The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: An Explosive Scene

After the vegetables were weighed, Hu Liang paid Aunt Liu on the spot and told her to double-check the amount.

Aunt Liu counted the money several times. Not a single coin was missing. Overjoyed, she thanked them profusely.

Ji Huan helped steady her, saying, "Auntie, we’re the ones who should be thanking you. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have even been able to get started."

"I’ll go get my neighbors right now! They all have vegetables... You’re not swindlers, you really do pay..."

After saying this excitedly, Aunt Liu turned and hurried back on her small feet, going to spread the word for them.

The onlookers around them could no longer remain idle.

"They’re really buying vegetables? And really paying for them?"

"Didn’t you just see it? You think that was fake?" A man scrambled up and slipped on his shoes. "I have to hurry home and get my wife to bring all our vegetables over..."

"I’m going home to tell my mom, too..."

The crowd at the village entrance visibly began to dwindle.

"Why is everyone leaving?" Widow Xie fretted. A lack of foot traffic was the worst thing for a business.

"Don’t worry. Just wait."

A short while later, Hu Liang suddenly called out, "Look!"

The very people who had just left were reappearing. Some carried baskets, others pulled handcarts, all converging on their spot from different directions.

Ji Huan and Hu Liang exchanged a smile. It had worked.

The first step is always the hardest, but once you’ve started, things get easier.

A moment ago, they were worried that no one would show up to sell vegetables. Now, they were starting to worry that too many people were showing up.

It wasn’t that they had bought enough—far from it.

The main issue was an error in their estimations; they hadn’t expected such a massive turnout on the very first day. They had only brought two handcarts, which were nowhere near large enough.

People have a herd mentality. With Aunt Liu setting a precedent, no one worried that Ji Huan’s group were swindlers. They swarmed over to sell their vegetables, afraid that if they arrived too late, the group would stop buying. As a result, there was pushing and shoving. People were stepping on each other’s shoes and bumping into each other’s baskets. The scene descended into chaos.

Seeing that this couldn’t go on, Ji Huan squeezed out of the crowd, climbed onto a large rock, and struck the bronze gong again.

Once the crowd quieted down, she cleared her throat and first offered some words of reassurance.

"Everyone, please don’t rush! Form a line and we’ll get to you one by one. And for those at the back, don’t worry about not being able to sell. As long as you have produce, we will buy it!"

"Sister Wan, our carts can’t hold any more..." Hu Dacheng came up, tugged her sleeve, and whispered.

"Your carts are almost full!" someone in the crowd shouted at the same time.

Ji Huan smiled. "If we can’t buy everything today, we’ll come back tomorrow. In any case—"

"But what if you don’t come back?"

"That’s right! If you don’t come back, won’t we have lost out by waiting patiently in line?"

A wave of agreement rippled through the crowd. It seemed this was everyone’s primary concern.

Hu Dacheng was getting annoyed. "These people are so ungrateful. Why are they turning this on us?"

But Ji Huan had dealt with things as bad as hospital brawls before and had developed incredible patience from being worn down by patients and their families. A small, sudden development like this wasn’t enough to make her panic.

"Life is hard for everyone," she said. "We have to try to see things from their perspective. They’re just afraid they won’t be able to get these vegetables off their hands."

After a moment’s thought, she asked a young man standing below her, "Is your village chief here?"

The young man pointed. "Right over there."

With such a commotion in the village, the village chief of Willow Tree Village had arrived long ago to assess the situation.

He was actually quite excited himself. ’If these people could really buy all the village’s produce, every family would earn a little extra, and life would become much easier for everyone.’

So when Ji Huan asked for his help, he agreed without hesitation.

The bronze gong was struck again, but this time it was the village chief who spoke.

"Fellow villagers, I just spoke with the young lady here, and we have an idea. How about our village provides a few strong laborers to help deliver the produce to their village? It’s not far, after all—just across a field and a river..."

This was an idea Ji Huan had come up with on the spot, and it received unanimous approval.

"Let’s do what the village chief says! It’s much closer than going to town. We can make a round trip with no trouble at all."

"I don’t know about anything else, but we’ve got plenty of strong men. They can use my family’s handcart, too..."

The previously tense atmosphere instantly relaxed. Following Ji Huan’s instructions, the crowd formed two long lines.

Hu Liang weighed the produce, Widow Xie inspected it, Ji Huan handled the payments, and Hu Dacheng was in charge of loading the carts. Everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

By the time they finished, the sky had already grown dark. They had to light an oil lamp to wrap things up.

The men the village chief had chosen, a mix of young lads and middle-aged men, all came to help load the carts, and none of them held back on their effort.

They filled a full ten carts. Including the two from before, that made a total of twelve.

Hu Liang and the others led the way, pulling their carts, with a long procession trailing behind them.

Upon reaching Dafeng Village, the men helped unload the vegetables into the Hu Family’s courtyard and then left without even stopping for a drink of water.

In their view, these people had bought out their entire village’s produce. ’They’re our biggest customers; it’s only right that we help them with the delivery.’

The whole affair caused quite a stir, but since it was nighttime, it didn’t attract much attention from the other villagers.

Hu Ximei already had dinner ready. The group ate a quick meal and went back to the courtyard to keep working. Before, they had just dumped the vegetables in a pile on the ground; now they had to sort and organize everything properly.

They worked late into the night.

Ji Huan entered the west room. Dabao was already fast asleep on the heated brick bed.

Dabao had wanted to go along, but Ji Huan, afraid she wouldn’t be able to watch over him while working, had to use all her powers of persuasion to leave him at the Hu Family home under Hu Ximei’s care.

’Actually, when Dabao gets stubborn, he won’t even listen to me. The reason he stayed behind so obediently this time,’ Ji Huan thought, ’is probably because of that trip to the county seat.’

After that trip, while Dabao still followed her everywhere within the village, he became instinctively reluctant to go anywhere outside of Dafeng Village.

’Perhaps he was afraid I would abandon him again.’

"Dabao," Ji Huan called softly.

When he didn’t respond, she poked a finger into his slightly chubbier cheek.

"Wake up, Dabao. It’s time to go home..."

Dabao’s eyes fluttered open. He looked dazed, which was somehow both vacant and adorable.

His eyes met Ji Huan’s. He blinked twice, then shut them again.

"Ximei said that after you left, Dabao moved a small stool to the doorway and just sat there waiting for you. He only went to sleep when he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. Kids get tired so easily."

Widow Xie entered, lifting the door curtain. "Why not let Dabao sleep here for the night? It’s just Liangzi, Dacheng, and Xiao’an in this room; there’s plenty of space."

Ji Huan shook her head, turned around, and gestured for Widow Xie to help lift Dabao onto her back.

"Are you sure you can manage?" Widow Xie asked. "Maybe I should get Liangzi to carry him back for you?"

"Dabao is very light. I can manage."

With Dabao on her back and a lantern in her hand, Ji Huan made her way through the dark toward their dilapidated shack.

The path was full of potholes, and Ji Huan stumbled along carefully. She felt a pair of thin arms slowly tighten around her neck.

"Are you awake, Dabao?" Ji Huan asked.

She felt Dabao’s head move against the back of her neck in what seemed to be a nod.

She adjusted her grip on his little bottom and bounced him gently. "I haven’t seen you all afternoon. Did you miss me?"

There was no response.

Ji Huan continued, "Well, I missed you very much."

The little boy on her back squirmed.

Ji Huan chuckled softly.

"Dabao, I didn’t mean to leave you behind this afternoon. I had to go out with Brother Liangzi and the others to earn money. Once we have enough Silver, we can build a big house and sleep on a warm brick bed like Brother Dacheng’s. Aunt Xie’s family will be able to afford meat, too. So please don’t be mad at me, okay?"

Adults often use the excuse that children are too young, refusing to explain things to them. Over time, this not only creates a rift but can also negatively affect a child’s psychological development.

That was why Ji Huan always explained everything she did to Dabao. He might not understand concepts like ’business’ or ’earning money’ yet, but as long as he understood that she wasn’t abandoning him without reason, that was enough.

The night wind rustled past. The little hands around her neck loosened for a moment, then hugged her even tighter. A barely audible "Mmm" followed.

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