Chapter 37 – The Female Supporting Character Whose Life Was Taken Away by a Transmigrated Woman

He Xiunian and Wen Xin’s interactions suddenly became awkward and ambiguous. They ate breakfast while avoiding each other’s gaze, and after He Xiunian left, he lingered for a while before finally heading back.

After he left, Wen Xin went to the backyard to feed the chicks and then checked on the herbs she had planted.

The herbs she grew were quite rare in the market.

Things like Dendrobium, Bletilla striata, and Angelica dahurica—she had planted them as soon as she moved in, watering them several times with a mixture of spiritual water. After inspecting their appearance, she realized they were ready for harvest.

There had been a heavy rain the night before, and today the sun was shining again. There was no better day than today, so she decided to harvest them.

Harvesting herbs wasn’t difficult. It only took her the whole morning to finish the task. Wen Xin sorted the herbs into different categories and placed them in bags before loading them onto the tricycle. After eating, she rode it to the Chinese Medicine Hospital.

When she had sold herbs the last two times, Wen Xin had come to an agreement with the Old Doctor at the hospital. As long as her herbs were of good quality, they would fetch a higher price than those on the market.

She sold all the herbs she had collected, but only made a little over a hundred.

Compared to purple Ganoderma or ginseng, this price was far too low.

Maybe it was better to grow ginseng instead? She didn’t need to grow century-old ginseng; even 30-50 year-old ones could sell for a good price.

With that in mind, she happily made the decision to go find ginseng that afternoon.

At noon, Wen Xin went up the mountain, and somehow, Wen Xiaowu ended up following her. By the time Wen Xin noticed, she had already been in the forest for quite a while. Wen Xiaowu, still less than two months old, didn’t know how to find its way back. When Wen Xin noticed it, it stopped hiding, and with a soft whine, it wiggled its round little tail and ran ahead of Wen Xin. After a few steps, seeing Wen Xin didn’t follow, it stopped and barked at her.

The sound of its little voice melted Wen Xin’s heart.

Wen Xin quickly caught up with Wen Xiaowu, and the two made their way deeper into the dense forest. The further they went, the more lush the trees became, and the sun was blocked out, only able to peek through the gaps in the leaves.

They wandered in the mountains for quite a while. Though they didn’t find any ginseng, Wen Xin did come across several orchid plants. It was to be expected, though—if ginseng were that easy to find, it wouldn’t be considered a rare medicinal herb.

With the orchids in her backpack, Wen Xin turned back toward home. Wen Xiaowu, probably tired, no longer wanted to walk, so Wen Xin picked it up and carried it back with her.

He Xiunian arrived again, but when Wen Xin saw him, it was the expected surprise.

Once inside the yard, He Xiunian went straight to cook. He seemed perfectly at ease, as if he were in his own kitchen, showing no unfamiliarity with the space. Wen Xin went to the backyard to find a broken clay pot and planted the orchids. By the time she washed her hands, the meal was ready.

“Wen Xin, I have to go to Guangdong Province tomorrow. I’ll probably be there for about half a month.” He Xiunian said while glancing at Wen Xin.

Wen Xin paused for a moment. “What are you going to Guangdong for?”

“Several of the tiles at the shop are sourced from Guangdong. I got a call today saying those tiles are going to be priced higher. The price increase is significant. If I factor in labor and shipping costs, I won’t be able to make any profit if I don’t raise the price. But with this quality of tile, it may not be worth the higher price, and customers might not choose them. So, I have to go there to talk to the factory. If we can’t reach an agreement, I’ll have to find other suppliers there.”

He Xiunian didn’t hide his business from Wen Xin. She nodded. “Then you should go.”

“Yeah.” He Xiunian looked at Wen Xin, seemed to want to say something, hesitated for a while, but ultimately didn’t say it.

That evening, the rain held off. After dinner, He Xiunian, reluctant to leave, had to head back. Wen Xin saw him to the gate of the small courtyard.

He Xiunian walked a few steps down the mountain, then suddenly ran back toward her, stopping in front of Wen Xin. “Wait for me to come back.”

Wen Xin smiled at him. “Okay.”

He Xiunian ran down the mountain, and when he reached the bottom, he waved excitedly, saying goodbye.

Wen Xin waved back at him.

She wasn’t the same naive person she had been in her past life. She understood He Xiunian’s feelings for her, and being more open-minded about love, she didn’t mind starting a new relationship with him.

The next day, He Xiunian headed south. Wen Xin went up the mountain a few more times, and this time, she found and brought back four or five young ginseng plants to replant.

It had already entered autumn, and the villagers at the foot of the mountain were fully occupied. The rice in the fields was ready to be harvested, and the corn on the mountain was also ready for picking.

Zhang Chunhua was so busy that she didn’t have time to visit Wen Xin. Wen Xin had never done farm work in either of her lives, so she couldn’t help her out. Instead of adding to the trouble, she decided to stay out of the way.

When she wasn’t on the mountain, Wen Xin focused on managing her own orchard. The weeds in the orchard grew quickly; within a week, new shoots would sprout.

On days when it didn’t rain in autumn, the afternoons could still be quite hot. Wen Xin spent the entire morning pulling weeds, then went home to wash up. She used the spring water from the back mountain to make herself a pot of sweet wine she had brewed a few days ago. This was her first attempt at making sweet wine, and it turned out quite well—just the right level of sweetness. As she drank it, however, Wen Xin felt it wasn’t cold enough. She thought for a moment, placed her hands on the kettle, closed her eyes, and used her spiritual energy. When she opened her eyes again, the sweet wine inside the kettle had turned ice-cold.

Taking a sip, the chill and refreshing sensation made her feel completely revitalized. She realized another use for her spiritual energy, and she was so happy she almost jumped up in excitement.

At that moment, she heard a knock at the door. Wen Xin put down her cup and went out to open the door. It was the old Mr. Qin, the one she had helped on the way down the mountain, along with a tall young man.

Wen Xin was surprised. “Grandpa Qin, what brings you here? Is your foot better?”

Old Qin nodded. “It’s all good now, all healed up. I wanted to visit you sooner, but my old problem flared up again, so I had to lie down in the nursing home for a few days. I’m just starting to feel better and was allowed to go out.”

“Your health is the most important thing. It’s not too late to come now, Grandpa Qin. Please, come inside and sit for a bit.” Wen Xin said, stepping aside to let him in.

Old Qin entered the yard, hands behind his back, and the young man followed. Only then did Wen Xin notice that the young man was holding a lot of things. These were all gifts from Old Qin for Wen Xin as a token of gratitude.

As they entered, Old Qin looked around at the layout of the small courtyard and nodded repeatedly. “Girl, this house—its layout is like the small courtyard style from the north, right?”

Old Qin was from the north and had been in the south for nearly three years for his health. He had mostly seen southern-style architecture, rarely encountering northern designs. Seeing it now made him feel very nostalgic.

“Yes, it’s the style from the north. I’ve always been curious about what the northern courtyard houses were like from the books. Now that I have the money to build my own house, I just went ahead and built one.”

Wen Xin poured them both a cup of sweet wine. “This sweet wine was brewed by me a few days ago. Please, try it.”

After hiking up the mountain for a while, Old Qin was a bit thirsty. He took the cup and drank a sip. His eyes widened in surprise. “Girl, this sweet wine tastes really good!”

The sweet wine was smooth and crisp, ice-cold, with a special fragrance that was hard to describe. It was really delicious.

“Since you like it, Grandpa Qin, have some more.” Wen Xin said. She had added a small amount of spiritual water when brewing the sweet wine, and then she had used her spiritual energy to chill it. Given all that, it wasn’t surprising that the flavor was so good.

Old Qin nodded and then waved to the young man who had been sitting quietly by the side. “Xiao Zhang, you should try some too.”

Only then did the young man named Xiao Zhang lift his cup and take a sip.

Wen Xin, noticing his posture, immediately recognized that he was likely from the military. He might have just retired, or perhaps he was still serving. With Old Qin under his protection, his identity was probably not ordinary, but Wen Xin wasn’t interested in getting involved with these matters. She didn’t feel the need to dig into it.

Wen Xin hadn’t eaten lunch yet, and neither had Old Qin. The rice was cooking in the kitchen, so Wen Xin asked the two to sit and wait while she went to her garden to pick a few tomatoes and two eggplants. She planned to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes and a stir-fried dish of eggplant, potatoes, and green peppers.

While Wen Xin was in the kitchen, Old Qin went to the backyard to use the restroom. As he exited the bathroom, his eyes swept across the corner of the yard and suddenly couldn’t look away.

Xiao Zhang, waiting in the living room for a long time without seeing Old Qin return, grew restless. Remembering the incident a few days ago when Old Qin had fainted, he quickly made his way to the backyard. As soon as he entered, he spotted Old Qin crouching in the corner by the wall. Xiao Zhang let out a sigh of relief.

“Qin Lao, what are you doing here?”

Old Qin turned around and waved at Xiao Zhang. “Xiao Zhang, come here and take a look at this orchid.”

Xiao Zhang, relieved, walked over and saw that in the corner, there were several broken clay pots, each containing an orchid. Two of the plants had already bloomed, with pure white flowers resting on tender green leaves. As a rough man, Xiao Zhang simply thought the flowers looked nice.

Old Qin, on the other hand, was very excited. The reason for his excitement was that this orchid was the famous “Su Guan He Ding.” This flower was extremely rare, mostly found in the Yunnan Province, and was rarely seen elsewhere.

The “Su Guan He Ding” orchid was named for its lotus-shaped petals, elegant color, and delicate fragrance. Old Qin recalled the last time he had seen this orchid was when he was in his twenties.

Back then, he had been studying at the Southwest Associated University, and one of his classmates, a local, had this type of orchid at home. When it bloomed, that classmate had invited them to appreciate the flowers. Later, after graduation, everyone went their separate ways, and that classmate had died in battle.

Thinking of his late classmate, Old Qin’s mood became somber. With a nostalgic tone, he pointed at the orchid and said to Xiao Zhang: “This orchid is called Su Guan He Ding, one of the ten most precious orchids. Don’t underestimate it. If you sell it, you could easily buy a house within the second ring of Beijing.”

Xiao Zhang looked at the orchid with a different expression. It wasn’t like twenty years ago anymore. Now, a house within the second ring of Beijing would cost no less than a million yuan. Could this orchid really be worth that much?

Xiao Zhang still had doubts, but since Old Qin wasn’t the kind of person to deceive him, he felt conflicted.

Meanwhile, Wen Xin finished preparing the meal but didn’t see Old Qin or Xiao Zhang. Thinking they were in the backyard, she went to look for them. “Grandpa Qin, Xiao Zhang, lunch is ready.”

With Xiao Zhang’s help, Old Qin stood up, reluctantly giving one last glance at the orchid. He let Xiao Zhang support him as they left the garden, but after only a few steps, Old Qin seemed unable to continue walking. He pushed up his glasses and said: “Little Wen, is this ginseng you’re growing?”

“Yes.”

Old Qin crouched down again, inspecting the ginseng closely. “Girl, how many years has this ginseng been growing?”

Wen Xin wasn’t entirely sure. Comparing the ginseng in her yard to the century-old ones she had sold, she hesitated and said: “It should be about twenty or thirty years old?”

Twenty or thirty years old? That was already extraordinary ginseng. Old Qin took a deep breath, and Xiao Zhang, standing beside him, dared not even breathe loudly.

The elderly residents in their nursing home were all in poor health, and precious medicinal herbs like ginseng were always on hand. Thirty-year-old ginseng was rare even at their nursing home.

Xiao Zhang’s eyes grew fiery as he looked at the four or five ginseng plants. He decided that once he returned, he’d report this matter up.

“Let’s go eat, or the food will get cold.”

Old Qin nodded and went to the front yard to eat.

After the meal, Old Qin prepared to leave. Wen Xin invited them to stay a little longer, but he was still preoccupied with the ginseng and the Su Guan He Ding orchid. He declined and Wen Xin escorted him down the mountain.

Back at the nursing home, Old Qin had planned to speak with the most cultured and refined among the group, Old Zhang. But, feeling exhausted, he asked Xiao Zhang to help him to his bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep.

He woke up to the afternoon sun, already past three in the afternoon. This nap had left him feeling incredibly refreshed. The older he got, the more his old injuries from his younger years resurfaced. Dizziness, headaches, and aches in his limbs were a constant, even though his time at the nursing home had helped ease some of the pain. However, the issue of sleep difficulties remained unresolved.

This nap was the best one Old Qin had had in years.

Xiao Zhang had been waiting outside, and seeing that Old Qin seemed in good spirits, he felt relieved himself.

After Old Qin washed his face, he was full of energy and, with Xiao Zhang in tow, went to find Old Zhang. Old Zhang hadn’t slept well at noon and was sitting with a sour expression, reading a newspaper. His personal assistant, Xiao Huang, was outside in the garden, digging, as Old Zhang was planning to plant flowers again.

Old Qin and Old Zhang had worked together for many years, so there was no need for pretense. He immediately told Old Zhang about the Su Guan He Ding orchid. Old Zhang didn’t believe him and suspected Old Qin was making it up. After all, Old Qin had been known to pull such pranks.

Old Qin felt his reputation was being questioned: “Let’s go, I’ll show you with your own eyes.”

Old Zhang stood up: “If I go and don’t see the Su Guan He Ding, you’ll give me that inkstone your son gave you a few years ago.”

Old Zhang was betting on it. Old Qin chuckled: “And if it’s there?”

Old Zhang was confident that the Su Guan He Ding orchid couldn’t possibly be found in Xiang Province, so he immediately replied: “Then I’ll give you the Hetian jade I got two years ago.”

Old Qin had been eyeing that Hetian jade for a long time. Hearing Old Zhang’s words, his face lit up, and he hurriedly urged: “Let’s go, let’s go, quickly!”

Seeing Old Qin’s eager expression, Old Zhang had a sudden unsettling feeling.

Xiao Zhang and Xiao Huang hurried to catch up. Xiao Zhang even stopped by the nursing home’s medical office to call for Dr. Su, an expert in traditional Chinese medicine. The group, now larger, set off towards Wen Xin’s house.