Tang Yiren’s head buzzed.
Memories that had once been hazy suddenly became clear.
In her past life, the doctor had said the same thing. Back then, they had begged her grandparents to lend them some money to buy ginseng, but they had made all sorts of excuses to refuse. Her mother had knelt in the courtyard for hours, her forehead bruised and bleeding, before Mrs. Yang finally relented, saying she would try to borrow some silver from Third Uncle and Fourth Uncle.
Two more days passed like this, and the family grew increasingly desperate. But her uncle’s family couldn’t scrape together enough money, and the villagers weren’t well-off either. For such a severe injury, at least a hundred-year-old ginseng was needed, and buying one would cost three hundred taels of silver.
They had no other choice. Mrs. Yang became their last hope. However, Mrs. Yang only managed to gather twenty taels of silver, which was nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
“Ginseng…” Tang Yiren suddenly remembered.
In her past life, Wang Mazi from the village had found a ginseng plant in the mountains half a year later. But he didn’t recognize it as ginseng, mistaking it for wild radish. That very night, he stewed and ate it, only to suffer from a high fever afterward and nearly didn’t survive. Wang Mazi’s mother called a doctor to examine him, and when the doctor saw the half-eaten ginseng, he was heartbroken. He said it was a hundred-year-old ginseng, and Wang Mazi had foolishly consumed most of it—such a waste of a precious thing.
She had visited Wang Mazi back then and heard his mother mention its location. If she could find that ginseng now, her father would have a chance to survive.
“Father, Mother, please help my husband,” Mrs. Tang pleaded, kneeling before Tang Fugui and Mrs. Yang.
“It’s not that we don’t want to help, but we can’t find ginseng either!” Mrs. Yang said with a troubled expression. “A hundred-year-old ginseng is something we can’t afford.”
“Sister-in-law, don’t make things difficult for Father and Mother. How could a family like ours afford ginseng?” Mrs. Zhang pretended to sympathize, though her eyes were filled with nothing but schadenfreude.
“That’s right, Aunt. Our family has already given you our last bit of money. Grandpa and Grandma don’t have the money to buy ginseng either! We want to help, but we really can’t,” Tang Linglong sighed softly. “Uncle is so unlucky. How could something like this happen to him?”
Tang Yiren helped Mrs. Tang to her feet and said tearfully, “Mother, I’ll think of a way. I’ll be back soon.”
“Where are you going?” Mrs. Tang asked, but Tang Yiren had already let go of her and run out. “Daughter, the Wen family is even poorer than us. They can’t help.”
Tang Linglong curled her lip and said unhappily, “She’s not really going to ask Brother Shuyu for money, is she?”
“Does the Wen family have money?” Mrs. Zhang lowered her voice. “It’s better if she goes! The two families have already exchanged marriage arrangements, and the Wen family won’t acknowledge her now.”
Most importantly, the Wen family couldn’t possibly have money.
Mrs. Zhang deeply despised the Wen family’s impoverished circumstances. However, since Wen Shuyu could still pursue an official title, she had no choice but to endure it a little longer.
Villagers who had heard the news gathered in the Tang family’s courtyard, drawn by the commotion. When they heard the crying inside, they sighed one after another.
Tang Yiren ran out from inside, and the village aunties chased after her, asking where she was going.
“Daughters are nothing but a waste of money. Her parents have always doted on her, but at a time like this, she runs off without even trying to help her family think of a solution.”
“Yiren isn’t an ungrateful girl. Is she going out to borrow money?”
“Where could she borrow money? Could it be from the Wen family? Not to mention whether the Wen family has any money, I heard they said she exchanged marriages with that girl Linglong. The Wen family is no longer her future in-laws, so she can’t borrow from them anymore, right? If I were her, I’d just go borrow from the Song family—that Song hunter has money.”
“Song hunter’s door has been tightly shut for days; he hasn’t been home. I doubt he even knows he’s got a different fiancée now.”
“The marriages among these three families were arranged by the elders’ generation, weren’t they? Grandpa Tang, along with the late Grandpa Wen and Grandpa Song, were childhood friends who betrothed them early on.”
Tang Yiren ran straight up the back mountain. As soon as she reached it, wild beasts roared in the hills, as if warning her not to trespass into their territory.
At that moment, Tang Yiren’s mind was filled only with the image of Tang Dahe covered in blood, and the memory from her past life of Tang Dahe clinging to his last breath to watch her wedding ceremony.
“In my past life, Wang Mazi’s mother said he was at…” Tang Yiren stared at the several small paths before her, growing frantic. “Think fast… remember…”
Suddenly, a flash of insight struck Tang Yiren’s mind, and the once-blurred memory became clear again. She dashed toward the leftmost path.
The mountain path was treacherous. She fell again and again, only to pick herself up each time. Ignoring her injuries, she crawled up the mountain using both hands and feet.
“Found it!” When she saw the thick ginseng plant, her eyes filled with excitement. “My father can be saved!”
This time, she could finally change her family’s fate.
She crouched down, picked up a stone from the ground, and began digging a trench around the ginseng, determined to unearth the entire plant intact.
Suddenly, she sensed danger.
She looked up and saw a tiger emerge on the opposite slope.
The tiger glared at her fiercely, drool dripping from its jaws, as if ready to tear her apart.
Tang Yiren felt a chill run through her body.
Was she destined to die so tragically this time?
She grabbed the unearthed ginseng, stuffed it into her clothes, and slowly backed away.
“Roar…” The tiger lunged at her angrily.
Tang Yiren turned and ran, using every ounce of strength she had.
A whooshing sound came from behind her. She dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the tiger’s attack, but her body lost control and began tumbling down the slope. Along the way, she crashed against rocks, tree stumps, and was scraped by sharp gravel.
The tiger relentlessly pursued her.
Her body slammed into a massive boulder, bringing her to a halt.
Her ankle twisted, leaving her unable to move.
As the tiger lunged again, she was utterly exhausted and could no longer budge.
She watched as the tiger pounced, its gaping maw opening wide toward her.
“Sorry, Dad, I still couldn’t save you,” Tang Yiren murmured, closing her eyes.
Thud! A strange sound echoed in her ears.
The expected pain never came.
Tang Yiren opened her eyes and saw a tall man dressed in short attire standing before her. In each hand, he held a short blade, both now embedded in the tiger’s body. He glanced back at her, and seeing she was unharmed, withdrew the blades.
The tiger wasn’t dead. Wounded, it grew even more ferocious and lunged at the tall man.
Song Lichuan.
In her previous life, Song Lichuan had stayed in the mountains for a long time. After descending, he received a notice from Tang Linglong’s family, saying they wanted to advance the wedding date. This man didn’t speak much, but he fulfilled every request made by her second uncle and aunt, earning them a great deal of face.
He usually kept to himself and didn’t interact much with others. Even though they lived in the same village and occasionally crossed paths, they had never spoken.
Unexpectedly, he had saved her today.
Tang Yiren watched nervously as he fought the tiger.
Thud! He was riding on the tiger’s back, plunging two short blades into its neck once more. This time, after a few struggles, the tiger finally stopped moving.