Chapter 12: Gathering Ginseng

“Mom……” After hesitating for a moment, Lin Yuanxi’s gaze swept over Lin Xiangrong, who was blowing bubbles: “What are we doing at the back mountain?”

He still couldn’t figure it out; what kind of good stuff could there be in the back mountain?

Surely they weren’t really planning to abandon the third branch’s baby girl, were they?

“None of your business, you chatterbox. Shut your mouth.”

Wang Cuilan slapped her second son on the back of the head with practiced ease. As she climbed upward, she scolded, “Ask, ask, ask—you’re the only one with so much to say.”

Wang Cuilan, who could be so shrewish that she’d even slap her own son, changed her expression in a second. She lowered her head and asked gently in a raspy voice, “My precious granddaughter, Grandma has reached the back mountain now. Where should we go next?”

【……】

Lin Xiangrong was momentarily stumped. Where exactly was the spot again?

It was probably a patch of land with lush grass near the graveyard, where there was a towering tree that three people couldn’t wrap their arms around. The ginseng was right there, and at the same time, the village secretary’s little grandson was unconscious not far away.

【Near the graveyard, there’s a huge tree. The ginseng is under that tree.】

Lin Xiangrong’s round eyes darted around cleverly. She waved her little hand and made ‘ah-ah’ sounds, seemingly urging Wang Cuilan to get moving.

The graveyard?

Wang Cuilan turned left: “Let’s go, to the graveyard.”

Wang Cuilan moved with the wind, holding her breath as she headed toward the graveyard, her pace so fast that Lin Yuanxi almost couldn’t keep up.

Strange, when did Mom’s legs get so nimble?

The second son panted heavily. Seeing Wang Cuilan circling a massive tree, he walked over with uneven steps and asked, “Mom, what are you looking for?”

“Shh!”

Wang Cuilan whispered, “Don’t go shouting.”

“My precious granddaughter, don’t roll around. Grandma will be over in a moment.”

Choosing a flat spot, Wang Cuilan tightened the swaddling clothes. After hiding her granddaughter away, she bent halfway over and began digging through the soil to find the ginseng.

Lin Yuanxi, standing to the side, didn’t think so.

“Heh.”

The third brother was always showing off to him.

He thought that having a daughter who was favored by their parents would bring him plenty of benefits.

But here were their parents, planning to dump the third brother’s daughter.

Lin Yuanxi tugged at the rubber band around his head; it snapped back with a ‘pop.’ He chuckled to himself, grinned, and walked away.

“Mom, shouldn’t we be heading back?”

“Go back for what?” Wang Cuilan was digging through the dirt, wishing she could examine every single blade of grass. When she heard her second son speak, she was bewildered: “Second, what are you doing?”

“Hurry up and find the ginseng!”

This second son—why hadn’t he noticed before that his brain wasn’t very sharp?

“What ginseng?” Lin Yuanxi was stunned and couldn’t help but let out a fart. “Aren’t we here to dump the third brother’s daughter?”

“Fart!” Wang Cuilan sprang up like a shot. “I’d dump you before I’d ever dump my precious granddaughter! Come over here and help me find the ginseng.”

“Oh…” As soon as Lin Yuanxi saw Wang Cuilan get angry, he couldn’t help but fart again, followed by a whole string of them.

Under Wang Cuilan’s disgusted gaze, he rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly: “Mom, you know how it is. I fart whenever I’m nervous or emotionally unstable.”

Wang Cuilan pinched her nose: “Enough, stop your yapping.”

The two of them searched the ground for a while, and it wasn’t until nearly noon that they pulled up a palm-sized ginseng root.

“What’s the use of a ginseng this small?”

Wang Cuilan happily snatched the ginseng and tucked it into her bosom: “None of your business.”

“My precious granddaughter, are you hungry?” She picked up Lin Xiangrong with ecstatic joy and headed down the mountain. “If this ginseng sells for a lot of money, I’ll definitely buy you some good milk powder to drink!”

“Eh?!” Lin Yuanxi suddenly shouted: “Mom, look ahead. Is that the village secretary’s little grandson?”

Up ahead, lying beside a large rock, was a little boy in grey clothes.

His face was pale, his forehead was bloody, and he was unconscious—looking as if he were about to die from a fall.

【Grandma, tell Second Uncle to take the village secretary’s little grandson to the clinic.】

After making the sound, Lin Xiangrong closed her eyes. Seeing that she had successfully picked up a windfall, she couldn’t fight the sleepiness anymore and drifted into a deep slumber.

“Second, hurry and take this little boy to the clinic.” Wang Cuilan’s eyes rolled: “Don’t you leave, though. Wait until the village secretary arrives, then you come back.”

This was a favor!

“Got it!” Lin Yuanxi picked up the little boy and dashed downward in one breath.

Seeing him run so fast, Wang Cuilan hummed softly. Thinking of the ginseng in her bosom, she became happy again.

This truly was a precious granddaughter sent from heaven to repay a debt of gratitude.

Not only did she bring money and favors, but she was also leading the whole family toward a more hopeful future.

If her precious granddaughter had been born a year or so earlier, would that little money-losing brat from Liu the Second’s family have ever been called a ‘lucky star’?

On the other side, at the Liu household.

“Dad!”

“Why aren’t you going to the back mountain?”

“It’s not too late to go now!”

Liu Meng stood with her hands on her hips, pointing a finger at Liu the Second, looking overbearing.

Her voice was somewhat sharp, and her face, which could barely be considered cute, looked a bit mean due to her overly cunning eyes.

“Hey, what I do, does it need a girl like you to manage?” Liu the Second got angry: “What were you blabbering about outside just now?”

“If the brigade leader heard you, our family would have a lot of work points deducted!”

“What?” Beside them, the woman sitting on the kang sewing shoe soles suddenly looked up: “Deducted work points?!”

“They weren’t deducted!” Liu the Second retorted irritably: “Stinking woman, don’t butt into men’s business. Go back to your sewing!”

“Oh.” The woman curled her lip and stopped interjecting.

“Dad, Mengmeng really dreamed that there was a big ginseng in the back mountain!”

Seeing Liu the Second lose his temper, and knowing he was extremely concerned with his reputation, Liu Meng leaned in and said: “A huge ginseng, it can sell for a lot of money, enough to build a house for Brother!”

“What?”

Liu the Second was stunned: “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

If he had known about this, Liu the Second would have pushed Wang Cuilan aside to go to the back mountain and harvest the ginseng, no matter what.

His family had two daughters and one son.

In this day and age, a son needed a lot of dowry and a house to get married.

He had originally planned to wait until his two daughters were older, then marry them off to whoever could offer the highest bride price.

Then, he would use that money to get his son a wife, build a house, and find him a job.

As for whether his two daughters lived well or not, it had nothing to do with him. Daughters couldn’t support him in his old age anyway, so if they lived a bit poorly, so be it.

Now that he heard there was ginseng to sell that could build a house for his son early, Liu the Second happily put on his shoes and got off the kang.

“Then let’s go quickly!”

Liu the Second hurriedly picked up Liu Meng and ran toward the back mountain.

Back mountain.

As soon as Liu Meng saw only a smear of blood by the large rock and no unconscious little boy, she knew someone had beaten them to it.

Her eyes turned cold. Immediately, she pretended to hear something and pointed in a direction: “Look over there.”

Liu the Second searched for a long time, but instead of finding ginseng, he ended up covered in sweat. He was in a bad mood: “Where is it? Don’t tell me you had a fake dream.”

“Dad, I’m a lucky star. Look carefully again.” Liu Meng wasn’t sure if it was still there, and her palms were sweating with nervousness.

A moment later.

Just as she was about to retract her words and say she had remembered wrong, Liu the Second suddenly pulled a medium-sized ginseng out of the ground: “It’s really here!”

Liu Meng immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

“Dad, I was right, wasn’t I? Mengmeng is a lucky star, I can dream of all sorts of good things!”

“Yes, yes, you’re Dad’s lucky star!”

Liu the Second kissed Liu Meng.

A lucky star daughter could bring the family many benefits.

When she marries, he’ll have to ask for an even higher bride price.

After all, who else is marrying a lucky star?

(End of chapter)