After digging the well, Juhua, her parents, and her brother threw themselves into gathering acorns. They toiled for two days, collecting not only a huge pile of acorns but also raking up lots of leaves and dry grass.
To prevent the firewood from getting wet in the rain, Zheng Changhe and Qingmu built a simple thatched shed and stacked the firewood inside.
The pit for soaking the acorns was also expanded, ready for them to soak the nuts in batches. The family was so busy they barely had time to breathe.
That day at noon, Juhua was drawing water from the well to prepare a meal when a rare visitor appeared at the courtyard gate.
She was a rare visitor because Juhua had never seen her before. But from her clothes and makeup, Juhua could roughly guess her identity—this was likely Matchmaker Wang, whom Mrs. Yang had contacted a few days ago.
