The two men tied all the wild produce and game they had gathered onto the back of the bicycle. As Fang Zhijie pushed the bike along, he asked excitedly,
“So what happened? How did your wife suddenly turn into such a heavenly beauty?”
Xiao Jinye shot him a warning look.
“Stop staring at my wife like that.”
“Damn, what’s with you? You forgot your brother the moment you got yourself a wife, huh?”
Their banter faded into the distance as they walked away.
Not long after Xiao Jinye left, Zeng Yumei got out of bed. Seeing her come out, Qiao Qingyan quickly ladled the porridge she had been keeping warm and brought it over.
“Mom, are you feeling any better now?”
Zeng Yumei smiled and shook her head.
“I’m fine now. Thank you for taking care of Duoduo last night.”
Seeing that her complexion had improved so much, Qingyan finally let out a sigh of relief.
At nine o’clock that morning, Xiao Jinye and Fang Zhijie arrived at Erlijing in the county town.
It was home to the largest marketplace in the area, bustling with people from dawn till dusk.
Xiao Jinye arranged all the wild produce neatly on the ground and asked Fang Zhijie to stay behind and sell it. Carrying three live pheasants, he headed toward the state-owned restaurant.
The head chef there, Old Xu, had known Xiao Jinye for several years.
Most of the wild game Xiao Jinye hunted was sold to local restaurants, but his best catches were always reserved for Old Xu.
Old Xu paid fairly, never haggled, and bought in large quantities, so they had worked together for years.
Not long ago, Xiao Jinye had hunted a fat wild boar weighing nearly one hundred ninety catties.
The restaurant in town had only offered one yuan per catty and wasn’t willing to buy the whole animal, so he refused to sell.
When he later carried it to Old Xu, the chef immediately recognized its excellent quality. Without hesitation, he bought the entire boar for one yuan and twenty cents per catty and paid him in full on the spot.
“I only brought three pheasants this time,” Xiao Jinye said as he set the birds down in the restaurant courtyard. “I gathered more mountain herbs than game on this trip. These three got caught in my traps. Look how lively they still are.”
Old Xu, a slightly plump man in his fifties wearing a spotless white chef’s uniform, examined the birds with satisfaction before handing Xiao Jinye a Daqianmen cigarette.
“So, what good stuff did you bring back this time?”
“Tianma, codonopsis root, wild shiitake mushrooms, and some morels.”
“Oh? You’ve got some fine goods there. Why didn’t you bring the mushrooms and morels to me too?”
“I didn’t gather much this time. I figured it wasn’t enough for you. Next time I’ll collect more and bring them over specially.”
Old Xu narrowed his eyes and patted him on the shoulder.
“Our restaurant has been packed lately. The private rooms upstairs are always filled with officials and important people from various government departments. They’re crazy about wild delicacies. Ordinary ingredients don’t impress them.”
“What you’re supplying now isn’t nearly enough. If you really want to make serious money, you’ll have to figure out how to secure a stable, larger supply.”
Xiao Jinye nodded earnestly.
“Thank you, Uncle Xu. I’ll keep that in mind and think it through carefully.”
By the time they had sold everything, it was already past one in the afternoon.
The mountain goods had brought in over fifty yuan.
Xiao Jinye immediately counted out half the money and handed it to Fang Zhijie, since they had gathered everything together.
Fang Zhijie quickly waved his hands.
“What are you doing? I was only helping you out. I can’t take your money.”
Ignoring him, Xiao Jinye stuffed the bills into his pocket.
“Take it. Even between brothers, money should be settled clearly. You don’t have a proper job right now, and you need money for all kinds of expenses.”
Fang Zhijie pouted.
“I was hoping to keep working with you and actually make something of myself.”
Xiao Jinye smiled faintly.
“I’m just a rough mountain man. Hunting and selling wild produce are the only things I know. You studied more than I did. Why waste your future following me around? Zhijie, listen to your father. Go work at the post and telecommunications office. A stable job is better than living like I do.”
“Weren’t you talking about expanding the wild produce business before?” Fang Zhijie asked. “What, you’ve given up already? Now that you’ve finally married the woman you’ve loved all these years—and Qingyan grew up pampered in the city—everything costs money. Food, clothes, daily necessities… and when you two start having children, the expenses will only grow.”
Xiao Jinye’s expression became thoughtful.
“Making a little money selling wild produce here and there is easy enough. But if I want to turn it into a real business, it’s not that simple. There are a lot of challenges and things I still don’t understand… I need to plan everything carefully before making a move.”
Fang Zhijie threw an arm around his shoulder.
“Enough serious talk. Come on, let’s grab some noodles with meat gravy. We can keep talking over lunch.”
After eating in town, Xiao Jinye stopped by the herbal medicine shop to buy several prescriptions to help improve his mother’s health.
When he came out, the largest supply and marketing cooperative in town stood directly across the street.
Without hesitation, he walked inside.
The shelves were packed with every kind of merchandise.
He bought the most expensive loose biscuits they sold and a bag of White Rabbit milk candies.
As his eyes swept across the glass display case filled with colorful hair accessories, his footsteps suddenly stopped.
Fang Zhijie, who was also buying a few things for his family, noticed him staring at the display and grinned.
“What? Thinking of buying your new wife a hair accessory to win her over?”
By now, he already knew the bizarre chain of events that had led to Qiao Qingyan marrying into the Xiao family, and he was genuinely happy for his friend.
Xiao Jinye had secretly loved Qingyan for years.
She had never even known he existed, much less remembered him.
Fang Zhijie had always thought his friend deserved better.
Now, at last, his dream had come true.
Xiao Jinye said nothing, his gaze still fixed on the display.
The saleswoman smiled warmly.
“Buying something for your wife, Comrade?”
“Mm.”
“How old is she?”
“Nineteen.”
“Oh! Then how about a headband? All the young women in town are wearing this style these days.”
She picked up a white headband and handed it to him.
“This one’s fashionable and elegant. Your wife will look beautiful in it.”
At once, Qiao Qingyan’s delicate, luminous face appeared in Xiao Jinye’s mind.
A faint warmth flickered in his eyes.
“I’ll take this one.”
On the ride home, Xiao Jinye pedaled while Fang Zhijie sat on the back seat, repeatedly blurting out,
“Holy crap! Holy crap!”
“Your wife’s only nineteen?!”
When he found out Qingyan was even younger than Chunya, he could hardly believe it.
“You married a girl who’s barely an adult! How could you bring yourself to do that?”
After hearing the same complaint over and over, Xiao Jinye deliberately steered the bicycle straight into a deep pothole.
The violent jolt nearly threw Fang Zhijie off the seat, instantly shutting him up.
When they reached the village, Xiao Jinye let Fang Zhijie ride the bicycle back while he continued home on foot.
Along the way, he took the little paper bag containing the headband out several times, looking at it again and again.
As he neared his courtyard, he spotted two figures standing outside the gate.
Qiao Qingyan wore a simple pale yellow dress that gracefully outlined her slender figure. Her long hair hung loose over her shoulders, soft and silky, making her look gentle and breathtakingly beautiful.
Standing across from her was none other than her childhood sweetheart, Jiang Runsheng.
He wore a light striped short-sleeved shirt tucked into black dress pants, a briefcase in his hand. Neat, refined, and handsome, he looked every bit the educated gentleman.
The two of them standing together looked like a perfect painting.
Xiao Jinye’s eyes darkened instantly.
His jaw tightened as he forced down the surge of emotion in his chest, masking his feelings as though nothing was wrong, before calmly walking toward them.