After the Scholar Rejected Me, I Married the Rogue and Got Rich - Chapter 10

Lin Miao, with her sharp eyes, immediately spotted the wild eggs and wild fruits in the wooden basin in the yard. The little girl cheered and ran over, “Wow! Wild eggs! And red berries!”

Lin Sang came out of the house, smiling as she instructed, “Well, we’re lucky today. Make sure to wash the fruit thoroughly before eating, okay?”

“We know!” the two children said in unison. Lin Song picked up the wooden basin, and Lin Miao used a gourd ladle to scoop water. The siblings squatted by the well and carefully washed the fruit, occasionally cheering softly when they found a particularly red one.

Lin Sang then took out and categorized everything she had gathered that day.

When she carefully placed the few intact, thick-rooted Solomon’s seal plants on a clean cloth, they immediately attracted the attention of her younger siblings.

“Big sister, what is this? It’s really pretty,” Lin Miao leaned over and curiously touched it with her finger.

Lin Song also came over to look: “It looks like some kind of precious root.”

Lin Sang patiently explained, “This is called Polygonatum, a kind of medicinal herb that is very good for nourishing the body. It is more valuable than the herbs we usually collect.”

“Valuable?” Lin Song’s eyes lit up. “It must fetch a lot of money, right? Enough to buy me a real bow and arrow?”

Lin Sang was amused by her younger brother and gently poked his forehead: “Dream on! I don’t know exactly how much it can sell for. I’ll have to ask the shopkeeper at the clinic in town tomorrow.”

“Going to town tomorrow?” Lin Song immediately perked up. “Big sister, take me with you! I’ll carry your basket for you!” He patted his chest, which, though still young, was already showing signs of sturdiness.

Hearing this, Lin Miao looked a little downcast and whispered, “I want to go too… but if three of us go together, it will cost six coins to ride in the oxcart…” She remembered clearly that it would cost two coins per person, which was a considerable expense for her family.

Looking at her younger sister’s sensible yet eager expression, Lin Sang’s heart softened. She squatted down and hugged her, saying gently, “Miaomiao, come along too. It’s alright. Once we sell these herbs, we’ll earn back the fare. I’ll take you to town to have a look.”

“Really?” Lin Miao’s eyes lit up instantly, and the gloom on her face vanished.

“Of course it’s true.”

At dinner, Lin Sang used the fresh mushrooms she had picked that day, along with the wild eggs, to make a large bowl of mushroom and egg drop soup. The soup was milky white and had a wonderful aroma. The family ate it with mixed flour pancakes and was very satisfied.

After dinner, while clearing away the dishes, Lin Sang told her parents about her plans for tomorrow: “Dad, Mom, I plan to go to town tomorrow to sell the herbs I collected this time, especially those few Solomon’s seal plants. I was thinking of taking Song Ge’er and Miao Miao with me so they can see the world.”

Upon hearing this, Wang instinctively began to worry about the cost: “Three people… that’ll cost six coins just for the round-trip fare! This…”

Lin Sang gently advised, “Mother, the money from selling herbs last time, plus this time, must be quite a lot. Your younger siblings are all grown up now, and they can’t stay cooped up in the village forever. It would be good to take them to the town to broaden their horizons.”

Lin, the eldest brother, tapped his pipe and said, “Sangsang is right, let the children go.”

Seeing that the head of the household had agreed, Wang didn’t say anything more, only muttering, “…but we still have to be careful with the money.”

———

In the stillness of the night, the Lin family courtyard also fell into slumber.

The Lin family’s house wasn’t spacious. The main house was where the eldest son and his wife lived, and there were two small rooms to the east and west. One room was where the Lin brothers, Lin Bolin and Song, lived, and the other, slightly smaller room, was where Lin Sang lived with his younger sister, Lin Miao.

Wang quietly got up, took out a small cloth bag from a corner of the kang cabinet in the dark, counted out a dozen or so copper coins, held them in her hand, and then tiptoed to her daughters’ room.

She gently pushed open the closed door and, by the dim moonlight, saw her eldest daughter lying on her side, seemingly asleep, while her younger daughter, Miaomiao, slept soundly beside her.

“Sang Sang…” Wang said in a very soft voice.

Lin Sang was already alert, and upon hearing the sound, she immediately opened her eyes. Seeing that it was her mother, she was somewhat surprised and quickly sat up: “Mother? Why aren’t you asleep yet? Are you feeling unwell?” She subconsciously worried about her mother’s health.

“No, Mother is fine.” Wang sat down by the bed and stuffed the warm copper coin in her hand into Lin Sang’s hand without saying a word. “Take this. When you go to town tomorrow, don’t just think about buying things for the family and the two little ones. Buy something for yourself too.”

Lin Sang touched the small handful of copper coins in her palm, and her nose tingled with emotion: “Mother, I don’t want them. I have money. I still have some of the money I made from selling herbs last time…”

“Keep that little bit of money safe!” Wang’s tone was firm and left no room for refusal. “Listen to your mother! You’re a young lady now. Look at the girls in the village who are about your age, who doesn’t want to look pretty? The girls in town all use rouge and pretty hair accessories. Go take a look, and buy one if you like it… My daughter can definitely dress up as well as anyone else!”

In the darkness, Lin Sang couldn’t see her mother’s expression, but she could clearly feel the intense love and expectation in her eyes.

Mother was afraid that she would feel wronged because of the annulment of the engagement, and she also felt sorry for her because she was busy making a living every day and neglected herself.

Her throat tightened, knowing that refusing again would only make her mother more upset, so she held the copper coin, still warm from her mother’s touch, tightly in her hand and nodded emphatically: “Yes! Mother, I’ll listen to you.”

Only then did Wang seem relieved, gently patting her daughter’s hand and tucking the blanket around her younger daughter before leaving contentedly and quietly.