Chapter 9: Her left eye is the best proof

So, Hua Xiali whispered to her Fourth Aunt, "Fourth Aunt, I have a way to make money. Would you like to know what it is?"

"What way?" Fourth Aunt became interested. At her age, she couldn't find work outside, so if she could earn money at home, that would be quite good.

"There is a pig farm owner who needs bamboo shoots to feed his pigs. Bamboo shoots with the husks are one cent per jin, and those without husks are two cents per jin. When I come over tomorrow, why don't we pick bamboo shoots together to sell?" Hua Xiali said with a smile, hugging her Fourth Aunt's arm.

"Really?" Fourth Aunt was shocked. With bamboo shoots all over the mountains, how much money could they make!

"Of course it's true. Would I lie to you, Fourth Aunt? My family owes so much money, and I want to pay everyone back as soon as possible!" Picking bamboo shoots alone was too slow; if she brought Fourth Aunt along, it would be twice the result with half the effort. Otherwise, it would be a pity if the bamboo shoots on the mountain grew too old.

Besides, bamboo grows in abundance every year; it’s impossible for it to go extinct.

Fourth Aunt nodded repeatedly, happy. "Alright, then the two of us will pick bamboo shoots together to sell."

She still had two sons whose marriages needed to be settled, and she also wanted to earn more money so that when her sons found girlfriends, they wouldn't have to worry about money.

"Fourth Aunt, I'm going home this afternoon and will come back tomorrow afternoon. If you have time before I arrive, you can start picking first so we can get more," Hua Xiali said.

She had to go find Huo Beixi tonight to get the money; otherwise, she wouldn't even want to go back. After all, bamboo shoots grow fast and would turn old in a day or two; there was no time to waste.

However, due to the different varieties of bamboo, the time they sprout varies. It could be said that there are bamboo shoots all year round, so she would know if there were any to pick once she came over to check.

After lunch, Fourth Uncle walked Hua Xiali to the main road to wait for the bus. He put down the bundled fruit tree saplings and asked worriedly, "Can you carry all these things back? Should I just take you home?"

"No need, Fourth Uncle. It's not tiring to take the bus back," Hua Xiali said with a smile.

When the bus arrived, Hua Xiali carried the fruit tree saplings onto the bus, waved to her Fourth Uncle, and found a seat.

When she returned to the Huazhuang bus stop, Hua Xiali got off and reapplied the medicinal patch to her eye. Then, she carried the saplings home. The bus stop was only twenty minutes away from her house, but now that she had extra things in her hands, walking such a long distance was a bit strenuous. So, she took a few of each type of fruit tree sapling and put them into her Spirit Spring space.

She planned to keep these to plant in the yard after moving into a new house. After all, Qinglong Village was scheduled for demolition in twenty years; if she planted them all here, it would be a pity that she wouldn't be able to take a single one with her.

Just as Hua Xiali reached her doorstep with the remaining saplings, Hua Chunli rushed out to greet her and took the things from her hands. "You must be exhausted, right?"

"Not tired, these aren't heavy." Hua Xiali smiled. It was only sixty saplings; how heavy could they be? Besides, she had already put nearly half of them in the Spirit Spring space.

"Where do you plan to plant these fruit tree saplings?" Hua Chunli asked curiously.

"Let's plant them all in the yard. It doesn't matter if they're crowded. In two years, when your and your brother-in-law's house is built, we can just transplant a few over there."

The homestead was still an empty plot of land. If she planted the saplings there now, they might be destroyed by the village children; after all, the destructive power of children was very strong.

Her left eye was the best proof of that.

She had just passed by that group of children and suffered such an unprovoked disaster. If that had hit another child's head, they probably would have had their skull cracked open, so it wasn't excessive for her to accept the old hen from their family.

Hua Chunli took the saplings to a cool place in the backyard, unwrapped them, and leaned them against the wall. Hua Xiali found suitable spots in the yard and marked them, then told Hua Chunli to start digging the holes first while she rested for a while. After all, she had been on the bus for so long that her body felt like it was about to fall apart.

There were over thirty saplings to plant, which meant digging over thirty holes. This was a major project, and the three of them—mother and daughters—would have to take turns.

After resting for a while and drinking some Spirit Spring water to recover her strength, Hua Xiali went to the backyard to help dig holes and plant trees.

The three of them worked for several hours before they finally planted the thirty-plus fruit trees and set up a trellis for the grapes. Once the grapes covered the trellis, they would be able to enjoy the shade and rest underneath it.

Hua Xiali was preoccupied with the thought of borrowing money from Huo Beixi at nine o'clock that night, so after dinner, she took a bath early and even took the wall clock from the living room into her room to keep track of the time.

In the nineties, rich people had luxury cars, villas, and mobile phones, but her family didn't even have a small digital watch.

But it didn't matter. Now that she was back, she would have everything she wanted in the future.

In the countryside at night, apart from the sounds of birds, beasts, and insects, there was no other noise. By 8:30, Hua Xiali quietly went to the backyard by the moonlight, then stood on tiptoe and looked toward the public well. She saw a tall, dark shadow standing there.

She hadn't expected Huo Beixi to be waiting for her so early. Afraid of wasting his rest time, Hua Xiali quickly opened the door they had made in the backyard and walked toward the well.

She stopped about a meter away from Huo Beixi. He had a powerful aura and an overwhelming sense of pressure. Her heart pounded nervously, and she felt like she could barely breathe.

"Secretary Huo." Hua Xiali forced herself to calm down and greeted him with a smile.

The moonlight was dim, and even for Huo Beixi, he couldn't clearly see the expression on the girl's face, but it felt as if he could see everything in her heart clearly.

Huo Beixi withdrew his gaze and handed the envelope in his hand to Hua Xiali. "We aren't at the brigade office, and it's not my working hours. You don't need to call me Secretary Huo; just call me Huo Beixi."

"Huo..." Hua Xiali looked up at the imposing man in front of her, but she couldn't bring herself to say his name; it felt too impolite.

"Hmm?" Huo Beixi raised an eyebrow.

"Huo... Huo... Beixi." Hua Xiali's tongue was almost tied in knots from nervousness. After stumbling through his name, she took out the IOU she had written in advance and accepted the envelope from Huo Beixi. "Thank you for being willing to lend me the money. I promise you, I will definitely pay you back with interest before the New Year."

After speaking, Hua Xiali bowed to him to show her gratitude and turned to leave quickly. She was afraid that if she stayed any longer, her heart would explode from nervousness.

(End of chapter)