Chapter 38: Hidden Excitement
It was the crack of dawn, and the restaurant was just starting to get busy.
Some fellows went out to buy vegetables, while the chef lit a fire and boiled water in preparation for breakfast.
After breakfast, Heng Yi, Han Qiao, and the others boarded a carriage driven by Bai He and went back to Xishan Village.
Han Qiao remembered to buy silk flowers for the children. One silk flower cost five cash. Han Qiao counted up all the nieces in the house. There were thirty-two in total. To get one for each of them, she negotiated a price of four cash per flower.
After paying, they carried them out of the shop. Uncle Yao looked at them disapprovingly and said, "You're spending money again."
"I promised to buy the kids some flowers."
One silk flower for each of them. The colors were all different, and so were the styles. She would allow them to pick whatever color they wanted.
Uncle Yao looked at Han Qiao.
He felt that this niece of his was completely different from before.
She was tough and magnanimous.
She knew how to persevere, but also how to be grateful.
She was pretty good.
They returned to Xishan Village.
Uncle Yao called a few of his strong nephews. They went with him and Heng Yi into the mountains. Jimintang also sent five people who were good at digging ginseng to follow him. If they encountered any good medicinal herbs on the way, they wouldn't let them go.
Han Qiao called her nieces over to distribute the silk flowers. She let them choose whatever flower they wanted.
One girl had never seen such a beautiful silk flower before. Picking one of them, she said, overjoyed, "Thank you, Aunty."
"Thank you, Aunty Qiao."
Han Qiao watched as so many people followed Heng Yi into the mountains. She was envious, but she didn't say anything rash.
She told the children that they could sell dried grass for seven coins a catty after it was washed and dried, and calamus would go for six a catty.
The children were glad to hear that there was money to be made. To them, a few cash was an astronomical amount.
If they could dry enough to make two or three catties a day, they would be set for an entire month.
If they kept it up for an entire year, they would make even more.
But they also understood that they couldn't do such work every day. They still had to do housework, take care of their younger siblings, and feed the pigs.
A few of them were intending to call it a day.
There weren't very many children who could actually go out and collect herbs. Moreover, there was only so much dried grass and calamus in the vicinity. How much would they actually come back with?
They were hoping their auntie would treat them again.
"Auntie, we'll collect some and give them to you."
"Auntie, if I find some, I'll give it to you, too."
Han Qiao laughed. "Alright. I'll treat you all to some candy when the time comes."
After she had finished passing out the rest of the flowers, Han Qiao went to work.
There was a lot of work to be done at the new house. Han Qiao had just learned from Father Han that Uncle Yao brought his cousins to the mountains to find a few good trees and carry them back to use as beams for her house.
"Mother..."
Lady Han Yuan looked at her and smiled. "Aren't you touched?"
"Yes. Only today did I realize how good my uncles are to me."
"Your grandparents did a very good job raising their children, especially your grandmother. She's a very smart old lady. If she came from a better background, then our household would have some more money, and your father, uncle and the others wouldn't be cooped up in this ravine." Han Yuan was very emotional.
Back then, their horizons were very shallow, so when their youngest brother was saving up money to go into business, they were hesitant.
With a moment of hesitation, they wanted to go out for the rest of their lives. They didn't have the courage and missed a good opportunity.
Han Qiao acknowledged that and gently hugged Han Yuan's shoulder. "Mother, our family will not stay in this ravine forever."
Han Yuan smiled.
Heading out into the mountains was easier said than done.
She didn't dare to imagine that she would ever be able to do so in this lifetime.
The sky was almost dark before Heng Yi and his men came down the mountain.
Uncle Yao and the others were carrying some big logs down the mountain. They also had killed some wild boars.
The faces of the people from Jimintang, who had gone to dig for ginseng, were all rosy. It was obvious that they had found what they were looking for.
Before they left, they said to Heng Yi, "You can bring those little ginsengs in your hands to Jimintang whenever you want to sell them."
"Okay!"
"Goodbye."
Following Uncle Yao's instructions, the boar meat was split among the family. Since the weather was hot, they decided to bring a lot of it over to Han Qiao's house to cook.
Father Han readily agreed.
A few uncles had come over to help. The aunties, too, rushed over to help. They didn't come empty-handed–each was carrying some grain with them.
After all, with a big family coming over, they were going to need a lot of food.
Uncle Yao invited Heng Yi to stay for dinner.
Heng Yi nodded.
He looked at Han Qiao, who was busy in the crowd.
Heng Yi quickly averted his gaze and pretended to look at something else.
He slaughtered a pig, cooked some rice, steamed some buns with coarse grains, cooked a few pumpkins and fried cucumbers.
After the food was brought to the table, the children ate heartily. The adults drank some wine and chatted happily.
Han Dalang stayed at Heng Yi's side. "The house has been cleaned. We've already smoked out the mosquitos."
"Alright, thank you for the trouble."
Out of everyone in the entire Han family, only Uncle Yao could tell what Heng Yi was thinking at that moment.
He smiled and touched his face.
He went home happily.
Aunt Yao couldn't help but ask him, "Why are you smiling?"
"You wouldn't understand."
She sighed. "I say, Old Han..."
When Uncle Yao saw that his wife was about to lose her temper, he pacified her, "I can't tell you about this right now. When it's over, I'll tell you. I definitely won't hide it from you."
"What's so mysterious about it?"
Uncle Yao gave her a mysterious smile, then said, "Our old Han family might be in luck."
"By the grace of the gods."
Meanwhile at the Han house, Han Qiao was sitting in the yard to cool off, having just gotten out of the bath. The children were already in their room, exchanging silk flower outfits with each other.
They were careful not to ruin the flowers.
Heng Yi soon came out of the bath. He was wearing Han Dalang's clothes, which were a little tight.
Father Han called him over to the side to talk.
"Is hunting in the mountains dangerous?" Father Han asked.
"Yes, when you run into fierce beasts, such as wolves, lions, tigers, leopards and bears, you'll understand what I mean.."
"Have you ever had a run in with one before?" Father Han asked curiously.
"I've killed two tigers and two bears, but I had helpers."
Generally, it was not easy to find tigers and bears.
They only would appear if you went really deep into the mountains and forests.
They rarely would go down the mountain and enter the village.
Humans were afraid of tigers, but tigers were afraid of fireworks.
Heng Yi liked to chat with Father Han. As they chatted, father Han asked, "Are you married? How many children do you have?"
"I'm not married yet."
"..."
Father Han was surprised. "That shouldn't be. You've killed a tiger. You must have earned a fortune for that. Why aren't you married?"
"I got engaged twice, but the other party would always break off the engagement. I've yet to meet anyone suitable for me."
"Oh..."
Father Han wondered if any of the girls in his home would be suitable for Heng Yi? If he did, he would let Heng Yi know.
Father Han wasn't even considering Han Qiao.
It wasn't that his daughter was bad, but he felt that since Heng Yi had never been married before, he wouldn't fall for Han Qiao.
He didn't want him to embarrass himself.
"Why don't you let my brother's wife keep an eye out for you?"
Heng Yi was ecstatic when he heard that.
However, he was afraid that the person he wanted to marry was not the same person father Han had in mind, so he hurriedly said, "I don't want to get married for the time being."
"Why?" Father Han asked in confusion.
"I want to wait until I have a house. I can't make a lady follow me when I don't even have a place to stay."
After Heng Yi said that, he looked in Han Qiao's direction.
He couldn't see Han Qiao's expression clearly in the darkness. All he could see were her bright eyes.
She seemed to be looking at him as well.
Han Qiao was indeed looking at Heng Yi. She didn't expect to hear those words come out of his mouth.
He was quite a responsible man.
However, she was puzzled. Granny Heng was so fierce and irrational. How did she give birth to a son like him?
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