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Wang Zhenhe, standing aside, seemed to understand what was happening. Seeing his children giving the basket of chestnuts to Old He, and looking at the four children beside him, he felt a sense of pride. His children had grown up and understood the ways of the world.
“Why don’t you come to our house for a meal, Zhenhe?” He Zhengkui warmly invited.
“No, Brother He. The food at home is ready, and we’re waiting for the children to come back. We need to get back quickly, or we’ll be late for work in the afternoon,” Wang Zhenhe declined.
After bidding farewell to Old He, the family, with the children and their full harvest, walked back along the riverside path.
After a morning of work, the children were really hungry. When Zhang Lan set the meal on the table, no one spoke. They were all busy stuffing bread into their mouths. Wang Qian was a bit better off, being small and having a small appetite. She hadn’t done any heavy work in the morning, so she ate more gracefully. She shared the remaining half piece of bread with her two older brothers, and then ate half a piece of bread and drank a bowl of porridge with yam beans, which was enough to satisfy her hunger.
Mingcheng, nibbling on the half piece of bread given by his sister, remembered something. “Dad, have you checked if the collection station is buying walnuts?”
Wang Zhenhe swallowed what was in his mouth before replying, “I checked. They said they’re buying both walnuts and chestnuts. Should we sell ours?”
“Yes, let’s sell them. We can use the money to buy more food,” Wang Qian felt that although chestnuts were delicious, they couldn’t fill their stomachs. Grains were needed for that.
Zhang Lan, feeling her daughter’s materialistic tendencies, patted her gently. “Silly girl, buying grains is not only expensive, but you also need grain coupons. Having money doesn’t necessarily mean you can buy grain. Each household has a quota.”
Zhang Lan’s words severely struck the young girl’s heart. Wang Qian hadn’t realized that there were regulations for buying grains at this time. Even without grain coupons, they would have to find another way to get grain.
“By the way, Dad, we also found a large snake skin today, completely intact. Can you sell it this afternoon?”
Mingcheng suddenly remembered that the snake skin hadn’t been brought out yet. He quickly jumped off the kang and handed the neatly folded snake skin to Wang Zhenhe.
Seeing such a large snake skin, the couple couldn’t help but be startled. Such a large snake was a rare sight in their area. “Were you scared this morning?” they asked.
To their surprise, all four children nodded. Mingyuan was still a bit scared and blinked at Zhang Lan. “Mom, you have no idea how scary that snake skin was in the grass. My sister and I thought it was a real snake. It’s a good thing that our older brother came, and we realized it was just a snake skin. But this can be sold for money, so it’s worth the scare.”
Mingyuan’s eyes lit up at the mention of money. This snake skin should fetch a good price. After examining the snake skin, Wang Zhenhe couldn’t help but praise, “Well done. This snake skin is in good condition. It will definitely fetch a higher price than the broken ones. I’ll sell it this afternoon.”
The couple felt both proud and a little sad at the hard work of their capable children. “Mingcheng, you don’t need to go back to the mountain this afternoon. Rest well at home,” Zhang Lan instructed. She had seen the children’s efforts during this time and felt their pain. The children from poor families mature early, and that was no exaggeration. However, such young children couldn’t handle continuous work, especially when they were not getting enough to eat.
Although the children promised not to go back to the mountain in the afternoon, it didn’t mean they couldn’t do other work. Mingcheng would still go to gather grass.
Wang Qian was curious about what the production team was like. Her memories of this area were vague due to her young age. However, the issue of the ginseng at home needed to be resolved first.
“Brother, we need to sell this ginseng in the city. No one around here can afford such an expensive item. We should try selling it in the city,” Wang Qian said, not knowing the way to the city and relying on Mingcheng and the others to guide her. However, Mingcheng looked embarrassed. “Sister, we’ve never been to the city. We only know that there are two public buses to the city every day, but we don’t know anything else.”
Mingcheng’s response left her disappointed. If they went to the city, they would be completely clueless. “Brother, what should we do?”
The children fell into thought, and Wang Xuan spoke up. “Brother, there should be a purchasing station in the city. Why don’t we take it to the purchasing station in the city?”
However, Mingcheng shook his head. “No, even if we go to the purchasing station, we need money for the fare, and we need to know the regulations. Otherwise, we might get into trouble.”
Wang Qian suddenly remembered that it was 1972, a special period, and things could go wrong.
Mingyuan looked around and then said slowly, “Brother, why don’t we tell Mom? That way, we won’t have to worry, and Mom can help us sell it. We can also see what the city is like.”
At this point, Wang Qian felt overwhelmed and realized that they needed to seek help from the adults. “Brother, let’s go tell Mom. We’re still too young.”
The children felt helpless about their young age, but they had to face the reality. They couldn’t control the situation outside, and they were too young to handle it.
Mingcheng went to find Zhang Lan, and Wang Qian and her older siblings wrapped the ginseng in damp soil from the vegetable garden. If they couldn’t sell it today, she was afraid the ginseng would lose its weight. To be honest, she didn’t know much about ginseng. She had only seen it on the internet in her previous life.
Zhang Lan was pulled aside by her eldest son and quickly asked for leave from the team leader. She hurried back with her son.
The three children sat on the kang, eagerly watching outside, hoping their mother would return soon.
When Zhang Lan’s figure appeared outside, the children felt relieved. Finally, the person who could give them advice had arrived.
“Mom’s back!” Mingyuan, who was peeking out the window, called out.
As Zhang Lan entered the room, she saw the three siblings surrounding the ginseng, eagerly looking at her.
She bent down and gently hugged each of the children. “Good children, you did the right thing today. Only mother need to know about the ginseng. I’ll take you to the city, and we’ll sell the ginseng at immediately. It’s better that way.”
Zhang Lan was not naive. If news of the ginseng got out, their family would experience another earthquake. The best course of action was to sell it quickly.
After taking a look at the ginseng the children had brought back, even she felt that it was quite large. Although she had never seen one before, she knew that it was a valuable item.
After getting the children ready, Zhang Lan took the ginseng and headed straight to the bus station. Before leaving, she left a note for Wang Zhenhe, saying she would be back later, without specifying where she was going.
At the bus station, Zhang Lan estimated that a bus to the city should be arriving at this time.
A red bus approached in the distance, and Mingyuan pointed and said, “Mom, the bus is here.”
When the bus arrived, Zhang Lan and the children got on the somewhat old public bus. It was the children’s first time on a bus, and they found it quite exciting. However, Mingcheng and Mingyuan sat obediently in their seats, holding the package tightly in their arms.