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She had two large pots in the house. After filling them with water, Xiaoguo threw in all the remaining bones she had left into one of the pots. She then added a small pack of spices and some salt into the same pot. It was then left to simmer on the stove. Next, she rinsed the mushrooms and put them into the other pot. This time, she didn’t add the spices. Termite mushrooms had a distinctive aroma. When cooked, they release a unique flavor not unlike the umami of chicken. The pine mushrooms were even more flavorful, so all she needed to add was a little salt.

After Xiaoguo had prepared the soup base, she thought about how to get everything to the market the next day. She remembered that there was a family in the village with a donkey cart. Xiaoguo took twenty copper coins with her, intending to head over to borrow the cart. When she arrived at the door of that family, Xiaoguo cleared her throat and called out, “Mrs. Li, is Mrs. Li around?”

After a while, a woman came out of the house. She was skinny and had a sallow complexion. Her cheeks were sunken and wrinkled. Peeking out from behind the door were a pair of squinting eyes, trying to see who was calling out for her. “Are you from the Jiang’s family?” Having gotten a good look at who was at the door, she quickly walked forward to open it and almost tripped along the way.

Seeing that Mrs. Li was walking unsteadily, Xiaoguo was worried that she would trip over herself. She hurriedly said, “Mrs. Li, I want to borrow your donkey cart.”

Mrs. Li looked at Xiaoguo and wondered why she was visiting out of the blue as they were not well acquainted. Just as the thought crossed her mind, Xiaoguo had already blurted out the reason. Mrs. Li then brought Xiaoguo to the shed where they kept the donkey. “Here it is.” After saying that, she looked a little embarrassed. She rubbed her arms and said awkwardly, “I didn’t have time to gather grass for the donkey, so it is a little…”

Xiaoguo looked at the donkey in front of her. It was so thin that its bones were sticking out. She couldn’t help but worry if the donkey was able to transport the pots. After thinking for a while, she eventually decided to borrow it. There was no other way to get to the market, and the village carriage would definitely refuse to move those pots for her. “How about this, Mrs. Li, I’ll borrow your donkey cart and give you twenty copper coins for it.”

Mrs. Li looked at Xiaoguo in disbelief. Twenty coins? Really? “Is that true?” The Li family had long since run out of money. They had nothing left to eat. Twenty coins could last their family of three for a couple of months.

Xiaoguo nodded and handed the money to her. As Mrs. Li accepted the coins with trembling hands, Xiaoguo couldn’t help but ask, “Mrs. Li, since there isn’t any food left in the house, why didn’t you slaughter the donkey?”

“We cannot slaughter the animals that we had raised at home. They’re intelligent beings. Besides, this donkey was left behind by my husband. For whatever reasons, we really shouldn’t eat it.” After saying that, she sighed and looked at the donkey guiltily. “It’ll suffer if it follows me.” Mrs. Li had been busy taking care of her two children at home. She had no money and food. Besides taking care of the children, she had to go out and look for food. What she could find was barely enough for them. Mrs. Li had no choice but to drink lots of water to suppress her hunger. She has little energy left for anything else, not to mention cutting grass for the donkey.

Xiaoguo didn’t say anything. She understood Mrs. Li’s situation and nodded. Our forefathers always said that farm animals like horses, cows, donkeys, and dogs should never be slaughtered as they seem to be tuned in to human nature. Mrs. Li’s husband was captured and sent for enlistment in the army. He died in battle not long after joining the army. The money has stopped coming in for a long time. “Then I’ll take the donkey home and send it over tomorrow afternoon.”

Mrs. Li quickly said that there was no hurry. Xiaoguo could borrow it for a while more. There was no hurry to return it.

Xiaoguo bid farewell and led the donkey home. Mrs. Li looked gratefully at her while she turned and left. When Xiaoguo was out of sight, Mrs. Li ran back into the house excitedly and shouted for her children. She told them that they wouldn’t have to worry about food anymore and that she wouldn’t let them starve. Holding her scrawny children in her arms, Mrs. Li sobbed with guilt.

As Xiaoguo reached home and tied up the donkey, Zhuang Zhuang heard noises at the door and came out to check. He looked at the donkey in surprise. “Mom, what is this?”

“This is a donkey.” She said as she offered it a big bunch of grass. “But it’s a bit skinny.”

After washing her hands, Xiaoguo returned to the kitchen to check on the pot. She could smell the soup when she reached the main door of the house earlier on. Now that she had opened the kitchen door, the smell was even more fragrant.