Lin Shengxia knew what her mother was worried about, so she quickly smiled and took out the wild vegetables and wood ear mushrooms piled inside the space. Together with Dong Wanqiu, she began sorting through them.
The moment Lin Qizheng saw the purple-flowered violets in her basket, he immediately guessed what his daughter was planning.
However, back when they were in the capital, he remembered that these medicinal herbs were usually dried before being sold to medicine shops. He had no idea whether freshly picked purple-flowered violets would be worth much.
He had only been injured yesterday, so Lin Shengxia couldn’t bear to let him go into the river to catch fish again. After sorting and packing all the wild vegetables, she pushed open the back door and stepped through.
By now, Lin Shengxia had gradually grown accustomed to the dizzying sensation inside the passage. She could even spare some attention to observe her surroundings.
She had a feeling that this passage wasn’t as simple as merely connecting 1976 to 2026…
While she was lost in thought, the boundary leading to 2026 was already right in front of her!
Lin Shengxia pushed the distracting thoughts from her mind, took a deep breath, and stepped across the boundary.
The familiar sounds of vendors calling out their wares reached her ears, gradually putting her heart at ease.
She had barely reached Li Xiangqin’s stall and hadn’t even had time to put down her basket when Xu Aixia came hurrying over.
“Oh, Shengxia! You’re finally here! Quick, quick! Give me a few bunches of those wild vegetables!”
Seeing how flustered Xu Aixia looked, Lin Shengxia couldn’t help becoming nervous as well. She quickly took the wild vegetables from her basket and spread them out on the coarse cloth she had prepared.
“Auntie, take a look. Which bunches would you like?”
When Xu Aixia came closer, she noticed that the vegetables Lin Shengxia had brought today still had droplets of water clinging to their leaves. Her face immediately lit up.
“These vegetables are so fresh today! You even have wild wood ear mushrooms? I’ll take all of those! And give me four bunches of wild vegetables too. I’m making vegetarian three-delicacy dumplings for my grandson at noon!”
Ever since her precious little grandson had tasted Lin Shengxia’s wild vegetables, there had been no turning back!
The little troublemaker, who normally hated leafy greens more than anything, had opened his eyes first thing this morning and demanded the “sweet green vegetables” his grandmother had bought.
Xu Aixia was both proud and anxious.
That was why she had come so early and waited here for Lin Shengxia!
With practiced movements, Lin Shengxia tied the vegetables into bundles and placed them in Xu Aixia’s basket.
Xu Aixia had already handed her a hundred-yuan bill.
Lin Shengxia skillfully gave her twenty yuan in change. Before she could even catch her breath, Old Master Lin from the grain and oil shop at the end of the alley had already chosen his vegetables and promptly handed over the money.
Meanwhile, the other neighbors began heading over as soon as they saw Lin Shengxia.
By the end, Lin Shengxia had collected so much money that she had almost gone numb from it.
When she finally came back to her senses, she realized that every last vegetable on the ground had already been snatched up!
While Lin Shengxia had been busy selling her vegetables, Li Xiangqin deliberately stayed out of her way. Only when she saw that the girl was preparing to pack up did she walk over with a smile and hand her a cup of warm water.
Lin Shengxia gulped it down in several large mouthfuls and finally managed to catch her breath.
She carefully took out the wild tomatoes she had kept at the bottom of her basket and offered them to Li Xiangqin with a smile.
“Auntie, I specially saved these tomatoes for you. You can eat them as they are or use them to make soup. I tasted one, and the flesh is nice and soft!”
Hearing this, Li Xiangqin looked at the tomatoes in the basket. Their green calyxes were still attached, making it obvious that they had been freshly picked that very day.
Her gaze softened as she looked at Lin Shengxia.
She knew the girl never forgot a kindness shown to her.
So this time, she didn’t stand on ceremony and happily accepted the tomatoes.
Seeing that Li Xiangqin had taken them, Lin Shengxia’s smile grew even brighter.
“Oh, right, Auntie. Do you know anywhere around here that buys fresh medicinal herbs?”
“Fresh medicinal herbs? You have herbs to sell?”
“I happened to come across some. They’re no use to me if I keep them, so I thought I’d ask whether anyone would be willing to buy them.”
“Then you’ve asked the right person! My eldest daughter runs a traditional Chinese medicine wellness clinic nearby. Wait here. I’ll give her a call.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Xiangqin hurriedly called her eldest daughter.
At first, her daughter listened absentmindedly.
But the moment she heard that the young girl her mother knew had brought fresh purple-flowered violets—and that they were completely wild—she shot up from the sofa in excitement!
“Mom, you’re not kidding me, are you?! Are you sure the purple-flowered violets that girl has are really wild?”
“That child came from the mountains. She’s as honest and straightforward as they come, without all the schemes and tricks some youngsters have these days. Why don’t you come over and see for yourself?”
After saying that, Li Xiangqin didn’t bother explaining further and simply hung up.
There weren’t many customers in the steamed bun shop at the moment, so Lin Shengxia had already slipped over to Xiao Zhang and asked whether she knew of any way to make people hide the moment they saw her.
Xiao Zhang burst out laughing when she heard the question.
“That’s easy! Either act crazy or pretend you’ve got some contagious disease. I guarantee everyone will stay as far away from you as possible!”
Lin Shengxia listened carefully and nodded thoughtfully.
Seeing her reaction, Xiao Zhang didn’t think much of it.
After spending the past couple of days together, the two had become fairly familiar with each other. The young girl would occasionally bring Xiao Zhang some wild fruits and other things she had never tasted before.
Xiao Zhang wasn’t the type who liked taking advantage of others either.
So today, she had brought two sets of clothes for Lin Shengxia.
“I brought you two sets of my old clothes. I eat too well and barely do any hard work here at Auntie Li’s place, so these clothes have gotten too small for me. If you don’t mind wearing them…”
Lin Shengxia looked at the neatly folded clothes inside the bag and hurriedly waved her hands.
“I don’t mind! I don’t mind at all! These clothes are much better than what I’m wearing!”
The clothes she currently owned could at most be kept clean and tidy. She only had two sets that she wore over and over again, and both had long since faded from repeated washing.
That was also why Lin Shengxia never dared to stay inside Li Xiangqin’s shop when there were many customers around.
She was afraid that people might stop coming to eat there because of the way she was dressed.
It wasn’t that she had never thought about buying a couple of outfits that matched the fashion of this era.
But she still didn’t have much money, and what she did have needed to be spent on more important things.
So buying new clothes had been put off again and again.
To show that she truly didn’t mind, Lin Shengxia immediately put on one of the short-sleeved button-up shirts Xiao Zhang had given her.
Surprisingly, when paired with her cotton-linen trousers, the outfit gave her a distinctive charm.
At the very least, when people saw her now, their first reaction certainly wouldn’t be to stare at her strangely!
Even Xiao Zhang hadn’t expected her old clothes to look so good on Lin Shengxia.
She grabbed the girl and turned her around several times, laughing as she called Li Xiangqin over to take a look.
Li Xiangqin cheerfully complimented her a few times, making Lin Shengxia blush bright red.
It was at that exact moment that Li Xiangqin’s eldest daughter entered the shop.
Her eyes immediately landed on Lin Shengxia.
She glanced meaningfully at Li Xiangqin. When her mother nodded in confirmation, she quickly walked over to Lin Shengxia with a friendly smile.
“Little sister, are you the one who wants to sell fresh purple-flowered violets? Would you mind letting me take a look?”
The moment Lin Shengxia saw Cui Shijin, she had already guessed who she was.
That was because, just like the elderly traditional Chinese medicine doctor she had met before, Cui Shijin carried a pleasant medicinal fragrance around her.
“Yes, Sister. But the medicinal herbs are a little heavy, so I left them at a relative’s place. Could you wait a few minutes for me?”
Cui Shijin smiled and nodded.
Seeing that, Lin Shengxia hurriedly shouldered her basket and left the shop.
She found a deserted dead-end alley, took all the purple-flowered violets out of the space, and packed them into her basket.
Only then did she return to the steamed bun shop.
Cui Shijin didn’t even need to examine them closely.
The moment she caught the scent of the purple-flowered violets, she knew her mother hadn’t exaggerated this time!
The medicinal herbs this young girl had brought really were wild purple-flowered violets!