It was still early by the time he finished stashing away their “hidden goods.” Jiang Jianguo carefully wrapped the remaining few medicinal herbs—a few clumps of Bupleurum and some rather low-quality Siberian Solomon’s Seal roots—in an old newspaper, stuffed the bundle into his coat, and prepared to head out.
Watching her husband get ready to leave, Lin Wanting asked in a low voice, “Are you heading straight over to Old Mr. Qi’s place now?”
“Mmh,” Jiang Jianguo nodded, lowering his voice further. “Better to go early while there are fewer people around. I want to deal with these things quickly so we can have some hard cash in hand; it’ll give us peace of mind. Plus, it’ll shut the old lady’s mouth and prove we didn’t just run up the mountain to fool around.” With that, he strolled casually out the door.
Old Mr. Qi lived at the very end of the village in a detached, single-courtyard house. He used to be a famous barefoot doctor for miles around. Now that he was up in years, he rarely made house calls, but whenever the villagers had a headache, a fever, or gathered wild herbs they couldn’t identify, they would always come to him. His family was relatively well-off, and he occasionally bought high-quality medicinal ingredients.
When Jiang Jianguo arrived, Old Mr. Qi was leisurely practicing Tai Chi in his courtyard.
“Uncle Qi, busy, are we?” Jiang Jianguo greeted him with a smiling face.
Old Mr. Qi wrapped up his form, glanced at him, and asked in a slow, measured voice, “Oh, it’s Jianguo. This early in the morning, is something the matter?”
Jiang Jianguo chuckled, pulled the newspaper bundle from his coat, and opened it with utmost care. “Uncle Qi, please take a look at this. I had some good luck in the mountains yesterday and dug up a few things. I wanted to see if you’re buying?”
Old Mr. Qi adjusted his reading glasses and leaned in to inspect the goods closely. First, he picked up a Siberian Solomon’s Seal root, feeling the texture of the stem before giving it a sniff. “Mmh, Siberian Solomon’s Seal. The quality is decent, but it hasn’t aged enough.” Then he picked up the Bupleurum, examining its root fibers. “Bupleurum. This is genuine wild growth, though.”
He pondered for a moment before speaking, “If these were dried, the medical supply station would buy them for about seventy to eighty cents a catty. But yours are still fresh, so the weight loss will be massive. The Bupleurum is roughly around the same price. Tell you what, considering that things aren’t easy for you, I’ll count the Siberian Solomon’s Seal at thirty-five cents a catty and the Bupleurum at thirty cents. These are fresh goods prices, what do you think?”
Jiang Jianguo did some rapid mental math. He estimated that these fresh goods weighed roughly three to four catties in total. At this rate, he could exchange them for over a yuan. The price was indeed not high, but what Old Mr. Qi said was also the truth—fresh herbs weren’t worth much, and drying them took time, effort, and resulted in weight loss. This price was fair, and out of neighborly courtesy, the old man had even given him a slight premium.
“Deal! What you say goes, Uncle Qi!” Jiang Jianguo agreed readily. His main intention wasn’t to make a fortune out of this anyway; he just wanted to establish a legitimate, public paper trail for his money.
Old Mr. Qi nodded, brought out his hand scale, and weighed the herbs. The Siberian Solomon’s Seal came out to two catties and three taels, and the Bupleurum was one catty and a half. Calculating the total, he said, “The Siberian Solomon’s Seal is eighty-five mills, and the Bupleurum is forty-five cents. Let’s round it up to a flat one yuan and thirty cents.” As he spoke, he retrieved an old handkerchief bundle from his coat, counted out one yuan and thirty cents, and handed it to Jiang Jianguo.
“Thank you, Uncle Qi!” Jiang Jianguo took the stack of small bills, which still carried the old man’s body heat. His heart swelled with a bit of excitement—this was money he had genuinely earned by relying on himself (and his daughter)!
With the money safely pocketed, Jiang Jianguo walked back home with a light, brisk step, mentally plotting what he could do with this one yuan and thirty cents.
But the moment he stepped through the courtyard gate, before he even had a chance to sneak back into his own room, he was cornered right on the spot by Old Mrs. Jiang, who had been keeping a hawk-like watch on the entrance.
Old Mrs. Jiang’s sharp, calculating eyes swept over his body, ultimately locking onto his hand, which was casually covering his pocket. She let out a snort through her nose. “Back from Old Man Qi’s place? How much did you sell them for?”
Jiang Jianguo’s heart skipped a beat, silently cursing the old lady’s incredibly toxic vision. He instantly plastered his signature rascally grin across his face. “Mom, your news travels remarkably fast. It wasn’t much—just some worthless wild weeds and rotten tree roots. Uncle Qi is a good man, so out of neighborly kindness, he gave me a tiny bit of pocket change for my hard work.”
“Cut the crap! Hand it over!” Old Mrs. Jiang extended her hand impatiently.
Knowing he couldn’t hide it, Jiang Jianguo sluggishly dragged the stack of small bills out of his pocket, muttering under his breath, “Here, it’s only one yuan and thirty cents. Look…”
Before he could even finish his sentence, Old Mrs. Jiang snatched the money right out of his hand, her movements shockingly fast. She counted them with practiced ease—it was indeed exactly one yuan and thirty cents. She plucked out a single ten-cent bill, stuffed it back into Jiang Jianguo’s hand, and pocketed the remaining one yuan and twenty cents into her own pouch without a single shred of hesitation.
“This ten cents counts as your third branch’s allowance for this month to buy some salt and lamp oil.” Old Mrs. Jiang kept a stern face, acting as if this were completely natural. “The rest goes to the household fund. A massive family has to eat, drink, and use the latrine—what part of that doesn’t cost money? Do you really think money grows on trees? You two lazy bums already earn so few work points, so this money can just make up for the deficit.”
Right then, the eldest aunt, Liu Xiujuan, emerged from the kitchen upon hearing the commotion. She chimed in sarcastically, “Oh my, Third Brother is truly capable now, able to earn money all on his own. Unlike our Jianye, who only knows how to work himself to death just to earn work points.”
Looking at the lonely ten-cent bill sitting in his hand, Jiang Jianguo felt a sharp pang of heartache for the one yuan and twenty cents he had lost. However, he didn’t dare to openly defy her on the surface. He merely curled his lip and said in a passive-aggressive tone, “Mom, you really are… pulling feathers off a flying goose. My daughter just recovered from her illness and desperately needs nourishment. This money…”
“Nourishment my foot! Is she going to nourish herself by drinking the northwest wind?” Old Mrs. Jiang glared at him. “If you’re so capable, why don’t you be like your eldest brother and earn full work points every day! Stop plotting these wicked shortcuts all day long! It’s already generous enough of me to leave you ten cents!” Having delivered her piece, she spun around and walked straight back to the main house to securely hide that one yuan and twenty cents.
Liu Xiujuan shot Jiang Jianguo a sidelong glance, twitched her hips, and sauntered back into the kitchen.
Standing frozen on the spot, Jiang Jianguo stared at the retreating figures of his old mother and sister-in-law. He squeezed the crumpled ten-cent bill in his hand, spat on the ground, and cursed under his breath, “Old miser!”
He ducked his head, stormed into his own small room, and slammed the door shut with a loud thud.
Lin Wanting had long since overheard the commotion outside. Seeing his grim expression as he walked in, she understood eighty to ninety percent of what had happened. She asked softly, “The money… was taken by Mom?”
“Mmh.” A heavy grunt escaped Jiang Jianguo’s nose as he plonked his backside onto the edge of the brick bed, his face completely clouded over. “Look here~ only ten cents left. The rest was completely snatched by the old lady!”
Lin Wanting let out a soft sigh, walked over, and gently rubbed his back. “Forget it. If it’s taken, it’s taken.”
“That was earned through the hard work of me and our daughter in the mountains!” Jiang Jianguo lowered his voice, his fury impossible to suppress. “I actually wanted to buy you two some good things to nourish your bodies!”
“There will be plenty of opportunities in the future,” Lin Wanting comforted him softly.
Jiang Jianguo fell silent for a long moment, the gaze in his eyes gradually turning resolute and sharp. He lifted his head, looked at Lin Wanting, and then at his daughter who was staring curiously at them from the bed. Lowering his voice to an absolute whisper, he delivered each word with heavy emphasis:
“Wanting, Tangtang. Listen to me. From now on, any item that is valuable—especially the things gifted by the old grandpa—must absolutely never be exposed! This public paper trail of exchanging things for pennies can be shown to them occasionally, just to feed… just to put the old lady’s mind at ease. But the truly good stuff, we must grip tightly in our own hands! We can absolutely never be like today again, busting our humps only to let someone else reap all the rewards!”
This incident was like a splash of freezing water, thoroughly jolting him awake. If they wanted to live a good life, they had to rely on themselves, on their daughter’s “blessed luck,” and… on his, Jiang Jianguo’s, own brains!