Chapter 39: Chapter 39: So Hot, It’s Smoking

At noon, when the rest of the Yu family returned from the fields, they hadn’t even stepped through the door before they heard Yu Wei talking about the groundcherries.

At first, no one in the family took it seriously. They didn’t pay much attention to what Yu Wei was saying.

After all, things that seem ordinary to adults can be blown way out of proportion in a child’s eyes.

But when they actually saw the four baskets, each holding dozens of jin of groundcherries, they realized Yu Wei hadn’t been exaggerating this time—he was telling the truth.

Yu Hai swallowed hard and instinctively reached for his pocket.

As soon as his hand touched his clothes, Yu Hai remembered he’d already changed outfits.

He figured that the groundcherry must have fallen onto the bed when he was changing, and then Yu Nuannuan had picked it up, which eventually led to them finding so many groundcherries.

Looks like he’d really have to be extra careful in the future.

While Yu Hai was silently warning himself, he sidled up to Xu Shuhua with a cheeky grin. “Mom, the work in the fields is pretty much done. This afternoon, can I go with you to the county to sell the groundcherries?”

Xu Shuhua had mentioned how well strawberries were selling, and Yu Hai had been itching to see for himself just how good business was.

Before, he couldn’t go because there was still work to do in the fields.

Now that the harvest was in, he wanted to tag along with Xu Shuhua.

Xu Shuhua glanced at Yu Hai. “Sure, if you want to go, come along. You can help me carry the baskets!”

There were four baskets—she couldn’t carry them all by herself.

Seeing that Xu Shuhua agreed, Yu Hai beamed. “If I’m going with you, how could I let you carry the baskets, Mom? I’ll go find a backpack basket, pour everything in, and carry it myself.”

“Now that’s more like it!”

After lunch and a short rest, it was already past two o’clock when Yu Hai and Xu Shuhua set out.

It was still scorching hot at this hour, with the blazing sun directly overhead, making it almost impossible to keep their eyes open.

Walking under such intense sunlight, it only took a few minutes before both Yu Hai and Xu Shuhua were flushed and dripping with sweat.

Yu Hai glanced down at the ground—good grief, he could swear there was steam rising from the shadows he and Xu Shuhua cast!

Half an hour later, the two of them arrived in the county town.

This was the time when people were heading back to work. Even though it was hot, there were still plenty of pedestrians outside.

Xu Shuhua led Yu Hai to her usual spot at the street corner, stopping under the shade of a tree.

As soon as they settled in, the woman at the next stall greeted Xu Shuhua with a smile. “Auntie, you’re here again?”

Xu Shuhua smiled back. “We picked a lot of groundcherries at home—way more than we can eat. If we just leave them, they’ll go bad, so I thought I’d bring them to sell.”

The woman’s name was Zhang Cuifen, and she sold cold jelly noodles.

This street corner had a lot of foot traffic. She set up her stall here every day, selling from morning till night, and business was pretty good.

When Zhang Cuifen heard “groundcherries,” she perked up with interest and walked over. “Groundcherries? I think I ate those as a kid. Haven’t had them in years—these days, you only find them in the countryside.”

Despite her words, Zhang Cuifen didn’t really believe Xu Shuhua could sell them.

Groundcherries weren’t like strawberries—rare and sought after. They were wild fruits you could find everywhere. Who’d pay money for them?

Yu Hai had already put the backpack basket down. Seeing Zhang Cuifen come over, Xu Shuhua simply picked out two groundcherries and handed them to her. “Here, have a taste!”

Zhang Cuifen took them and, upon a closer look, realized these were a bit different from the groundcherries she remembered."

"