"Indeed, I was curious and wanted to take a peek earlier, but the entrance was guarded by several burly men with an imposing presence. One fierce look from them nearly made me wet my pants. I ran away immediately, without even knowing who the owner is."
"I advise you not to get involved in this. If the gatekeepers are already that menacing, the owner must be even more frightening. Perhaps he’s not showing himself because he has a hideous face."
"Yeah, yeah, I guess I’ll take a detour from now on. I wonder who this person of importance could be and what they’re doing in our small village?"
Upon hearing these discussions, Ji Xinhe suddenly remembered the horse carriage that passed by her house earlier. She paused a bit, wondering if it’s linked to the person they’re talking about.
Has a wealthy family really moved into their remote little mountain village?
Apparently, Aunt Lin also heard the discussion and couldn’t help but interject: "Indeed, wealthy families are different, you see. The mansion was initially built by a wealthy resident from town because they owned several hundred acres of farmland in our village. Whenever the master’s family members came by for inspections and needed a place to stay, they used the mansion. But after they sold the farmlands, they naturally didn’t need the mansion anymore. It has been vacant for a year now and I didn’t expect someone to move into it now."
Ji Xinhe listened but didn’t take the matter to heart. She only nodded in agreement: "I see."
Seeing that Ji Xinhe wasn’t very interested, Aunt Lin decided not to continue the conversation: "You should get going up the mountain, I should go back."
"Alright."
Ji Xinhe led Xiao Bei up the mountain. Having no strangers around, Xiao Bei came back to life and said cheerfully while swinging Ji Xinhe’s hand: "I know the mansion! Last time Gou Dan led us to that area to catch crickets. I climbed up a big tree and peeked into the mansion. It’s a beautiful mansion, but the main door was closed, so we couldn’t go in. I could only watch from afar. The mansion is much much bigger than our house!"
Ji Xinhe smiled: "Do you like that mansion, Xiao Bei? How about we live in a mansion like that one day?"
Xiao Bei, thinking Ji Xinhe was just teasing him, giggled and said: "Xiao Bei will grow up quickly, earn money and live in such a mansion!"
The siblings went up the mountain, with Xiao Bei earnestly focused on digging wild vegetables. Whether eaten or sold in town, they could bring in a copper coin or two.
As Ji Xinhe was digging, she was also on the lookout for business opportunities.
It’s said that the big mountains are full of treasures, and if you’re lucky, you could even find ginseng. However, this luck is limited to those whose ancestors’ tombs are radiating with luck.
Ji Xinhe clearly didn’t have that luck as she couldn’t find any valuable items after a half day’s hard work.
Now in autumn, it should be a fruitful season and the mountain should have plenty of wild fruits. But this mountain provided for several villages and the fruits were usually picked clean as soon as they ripened. There was little chance for them to get any.
Only a few bare branches can be seen, looking pathetic and desolate.
"The wild fruits here are picked so thoroughly, there’s not a single one left." Ji Xinhe commented.
"Anything edible on the mountain will be picked clean. It’s nearly winter now, even the wild vegetables on the mountain are diminishing."
They were all poor families, there is no reason to leave any good thing untouched.
Ji Xinhe frowned, her gaze scanning the surroundings. Suddenly, she noticed a strand of vine wrapped around some shrubs with bunches of black grapes hanging on it.
Ji Xinhe’s eyes lit up: "Xiao Bei, do you see what that is?"
Xiao Bei looked over and blinked: "Aren’t those wild grapes? But those grapes in that area are very sour, not edible at all. That’s why no one picked them."
Ji Xinhe quickly rushed over for a look. Indeed, it was a large patch of wild grapes. She picked one and put it into her mouth. She puckered up her face from the acid, almost losing a tooth.
Ji Xinhe spat out the grape, and Xiao Bei giggled: "I told you they were sour, but you didn’t believe me."
Ji Xinhe squeezed Xiao Bei’s cheek while her eyes sparkled with excitement: "Silly boy, others may not want these sour grapes, but we must keep them!"
"What do you mean?" Xiao Bei looked at Ji Xinhe in confusion, not understanding at all.
But Ji Xinhe disregarded that, placed her basket backpack down, and started picking grapes: "Let’s pick the grapes first. These wild grapes might help us earn a fortune."
Wild sour grapes taste awful when eaten raw, but they are perfect for making fruit wine. The last time Ji Xinhe was in town, she inquired about the prices of many items, including the high price of grape wine.
According to the tavern owner, grape wine was sold by blue-eyed, bearded merchants from foreign countries and was much more valuable than ordinary wine. If she could make her own, wouldn’t it bring in a fortune?
Ji Xinhe was excited. It turned out that to find business opportunities, one must seek them out. This time, she felt like she hit the jackpot, picking up so much free raw material.
Although Xiao Bei didn’t understand, he always trusted his sister. Seeing her so excited, he too was energized, and quickly rolled up his sleeves to start picking grapes, busying himself with the task.
In the end, Ji Xinhe picked a basket backpack full of wild grapes and Xiaobei also had a handful. The basket was eventually filled to the brim.
"Since no one is going to steal these wild grapes left here, it’ll be the same if we come back tomorrow. Let’s go, it’s getting late, and our brother will worry if we’re late." Ji Xinhe was in a great mood. She held Xiao Bei’s hand and they happily descended the mountain. After a whole day of hard work, they didn’t feel tired at all. Ji Xinhe was cheerfully picturing her grand plan to get rich!
When they returned home, Ji Dong was amazed by the bunch of sour grapes they brought back: "What are you going to do with these unpalatable grapes? They are so sour that they could make you lose teeth."
Ji Xinhe lowered her voice and said with a smug: "Brother, you don’t know, even sour grapes have their uses. It’s a waste to just leave them lying around. If we use these grapes to make grape wine, wouldn’t we make a fortune?"
Ji Dong looked surprised: "Grape wine?"
He had heard of it but thought it was an item only rich people could afford, something that was beyond his reach, so he never thought about it.
Ji Xinhe nodded vigorously: "Last time when I went to town, I bumped into a blue-eyed, bearded merchant from a foreign country. He was drinking wine on the side of the road and after having too much, he started talking about how he made grape wine. I listened secretly at the side and learnt it. We can definitely make it ourselves, especially now that we have these free raw materials. We really don’t have to spend much to make the wine. Moreover, grape wine is very valuable!"
Upon hearing this, even Ji Dong’s eyes sparkled: "Are you sure you heard it clearly?"
"Absolutely! I remember it clearly! We can definitely make it!" Ji Xinhe nodded repeatedly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
