I Was Butchering Pigs for Years—Now They Say I’m a Rich Heiress!
I Was Butchering Pigs for Years—Now They Say I’m a Rich Heiress! Chapter 40

Chapter 40: The Whole Village Mobilizes

“Then let’s go dig now!” The villagers, excited by the idea of earning money by collecting herbs, couldn’t sit still anymore. One by one, they stood up, ready to rush up the mountain.

“Hold on, all of you!” Wang Hongjie quickly stopped them. “Do you even know what herbs to dig? Or how to dig them properly?”

As soon as these questions were thrown out, the villagers immediately froze.

Right… Most of them were illiterate, let alone able to recognize medicinal herbs.

If they accidentally picked something poisonous and someone got sick from it, they could end up in jail.

Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Wang Hongjie continued, “Before we go up the mountain to collect herbs, Comrade Su will first give everyone basic training on medicinal herbs. Only villagers who can correctly identify them will be allowed to go.”

This had been Su Miaomiao’s suggestion to Wang Hongjie earlier.

She knew that once the villagers realized that herbs could be sold for money, they’d be eager to rush up the mountain.

But most of them had no knowledge of herbal medicine and wouldn’t be able to identify the plants properly. If they were left to dig randomly, they might not find the right herbs—and worse, they could damage the forest ecosystem.

So Su Miaomiao insisted that only villagers who could recognize herbs would be allowed to go.

Wang Hongjie deeply admired Su Miaomiao for her thoughtful foresight. He now viewed this young girl with even greater respect.

He couldn’t help but marvel again at how talented the people from a big city like the capital were.

“More studying? But we’re all illiterate,” some villagers hesitated upon hearing this and began to lose confidence.

Su Miaomiao stepped forward at just the right time. “Don’t worry, everyone. It’s not about reading or writing essays—just learning to recognize certain herbs.”

“If you can identify wheat, peanuts, and corn, then identifying herbs won’t be any harder.”

“Even the children were able to learn—how could any of you not manage it?”

After hearing her words, the villagers regained some of their confidence.

Yes, if even the kids could learn, surely they, as adults, could too.

“Then let’s start now!” someone shouted.

The sooner they learned to identify the herbs, the sooner they could head to the mountains.

“No need to rush,” Su Miaomiao said loudly. “It’ll be hard to teach properly with so many people gathered. First, divide yourselves into groups of 10 however you like. I’ll assign each group a teacher to personally guide you in recognizing and digging herbs.”

No one objected to her instructions—after all, the village chief had just said she was the one who earned that five yuan from selling herbs.

Everyone began forming groups based on family and neighbors.

Most groups were formed by one family. If there were too few or too many members, they’d team up with extended relatives or neighbors.

In less than 10 minutes, the groupings were done.

Su Miaomiao counted—there were about 30 groups.

Shimatou Village wasn’t big, with around 300 residents total.

Excluding the elderly and children who couldn’t work, there were 33 effective groups.

Su Miaomiao had each group nominate a team leader. Once the leader learned everything, they would teach their own members afterward.

This would greatly improve efficiency.

The team leaders were taught directly by Old Zhao, with Huzi and his “Little Radish Squad” assisting.

At first, some adults thought the children would just get in the way.

But when Huzi accurately named each herb and described its properties, those same adults didn’t dare speak up again.

They studied with intense focus.

Watching the scene, Wang Hongjie felt his eyes sting.

Afraid of losing face, he swallowed the lump in his throat.

Su Miaomiao, meanwhile, was the most relaxed person among the crowd.

“Miaomiao, what about us?” At that moment, a voice suddenly spoke up behind her.

Su Miaomiao turned around and saw Tang Chunlan and the other members of the Huo family standing behind her.

“You didn’t join a group?” Su Miaomiao asked, a bit surprised.

“No one wants to team up with our family,” Tang Chunlan sighed.

Although this medicinal herb business was Su Miaomiao’s idea, people were still a bit wary of the Huo family’s background.

Everyone was thinking: if they could avoid them, they would.

“It’s fine. Our family can be its own group,” Su Miaomiao replied, fully understanding what the villagers were thinking.

She didn’t blame them. The villagers of Shimatou Village were already much kinder than most. She had heard stories of other places where people like them—those who had been sent down for reform—were treated terribly upon arrival.

Some couldn’t take it and even ended up committing suicide.

But the people in this village had only kept their distance—they had never truly mistreated them.

That alone was already a rare kind of kindness. After all, who didn’t want to protect themselves and their families?

Still, this kind of exclusion made it difficult for her to carry out her future plans.

She wondered when the organization’s reward or recognition would come. Once it did, things might improve significantly.

“Yes! Our family will be its own group!” The Huo family members were all broad-minded and didn’t get discouraged by how others saw them.

Su Miaomiao personally taught the Huo family how to identify and dig medicinal herbs.

She couldn’t help but admire their foundation—their ability to learn was astonishing, from the oldest to the youngest.

For nearly every herb, Su Miaomiao only had to explain it once, and they would remember it immediately.

Talented people like them shouldn’t be stuck in a remote place picking corn all their lives—they should be shining in places that need them most.

Su Miaomiao silently told herself she needed to quicken her pace.

Her group progressed the fastest in their learning. That very afternoon, she led them and Huzi’s Little Radish Squad up into the mountains.

When they returned, every basket on their backs was filled to the brim.

The villagers, upon seeing this, were filled with envy.

After all, once the herbs were sold and the grain purchased, it would be distributed based on contribution.

The more herbs you dug, the more food you’d get. So everyone became even more eager to learn.

That night, nearly every household lit their rare kerosene lamps, and the entire village studied medicinal herbs late into the night.

With this kind of enthusiasm, it didn’t take long before the first village teams passed the assessment by Old Zhao and Su Miaomiao and earned the right to go up the mountain.

And once the first group passed, others soon followed. In less than three days, all 30-plus groups passed the assessment.

But as more people went up the mountain to dig herbs, fewer were left to dry them.

Even more importantly, processing medicinal herbs was a highly meticulous task.

If the methods weren’t done correctly, the medicinal properties could be greatly diminished.

This skill wasn’t something that could be learned quickly, so Su Miaomiao and Old Zhao took on the responsibility themselves to prevent the herbs from being wasted.

With the drying stations left unmanned, Su Miaomiao thought of the elderly villagers who sat blankly at their doorsteps every day. She spoke with Old Zhao about it.

As soon as those elderly folks heard they could still be of help, their back pain vanished, their legs no longer ached, and they got to work with great enthusiasm.

The entire Shimatou Village was now mobilized—it was even livelier than during the autumn harvest.

Leave A Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

@

error: Content is protected !!