The next day, when Yuan Si woke up, she saw a clothesline had already been strung up in the courtyard. The small piece of floral fabric she'd brought back was fluttering in the wind.
After washing up, the old woman called her over for breakfast.
It was cornmeal mush with flat noodle pieces boiled inside.
Yuan Si pointed at a glistening green lump in the mush. "What's this? You didn't add poplar leaves to it, did you?"
The old woman was so amused by the look on Yuan Si's face—as if she'd seen a ghost—that she burst out laughing. "Relax. I know you can't stand that stuff, so why would I add it? It's just wild greens. They taste great. I even added some meat for you. Hurry up and eat."
Only then did Yuan Si relax. She picked up the bowl that had been filled for her and started shoveling it into her mouth. There was indeed meat inside, but very, very little of it. There probably weren't even ten pieces in the entire pot.
