Old Man Zhao’s face twitched as he stared at the thing in his daughter’s hand. His lips trembled as he coaxed her, “Xiaobao, don’t hold it upside down like that. Be careful not to tear off the roots…”
“If they break, then they break. There are still plenty left,” Zhao Xiaobao said indifferently. She had already snapped several roots while digging it up. The radishes at home were peeled anyway, and the little root hairs attached to the skin were always thrown to the chickens—she didn’t care at all.
Seeing her attitude, Old Man Zhao understood immediately, and his heart ached. “Xiaobao, give the ‘radish’ to Dad. I’ll hold it for you.”
Zhao Xiaobao pouted, clearly unwilling.
Old Man Zhao couldn’t take his eyes off the ginseng root she was gripping. By now, he was absolutely certain—this was ginseng! Didn’t ginseng look exactly like this?
Please don’t let the roots break! This is all money!
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He quickly made a promise: “When we get home, I’ll have your eldest brother go to Butcher Zhou in Zhou Family Village and buy a pound of meat to stew with radish for you. We also picked a lot of toon shoots earlier—I’ll have them fry you a big plate of toon omelet, with three—no, five eggs! I’ll make the decision and get you some cured pork too, stir-fried with wild onion bulbs. You’ll eat to your heart’s content!”
Zhao Xiaobao’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“When have I ever lied to you?” Old Man Zhao was anxious. At this point, he wasn’t just worried about the ginseng roots being broken—he was worried that the closer they got to the foot of the mountain, the more people they might run into. If someone in the village saw it… even if they didn’t recognize it, there was always a chance someone might.
It was fine if everyone was poor together. But if one family suddenly became rich, they would surely become the target of the entire village.
Even when his family ate meat, they had to tightly shut the kitchen doors and windows, not letting even a hint of the smell escape. Every household in the village did the same—who didn’t keep their savings hidden? How could they let outsiders discover anything easily?
If they were going to get rich, they had to do it quietly!
Zhao Xiaobao was completely won over. She didn’t even notice when she handed the “radish” to her father. Right now, her mind was full of thoughts of meat, meat, meat. Grinning widely, she patted her nephew’s shoulder repeatedly, urging him to hurry home.
Zhao Xiao Wu vaguely felt that their grandfather had tricked his aunt, but he couldn’t quite explain it. After all, he had never even heard of ginseng, let alone recognized it. Seeing how eager his aunt was, he grinned foolishly and sprinted down the mountain.
When they got home, Old Man Zhao shut the courtyard gate, tossed the firewood into the yard, then pulled Wang Shi—who was sitting under the eaves sewing shoe soles—into the house.
The old couple acted so mysteriously that Zhao Dashan and the others, who had just returned from the fields, were completely puzzled.
“Uncle, Dad, Third Uncle!” Zhao Deng ran up to them and excitedly recounted how he had found a black snake in the mountains, tracked it to its hole, and after great effort, caught it. Then he glanced at their aunt sitting under the eaves drinking sugar water and whispered, covering his mouth, “Grandma said we’re not allowed to mention this. If Auntie asks during the meal, just say it was an eel caught by Uncle in the fields.”
“Good boy, well done—very brave!” Zhao Dashan laughed, patting his nephew’s shoulder. Boys raised in the countryside weren’t afraid of snakes, but few dared to dig into snake holes. Among their family’s boys, not one was a coward!
Zhao Ertian’s dark face showed a faint smile. He was quiet and reserved. Though he felt proud of his son’s bravery, his mouth stayed shut as if sewn tight—he couldn’t get a word out.
Zhao Sandi, on the other hand, was lively. He slung an arm around his nephew, chatting enthusiastically. The uncle and nephew laughed together, even planning to go into the mountains to dig snake holes again—snake soup was delicious, and they wished they could eat it every day.
Seeing how engrossed they were, Zhao Ertian casually carried the firewood Old Man Zhao had left in the yard to the back.
“Boss, come in for a moment,” Wang Shi called from the main room window.
Zhao Dashan was drinking water. Hearing her, he quickly set down the ladle. “Coming.”
Inside the room, he saw his parents sitting on the bed. Wang Shi counted out thirty copper coins and handed them to him. “After lunch and your rest, go to Zhou Family Village and buy a pound of pork.”
“Why suddenly buy meat? The fieldwork is already done,” Zhao Dashan asked as he took the coins. These days during spring farming, their meals had been quite good, with oil and meat in every dish. There were still two strips of cured meat hanging in the kitchen, and even more in the wooden hut on the “immortal field.” If they wanted meat, they could just cut some—why go all the way to Zhou Family Village?
“Your little sister wants radish stew with meat. I don’t think cured meat stew is fresh enough, so buy some fresh meat for her—good for her health,” Wang Shi said. After thinking for a moment, she added five more coins. “If there are big bones, buy two as well and stew them together.”
Big bones didn’t have much meat, but if split open, the marrow inside was rich. Later, the bones could be given to the village’s big yellow dog to chew on. The dog didn’t bite children and wagged its tail at everyone—it was quite lovable.
Xiaobao had always envied families with dogs. Thinking of this, Wang Shi added, “While you’re there, ask if there are any puppies in Zhou Family Village. Spend some money and bring one back to raise for guarding the house.”
As soon as Zhao Dashan heard it was for his little sister, he had no objections.
After all, if Xiaobao ate, it meant the whole family would eat. When his mother said to buy a pound of meat, she was including everyone. Raising a dog was also a good idea. Though there weren’t really any thieves in the village, their house was at the foot of the mountain. In summer, there were many snakes, insects, and rodents. If anything came down from the mountain, a dog could at least bark as a warning.
“Alright, I’ll go after lunch.”
“No rush. Go after your rest, when the sun isn’t so harsh,” Wang Shi said with a smile. Looking at her honest eldest son, she added, “There’s one more thing.”
“What is it?” Zhao Dashan had been about to leave but turned back again. Then he saw his father holding a bamboo basket padded with cloth. He couldn’t help but wonder what was so precious to require cloth padding—his father looked more reverent than when offering incense at the ancestral graves during Qingming…
He was still thinking this when his eyes suddenly widened.
This… this is…
“This is the ‘radish’ Xiaobao dug up in the mountains today,” Wang Shi took a deep breath. Even after the unbelievable incident of digging up gold before, she still wouldn’t have imagined that casually digging for wild vegetables could uncover ginseng.
This was wild ginseng!
Not just ordinary people—even wealthy families considered this a top-grade medicinal treasure. At critical moments, it could save lives, and it could be sold for a high price.
When Old Man Zhao had secretly taken it out earlier, Wang Shi had nearly stopped breathing. The gold they found before made her uneasy, as if someone might come looking for it. But this ginseng was dug up by Xiaobao herself—still covered in wet soil, completely belonging to their family.
Their family had lived in Wanxia Village for generations. The mountain behind their home—almost everyone had stepped on the land at its base. Yet they had never heard of anyone finding ginseng there.
She had never even imagined that their mountain could contain ginseng!
The more she thought about it, the more unbelievable it felt. Wang Shi was like this, and Zhao Dashan was the same—his hands trembled, his heart raced, overwhelmed by how absurd it seemed.
Zhao Dashan couldn’t help but think to himself—he went into the mountains every day, so why had he never found ginseng? What kind of luck did his little sister have?
But in the end, the good fortune had come to their family. Zhao Dashan grinned foolishly and said, “Mom, we need to remind Little Sister not to tell anyone about this. And those boys—we need to make sure they keep their mouths shut. Kids can’t keep secrets. If they accidentally let something slip and the wrong person hears it, it could cause trouble.”
“I’ll remind your sister later. She’s a good child—if I tell her not to say anything, no one will be able to pry it out of her,” Wang Shi said with a smile.
Old Man Zhao also smiled. The earthquake earlier that year had nearly destroyed everything he and his wife had worked for in their lifetime. Though he hadn’t shown it, he had felt unsettled inside. Rebuilding the house and buying all the household necessities had drained all their savings.
Of course, they hadn’t touched the gold.
Old Man Zhao had never been too focused on that—he always felt uneasy about it. He preferred something more tangible.
This ginseng was very real.
As long as they sold it, their family would have savings again. No matter what happened in the future, they would have something to rely on.
“In the next couple of days, once the fieldwork is done, you three brothers take Xiaobao to the county and check the market price for this ginseng. If the price is fair, we’ll sell it,” Old Man Zhao said, sitting cross-legged on the bed, calculating their situation.
In a few years, Xiao Wu would need to marry. Ideally, they should take this opportunity to build a couple more rooms, but they simply didn’t have the money right now, so he didn’t bring it up.
The children were growing up day by day, and everything required money. Not just the five boys—even Xiaobao…
He had his own thoughts.
Since Xiaobao was born, she had shown signs of being extraordinary. He and his wife had already discussed it and informed their sons and daughters-in-law—they planned to have Xiaobao take a husband into their family.
They would never marry their daughter out. They couldn’t guarantee that her in-laws wouldn’t develop ill intentions after discovering her secret.
Moreover, though he didn’t like to admit it, they, as her close family, saw her uniqueness as something good. But what about outsiders?
Would they think she was a monster? Would they capture her?
Even within nearby villages, if anything was suspected to be supernatural, the person involved could be seized and tortured. If nothing came out of it, they might even be tied up and burned while villagers gathered to watch.
Every time he thought of this, Old Man Zhao would grab a carrying pole and walk around in front of his grandsons, reminding them to stay alert. This was why his daughters-in-law were tight-lipped, and his grandsons treated their aunt like the apple of their eye—no one dared mention anything about her outside.
They were all in the same boat. If they wanted to live well, the whole family had to work together to keep this secret.
Besides, Xiaobao truly seemed to carry good fortune. Ever since she was born, things had gone more smoothly for the family. During last year’s drought, when everyone else had poor harvests, their yield was actually better than even the most experienced farmers in the village.
Old Man Zhao had quietly compared the harvests when villagers talked about them, but he didn’t dare reveal it. Outsiders simply assumed their harvest was about the same as everyone else’s.
From selling eels, to finding gold, to now discovering ginseng…
Old Man Zhao once again strengthened his resolve—he would bring a husband into the family for his daughter!
With three sons and five grandsons—and more to come in the future—his family would be strong. He refused to believe that any man could stir up trouble under their watch.
If he tried, they’d beat him senseless!