Chapter 54

“Old man, these two comrades are looking for you,” the captain’s aunt shouted to a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties.

Song Shuqian and Tiantian hurriedly greeted them, “Hello, captain, we are wives of soldiers from the higher-ups. We want to exchange some mountain products with our village, and by the way, exchange for a few pickled vegetable jars. I heard that there are people in the village who can do it.”

The captain was relieved when he heard that they were wives of soldiers, “There are a few craftsmen, I’ll take you there.”

The captain was very happy. It was not easy for the villagers to make a little money throughout the year. If they could get in touch with these wives of soldiers, with so many people in the family compound, the villagers could also have more income. He knew that the people of Liushu Village lived so well by exchanging meat and eggs with these wives of soldiers.

Both sides wanted to have a good relationship, and after a few visits, the relationship became much closer.

The captain took them to a yard and said, “This is it, Uncle San, someone is here to exchange black goods.”

The uncle was about 60 years old, a very energetic old man. He was not surprised to see Song Shuxi and the others. “They are all here. There are different sizes. What do you want to use them for?”

“Two big ones for storing sauerkraut, and six small ones for pickling vegetables and pickles.” This was what they had discussed before they came.

When the team leader heard this, he thought it was a big order. The villagers were frugal, and they could only sell so many at a big market.

“We have ready-made ones. The big jar is 12 yuan each, and the small pickle jar is 8 yuan each.” When the uncle said this, he was a little nervous, afraid that they would not buy it.

Song Shuxi and the others thought it was very cheap, so they immediately decided to buy it.

“Team leader, can the village send a bullock cart to help us deliver it? We will pay the amount,” Tiantian said.

With such a good thing, the team leader naturally agreed.

“Team leader, do you have any mountain products that have been dried in the village? We want to exchange hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, etc. If you have meat, mushrooms, etc., that’s fine too,” Song Shuxi asked.

The captain’s aunt had just told the captain about this, which is why he was so enthusiastic.

These things are what is needed for a long time.

“The villagers don’t have much else, but they have a lot of mountain products. How many do you want to exchange?”

Thinking that these things would not go bad, Song Shuqian said, “Take as many as you can. We all come here to follow the army. There are a lot of people in our natal family and in-laws’ family, and we send money to both sides.”

The captain knew that the salary of soldiers was high, but he didn’t expect it to be so high. Thinking that those who could follow the army were all officials, he was relieved.

He didn’t dare to find the whole village together, so he asked the captain’s aunt to find some people who usually like to be clean, work quickly and have few problems.

In the end, Song Shuqian and the other person exchanged, “20 kilograms of pine nuts, 100 kilograms of walnuts, 200 kilograms of chestnuts, 150 kilograms of hazelnuts, 50 kilograms of dried mushrooms, two chickens, 200 duck eggs, and two pieces of bacon.”

Before leaving, a child came to Song Shuqian and said, “Sister, do you want ginseng?”

Song Shuqian thought the child was naughty and coaxed him, “Yes, but ginseng is hard to come by. If you need ginseng, you have to go to the hospital to see the doctor.”

The hope in the child’s eyes disappeared immediately. Song Shuqian realized that the child was serious and said, “Little friend, you need the consent of your parents to sell ginseng.”

The child looked at Song Shuqian with timid eyes, but very firm. “Sister, I know that grandpa needs money for treatment.”

Children of poor families have to take care of themselves early. Song Shuqian didn’t mind helping out, as she also needed ginseng.

Holding the child, she went to the captain’s aunt and asked, “Aunt, this child said that his grandfather is sick and needs money and wants to sell me ginseng. I don’t know the details. Can you tell me?”

The captain’s aunt sighed and said, “This child is pitiful. His parents died early, leaving him and his grandfather to depend on each other. There is a little uncle who is a ruthless person. He left and never came back.

At the beginning of the month, the old man fell and broke his leg. He had no money to go to the hospital, so he went to see the village doctor. The village doctor in our village

is good at treating headaches and fevers, but not other things. The ginseng she said was left by his father. Girl, if you need ginseng, just buy it. Aunt can see that you are kind-hearted.”

Song Shuqian looked at the thin and small child, “Little friend, can you take your sister to see your grandfather?”

The child nodded in agreement.

Song Shuqian and Tian Tiantian brought the child to his home, a very dilapidated yellow mud house.

The situation is more serious than the captain’s wife said.

The old man showed Song Shuqian a 50-year-old wild ginseng, which was of average quality, with a few broken ginseng roots. The purchase price was no more than 200 yuan.

The old man should have asked, “Girl, I know the condition of this ginseng. A few ginseng roots were broken when it was dug, and it was not well preserved. Give me 180 yuan, the same price as the purchasing station.”

This is a real deal, Song Shuqian thought.

In front of the captain, Song Shuxi said, “I’ll give you 220 yuan. Don’t rush to refuse. This thing is priceless to those who need it. I just want to find a ginseng for emergency use. My husband is a soldier. Only when these things that can ensure his safety are prepared, can I feel at ease.”

After handing the 220 yuan to the old man, Song Shuxi still said one more sentence, “You’d better go to the hospital as soon as possible for your injury. The longer it takes, the harder it will be to treat. Even for your grandson, you should try your best.”

The old man took the money and said to the little boy, “Hu Zi, you must remember the kindness of that sister. She bought the ginseng to help us.”

The old man was a scout when he was young. After the war, he returned to the village and lived with his family.

As a result, he saw his family leave one by one.

Now he has only a little grandson who has not grown up.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to see a doctor, but it’s hard for him to support his grandson as an old man, and it costs money to see a doctor.

Song Shuxi really doesn’t lack a ginseng, but it’s not too much.

After exchanging various things, Song Shuxi looked at the big jars and asked, “Captain, do these big jars have lids?”

“Yes, they are made of wood. There are carpenters in the village who can make them. Let’s go and have a look?”

The captain’s mentality now is that it is rare to meet two people who are stupid and rich, so try to let them spend money.

Song Shuxi and her husband don’t care about this little money.

They hit it off immediately.

The carpenter in the village used to be a carpenter of a wealthy family. It was an ancestral craft. He returned to the village because he had no other choice.

Now he makes things for the surrounding villagers to supplement their family income.

Song Shuxi was dazzled by the wooden products in the yard as soon as she entered the door. These plates are so beautiful.

She was looking at a set of tableware, wooden bowls, wooden spoons, and small plates in the shape of cutting boards.

“Can everything in this yard be exchanged?”

The carpenter uncle could see that Song Shuxi really liked it, and he was very happy, “All can be exchanged, you can choose whatever you like.”

In this case, Song Shuqian was not polite.

She chose a lot, wooden tableware, wooden shelves.

“Uncle, can you make things according to my drawings? I want to make a lamp stand and a hook with a pattern.” After saying that, Song Shuqian began to draw.

She was very good at drawing, and the carpenter uncle could see clearly what she wanted to do immediately.