Chapter 32 – The Female Supporting Character Whose Life Was Taken Away by a Transmigrated Woman

The village where the Original Owner lived was called Danxi Village. As soon as one left the village, there was a direct bus to the Provincial Capital. Wen Xin was lucky, as she happened to catch a bus right after descending the mountain. It took two hours to travel from Danxi Village to the Provincial Capital. After getting off the bus, Wen Xin found a place to have breakfast.

A bowl of rice noodles paired with a deep-fried dough stick filled her up nicely.

While paying, Wen Xin asked the shop owner about a nearby herbal medicine shop. The owner was very enthusiastic. Not only did he tell Wen Xin about the best-rated Chinese medicine hall in the city, but he also pointed her in the right direction.

After thanking the owner, Wen Xin made her way to the medicine hall he had mentioned. The shop had just opened, and a young man was cleaning absentmindedly. When he saw someone enter, he didn’t greet her; instead, he glanced at Wen Xin and continued with his task.

Although the shop was called a Chinese medicine hall, it also sold Western medicine, and many types of compound Chinese medicines were available. Wen Xin walked up to the counter and asked the young man cleaning: “Excuse me, do you buy medicinal materials here?”

The young man glanced at Wen Xin and nodded. “Yes. What kind of medicinal materials are you selling?”

Hunan Province, located in the southern part of the country, had a mild climate with evergreen seasons. The mountains were rich with medicinal herbs. It was common for locals to go up the mountains during their free time to gather medicinal plants to sell and supplement their income. Therefore, the young man was not surprised.

“Ginseng.” Wen Xin replied. As soon as she spoke, the young man’s eyes widened. Ginseng was a valuable commodity, and even a 20- or 30-year-old root could fetch a considerable sum.

He sized Wen Xin up and down. “Wait a moment. I’ll call the doctor to have a look.”

The young man went through a small door behind the counter, and soon an elderly man, whom Wen Xin assumed to be the doctor, appeared. Wen Xin took out the ginseng, and the man put on his glasses. He picked up the root and carefully examined it, sniffing it and inspecting it thoroughly. His eyes gradually brightened.

The doctor spent over half an hour inspecting the ginseng before setting it down, looking increasingly pleased. “Young lady, this ginseng of yours is about 100 years old. Its size and quality are excellent. It’s fresh, but once we buy it, we’ll need to process it, which is a bit of a hassle. However, we are straightforward people, so we can offer you 3,000 yuan for it.”

Wen Xin raised an eyebrow. Ginseng was a rare medicinal material, and older roots were priceless, with a market that could vary greatly. While 3,000 yuan for a root of ginseng seemed like a lot, it was still a bit low for a ginseng that had been around for a century.

The man was not sincere.

Wen Xin placed the ginseng back into its leaves. “You’re not being honest, so I won’t sell it to you.”

She rolled up the ginseng and was about to leave when the doctor, seeing her turn to go, hurried after her. “Hey, why are you getting so angry? If you’re not happy with the price, we can negotiate further.”

Wen Xin’s dissatisfaction grew upon hearing this. “What do you mean by that? I bring the medicinal materials here to sell, but your shop offers an unfair price. If I decide not to sell it to you and leave, isn’t that normal?”

By this time, the two of them had reached the door of the medicine hall. It was the peak of the morning, with people out having breakfast, returning from their morning exercises, going to work, or finishing their meals. It was in the nature of Chinese people to watch a scene when one occurred, and seeing the two of them, the people who were not in a hurry stopped to watch.

Upon hearing Wen Xin’s words, an older Auntie said: “Young lady, you’re trying to sell medicinal materials? Don’t sell them here. This medicine hall is a scam. The prices they offer are not fair at all. You should go to the Middle Hospital; they also buy medicinal materials, and it’s not far from here.”

As soon as the Auntie finished speaking, the Uncle’s expression darkened. “You, how can you say such things? Young lady, don’t listen to her. Our shop is the fairest. If you’re not happy with the price I offered, just tell me a price, and we can negotiate.”

Finding a century-old ginseng was not easy these days, and their shop only had two roots. These two ginsengs were treasured as the shop’s prized possessions and were usually kept in a safe. When someone came to sell a century-old ginseng, the Uncle felt secretly pleased. Seeing that Wen Xin was young and not dressed particularly well, he thought he could lower the price, but little did he know that she knew the value of it!

The Uncle regretted it deeply.

Wen Xin didn’t want to argue with the Uncle any further. She simply thanked the Auntie who had spoken to her and turned to leave.

The Uncle, flustered, chased after her and said a few more words. Wen Xin didn’t want to sell to him, so he stopped chasing her but watched her retreating figure with a gloomy expression.

The Auntie who had spoken to Wen Xin just happened to be going in the same direction. She was quick on her feet and caught up with Wen Xin in a few steps. She began to tell Wen Xin about the glorious history of the medicine hall and personally escorted her to the place where the Middle Hospital specifically bought medicinal materials.

The person in charge of buying the medicinal materials at the hospital was an elderly man in his fifties. After carefully inspecting the ginseng that Wen Xin brought, he offered a price of 7,000 yuan. Compared to the 3,000 yuan offered by the medicine hall, 7,000 yuan was a very fair price. Wen Xin agreed to the deal.

The Old Doctor gave Wen Xin a receipt and told her to go to the hospital’s finance department to collect the money later. He also gave her a wooden box and carefully placed the ginseng inside.

Wen Xin was planning to buy a mountain plot to plant crops, but the 7,000 yuan wasn’t enough, so she asked the Old Doctor: “Doctor, do you buy Lingzhi mushrooms?”

The Old Doctor looked at Wen Xin over his reading glasses and said: “As long as it’s medicinal material, we buy it.”

Wen Xin pretended to take out a purple Lingzhi mushroom from her bundle. The Old Doctor examined it, weighed it, and said to Wen Xin: “This purple Lingzhi is the biggest I’ve seen in years, and its quality is excellent. We can offer you 500 yuan for it.”

500 yuan for the Lingzhi was already a very fair price. Wen Xin agreed to sell it.

After leaving the hospital, Wen Xin placed the over 7,000 yuan in cash into her space and began thinking about where to find accommodation.

Based on the Original Owner’s memory, Wen Xin knew that there was a sanatorium in the eastern suburbs of the Provincial Capital, where retired government officials lived. Wen Xin planned to go there to start her farming.

Wen Xin, possessing spiritual power, walked the 10 kilometers from the city to the eastern suburbs without even a hint of exhaustion, never stopping for a breath or a break.

The sanatorium was built in the midst of mountains, with the back against the hills and facing the water. The architecture of the sanatorium was elegantly ancient, and with just one glance, Wen Xin could tell that the security around the place was definitely tight.

About a kilometer away from the sanatorium, there was a small village. Wen Xin found the village head and expressed her intention to lease land.

The village head, smoking a cigarette, thought for a moment before replying: “We do have land. It’s wasteland left over from the big production era. The soil isn’t very fertile. It’s fine for growing vegetables, but it can’t produce much if you plant grains. The village hasn’t cultivated that land in many years.”

“This is not a problem.” Wen Xin responded. “I plan to use it to plant trees—fruit trees or something like that. Mostly I’ll be growing flowers and vegetables for now.”

The village head nodded. “Alright then, come with me and we’ll take a look at the land.”

Wen Xin followed the village head out. As luck would have it, the land was located near the sanatorium, on a small hill not too far from it. On the other side of the hill, there was a forest stretching across the mountains.

The land had been abandoned for many years, with grass growing as tall as two people. About halfway up the hill, there was a flat area of over an acre. What was even more fortunate was that behind the flat land was a spring. Just because of this flat land and the spring, Wen Xin decided to lease the plot.

At that time, the price for leasing mountain land was much cheaper compared to later years. After discussing it with the village’s officials, the village head agreed to rent the land to Wen Xin for 200 yuan a year.

Wen Xin generously leased it for 20 years and included in the contract that, after the 20 years, she would still have the first right of renewal. It wasn’t a big deal, and the village head agreed without hesitation.

Without delay, the two of them went to the city to sign the contract at a place specializing in drafting agreements. After returning to the village, the village accountant counted Wen Xin’s money several times, closely examining the large-denomination bills against the light for quite a while. Wen Xin sat off to the side, sipping tea and chatting with the village officials.

Once the accountant finished counting the money, Wen Xin also discussed building plans with the village head. She rented a small, unoccupied house in the village to use as a temporary place to stay. At noon, Wen Xin had a meal at the village head’s house before contentedly heading back to the city.

She planned to buy some daily necessities and move in the following morning.

Back in Danxi Village, the villagers who had gone out to search for Wen Xin in the morning began returning. Su Quihe, who had been waiting anxiously at home all morning, was eager to inquire about the news. When he learned that Wen Xin had not been found, his face twisted in anger.

After spending the entire morning searching outside, both exhausted and hungry, Su Quihe grabbed the man who had been asking her questions. However, this man had no patience for her, and his opinion of her was negative. He rolled his eyes and walked right past her without saying a word.

Su Quihe stomped back home. The Zhou family kept two geese, and as soon as Su Quihe entered the house, the two large geese charged at her as if they had spotted prey. Geese, being the village’s undisputed bullies, were creatures that even dogs feared when they fought them. Usually, Su Quihe would avoid these two geese, but today, she had no choice. She found herself running around the yard, pursued by the geese.

Mother Zhou, who was cooking in the kitchen, saw what was happening. Realizing that Su Quihe was carrying her unborn eldest grandson, her eyebrows twitched in concern. She quickly grabbed a stick and rushed outside to chase the geese into their pen. Only then did she help the out-of-breath Su Quihe to her room to rest.

Just as they reached the doorway of the room, two crows suddenly flew in from nowhere. The two piles of droppings landed right on top of Su Quihe’s head.

Su Quihe immediately screamed, her hands flying up to touch her head.

After struggling to wash her hands and hair, the family finally sat down to eat. However, as soon as Su Quihe sat on the chair, the once sturdy seat collapsed beneath her, causing the food on the table to spill all over the floor.

Now, no one had anything to eat. Mother Zhou, who was always stingy, was stunned by the scene. Her head buzzed with irritation. “Su Quihe, what are you doing? You’re getting on in years, and you can’t do anything right. You walk around and let crows poop on your head, and now you manage to overturn the table while eating. What can you actually do?”

Mother Zhou only had one son, Zhou Wenhai. To marry him successfully, the reborn Su Quihe had completely changed her old temper and began to subtly and overtly please Mother Zhou.

For all these years, Mother Zhou had only one son, Zhou Wenhai, and since he was not particularly thoughtful and Wen Xin was not particularly sweet-tongued, Mother Zhou had never experienced such flattery. For the first time, her impression of Su Quihe was quite positive.

Since Su Quihe’s marriage, the relationship between her and her mother-in-law had been rather good, but this blunt reprimand was the first of its kind.

Su Quihe quickly apologized and began to clean up the mess, all the while cursing Mother Zhou from head to toe, insulting her personally and even addressing her ancestors.

After venting her frustrations with a string of insults, Su Quihe felt much better. She took the trash outside to the yard, but the fence gate was still broken. Out of nowhere, a wild dog appeared and bit her foot.

Her scream echoed loudly through the air.