The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Widespread Speculation

Hu Liang returned with a full load, and no one was happier than Widow Xie.

It was her son’s first time taking the lead, and he’d done a beautiful job. Wan was right; she needed to believe in her own child. He was all grown up and capable now.

When Hu Liang got home, he didn’t even have time for a sip of water before he was busy directing people to unload the vegetables in the courtyard.

There wasn’t a trace of fatigue on his face. He was so full of energy, a completely different person from his usual quiet self. Indeed, success in one’s career is the most powerful shot in the arm for a man.

It was still a far cry from true success, but wasn’t every step in the right direction an achievement in itself?

Ji Huan watched everyone in the courtyard, brimming with vitality, and couldn’t help but think, ’So this is what people mean when they say they have something to strive for.’

At the dinner table, Hu Dacheng described their "glorious" time in town with great animation. Of course, there was no small amount of exaggeration, which made everyone laugh. Hu Liang, however, grew shy.

After dinner, as Ji Huan and Dabao were heading back to their dilapidated shack, Hu Liang came out with a lantern to see them off. Ji Huan guessed he had something to say.

Just as they were about to reach the shack, Hu Liang suddenly spoke.

"Wan, thank you."

"For what?"

"Thank you for letting me..."

What was he thanking her for? For a moment, Hu Liang himself couldn’t quite put it into words. Was he just thanking her for letting him be in charge of purchasing, for entrusting him with such an important task?

It was, but it wasn’t just that.

Ever since his father and older brother had passed away, his mother had been terrified that something would happen to him and Dacheng too. To protect them, she had been forced to become aggressive and fierce. Even so, when she wasn’t home, he and his brother were still bullied.

He was afraid of causing trouble for his mother, so he always endured it as much as he could. But when those people insulted his mother, that was something he couldn’t bear.

He was always outnumbered. If he couldn’t win a fight, he could only take the beating. They all said that a fatherless child deserved to be bullied.

Because of this, he had always felt inferior, useless. He couldn’t provide a good life for his mother and younger siblings.

It was better when his older brother was alive. Once his brother was gone, the burden fell on him. All he could do was blame himself day after day, unable to do anything else.

Whenever he mustered the courage to suggest finding work outside, his mother would forbid it, saying he didn’t have what it took.

Over time, he started to believe it himself.

But Ji Huan said he could do it. She had placed such a large sum of silver in his hands, giving him her complete trust.

She had said, "How will you know you can’t if you don’t try?"

"Anyway... I just want to thank you."

’Without Ji Huan, I never would have known I could be like this.’

He had been so eloquent when dealing with the vegetable vendors this afternoon, but now he was utterly tongue-tied.

Ji Huan couldn’t help but laugh. "Alright, Liangzi, I’ll accept this ’thank you’ for now. But the person you should thank the most is Aunt Xie. It’s not that she doesn’t believe in you; it’s just that her concern for you makes her flustered."

"I know." Hu Liang understood this perfectly well.

"There’s one more person you should thank."

Hu Liang asked, puzzled, "Who?"

"Yourself," Ji Huan said, pointing at him.

"Many people, when opportunity comes knocking, fail to see it or seize it, and so they live a life of mediocrity. Not only did you seize it, but you also did a good job. You should be grateful for the opportunity, but you should be even more grateful for your own hard work."

Growing up in a single-parent family had given Hu Liang a hidden inferiority complex. But his deep-seated unwillingness to accept his lot in life overshadowed this insecurity. Buried in his heart was a desire to break through it all, and he was willing to act and sacrifice for it. People with this kind of determination, as long as they don’t go down the wrong path, can often go very far.

"You’re right." Hu Liang smiled.

At that moment, he suddenly didn’t despise his formerly incapable self so much anymore.

"I should thank him."

The hardest thing for a person is to make peace with themselves, and that’s not something that can be done in a day or two. Fortunately, Hu Liang wasn’t the type to get bogged down in trivialities.

As they spoke, they arrived at the dilapidated shack.

"You should head back and rest, Liangzi. You have to get up early to work hard again tomorrow. That way, you can bring a sister-in-law home for us a day sooner."

Hu Liang hadn’t expected her to suddenly tease him like that. He was speechless. "You’re just a young girl, you..."

"What’s wrong with being a young girl? Can’t a young girl want a sister-in-law?"

Before he could say anything else, Ji Huan swung the wicker gate shut behind her.

"I’m so sleepy." She yawned, pulling Dabao toward the main room. He could faintly hear her deliberately ask Dabao, "Do you want a sister-in-law?"

Hu Liang stood there for a long time, his face beet red, before returning home in embarrassment.

Early the next morning, Hu Liang quickly finished his meal and rushed back to town.

Because of the sensation he’d caused the day before, many people were already waiting there early. The moment they saw him, they greeted him as if he were the God of Wealth, their enthusiasm as passionate as fire.

He had originally planned to make another trip to the county seat, but Ji Huan suggested he just put the word out: any farming household with vegetables to sell could bring them to the Hu Family in Dafeng Village.

The vegetable sellers in Juyong Town came from all the surrounding villages. The news spread like wildfire, and soon, carts loaded with vegetables were heading toward Dafeng Village from every direction.

Hu Liang didn’t even have to leave his house; he could sit at home without worrying about having no vegetables to buy.

The Hu Family had been causing quite a stir recently. With carts coming and going in front of their home every day, it was hard not to attract attention. The villagers were all talking about it.

"Are they crazy? What are they doing buying so many vegetables!"

"Lately, I’ve seen a few of the women from the Gao and Xu families going in and out of the Hu’s place. I hear they’re helping wash and chop vegetables. You know, Widow Xie is surprisingly popular..."

"Popular my ass!" Gou Sheng’s wife couldn’t stand hearing a single good word about Widow Xie. "Who knows what they’re getting out of it."

Someone next to her said, "The Hu Family is dirt poor. What could they possibly offer?"

Gou Sheng’s wife snorted. "That was before. They’re striking it rich now. All those cartloads of vegetables must cost a lot of money, right?"

"Nonsense. That stuff is dirt cheap. They can’t even sell it. What could it possibly be worth?"

"No matter how cheap, it didn’t just appear out of thin air. People aren’t just giving it away! Aren’t you curious where Widow Xie got the money?" She seemed to be asking the others, but her face held a blatant implication: that Widow Xie was sleeping around again.

One person, easily swayed, immediately spat on the ground. "Filthy slut! Absolutely shameless."

"That can’t be right... Maybe she borrowed it..." a soft, gentle voice suddenly interjected.

Gou Sheng’s wife slanted her shifty eyes and, seeing it was Tian Jiao, swallowed the curse she was about to spit out.

"Jiang Wu’s wife, if you ask me, you’re just too simple-minded. You think too well of people!"

Previously, Gou Sheng’s wife had joined others in calling Tian Jiao shameless. But her family and the Jiang family were neighbors, and Tian Jiao knew how to get on people’s good side, giving her a handful of vegetables one day and a melon the next. She’d managed to coax Gou Sheng’s wife into praising her to everyone she met.

"Widow Xie claims she borrowed the capital, but her brothers from her maiden family won’t even support their own mother. Would they lend her money? All of the Hu family’s relatives on this side are long dead, so it’s even more impossible they’d lend it to her."

After hearing this, Tian Jiao nodded as if she’d been convinced.

Then, as if she had just remembered something, she said with some hesitation, "A few days ago, a man came to our village asking me where Wan lives. I was worried that Wan might get bullied, so I followed him to see... Wan let the man into her house and even served him a meal... The man drove a horse-drawn carriage and looked quite wealthy. Could it be... could it be that he gave it to Wan...?"

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