Chapter 50: Remembering the Past (Part 1)

Mu Mian was feeling hopeful.

If opportunities like that came often, she wouldn’t mind at all. She’d happily turn into a spinning top, chasing after money every day!

Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking.

Come to think of it, she and Shi Xiaolian hadn’t had any “business deals” like that in the past three years.

What a pity.

But just now—just now!

Shi Xiaolian’s expression was exactly like before when she was about to tell her something secretive!

Mu Mian’s eyes sparkled like stars, practically reflecting money symbols in her pupils. She leaned in slightly, looking expectant, as if saying, I’m ready! Give me the big surprise!

Shi Xiaolian didn’t disappoint her. The next second, she said, “Are you going to the recruitment day?”

Mu Mian, who had been all set to hear a juicy secret, was stunned. She instinctively replied, “No, why would I go?”

Then, she looked up at Shi Xiaolian, narrowing her eyes. “You want me to go?”

Shi Xiaolian nodded. “Mm.”

Mu Mian felt the same excitement she did when Shi Xiaolian first told her there was ginseng on the mountainside. She could barely contain herself.

“Ahh, just say it straight! Why do you want me to go? We’re close, aren’t we? No need for all this suspense!”

Back then, Shi Xiaolian always started with “I heard…” as if Mu Mian wouldn’t see right through her. What was the point of pretending?

The more Mu Mian pressed, the more composed Shi Xiaolian became.

After spending so much time together, they had started to influence each other. Shi Xiaolian actually found it fun to tease Mu Mian, so instead of giving a direct answer, she suddenly said, “It’s probably going to rain in the next day or two.”

Mu Mian: “……”

Unbelievable.

This completely humorless person was now acting mischievous like a shrimp.

She had sinned. It was her fault for corrupting Shi Xiaolian.

Mu Mian tilted her head back to look at the sky and sighed. “I can’t tell if it’ll rain, but I do know it’s going to get dark in less than an hour.”

Shi Xiaolian glanced at the sky too, then finally stopped playing around.

Actually, she had been thinking about this for a long time.

In her past life, the commune had also built a factory and held recruitment exams at the exact same time—this Friday.

Back then, it had nothing to do with her family, but she still went to watch out of curiosity.

At the time, she had thought that if her sister were around, she would definitely pass the exam. So, she wanted to check it out on her behalf.

She didn’t stay long. After seeing the candidates enter the exam room, she left.

She was the first one to return to the village.

Since she was used to taking the shortcut through the hills when going to the commune, she took that path again. The road wasn’t easy to walk, but it was shorter.

She hadn’t walked far when she saw Educated Youth Qian carrying a bag, also taking the same shortcut…

In her past life, Educated Youth Qian got married into his wife family on the same day as the recruitment exams.

She wasn’t familiar with him at all. Even if they met face-to-face, they wouldn’t even exchange greetings. Everything she knew about him came from the gossip of the village women.

At that time, she didn’t even know that Educated Youth Qian was marrying into the commune. She only learned about it later.

Although she wasn’t aware of those details, one thing left a deep impression on her.

That day, when they brushed past each other, Educated Youth Qian stumbled on a rock, nearly falling. At that moment, a crisp metallic clinking sound came from his bag.

At first, she didn’t pay much attention to it, but Educated Youth Qian reacted as if he had been startled. He quickly clutched his bag and shot her a wary glance.

He looked just like someone who had just committed theft and was afraid of being caught.

Seeing that she didn’t react, Educated Youth Qian hurriedly continued toward the commune.

Perhaps it was because his reaction had been too suspicious that she took a few extra glances around after he left. However, she didn’t notice anything unusual.

It wasn’t until she walked a bit further that she spotted a small box in a patch of grass.

She had picked it up and examined it, wondering if she could take it home for use, but unfortunately, it was tattered and unusable.

It seemed to have been buried in the soil for a long time. Since it had rained the day before, some parts of it were still damp and covered in mud, as if it had been rolled around somewhere.

The lid even had a large hole in it, making it completely useless.

However, judging by the broken lock, it looked like it had just been pried open.

She hadn’t thought too much about it at the time and simply left it there.

Years later, after the country opened up, the educated youths were allowed to return to the city one after another.

This led to a lot of disputes, especially among families where educated youths had married locals.

Many of them had left with promises of settling down first and then coming back to fetch their spouses.

In reality, once they left, they never returned.

This happened in every brigade of the commune over those years.

One day, she overheard the village women gossiping about Educated Youth Qian, who had married into a local family.

They said that he had long since run away and had become very wealthy.

It was even said that he had married a new wife. When his first wife and her family went to confront him, planning to break his legs, they ended up returning home in humiliation.

Because Educated Youth Qian was rich now, they couldn’t afford to provoke him, and breaking his legs was out of the question.

By then, cases of educated youths leaving and never coming back were no longer surprising.

What intrigued the women more was where Educated Youth Qian had gotten his money.

He had only left six months ago. How could he have made so much money so quickly?

It was true that people could now do business, but starting a business required capital.

The family he married into hadn’t given him any money, and they had kept a close eye on him. Where would he have found the opportunity to make money?

His ex-wife’s family, unable to take revenge, spread rumors that he must have stolen someone’s money to get rich.

But in the end, how Educated Youth Qian had become wealthy remained a mystery.

—-

Shi Xiaolian quickly recounted this story to Mu Mian.

Mu Mian leaned forward, listening in shock. “That Educated Youth Qian actually got rich later? Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

Shi Xiaolian replied, “You never asked. And is that really the main point?”

Mu Mian thought about it and admitted, “Oh, right, I guess I never asked.”

Back then, she had only asked about Educated Youth Qian’s marriage situation.

That was just how it was with Shi Xiaolian. If you asked her something, she would answer. If you didn’t ask, she wouldn’t bring it up, simply because she was too lazy to and had no interest in gossiping.

But that wasn’t the main point. Right now, the topic has completely gone off track.

Educated Youth Qian had married into the family more than three years ahead of schedule in this life.

The real question was…

“You suspect that Educated Youth Qian found some kind of treasure back then?” Mu Mian summed it up in one sentence.

Shi Xiaolian nodded. “Yes. Looking back now, it really seems that way.”

“At that time, his reaction was exactly like someone who had just stumbled upon something valuable and hadn’t yet calmed down.”

Even a young girl like her had made him wary.

Mu Mian agreed, nodding enthusiastically. Sudden wealth, especially a fortune gained overnight, could make people act that way.

It made them feel as if they were floating on air, unable to suppress their excitement.

She had felt the same way when she found that ginseng before.

She couldn’t control herself at all. Just thinking about it had made her happy and thrilled beyond measure.

Shi Xiaolian glanced at Mu Mian. “It’s just my guess. There’s also a chance that there was nothing there at all.”

Mu Mian was optimistic. “We can just go check it out. If we don’t find anything, at least we got to visit the commune and enjoy the lively crowd.”

She hadn’t planned on going to the recruitment exams, but now she had a good reason. It was bound to be lively with so many people there.

Then, suddenly, Mu Mian recalled something Shi Xiaolian had said earlier—something about heavy rain in the next couple of days.

She narrowed her eyes at Shi Xiaolian. “Did you already go look for it?”

Shi Xiaolian didn’t deny it. “I did, but I didn’t find anything.”

In both lives, she had never had good luck with money. Anything that depended on pure luck was almost always out of her reach.

Of course, there was also the possibility that the rain hadn’t washed the box out yet.

She clearly remembered that it had rained heavily for the next two days.

She could no longer recall exactly what the box looked like, but she was sure it had been old and tattered. Some parts of it had been damp and muddy.

Regardless of the possibilities, teaming up with Mu Mian was the best—and only—choice.

If she searched alone, who knew how long it would take to find something? Just like with the ginseng—she had searched for two whole months and still hadn’t found it.

She had thought of the box twice before but gave up after failing to find it.

“In this lifetime, Educated Youth Qian would never pass by there again, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be others. If she had to rely solely on herself, she’d probably be taken away by someone and wouldn’t even realize it.”

Luck-based matters were better left to those with good luck.

At least this way, she could get half of it. If someone else found it, she would end up with nothing.

As she thought about it, Shi Xiaolian suddenly remembered the wild boar incident from before and quickly emphasized, “If you find it, we split it fifty-fifty!”

The words “fifty-fifty” were particularly emphasized.

Mu Mian clicked her tongue, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Why are you so wary? Where is the basic trust between people? Do I look like someone who would cheat my friends?”

“Fifty-fifty! We split it evenly!!”

Mu Mian chuckled, “Wasn’t the split for the wild boar quite fair last time?”

“Look, my fourth uncle and little uncle spent the whole night dealing with the pig and selling it. Shouldn’t they get a share?”

“And my dad, his connections were crucial, right? If he didn’t know people, the wild boar would have spoiled before we even figured out what to do with it.”

“In such hot weather, if the meat spoiled, all that effort would have been wasted. That alone deserves a share, don’t you think?”Shi Xiaolian didn’t find it unreasonable, but Mu Mian’s innocent-looking face was just too deceptive. That was why she had instinctively insisted on clarifying the split.