Chapter 41: Make Her Suffer the Consequences

The full village mobilization produced impressive results. In less than three days, the medicine hall was piled high with all kinds of medicinal herbs.

Su Miaomiao and Old Zhao were so busy processing the herbs, it felt like they were working 24/7.

Su Miaomiao was utterly exhausted, and she felt that if this continued, both she and Old Zhao were bound to drop dead from overwork.

So she decided to select a few quick learners and teach them how to process the herbs.

As the saying goes, “Don’t let the benefits spill outside the family,” the first person she chose was Tang Chunlan.

After all, processing herbs at home was much easier than climbing up and down the mountains.

Tang Chunlan naturally understood Su Miaomiao’s good intentions and gladly accepted.

After that, Su Miaomiao selected two more people—one from the villagers and one from the educated youth camp—making a total of five.

Cheng Haoqiang was one of them.

He had already been following the Little Radish Squad up the mountain to gather herbs, so among the villagers, he was one of the more experienced ones.

But when Deng Siyue saw that Cheng Haoqiang had been chosen and she hadn’t, she was so furious she nearly stormed into the medicine hall to tear Su Miaomiao apart.

“She must be jealous of me—jealous that I’m an educated youth, and she’s just a reform-through-labor peasant sent down from the city,” Deng Siyue muttered through gritted teeth, her features twisted in anger as she stared at the direction Su Miaomiao had walked off in.

She would never let her off the hook.

How dare a so-called “reform target” boss people around in the village?

She would report her. She would make sure Su Miaomiao suffered the consequences.

The rest of the villagers were so focused on their own work that no one noticed the malice in Deng Siyue’s eyes.

…

Although Cheng Haoqiang had a bit of a smug demeanor, his learning ability wasn’t bad—among the five trainees, he learned the fastest.

Second was Tang Chunlan. Maybe it was due to her naturally elegant temperament, but everything she did had a certain grace to it.

While graceful, that also meant her pace was slower.

However, the herbs she processed had the best appearance and quality, so Su Miaomiao let her be.

With the help of these five, Su Miaomiao was finally able to catch her breath a little.

The whole village worked enthusiastically for a month straight.

The medicine hall had now accumulated a good amount of processed herbs, and Wang Hongjie had subtly hinted more than once about it.

Su Miaomiao knew they were worried—that all these herbs might not sell and everyone’s hard work would go to waste.

After all, the more they worked, the more they ate. If in the end, the herbs couldn’t be sold, it would be a total loss.

Originally, Su Miaomiao wanted to process more herbs before making another trip to the city, since going there wasn’t easy.

But worried that delaying might dampen the villagers’ enthusiasm, she decided to make the trip sooner.

And since they had a lot to bring this time, Wang Hongjie and Shanya Zi went with her.

The villagers saw them off at the village entrance with reluctant eyes, full of hope.

Whether or not they could survive the winter depended on this trip.

“You all get back to work now! While I’m gone, no one’s allowed to slack off—otherwise, you’ll all be punished when I get back!” Though Wang Hongjie was nervous himself, he still put on the strong front of a village leader before leaving.

“Miaomiao, be careful on the road. Don’t push yourself too hard,” Tang Chunlan reminded her.

“I know, Mom,” Su Miaomiao replied with a smile.

Only then did Shanya Zi snap the whip, and the donkey cart began slowly moving forward.

The villagers watched the cart go farther and farther away, until it was out of sight, before they finally looked away.

“Alright, everyone, back to work! My dad will bring food back for all of us!” Wang Qingshan shouted to the crowd.

Now that his father was away, he was the acting village chief.

Everyone returned to their tasks—some up the mountain, others drying herbs.

…

Su Miaomiao had already been to the city once before, so this time she moved with ease.

Once the three of them reached the county, Wang Hongjie asked Shanya Zi to leave the donkey cart with a friend for safekeeping.

The three of them carried large and small bags and got on the long-distance bus.

After a bumpy journey, they finally arrived in the city by evening, dusty and weary.

As soon as they got off the bus, Wang Hongjie looked a little nervous.

Though he was the village chief, he rarely even went to the county—let alone the city.

Especially when he stepped out of the station and saw private cars speeding along the road, he was so shocked he didn’t even know where to go. All he could do was clutch the woven plastic sack in his hand tightly.

Shanya Zi, being a young man, had curiosity written all over his face as he looked around at everything new.

Wanting to sell the herbs quickly, Su Miaomiao led them straight to the same medicine hall she had visited before.

As they approached the entrance, they saw the place bustling with people—it was far livelier than when she’d first visited.

Su Miaomiao looked at the scene and felt quite satisfied.

The shopkeeper clearly knew how to run a business. In just a month, he had completely revitalized the once lifeless pharmacy.

Su Miaomiao stepped forward, ready to go inside—but someone tugged on her sleeve.

She turned her head and saw Wang Hongjie’s nervous face.

“Comrade Su, there are so many people here… What if they kick us out for just walking in like this? Maybe we should wait until they’re about to close?” Wang Hongjie, usually composed and capable in the village, now seemed utterly timid.

“It’s fine. The shopkeeper is someone I know,” Su Miaomiao said. Looking at Wang Hongjie—who was about her father’s age—acting so cautiously, a complicated emotion rose in her chest.

Life was really too hard for ordinary people like him.

Seeing Su Miaomiao’s calm and confident smile, Wang Hongjie inexplicably felt his panic ease.

Unbelievable. He had been a village chief for so many years, yet he needed a young girl to reassure him.

What a joke life had become.

“Let’s go,” Wang Hongjie said, collecting himself and lifting the sack.

He followed Su Miaomiao into the medicine hall.

Inside, several more clerks had been hired, all of them so busy they barely had time to catch their breath.

Su Miaomiao ignored them and walked straight toward the front counter.

The shopkeeper was buried in his accounting work. When he sensed someone standing in front of him, he didn’t even look up and spoke quickly:

“If you’re here to buy medicine, go register over there, take a number, and wait in the seating area until you’re called.”
His tone was brisk but not impolite—clearly just overwhelmed with work.

“Shopkeeper, do you still remember me?” Su Miaomiao suddenly said.

The shopkeeper, who had been working nonstop, immediately looked up when he heard her voice.

When he saw Su Miaomiao standing there, he froze for a second, and then a bright smile spread across his face.

“Little miss, it’s you!” The shopkeeper instantly set aside his work, eyes full of excitement. “Thank you so much! You have no idea—since I started using your formula, the business here in just one month has surpassed all of last year’s combined!”

“I can see that,” Su Miaomiao replied with a smile and a nod.

“So what brings you here this time? Don’t tell me you’ve come to sell me another treasure?” the shopkeeper asked, his eyes lighting up with anticipation.