Deep in the dense forest, no one knew how much wealth was hidden.

Cheng Wanwan didn’t go to the lotus pond; instead, she turned toward the dense woods.

The marketplace guide led her to an ancient, towering tree.

Underneath its overlapping broad leaves, a wild ginseng plant grew.

She took out a small shovel and carefully dug into the soft soil, pulling out a white ginseng root that looked like a radish.

It was a hundred-year-old ginseng, with many fine root tendrils.

Holding it in her hand, it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

[Ding! A naturally grown hundred-year-old wild ginseng, valued at 120,000 copper coins. Do you wish to sell it?]

[Yes!]

Cheng Wanwan’s heart pounded wildly.

120,000 copper coins were equivalent to 120 taels of silver.

In this era, families with over a hundred taels of silver were rare.

She had accidentally become rich!

In the marketplace, she exchanged the copper coins for large-denomination silver banknotes, a small portion of silver ingots, and the rest into copper coins.

Even so, her money pouch was bulging, making it a little uncomfortable to walk.

Cheng Wanwan calmed herself and bought a rabbit from the marketplace. Carrying it, she walked over to the crowd with a bright smile.

“Lucky me! I caught a rabbit. You all keep working; I’ll take it home first.”

The people digging for jade bamboo shoots swallowed enviously.

Sitting by the roadside and catching a rabbit—how lucky was she?

Not far away, Zhao Erwang had already inched closer. He nudged Sidaan.

“Later, save me a piece of rabbit meat to try, will you?”

Before Zhao Sidaan could respond, Zhao Sanniu snorted.

“When you had big chunks of fatty meat to eat, did you ever share with us?”

“Exactly!” Zhao Sidaan nodded firmly. “Erwang, you’re stingy, so I’ll be stingy too.”

Zhao Erwang glared angrily. “That was years ago! Why are you still holding onto that? I’m not stingy anymore—look!”

He dug into his pocket and pulled out a chestnut.

“Here, I’ll share this with you. So later, remember to give me a piece of rabbit meat.”

Zhao Sidaan wrinkled his nose in disgust. “It’s not as tasty as what my mom makes. I don’t want it.”

Zhao Erwang was nearly in tears. “You just don’t want to share the rabbit with me! Zhao Sidaan, you’re so petty! I’m never playing with you again!”

Tears streamed down his face.

Hearing his cries, Zhao Er smacked him on the back of the head.

“Crying, crying, always crying! If you have the guts, go catch a rabbit yourself!”

Zhao Erwang immediately stopped crying. “Fine! I’ll go catch one now!”

“Stay put,” Zhao Laotou scolded. “Finish digging the jade bamboo shoots first. Stop looking for excuses to slack off.”

At noon, several women from the village came up the mountain to deliver food.

Each household had sent something—cornbread, wild vegetable porridge, or mixed grain pancakes.

Cheng Wanwan was among them.

She didn’t want to stand out too much, so she had Wu Huiniang make buckwheat steamed buns, one for each of the four boys.

The large group sat in the fields, filling their stomachs about halfway.

They planned to rest for fifteen minutes before continuing, but just then, Zhao Dawang, who had been running around, let out a startled cry.

“Dad! Help! I’m sinking!”

Zhao Er grumbled as he walked over.

“You little brat! Can’t you sit still for a while? We’re all exhausted, and now we have to deal with you! You’re almost old enough to get married—why don’t you act a little more mature?”

Zhao Dawang retorted confidently, “Ergou hasn’t married yet, so why should I be next?”

Cheng Wanwan hadn’t thought much of his words at first, but when she turned around, she saw that Zhao Ergou’s face had turned red—something very rare for the usually sly and quick-witted boy.

Could it be… he had someone in mind?

She smirked.

At sixteen, he was already thinking about marriage.

When she was sixteen, she was still in high school, battling exams every day…

Then again, Zhao Daniu was only eighteen and already about to be a father.

In ancient times, people developed feelings early, married early, had children early… and, unfortunately, died early too.

“Ahem!” Zhao Ergou coughed and quickly changed the subject.

“The soil here is dry and hard. How did Dawang even sink in? I’ll go check it out!”

He ran off before Cheng Wanwan could ask any more questions.

She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, so she turned to her eldest son.

“Dashan, do you know what’s going on with your brother?”

Zhao Dashan scratched his head, looking clueless. “No idea.”

Zhao Sanniu thought for a moment but couldn’t figure it out either.

Zhao Sidaan, however, blinked.

“Mom, I know! Second Brother asked me before if I wanted a sister-in-law. He said he’d take me to meet her.”

Cheng Wanwan: “…”

Zhao Ergou was something else—already thinking about marriage at this age.

Still, he was responsible.

If he liked someone, he wanted to marry them.

She, on the other hand, had been in her twenties when she secretly liked a boy from the next class but never had the courage to confess.

Years passed, and by the time she was thirty-three, she had never met anyone else like her high school crush. Now, looking back, she felt a small twinge of regret.

After their break, everyone resumed work.

Zhao Ergou pulled Cheng Wanwan aside and whispered, “When Dawang sank earlier, I noticed that the soil here is unusually soft. I dug a little and found jade bamboo shoots in the mud. They’re bigger and thicker than the ones in the other area. Let’s dig here instead.”

Cheng Wanwan squatted down and felt the soil—it was indeed very moist.

It hadn’t rained in over a month.

The ponds and rivers had dried up, and the sun-baked soil had turned rock-hard.

But here, the ground was wet, with lush grass growing nearby.

This area was deep in the forest, so it wasn’t surprising that plants thrived.

Most people hadn’t thought much of it.

With her background in geography, Cheng Wanwan made a preliminary guess: there might be an underground water source.

If they could locate it, even without rain, they could alleviate the drought and ensure the crops didn’t fail.

However, the lush vegetation covered over 200 square meters.

Without pinpointing the exact location, they couldn’t dig an irrigation channel.

She needed to think of a way to find the precise underground water source.

That afternoon, more villagers discovered the moist soil, making it easier to dig.

The jade bamboo shoots were also larger than expected.

Originally, they had estimated harvesting 2,000 jin, but they ended up with over 3,000 jin.

Every household had ample reserves.

By the time they finished digging the four or five acres, it was already midnight.

No one in the village felt tired.

They helped each other carry the bamboo shoots home.

Only when the morning sun rose did they finally fall asleep, exhausted.

Cheng Wanwan estimated that her four sons had dug up over 100 jin of bamboo shoots.

Fortunately, they had a cellar where they could store them in mud, keeping them fresh for over a month.

By morning, Wu Huiniang was cooking in the kitchen—rabbit stew with jade bamboo shoots, paired with wild vegetable pancakes.

A hearty breakfast was laid out on the wooden table.

The four boys, lured by the aroma, sat at the table, rubbing their sleepy eyes.

Just as Zhao Sanniu was about to grab some food, Cheng Wanwan smacked his hand.

“Wait! Serve a bowl first for your grandparents.”

Zhao Sidaan blinked. “Mom, you’re so nice to Grandpa and Grandma.”

“Of course,” Cheng Wanwan said. “They’re your father’s parents. He gave his life for the country. It’s my duty to honor them in his place.”

Zhao Sidaan nodded seriously. “Then when I grow up, I’ll take care of you too, Mom!”