Chapter 91: First Meeting
Su Qing had to return to Lihua Village for work, so she left the county town the next day. Before leaving, she completed her second deal with Zhang Erlai, netting eight hundred and fifty yuan and a stack of scrip. As she was planning a trip to Yun Province, Su Qing had specifically requested plenty of nationally accepted vouchers.
With this, the money Su Qing had earned on her own now totaled around nine thousand five hundred yuan. In this day and age, that was a very considerable sum.
Meanwhile, Pan Youming was also recovering well. Su Qing would visit him every other day and transfer a little green mist to him. As a result, Pan Youming’s body recovered even faster, allowing Fu Yuzhen and Pan Runqing to breathe a sigh of relief.
Soon, the potato harvest was more or less complete. All that was left was to turn in the public grain tax, after which the work points would be tallied and the grain and money distributed. Smiles graced the faces of everyone in Lihua Village. The rainfall had been good this year, promising a bountiful harvest. They would certainly receive more grain than in years past.
Su Qing’s days had been quite pleasant. Ever since Su Tao got into trouble and disappeared, the Old Su Family had completely settled down in the village, doing their best to keep a low profile for fear of anyone mentioning Su Tao. Liang Fushan hadn’t dared to provoke Su Qing again either. As for Tan Qingjuan, who knew if Liang Fushan had given her a talking-to, but regardless, she hadn’t come looking for trouble with Su Qing.
These days, aside from working and going to the hospital, Su Qing would go into the mountains to search for ginseng and Purple Danshen. She also managed to gather a lot of wild game and other mountain goods, making two more deals with Zhang Erlai. As a result, her personal savings broke the ten-thousand-yuan mark, making her a "ten-thousand-yuan household" in secret.
The only thing that frustrated Su Qing was that while she had found three more aged ginsengs in the mountains, she hadn’t found any suitable Purple Danshen. She did find a few common ones, about a dozen years old, but the truly ancient specimens were nowhere to be found.
Looking at the three wild ginseng roots placed in her space, the youngest was at least sixty years old. Of the other two, one was over eighty years old, and one was over a hundred.
Putting the sixty-year-old and hundred-year-old wild ginseng roots back, Su Qing took out the eighty-year-old one. She planned to sell this one to the An Family.
From what had happened last time, the people of the An Family seemed decent enough. Moreover, from what Fang Lutian had said, they were in urgent need of an old ginseng.
That being the case, Su Qing figured she could make another profit.
There was just one problem: Su Qing couldn’t find the business card Fang Lutian had given her. She remembered not putting it in her space, instead just tucking it into her pocket. She vaguely recalled taking it out after she got home, but now she couldn’t find it anywhere.
Thankfully, when she had gotten the card that day, Su Qing had glanced at the address. She knew the general location; she just couldn’t remember the specific house number.
’Forget it. No point in looking anymore.’ Su Qing decided to just go over there directly. ’It’s in that general area, anyway. If I knock on the wrong door, I’ll just ask. They’re all neighbors; they should know one another, right?’
Following the address from memory, Su Qing made her way to the block of courtyard homes on East County Street. After looking left and right for a moment, she picked a door and knocked.
The door was opened by a young man in his twenties. He sized Su Qing up and asked, "Pardon me, who are you looking for?"
’A Feng found it quite strange. The Young Master had bought up all the houses in this block. Usually, no one came by except family. What was this young lady here for?’
Su Qing quickly smiled and asked, "Excuse me, does Fang Lutian live here?"
A Feng said in surprise, "You’re looking for Uncle Tian?"
Su Qing’s heart leaped with joy. ’I actually guessed right! My luck is really good.’ Her smile grew even brighter. "Yes. Uncle Fang asked me about ginseng. He said that if I got my hands on any, I should come find him, and he gave me this address. Is he home?"
"Ah, so it’s about the ginseng!" A Feng was secretly thrilled. ’The Young Master’s supply is almost gone, and I was just worrying about it. And now, someone with ginseng shows up right at our door!’ Assuming Fang Lutian had given Su Qing this specific address, he quickly ushered her into the courtyard. "Please, come in, come in! Have a seat inside. Uncle Tian isn’t back yet, but he should return a little later. You can come in and wait."
"Okay, thank you."
A Feng showed Su Qing into the living room, poured her some tea, and brought out fruit and snacks, the very picture of hospitality. "Have some refreshments. I’ll go call Uncle Tian and ask when he’ll be back."
"Alright, thank you very much." Su Qing gave A Feng a polite nod.
Su Qing had just taken a sip of tea when she suddenly heard a faint cough from the next room, followed by a young man’s voice. "A Feng, bring me a glass of warm water."
When no one responded, the man called out twice more, "A Feng? A Feng!"
Su Qing thought for a moment, then walked to the door of that room, pushed it open gently, and said, "He went to make a phone call. Do you need help?"
An Zhihan had just woken up. He had been coughing badly for the past few days, and his throat felt dry and hoarse, with a dull ache in his chest. He had wanted to ask A Feng to pour him a glass of warm water for some relief but never expected a young woman to walk in.
For a moment, An Zhihan was stunned. "Excuse me, who are you?"
Su Qing saw the crutches and wheelchair by the bed and understood. She said, "You wanted a glass of warm water, right? Let me help you. I’m here to see Uncle Fang. A Feng went to call him, so he probably didn’t hear you."
"Ah, thank you very much." An Zhihan’s throat was uncomfortably dry and hoarse. He looked at Su Qing. "You’re here to see Uncle Tian?"
"Yes." Su Qing spotted a thermos in the room, so she poured a glass of water and brought it to An Zhihan’s bedside. Seeing that he was still lying down, she offered, "Let me help you up."
"No, it’s alright, thank you. I can manage." An Zhihan quickly propped himself up, leaning against the headboard as he took the glass of water from Su Qing. "Thank you so much. Sorry to trouble you."
"It’s no problem at all. It was nothing." Su Qing smiled as she looked at An Zhihan. ’Honestly,’ she thought, ’this man is the most handsome person I have ever seen in my life. He’s truly a sight for sore eyes. The old saying is right: a beautiful person always lifts one’s spirits.’
’I’m quite lucky today,’ Su Qing thought, ’to have seen such a handsome young man. And when he looked at me, his gaze was calm.’
’Ever since I arrived in this world, no matter who it was, their eyes couldn’t lie. The moment they saw me, even if they said nothing, their gaze would first land on my left cheek, their eyes filled with disgust, pity, or sympathy.’
That alone was enough to make Su Qing see An Zhihan in a higher light.