“Jianbin! Secretary! Something terrible has happened! Director Li from the commune sent someone to ask when you’re going to deliver that wild ginseng to him!”
The villager’s report drained the color from Zhou Jianbin’s face.
“W-What’s the hurry?” he snapped, struggling to hide his panic.
“Tell Director Li the mountain trails are difficult, and we’re still searching. We’ll deliver the ginseng as soon as we find it!”
Once the messenger left, Zhou Jianbin sank into a chair.
The excuse might buy him a few days, but Director Li wouldn’t wait forever.
Without the promised ginseng, Zhou Jianbin’s hopes of securing the factory position—and returning to the city—would collapse. Worse, his father’s standing with the commune officials could suffer.
“Who the hell took it?”
He clenched his fists.
He had been so certain the ginseng would be his. Now someone else had reached it first.
He began mentally listing everyone who might have known its location.
Yet the one person he most despised—his new Young Aunt—hadn’t even occurred to him.
At that very moment, Lin Wanxia was already planning what to do with the money.
…
Night had fallen over the small mud-brick courtyard.
Inside the house, the flame of a kerosene lamp flickered gently, casting two shadows close together against the wall.
Lin Wanxia and Zhou Yu’an sat side by side on the edge of the bed.
Between them lay fifty ten-yuan banknotes.
Five hundred yuan.
Even after counting the money several times, Lin Wanxia could hardly believe it was theirs.
For a rural household, the sum represented extraordinary financial security. They could replenish their food supplies, replace worn clothing, and set aside money for emergencies.
But Lin Wanxia had something more important in mind.
She took a deep breath and looked seriously at the man beside her.
“How should we divide the money?” Lin Wanxia asked.
Zhou Yu’an looked at her.
“There’s nothing to divide. It’s yours.”
“How can you say that? I found the ginseng, but you’re the one who sold it. We earned this together.”
“You risked your safety to get it,” he replied. “You should decide how it’s spent.”
Lin Wanxia studied his expression.
She was beginning to understand how stubborn this man could be. Once he made up his mind, arguing rarely changed anything.
“Fine,” she said at last. “But we’re married now. We should make these decisions together.”
She counted out twenty yuan and held it toward him.
“Let’s use this for household necessities. We need rice, cooking oil, and a few other things.”
Her gaze fell on his worn clothes.
“And you need a new set of clothes.”
Zhou Yu’an glanced at the money.
After a moment, he accepted it.
“All right.”
Lin Wanxia smiled.
At least they had agreed on something.
Then Lin Wanxia’s expression grew serious.
“Zhou Yu’an, there’s something else I want to do with the money.”
He waited.
“I want to use it to treat your leg.”
For a moment, he didn’t respond.
His gaze dropped to his injured left leg.
“There’s no cure,” he said quietly.
He had spent three years hearing the same conclusion from military and civilian doctors. The nerves had been badly damaged, and none of the treatments he’d tried had restored his mobility.
Eventually, he’d stopped searching for answers.
He had learned to live with the cane, the pain, and the pitying looks.
Now Lin Wanxia was offering him something he had almost forgotten how to want.
Hope.
He looked at her.
“Don’t waste your money on me.”
“I believe your leg can improve!”
Lin Wanxia met his eyes.
“The doctors you’ve seen may not have been able to help, but that doesn’t mean every possible treatment has been tried.”
She spoke with such conviction that Zhou Yu’an couldn’t help staring at her.
Of course, she knew something he didn’t.
In her previous life, an elderly traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who had been sent to the countryside had treated Zhou Yu’an two years later.
Through acupuncture and medicinal baths, the physician had gradually helped him regain much of his mobility.
The recovery hadn’t been perfect. By then, Zhou Yu’an had already missed the best opportunity for treatment.
But he had eventually been able to walk without relying constantly on his cane.
Lin Wanxia remembered the physician’s name and address.
This time, she didn’t intend to wait another two years.
She would find him as soon as possible and give Zhou Yu’an the chance he had missed in their previous life.
“Zhou Yu’an, do you trust me?”
Lin Wanxia reached for Zhou Yu’an’s hand and clasped it between hers.
He looked down at their joined hands.
For three years, he had learned to live with the possibility that his injury would never improve. He had no wish to spend her hard-earned money chasing another disappointment.
But she was looking at him with such determination that he found himself hesitating.
She had trusted him with the jadeite. She had risked her safety to obtain the ginseng. And now, instead of thinking only of what the money could buy for herself, she wanted to help him.
They had been married for barely two days.
Yet she was already treating his future as something worth fighting for.
“All right,” he said at last.
Lin Wanxia’s face brightened.
“Really?”
He nodded.
“I’ll try. But don’t spend everything on me.”
“I won’t,” she promised. “I know an elderly physician who might be able to help. I’ll write to him tomorrow and ask whether he’d be willing to come.”
Zhou Yu’an squeezed her hand.
“Will five hundred yuan be enough?”
“I hope so. If it isn’t, we’ll find another way.”
Her confidence made him smile faintly.
For the first time in years, the possibility of walking without a cane no longer seemed entirely beyond reach.
Outside, the night deepened around their small courtyard.
Neither of them knew that trouble was already brewing elsewhere in the village.
At the Zhou family home, Zhou Jianbin paced his room.
The more he thought about the missing ginseng, the less sense it made.
The plant had grown in a secluded spot behind a moss-covered boulder. Few villagers knew that part of the mountain well enough to search it.
Someone had reached the exact location before him.
But who?
Then he remembered something.
Lin Wanxia had gone into the mountains that morning.
He had heard she returned with torn clothes and scratches on her face.
His footsteps stopped.
Could she have been searching for the same thing?
The possibility seemed absurd at first. How would she have known where to look?
Unless she had overheard someone talking about the old hunter’s discovery.
His expression darkened.
“Lin Wanxia…”
He clenched his fists.
He had no proof. But the more he considered it, the more certain he became.
“That woman must have taken it!”
His face twisted with resentment.
First, she had humiliated him by marrying his uncle. Now she might have stolen the very opportunity he needed to return to the city.
“Lin Wanxia! Zhou Yu’an!”
He struck the table with his fist.
“If I can’t have that treasure, you two won’t enjoy it in peace!”
A dangerous idea began taking shape in his mind.