The seed shop was unusually quiet. At this time of year, most families were planting vegetables using their own saved seeds.
The elderly man running the shop lazily looked up when he saw Su Luowan and asked:
“What kind of seeds are you looking for?”
Su Luowan smiled and replied:
“Uncle, I’d like some cotton seeds. Do you happen to have any here?”
The old man frowned slightly at her request:
“Little girl, it’s cold here, and there isn’t enough sunlight—cotton is hard to grow. Besides, winter is almost here; nothing can really grow at this time!”
Su Luowan understood that he was speaking out of concern, but she still smiled warmly:
“I know, Uncle. I have my own way of handling it.”
Hearing this, the old man didn’t press further. He thought for a moment, then looked at her:
“We do have some cotton seeds, but they were sent here by mistake, and we kept a few. However, they’ve been sitting around for years. I can’t guarantee they’ll even sprout.”
Su Luowan thought to herself that with the well water from her space for irrigation, it shouldn’t be a problem. She nodded:
“Then I’ll take some. Would it be possible to get them at a lower price?”
The old man nodded. These cotton seeds had been sitting unsold for years, and even the shop’s management had considered discarding them to free up space.
In the end, Su Luowan bought enough cotton seeds for less than one yuan. She quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Without the seeds, even with her space, she couldn’t grow cotton.
Today, besides buying cotton seeds, she had another, more important task: she wanted to sell a ginseng root from her space.
Although her space contained a lot of medicinal herbs, she didn’t intend to sell everything. She wasn’t greedy; as long as she had enough for her needs, that was sufficient. Moreover, in such a sensitive era, even having money required discretion.
Following the route from her memory, Su Luowan arrived at the town’s only traditional Chinese medicine shop.
It was still early, and there weren’t many customers inside. She waited quietly for all the customers to leave, then looked at the middle-aged man attending the counter:
“Excuse me, do you buy ginseng?”
“Ginseng?” The man, Zhong Xiefeng, showed a hint of surprise. It had been a long time since anyone had come to sell ginseng. Realizing what she meant, he quickly replied:
“Yes, we do buy ginseng. Little girl, do you want to sell some?”
Su Luowan nodded, then, using her basket for cover, took out a small ginseng root she had prepared last night from her space.
This ginseng had grown in her space for four or five years, and its appearance and age were equivalent to roughly a hundred years.
She handed the ginseng to Zhong Xiefeng.
The moment he took it, his eyes sharpened with focus.
He carefully placed the ginseng on the counter, took out a magnifying glass, and examined its roots, main stem, and fine tendrils.
After a long moment, he looked up in astonishment:
“Miss, this ginseng is truly a rare gem. Its age must be at least a hundred years. Ginseng of such quality and appearance is extremely rare in the market. May I ask where you obtained it?”
Su Luowan could tell he knew his stuff. She replied:
“Some family members dug it up in the mountains.”
The man nodded thoughtfully and said:
“Little girl, the quality of this ginseng is excellent. How about two thousand yuan?”
Su Luowan considered for a moment. The ginseng could indeed be worth much more, but in this small town, opportunities to use ginseng were rare. Two thousand yuan was already a fair price.
She nodded in agreement.
Zhong Xiefeng quietly breathed a sigh of relief. This price was the highest his small shop could offer. If she had refused, he wouldn’t have known what to do.
He asked Su Luowan to wait inside the shop, then hurried to the backyard to have his family fetch some cash from the bank.
While she waited, she faintly heard a commotion outside:
“Doctor Zhong! Help! Please save my little Bao!”
The sound grew louder, and a young man rushed into the shop holding a small child.
Seeing that Doctor Zhong wasn’t present, he shouted anxiously inside:
“Doctor Zhong! Please come quickly!”
Su Luowan furrowed her brow at the sight.
The child looked around two years old, but his face was flushed and purplish—he was close to losing consciousness.
It was clear that something was lodged in the child’s throat.
Hearing the calls, Zhong Xiefeng, who had just finished giving instructions to his family in the backyard, ran over. Seeing that the man was his neighbor, he quickly asked:
“Anping, what happened to the child?”
The young man replied frantically:
“Doctor Zhong, Bao was eating a candy and choked. No matter how we pat him, it won’t come out! What should we do?”
Zhong Xiefeng’s expression tightened. He quickly checked the child; his breathing was already weak, and the situation was critical. Even rushing him to the hospital now might be too late.
He tried to pat the child’s back to dislodge the candy or help him swallow it.
Seeing this, Su Luowan quickly intervened:
“Doctor Zhong, don’t do that!”
Zhong Xiefeng froze, looking at her in confusion.
The anxious young man beside her opened his mouth to speak but recalled that he had already tried patting his son at home to no avail. Perhaps this girl really had another method.
Su Luowan took a deep breath. There was no time to waste.
She took the child from Zhong Xiefeng and began performing the Heimlich maneuver.
Zhong Xiefeng was initially stunned that the child had been taken from his hands. Saving a life was urgent, and he wanted to intervene immediately, though he had no guarantee he could help.
However, when he saw Su Luowan’s skilled technique, pressing the child’s abdomen with steady, strong movements, he was stunned.
Time seemed to freeze; each second felt unbearably long.
Just as everyone was on the brink of despair, the child suddenly coughed violently. With a loud “wah,” the offending candy shot out of his mouth.
The child gasped for air, and the purplish hue of his face slowly returned to a healthy color.