Chapter 13: Just Mind Your Own Business

After that, she hurried to catch the bus to her Fourth Uncle’s house. She wondered how many bamboo shoots her Fourth Aunt had managed to snap off since yesterday.

After getting off the bus and walking along a small path for half an hour, she arrived at her Fourth Uncle’s house. Seeing the door was open, Hua Xiali walked straight in. She saw her Fourth Aunt in the yard, sorting through bamboo shoots. Hua Xiali was amazed, "Fourth Aunt, you’ve already snapped this many bamboo shoots? You’re incredible!"

Her Fourth Aunt smiled sheepishly, "These bamboo shoot husks are so hard to peel, and it’s just too slow. Can I skip peeling them?"

Hua Xiali nodded, "Of course you can. If you don't peel them, it’s one cent per jin. As long as you’re okay with that, Fourth Aunt."

"Then one cent per jin it is!" her Fourth Aunt said readily. The main reason was that peeling the husks took up too much time; in the time it took to peel one jin, she could have snapped several jin of shoots.

"Alright, let’s go out and snap some bamboo shoots together now!" Snapping bamboo shoots was something that could improve one's mood; as you kept at it, you could forget all your troubles.

Her Fourth Aunt handed Hua Xiali a basket, and the two of them headed up the mountain. They decided to leave the small bamboo grove next to the house for later and started by snapping shoots further away.

"Fourth Aunt, the people in the village don't know you're snapping bamboo shoots, right?" Hua Xiali asked while they were working in the mountain grove.

Her Fourth Aunt shook her head, "Do I look that stupid? I wouldn't tell anyone about something I wasn't even sure would make money. If it does make money, I’d definitely wait until my family has earned enough first. Besides, the bamboo shoots grow right here; they aren't going to run away. If others don't snap them themselves, what does that have to do with me?"

"Exactly. We’re just ordinary people; we can't manage other people's business. We just need to take care of our own," Hua Xiali agreed with her Fourth Aunt’s perspective.

They had only just started, and they didn't even know if they could actually make money from the shoots yet. If they told everyone now, and everyone swarmed over to snap them, only to find they couldn't sell them or make a profit, would they blame them?

Even if they could make money, would people be grateful?

Probably not. Instead, they would likely think they were told too late, or assume they had already secretly made a fortune. So, in life, it’s best to just look after yourself.

Every time they filled a basket, Hua Xiali and her Fourth Aunt would rush it back to the house. They kept running back and forth like this until dusk fell, when they carried the final basket home.

Afterward, the two of them weighed the bamboo shoots her Fourth Aunt had gathered over the past two days. Hua Xiali was surprised to find that her Fourth Aunt had managed to snap over six hundred jin of bamboo shoots.

At one cent per jin for unpeeled shoots, six hundred jin came to over six yuan. Hua Xiali gave her Fourth Aunt the six yuan first. Her Fourth Aunt was overjoyed, counting the money several times over. She never expected that something no one in the mountains ever touched could actually be sold for money.

If she could snap a bit more every day, would her income be able to match those of the people in the city?

After her Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt had gone to sleep, Hua Xiali added a tiny bit of spiritual spring water to the water vat, then took a flashlight and headed up the mountain to snap more bamboo shoots.

The mountain was not far from her Fourth Uncle’s house, taking only about ten minutes to reach. Without her Fourth Aunt around, she simply stored the bamboo shoots she snapped directly into her spiritual spring space.

After working an extra two hours, Hua Xiali returned to her Fourth Uncle’s house to rest. The next morning, she was woken up by exclamations before she had finished sleeping. She quickly got dressed and went out to the yard, asking worriedly, "Fourth Uncle, Fourth Aunt, what’s wrong?"

"The bamboo shoots are gone! My bamboo shoots are gone!" her Fourth Aunt said anxiously. She had already taken the money, but now the shoots were missing—how was she supposed to answer to the buyer?

Hua Xiali chuckled and hurriedly said, "Fourth Aunt, don't be nervous. The shoots aren't missing; the owner of the pig farm came by last night and took them. You were both already asleep, so I didn't wake you."

"Is that so?" her Fourth Aunt still looked a bit doubtful.

"Fourth Aunt, would I lie to you?" Hua Xiali shrugged helplessly, with an expression that said, 'If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do.'

Her Fourth Uncle asked eagerly, "Xiali, can these bamboo shoots really make money?"

"Didn't Fourth Aunt get the money yesterday? If you don't believe me, Fourth Uncle, you can ask her!" Hua Xiali said, lifting her head proudly with a triumphant smile.

Her Fourth Uncle leaned in close to Hua Xiali and whispered, "Xiali, can I join in and snap bamboo shoots too?"

"Of course you can!" Hua Xiali nodded, "But only the two of you can do it quietly. Don't tell too many people."

Huo Beixi had lent her 1,500 yuan. She had given her eldest sister 800 yuan for tuition and living expenses, leaving her with 700 yuan. Additionally, she had to spend money on tools and packaging boxes. This meant her capital for purchasing bamboo shoots was limited to about 500 yuan, which was enough to buy roughly 50,000 jin of shoots.

If too many people started snapping them, she wouldn't have enough money!

If her Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt worked together, they could snap about 1,000 jin a day. At that rate, 50,000 jin would take about 50 days, by which time the shoots would have already grown into bamboo. So, she could afford to add two more people.

Hua Xiali whispered to her Fourth Uncle, "Fourth Uncle, you can have one person from Second Uncle’s family and one from Third Uncle’s family join you."

She didn't ask her eldest uncle’s family because they had bought a house in town and didn't live in the mountains much anymore.

Moreover, she didn't have much cash on hand and couldn't buy large quantities. Most importantly, she hadn't even started the business yet. If sales were poor, she wouldn't be able to make money from the shoots immediately and would have to store them in her spiritual spring space until they were worth more.

Everything was still an unknown, and she didn't dare to overreach. If the few hundred yuan she had was lost, so be it; she could make it up in other ways.

After breakfast, the three of them went up the mountain together to snap bamboo shoots. Snapping them deep in the grove made it less likely for villagers to see them. If they were spotted, they could just say they were gathering feed for the pigs.

People who raised pigs would naturally come to gather shoots themselves; there was no need for them to call anyone.

At lunch, Hua Xiali said, "Fourth Uncle, Fourth Aunt, Qiuli is coming home tonight, so I have to head back this afternoon. I’ll come back in a couple of days. Just keep the bamboo shoots you snap at home and wait for me to pay you."

Hua Qiuli was in her second year of middle school. She had to attend morning study sessions before dawn and didn't finish evening self-study until late at night. It was impossible to commute from home, so she lived at school and only returned on weekends.