Chapter 24

Jiang Xi was in mixed mood. She finally got out of the house and ran into Zhang Xiuyun. What bad luck.

But there was one good thing: Zhang Xiuyun was alone and not with the original owner’s uncle and his family.

Jiang Xi smiled, and her two younger sisters ran over to greet her in high spirits: “Mom!”

“Hey,” Zhang Xiuyun said happily to see her two children. She waved to Jiang Xi: “Big sister.”

Jiang Xi walked over slowly and heard Zhang Xiuyun complain, “You three have no conscience. You don’t come back to visit mom enough. If something happens to me, no one will know.”

Jiang Sanmei wasn’t happy about this and stamped her feet: “Mom!”

Jiang Ermei bowed her head: “I’m sorry.”

She was indeed somewhat focused on Pei Jiale and forgot that her mother was alone at home.

Jiang Xi wasn’t as moved. She said seriously, “I told the people in the village to visit you more often. If there’s anything, they will let me know.”

The gifts she brought back weren’t given for nothing.

But this didn’t make Zhang Xiuyun happy. She felt choked up. She was just talking; she wasn’t really going to die.

Even though life was a bit tough, it was better than raising three daughters alone. Even though the eldest daughter had the Pei family’s help, the other two were still a headache. Her younger brother sometimes came to ask for things too.

Now, being alone was less stressful. Although food and daily necessities were challenging, she had enough.

Knowing that Jiang Xi was capable, Zhang Xiuyun asked, “Where are you going? I heard from the villagers that they saw you two going to the mountain several times. What are you doing?”

Jiang Xi smiled and said, “We’re going to find some wild fruits and vegetables. We have nothing to do anyway.”

She didn’t want to say more to Zhang Xiuyun, fearing it would attract her uncle’s attention. It might only delay the inevitable, not prevent it.

Jiang Sanmei’s eyes rolled. She knew Elder sister didn’t want to say more, so she nodded and said, “Yes, we’re picking wild vegetables!”

Jiang Ermei stayed quiet.

Zhang Xiuyun shook her head helplessly and told her two younger daughters with longing, “Big sister, you’re not being sensible. The two little ones can’t do much work. It’s fine for them to pick wild vegetables, but you shouldn’t be doing this. The Pei family didn’t marry you off to worship you as an ancestor. Now that you’re married, you need to respect your in-laws…”

Jiang Xi: “…”

The three sisters looked at each other, feeling a bit speechless.

It was the same thing every time, and it seemed unnecessary.

The three of them showed no disapproval on their faces. Zhang Xiuyun noticed and continued, feeling aggrieved: “You just don’t like to listen. You left one by one, and now you don’t even want to come back to see your mother. And you can’t even tolerate a few words of nagging. You have no conscience!”

Jiang Xi said firmly, “It’s not that I don’t want to, but what you’re saying is really unpleasant. Don’t say it’s for my own good. Your life experience isn’t worth listening to. I won’t listen to it.”

Zhang Xiuyun’s anger rose, her eyebrows furrowing.

Before she could respond, Jiang Xi continued, “And mother, if you really want us to visit, then in the future, if you have any delicious food or drinks, don’t give them to the cousins. Keep them at home. I promise these two girls will visit you more often.”

“What delicious foods and drinks?” Zhang Xiuyun asked unhappily.

Jiang Xi listed out, “Before I got married, Auntie made soup and sent it to us. She wanted to give it to us three sisters and you, but you took all the meat out and sent half to Uncle’s house. My second sister, third sister, and I were left with just the bones. And the time before that…”

“Big sister!” Zhang Xiuyun didn’t expect her to remember so clearly and bring up the past. She said angrily, “How can you remember everything so clearly? We’re family, or at least relatives!”

Jiang Xi shrugged: “I don’t care. If it’s not good, don’t expect us to come back.”

Her daughter’s refusal and harsh words made Zhang Xiuyun very angry. She said, “Okay, okay, our family is poor and can’t accommodate you. If you don’t want to come, then don’t. Go away, go away.”

Jiang Xi replied, “Okay, Mom, don’t work too hard. I can still support you in your old age.”

After saying this, she turned and left, calling her two younger sisters.

Seeing this, Jiang Ermei and Jiang Sanmei hurriedly followed.

Finding bamboo ginseng was very important and couldn’t be delayed.

In no time, all three children were gone. Zhang Xiuyun felt very disappointed. It was just as she had told her brother, raising daughters was useless; sons were better.

But she was unlucky and didn’t have a son.

She thought of the basket of snails sent by the people next door who had eaten Jiang Xi’s return gift earlier, and planned to give it to her brother and nephew later, as she might have to rely on her nephew in her old age.

_

Fortunately, Jiang Xi didn’t take Zhang Xiuyun seriously, or she would be so angry she’d vomit blood if she knew what Zhang Xiuyun was thinking.

After leaving Zhang Xiuyun, Jiang Xi walked for another twenty minutes. Just when she was about to collapse, she finally reached the foot of the mountain.

“You two are amazing. You actually run so far to collect herbs every time!” Jiang Xi admired them sincerely.

Jiang Ermei and Jiang Sanmei smiled and said, “It’s okay. We walked very fast. Big sister, you walked too slowly. Otherwise, we would have arrived earlier.”

Jiang Xi: “…”

She couldn’t compete with them.

She asked the two to lead the way while she walked in front with a stick. The trees in the forest were tall and dense, with few short grasses. Most were dead branches and rotting leaves. She used the stick to avoid scaring off snakes and cleared the path. She saw many herbs, which were expensive and not found elsewhere.

But she hadn’t had time to identify them for her sisters.

So she pointed out the herbs for them to pick.

They came to a spot with loose, moist soil among the trees. It was cool there, and only a little sunlight filtered through.

Jiang Ermei pointed to some disturbed soil and said, “This is where the bamboo ginseng was found.”

Jiang Xi nodded, recognizing this as a good spot for bamboo ginseng.

She told the two sisters, “Follow me, and be careful to watch for any movement around you. Call me if you hear anything.”

As she spoke, she lowered her head and looked around.

Carefully using a branch, she picked up dead branches and rotten leaves from the ground and checked if there were any bamboo ginseng leaves among the green grass.

About ten meters from where the two children had mentioned, Jiang Xi found a lot of bamboo ginseng. It seemed no one had been here for a long time, so she led the two children to dig and moved as quickly as possible.

One, two…

They also found many other herbs along the way, making the trip worthwhile.

Jiang Xi felt the basket on her back was getting heavy and thought it was time to go back.

Suddenly, she heard a noise.

Not knowing the source of the sound but feeling it was abrupt, Jiang Xi looked back quickly. The forest was dim, and she couldn’t see far. But when she turned around, she spotted a Ganoderma lucidum ^[1]refers to a type of medicinal fungus. not far from her feet!

To pick or not to pick?

Jiang Xi was worried the noise might have come from a wild animal, but the Ganoderma was so large that she was reluctant to leave it. She said, “Second sister, third sister, you two go back first.”

“Ah? Big sister, let’s go together?” Jiang Sanmei didn’t understand why they had to leave first.

Jiang Xi said firmly, “Go back first!”

Her authoritative tone made the two children, though reluctant, nod and head back down the mountain quickly.

The two little girls, used to running around the mountains, went fast.

Jiang Xi breathed a sigh of relief. She had felt uneasy earlier, but with the children gone and no more noise, she thought she might have been overthinking. Just as she was about to relax, a brown figure appeared in front of her and attacked.

It turned out to be a lynx ^[2]a type of wild cat.!

Jiang Xi quickly aimed her purse at the lynx and pressed hard.

A nearly invisible needle shot out.

The lynx slowed almost instantly, and Jiang Xi backed away repeatedly, out of its reach. By the time she realized what had happened, the lynx had fallen to the ground.

Whew!

Jiang Xi was relieved that the medicine she bought was an anesthetic, as lynx is a protected animal.

_

She successfully obtained the Ganoderma lucidum.

Although there was no ginseng, finding the Ganoderma lucidum and Panax notoginseng ^[3]refers to a type of medicinal herb. made Jiang Xi feel fortunate.

The whole process took an entire afternoon.

When Jiang Xi got home, Pei’s mother was already preparing dinner.

Upon hearing her, two people ran out and said, “A lot of people came this afternoon, but you weren’t here. They sat for a while and then left. It wasn’t anything urgent.”

“Okay, I understand.” Jiang Xi nodded and asked Jiang Ermei and Jiang Sanmei to sort out the other herbs.

***

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