Chapter 34 Life is Hard

Nanshan Village is located in the north of Daqing Dynasty. It has distinct climates throughout the year and only one season of crops, mainly corn and millet.

In the summer, after hoeing the fields, there is not much farm work, so the farmers have a lot of free time.

Diligent villagers will go into the mountains to pick mushrooms and dig herbs.

Relying on her memory, Chen Qingqing walked three or four miles before arriving at the ditch of Nanshan Village.

In early July, the trees on the mountain are lush and green.

When they reached halfway up the mountain, Chen Qingqing took Chen Han to search in the woods for a while. There were still many common medicinal herbs in the mountains, but they couldn't be sold at the moment, so she just took a look.

What she was looking for was ginseng. If she could dig up a ginseng now, the difficulties at home would be solved.

The higher we climbed, the steeper the road became, and the darkness all around seemed a bit creepy.

Chen Qingqing knew that ginseng preferred a cool, humid climate and was very cold-resistant.

She bent down and dug the soil and found that the soil here was loose, rich in humus, and had very good water permeability. The deep soil layer was especially suitable for the growth of ginseng. She was confident that she could find ginseng.

Chen Han followed behind with great effort. Looking at the increasingly dense forest, the fear in his heart was also deepening. His face turned pale with fear.

"Sister, I heard from Dad that there are wolves in the deep mountains. Let's not go in. I'm scared."

Chen Qingqing looked at the sweat on Chen Han's forehead. She was indeed careless. Chen Han was only eight years old, and it was amazing that he could follow her so far.

Forget it, it won’t take long to dig ginseng, I’d better do it myself another day!

"Don't be afraid, there's nothing in this mountain. Let's go back now."

Chen Han finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Sister, I know where to find some wild vegetables. I'll take you there to dig them!"

"OK,"

Walking back, passing a valley,

Chen Han pointed with his hand, "Sister, go in through this ditch, there are a lot of old mountain celery in there."

"Let's go and take a look."

After passing through a patch of thorns, they found a lot of wild vegetables. They picked some and didn't get anything else.

The setting sun shines through the village, making it golden.

Lin was making a fire and cooking. Seeing the two of them coming back exhausted, she smiled and asked, "How are things? Did you dig up any wild vegetables?"

Chen Han smiled and said, "Mom, my sister and I dug up a lot of wild celery, enough for dinner."

"Okay, Mom will cook wild vegetable porridge for you tonight."

Chen Han was quite happy. Compared to the half bowl of porridge he had before the family split up, he was already very content to be able to eat a full bowl.

"Okay, I love wild vegetable porridge the most. It tastes salty with a little salt. Just thinking about it makes it taste good."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Zhanshan walked in from the gate with his head down.

Lin hurried over to greet him, "Boss, you're back. Do you have any work to do today?"

"Hey~~Don't mention it."

Chen Zhanshan found a bench and sat down.

"I waited at the dock for a whole day, and finally an employer came. But who knew he was so picky, only looking for young and strong men. People of my age don't want anyone at all.

They say older people are lazy and slacking off at work. That's bullshit! I've been doing farm work for half my life and I've never been lazy. It really makes me so angry."

A trace of bitterness flashed in Lin's eyes. "Don't worry, take your time, and you'll find work eventually."

Chen Zhanshan shook his head and sighed, "There are hundreds, even thousands, of people looking for work at the docks. Some can't find work for ten days or half a month. Even if they can find work, the wages they get are barely enough to buy two steamed buns, which is barely enough to feed one person, let alone a family."

After he finished speaking, he paused and continued, "Mother, I want to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Today, when I was waiting for work at the dock, I heard someone say that foreigners could hire laborers and make a lot of money. I wanted to give it a try."

"Going to a foreign land? Are you crazy?" Lin was horrified. "Dad, don't be foolish. Many people have ventured to foreign lands before, but they never came back. Rumor has it that those people became money-making tools for others and were tortured to a point where their lives were worse than death. I would rather starve to death than let you go."

Chen Qingqing frowned when she heard this. The extra work was nothing more than some illegal labor.

Those who were tricked into going to the extra-territory not only had to endure the torture of severe cold and hunger, but even if they were seriously ill, they would be whipped. Not only did they have to work day and night, but even a moment of slackness could result in death.

She looked serious and said, "Dad, those are all tricks. You can't take the risk. Believe me, I will find a way to make money."

Chen Zhanshan felt upset. He didn't want his family to suffer, but what could he do in this time of year? Everyone was thinking about making money to support their family, but money was not that easy to earn!

He forced a smile and said, "Qing girl, let me think about this. If I really can't make any money, I would rather work as a laborer than watch you die."

"Dad, please believe me. If I can't make money before our family runs out of food, I won't let you go out to work as a laborer, even if I marry Li the butcher."

Chen Zhanshan sighed, "My dear, let's not talk about this matter for now. As the saying goes, even the blind sparrow will not starve to death. I will go to the town tomorrow and I don't believe I won't be able to find a job."

"Oh~~ That's the right thing to think about. Okay, I'll go make dinner." Lin breathed a sigh of relief, got up and started to get busy.

Chen Qingqing lowered her eyes and said nothing. The road ahead is long and arduous. The poor reborn person has nothing.

It seems that she must go up the mountain to find ginseng to solve the current dilemma. But if ginseng is so easy to dig, will it be her turn?

......

It was getting dark.

Chen's old house,

Sun kept stretching her neck to look into her mother-in-law's room.

Chen Zhanliang got into bed early. Seeing that Sun had no intention of getting on the kang, he hurriedly lifted the quilt and said, "Wife, it's getting late. What are you doing standing on the ground? Get into bed quickly!"

Sun rolled her eyes at him angrily, "Go away, I don't feel like playing with you today, go to sleep!"

"What's wrong, wife? I haven't been to your place for several days. Could it be that you are closing the door to visitors today?"

"Look at your lack of talent. All you can think about is doing that thing. You can't think of anything else."

Chen Zhanliang was stunned. "All I do all day is work. I don't think about this when I lie on the kang at night. What do you want me to think about? You don't even let me think about other people's wives!"

"You are a bit serious. I am telling you something serious."

Sun sat down on the edge of the kang with a serious expression.

"Zhanliang, you saw everything that happened today. That butcher Li looks like a demon. His words and actions are no different from those of a living animal. Anyone who gets involved with a person like him will be skinned alive."

"Wife, you're right. That butcher Li has a face full of flesh, and it's scary to look at. If you mess with a guy like that, you're bound to get into trouble."

"So, your mother is such a piece of shit. She married her own granddaughter to a man like that just for the third child to go to school. Isn't that pushing Qing girl into the fire pit?" Sun looked angry.

......