Lin Guozhi curiously used something to pry open that iron box.
What followed was a clattering sound as a pile of silver dollars tumbled out from inside.
A rough count put it at about twenty or thirty.
One had to know that silver dollars were valuable things.
After all, they were made of silver, and they also had great collectible value.
Ordinary families would treat them as family heirlooms, passing them down from generation to generation.
After all, this was one of the few things common folk could obtain and actually keep in their hands.
“Second Brother, we’ve struck it rich.”
In later generations, the price of silver dollars was quite considerable.
Ranging from a few hundred to several hundred thousand.
Lin Jiaojiao examined the silver dollars in the iron box.
She found that there were many different designs.
Some had a bald head on them, some had an eagle, and others were engraved with a dragon pattern.
Although Lin Jiaojiao didn’t know much about silver dollars, she knew there was a lot of nuance to them.
Anyway, collecting them was the right move.
“We really have struck it rich.”
“Little Sister, your luck is simply off the charts.”
“Earlier you came across ginseng, and now you’ve dug up silver dollars.”
“If it weren’t for that giant snake showing up along the way, you’d be a living Jinli!”
The way Lin Guozhi looked at his sister was as if he were looking at some mysterious bringer of fortune.
The fervor in his eyes scared Lin Jiaojiao into backing away.
“Second Brother, can you act normal?”
“This was just a coincidence, don’t go talking nonsense.”
Seeing that his sister was a little angry, Lin Guozhi immediately reined in his expression.
“Little Sister is right.”
“This really isn’t something to go around saying. Second Brother won’t say it again.”
Lin Guozhi considered their current circumstances and followed his sister’s lead.
If word got out, it wouldn’t do his sister any good.
As family, he had to watch his words.
Although they hadn’t picked any wild pears on this trip up the mountain, the harvest had been considerable.
Lin Guozhi finally decided to head down the mountain.
He carried the back basket and also held a hamper in his hand.
Lin Jiaojiao, meanwhile, was twirling a stalk of foxtail grass, wanting to see if the seeds inside could be pulled out to eat as food.
It was said that during famine years,
people had used foxtail grass to stave off hunger.
She didn’t know if it was true or not, but she was curious.
This time there were no more mishaps along the way, and the brother and sister made it home smoothly.
The sun was already slightly slanting westward, and wisps of cooking smoke rose from the old Lin family’s chimney.
“I wonder what Mother made today. Little Sister, walk faster, hurry up—maybe we can still make it in time and she’ll cook one more dish.”
Once they reached the village, Lin Guozhi’s pace began to quicken.
After all, having walked all this way, his stomach had long since been growling with hunger.
The two of them walked into the courtyard one after the other, and the Lin brothers had all returned.
“You two went up the mountain?”
Lin Guodong walked over and took the hamper from his younger brother’s hand.
“What’s this?”
Seeing a piece of snake skin sticking out from the edge of the hamper, he couldn’t resist reaching out and giving it a tug.
“Holy crap.”
“Lin Lao Er, what did you take Little Sister to do?”
Lin Guodong’s exclamation drew all the Lin family men over.
Looking at the thing on the ground, everyone’s expressions turned grim.
“This…”
“Listen to me try to explain.”
In his panic, Lin Guozhi’s tongue slipped and he said the wrong thing.
He was immediately dragged to the side by Lin Guodong, pinned to the ground, and about to be beaten.
“Big Brother, don’t do it.”
Seeing the situation, Lin Jiaojiao immediately stepped in to break up the fight.
The snake skin was something she had brought back herself—her second brother hadn’t even known about it.
Poor second brother. Because of her careless mistake, he had suffered an undeserved disaster.
“Little sister, you don’t need to put in a good word for him.”
“He deserved to get beaten by big brother, to teach him a lesson about where he should and shouldn’t go.”
Third brother grabbed Lin Jiaojiao’s wrist, stopping her from trying to break up the fight.
“Third brother, it’s not like that.”
“I picked up the snake skin in the woods. It has nothing to do with second brother.”
“I saw that this snake skin was big and good quality, and I thought snake skin can be used as medicine, so I brought it back.”
No matter how Lin Jiaojiao explained, Lin Guozhi still couldn’t escape a beating.
But Lin Guodong still had restraint—at most he’d make him feel some pain, he wouldn’t really injure his younger brother.
“Hmph~”
“Little sister doesn’t need to put in a good word for him. Even Dad said the mountains haven’t been safe lately, and warned the villagers not to go up there carelessly.”
“This brat actually took you into the mountains—he deserves to be taught a lesson.”
What was most infuriating was—
Second brother took little sister into the mountains and didn’t even call him along.
If he didn’t teach him a lesson, he wouldn’t know what it meant to respect seniority.
Well, the reason Lin Guodong beat Lin Guozhi—
On one hand, he was angry that he’d taken their sister to a dangerous place. On the other hand, it came from his own selfish motives.
He had originally wanted to take his little sister out to play, but this stinking brat had beaten him to it.
The location of those few fruit trees had definitely been exposed now.
What was he supposed to use to show off to his sister?
The brothers each had their own thoughts.
But they soon began processing the things the brother and sister had brought back from the mountains.
Most of the wild yams were stored away in the cellar.
A large piece was cut off, saying it would be stewed with mushrooms.
As for that ginseng, Daduizhang carefully put it away.
Tomorrow morning, he’d go to the county town to ask an acquaintance about the price.
After finding out the market rate, they’d decide how to deal with it.
Lin Jiaojiao took out something wrapped in leaves and washed it clean by the well.
Then she appeared in the kitchen carrying a bowl of red berries.
“Mom.”
“Look what I found?”
Hearing her good daughter’s voice, Zhang Aihua looked over happily.
Seeing that bowl of bright red wild berries, her eyes crinkled into a smile.
“Good girl, where did you pick so many ci pao er?”
“These berries are growing so well, such big ones.”
Hearing her mother’s words, Lin Jiaojiao finally learned that the red berries she’d picked were called ci pao er.
Though the name was quite fitting.
After all, the branches of this kind of berry had quite a few sharp thorns.
If you weren’t careful when picking them, you’d get pricked.
And a prick really hurt.
“Mom, hurry and eat.”
“I picked these specially for you. None for my brothers.”
Lin Jiaojiao offered the bowl like a treasure, and Zhang Aihua took it with a smile.
“Good girl, you eat too.”
“What do those rough men know about good food? Let’s keep these berries for just the two of us.”
Zhang Aihua only ate a few before handing the bowl back.
Lin Jiaojiao put the bowl in the cupboard. She still had plenty in her Space—she could go in and pick some anytime she wanted.
So she’d leave these for her mother to enjoy alone.
The meal was ready quickly. The whole family sat around the table, and Daduizhang asked about the situation in the mountains.
“The situation isn’t great.”
“There’s a giant snake as thick as a water bucket at the wild pear tree.”
“It’s a good thing we spotted it early and got out of there in time. If we’d gotten tangled up with that giant snake, we’d have been in serious trouble.”
Listening to Lin Guozhi’s description, the Lin family all felt a chill run down their spines.
“How did that big yellowish snake end up coming our way?”
“Father, you need to think of a solution.”