Chapter 22: An Unexpected Encounter with a Stranger

Page (1/3)

Wu Meixia’s words made sense. After turning the matter over in her mind, Tong Lingxian ultimately decided not to take Fang Mingxi to the fields.

The instant she finally relented, Fang Mingxi threw her arms around Tang Yao and planted a fierce kiss on her cheek. Then she broke into a smile, and a trickle of liquid ran from the corner of her mouth.

Wonderful, wonderful! She did not have to go to the fields. Her grand money-making enterprise could begin again.

Tang Yao was delighted too. She wiped away the drool that had landed on her without the slightest trace of disgust, then turned and went back into the house to tidy up before heading into the mountains.

Seeing how happy the two children were, Tong Lingxian and Fang Bosong unexpectedly found themselves a little jealous. This little one was not clingy with her grandparents at all, unlike other children.

Still, Yaoyao and Xixi were as close as sisters, and that was a great comfort to them. Meixia was right. There were no other children their age here—only the two of them. If they did not play together, the adults would never feel at ease.

The two elders put their minds at rest. After reminding the girls to be careful, they took their water flasks and set off for work.

....

Up in the mountains, Tang Yao walked skillfully along the narrow path they had opened up over the past few days. Avoiding the surrounding brambles, she used a stick to search through the grass for wild-chicken eggs.

Ever since discovering white sweet potatoes on Red Leaf Mountain to the north, she had not gone south again.

The first reason was safety. The second was that she no longer had to worry about accidentally revealing her secret. The third was that no one had set foot here, so nearly everything could be enjoyed exclusively by them.

The newly opened path had gradually widened as more people traveled along it these past few days, and it was no longer so difficult to walk.

But today, there seemed to be a stranger on the mountain. The moment the two girls reached the top, they saw an elderly woman in her fifties, her hair more than half gray, emerge from the woods beside them with a wicker basket on her back.

Both sides were startled. It was the first time either had encountered another person in this stretch of forest.

Even Fang Mingxi immediately withdrew her gaze from the panel and refrained from activating the mountain exploration function.

Lin Jiangmei looked at the two children who had climbed the mountain alone, especially Fang Mingxi on Tang Yao’s back. “Why have you come to this part of the forest? Don’t you know that hardly anyone comes to the northern side?”

Tang Yao grew nervous again and hurriedly looked away. “We live at the foot of the mountain. I brought my little sister up to gather firewood.”

At the foot of the mountain? Lin Jiangmei furrowed her brow, quickly glancing at the houses below. She understood at once.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

“Then be careful. Very few people come to the northern side, so don’t go too deep into the mountains,” she admonished them.

Tang Yao nodded. “I understand. Thank you, Grandma. We’ll be careful.”

After giving them her warning, Lin Jiangmei walked into the forest to Tang Yao’s right. As she passed them, she cast a sidelong glance at Fang Mingxi, then looked away a second later.

Fang Mingxi seemed to sense something and looked over in confusion. There was something very strange about that woman’s gaze. Could she know her?

Was she from their production brigade, or from another one? At this hour, everyone should have been working in the fields. Why had she come up the mountain?

Fang Mingxi carefully studied Lin Jiangmei’s back. The woman wore a coarse linen shirt and trousers with a patch near one cuff. Fortunately, her clothes were clean and neat. She might not have come from a wealthy family, but she clearly did not seem like a rural woman either.

Fang Mingxi wanted to take a closer look, but Lin Jiangmei walked quickly. Before long, she vanished from sight, leaving Fang Mingxi time only to glimpse the weeds inside her basket.

A basket full of weeds. Fang Mingxi’s gaze darkened. She seemed to recognize what they were.

White flowers, fibrous roots, several flower spikes, and long stems—wasn’t that plantain?

Plantain could be used to treat coughs. It was a medicinal herb familiar to many people, especially in the countryside, where those whose coughs would not improve often went straight up the mountain to gather it.

Fang Mingxi had eaten it herself as a child, and her rural grandparents had once explained its medicinal properties to her.

Thus, the moment she saw the plantain, she recognized it.

That elderly woman had certainly not come up the mountain at this hour to earn work points in the fields. If the basket was filled with medicinal herbs, then her identity was obvious.

She was the doctor at the Red Leaf Brigade clinic. Fang Mingxi had heard her grandparents mention the woman in passing when she first arrived. The reason her fever had subsided so quickly was entirely because the brigade leader had taken her to the clinic to get medicine.

Although the original Fang Mingxi had ultimately failed to survive, the kindness remained real and substantial.

Her grandfather had already repaid the brigade leader’s kindness. Now they ought to thank the doctor as well. After all, Fang Mingxi’s status was awkward. If she happened to encounter someone tough-minded, they could simply refuse to treat her.

Fang Mingxi tapped the exploration function. Once the mountain forest had been mapped, she found a red dot on the map. Fortunately, Lin Jiangmei had not gone far. She was currently digging for something about five hundred meters away.

Fang Mingxi immediately searched the map for plants associated with medicinal herbs. In the blink of an eye, she spotted several ginseng plants three hundred meters from the red dot.

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

She selected all the ginseng plants on the map panel, then manually shifted her position to a spot several meters from Lin Jiangmei. Only after making sure there were no additional red dots on the map did Fang Mingxi jump down from Tang Yao’s back. Holding her hand, she led her toward the food.

.....

After Lin Jiangmei and Tang Yao went their separate ways, Lin Jiangmei stopped not far away. Watching through the trees, she saw that the girls were not heading deeper into the mountains and finally felt reassured enough to continue digging wild vegetables beneath the trees.

Just as Fang Mingxi had guessed, she was the doctor at the clinic. She had come up the mountain today to gather medicinal herbs and take them back to dry.

Her transfer to the clinic had been an act of self-preservation. On the surface, it appeared that she had volunteered to serve the people by coming to the countryside, but in truth, she had merely been seeking refuge from that sweeping political upheaval.

Neither Lin Jiangmei’s students nor her former classmates had made it through that calamity unscathed. Some had been sent down to the countryside, others to labor farms. In any case, not one of them remained properly employed at a hospital in the capital.

Lin Jiangmei herself had escaped by sheer luck, thanks to an early warning. Even so, some people had never stopped watching her, waiting specifically for an opportunity to find fault with her.

Because of this, she did not dare make a public show of applying to the county for supplies. She could only follow official procedure: whenever she could have the brigade leader handle something, she left it to him. Only when that was impossible did she come up the mountain to search for substitute medicines.

Today was Lin Jiangmei’s first time visiting the northern side of Red Leaf Mountain. She had not expected to encounter the two children from the cowshed so soon after arriving—one of the little girls was even the infant she had saved the last time.

At the time, Fang Mingxi’s fever had been at least forty degrees Celsius. Lin Jiangmei had genuinely feared that such a tiny child might not survive. Yet after only a few days apart, not only had she seen the girl again, she had found her full of energy.

Lin Jiangmei had never married in her life, but she loved children dearly. Seeing that Fang Mingxi was safe and well, she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The adults had been sent down for reeducation. What had such a young child done to deserve punishment? Lin Jiangmei had struggled for quite some time before deciding to save her.

Now, it seemed fortunate that she had not stood by and done nothing. Otherwise, if such an adorable little girl had died, she could not bear to imagine how heartbroken her family would have been.

Lin Jiangmei had gathered nearly enough medicinal herbs. She turned the small hoe around and tossed it into her basket.

She was about to descend the mountain and sort the herbs when she stood up and happened to see several red plants hidden among the grass not far away.

Page (3/3)