Still, this trip had already yielded far more than she’d expected. As she packed up, Liu Chuncai turned to Yan Xue and suggested, “We still have some time, sis. Let’s stop by the supply and marketing cooperative. I want to buy a pair of pink silk ribbons for my hair, plus some hair clips. The general store back in the forestry camp only has the plain ones, and they’re not pretty.”
No wonder she’d been so determined to come to town to sell—she’d wanted to do some New Year’s shopping.
But the girl wasn’t stingy. After picking out a pair for herself, she also chose one for her younger sister and even pressed a colorful hair clip into Yan Xue’s hand. “Thank you for today.”
At five fen apiece, those clips cost as much as five plain black wire ones. Yan Xue couldn’t possibly accept it and pushed it back. “We just sold some mushrooms. Besides, I had breakfast at your place this morning. And honestly, I don’t really like these things anyway.”
It was true—Yan Xue’s hair bore no decorations, just the simplest elastic bands tying her braids.
But her face was so lovely that even such plain styling couldn’t diminish her charm, especially when she smiled—her crescent eyes could sweeten anyone’s heart.
Liu Chuncai gazed at her with admiration before suddenly remembering the conversation they’d left unfinished earlier. “Seriously, Yan Xue-jie, you should marry my brother. He’s a really good guy.”
The girl was dead serious now, pitching her brother with full enthusiasm. “He might not be as handsome as Qi Fang—no one is—but he’s still one of the best-looking guys in the forestry camp. And he’s hardworking! At just twenty-three, he’s already a chainsaw operator and even learned hunting from my grandpa. Marry him, and you’ll never run out of meat.”
If Yan Xue hadn’t come to the forestry camp specifically to meet Qi Fang for a potential match, and if Liu Chuncai’s brother really was as great as she claimed, she might have considered it. After all, life in the forestry camp offered more opportunities to earn money than the countryside.
Hunting required training and wasn’t suited for someone as petite as her, so she dismissed that idea. But Liu Chuncai mentioned that family members of forestry camp workers could join the “family team”—a temporary labor group with chances for permanent positions. They could forage for medicinal herbs, gather mushrooms and wood ears, or collect pine nuts, all of which sold for good money.
Still, Qi Fang was undeniably good-looking—even Liu Chuncai admitted that—and he was thoughtful and attentive. Yan Xue didn’t want to go back on her word.
Her eyes skimmed over the shelves, deliberately changing the subject. “Do people in the forestry camp all wear these kinds of shoes? I’ve noticed them everywhere, whether in the mountains or down here.”
Liu Chuncai glanced at the thick, padded wula boots she was pointing at. “Yeah, they might look clunky and ugly, but stuffed with wula grass or corn husks, they’re super warm. The snow in the forestry camp is too deep—shoes like yours, or those corduroy ones over there, would get soaked in no time.”
“Then next time I come, I’ll buy a pair. I didn’t bring enough money today.”
Yan Xue wasn’t about to spend recklessly before her future was settled, so even when Liu Chuncai offered to lend her the money, she declined.
On their way to the forest railway station, they ran into Old Man Wang, who was also heading back to the forestry camp.
Naturally, he didn’t give them a friendly look. Judging by the weight of his basket, he’d sold some after they left, but not much.
Liu Chuncai’s already good mood brightened even further. The moment she got home, she threw her arms around Liu Daniu’s wife. “Mom, guess how much Yan Xue-jie and I sold today!”
“This morning you wouldn’t even call her ‘jie,’ and now you’re all ‘Yan Xue-jie’?” Liu’s Youngest Son muttered under his breath to his second sister.
The Second Daughter of the Liu Family, a shy girl of twelve or thirteen, instinctively glanced at Yan Xue before whispering to her brother, “Didn’t you want fried pancakes? If not, I’ll eat yours.”
The boy immediately shut his mouth, his eyes fixed on his mother as she spread batter on the griddle.
Liu Chuncai inhaled the aroma of frying pancakes filling the room and gave her mother a little shake. “Make two for me and Yan Xue-jie too.”
“Keep shaking me, and I’ll ruin them.” Liu Daniu’s wife never stopped scraping the batter with her spatula, but she tugged at her daughter’s arm wrapped around her waist. “So how much did you sell? More than two jin?”
Liu Chuncai immediately started untying her basket. “Way more! Yan Xue-jie and I sold almost everything!”
That sounded like such an exaggeration that even the two younger kids looked at her with disbelief. Liu Daniu’s wife didn’t react much, only half-heartedly asking, “Really?”
But then, a stack of money bound with a rubber band was thrust into her hand. “Count it if you don’t believe me.”
She didn’t even need to count—just the thickness of the wad in her palm was more than what two jin would fetch.
As Liu Daniu’s wife lifted her hand in surprise, the two younger kids had already peeked into the nearly empty basket. “They really did sell it all.”
“Of course! You have no idea how amazing Yan Xue-jie is~”
Liu Chuncai was all smiles as she animatedly recounted how Old Man Wang had bullied her that day and how Yan Xue had helped her fight back, chattering away without pause.
The Second Daughter of the Liu Family looked at Yan Xue with newfound admiration, while Liu's Youngest Son...
Though he had already started school, he clearly hadn’t mastered arithmetic yet. He began counting on his fingers but quickly got stuck, baffled by the numbers.
Only Liu Daniu's wife, who often went out to sell goods, understood the skill behind Yan Xue’s sales tactics and just how difficult it was to sell so quickly. "Yan Xue, you’re quite good at doing business, aren’t you?"
Yan Xue couldn’t very well say it was her old trade, so she just smiled. "I’ve seen others sell like this before."
Not wanting to dwell on the topic, she turned her attention to Liu Daniu's wife’s practiced movements with curiosity. "Is this how pancakes are usually made here?"
"Don’t they do it this way where you’re from?"
"Where I’ve seen it done, they knead the dough into a ball and roll it out on the griddle."
Liu Daniu's wife nodded in recognition. "Ah, you’re talking about soft pancakes. Here, we prefer them crispy. Crispy ones keep well—just sprinkle some water on them when you’re ready to eat. They’re also easier to carry up the mountains. Winters here are so cold that if you take a regular bun, it’ll freeze solid in no time, and even roasting it won’t thaw it properly."
As she spoke, she finished another pancake, scraping it off the griddle and onto a nearby tray. She pointed at the stack. "These are for our family—don’t eat too many, we still have dinner later."
Since the griddle was already hot, she ground some extra cornmeal and made a few more for her own household.
At her words, the children swarmed over, and Yan Xue was handed one as well. Liu Daniu's wife was skilled—the pancake was thin and crispy, bursting with the rich aroma of grain at the first bite.
When Liu Daniu's wife tried to insist she stay for dinner, Yan Xue declined. "I’d like to head back to the guesthouse early to rest."
Remembering that Yan Xue had spent the whole afternoon helping her daughter sell goods, Liu Daniu's wife didn’t press further. Instead, she bundled several pancakes together and shoved them into Yan Xue’s hands. "I should’ve been the one showing you around, but instead, you ended up stuck at the market with Chuncai all day."
Just then, the bucket of batter ran out. Liu Daniu's wife covered the taller stack of pancakes with a cloth and picked it up. "I’ll take these over to Old Guo’s place."
"I’ll come too!" Liu Chuncai, having spent most of the day with Yan Xue, seemed reluctant to part.
She hurried ahead to hold the door open for her mother, then closed it behind them and walked beside Yan Xue. "Yan Xue, will you come back tomorrow? I bought some firecrackers—we can go blast pinecones!"
"Blast pinecones?" Yan Xue had heard the term the day before and was intrigued.
The Changbai Mountains were rich in forestry resources, known for producing pine nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, and other nuts. But in her experience, harvesting pine nuts usually involved climbing trees.
The bold ones scaled the trunks directly, while the more cautious used specialized hooks with long poles to twist the pinecones loose from the branches.
But the pine trees that bore these cones were often towering, their branches brittle—sometimes they looked sturdy but snapped underfoot. Every year, people fell to their deaths while harvesting.
Later, hot air balloons were introduced for pinecone gathering. That same year, Yan Xue had read two news stories about runaway balloons.
One drifted near a signal tower, prompting a desperate call to the police. The man had already bid farewell to his wife: "I’m flying away—live well." Luckily, the police rescued him. The other balloon soared boldly across the Yalu River. Whether it was ever recovered, the news never said, and Yan Xue never found out...
Unaware of the thoughts running through Yan Xue’s mind, Liu Chuncai eagerly explained, "Yeah! We use firecrackers to blast them down. In winter, the pinecones dry out, and one explosion shakes them all loose. We just stand underneath and gather them—we can collect thousands in a day!"
But like how foragers sometimes outnumber the wild vegetables they seek, if too many people harvested the pinecones, they’d all be gone before winter even dried them out...
Hearing her daughter’s exaggeration, Liu Daniu's wife poured cold water on the idea. "Not thousands—at most a couple thousand. And you can’t go alone; an adult has to be with you."
"Even a couple thousand is a lot! That’s hundreds of pounds!" Liu Chuncai muttered weakly in protest.
Seeing Yan Xue still smiling, seemingly unfazed by the correction, she perked up a little. "When Grandpa gets back, I’ll ask him to take us."
"Only if he has time." With the old man supervising, Liu Daniu's wife didn’t object.
Liu Chuncai brightened immediately and tugged at Yan Xue’s sleeve. "Then it’s settled—I’ll come find you. You’re not leaving, are you, Yan Xue?"
She definitely wouldn’t leave before Little New Year...
Just as Yan Xue was about to answer, a commotion broke out ahead—a familiar figure was tangled in a scuffle with someone.
