Chapter 78: Why the Road Wasn’t Paved
Jian Xingxia quickly explained, “Uncle Hu, no, it’s not buying things this time. It’s selling things.”
Sister Yu and the big brother also poked their heads out. “We’re here to buy chestnuts!”
“Chestnuts? You mean the ones you gave us to try a couple of days ago, Xiaxia?”
Every time Jian Xingxia went to the village to borrow tools or sell things, she would hand out some mountain goods to the villagers. Everyone had tasted her chestnuts.
However, to the villagers, chestnuts were really nothing special. Which household didn’t have a few chestnut trees? What was so rare about them that it warranted driving a truck into the mountains in the middle of the night just to buy them?
Worrying that these two might be scammers, Uncle Hu called Wei Liang over, and they followed the truck into the mountains together.
Sure enough, after driving for two kilometers, the small truck could go no further.
The big brother said to his wife, “Xiaoyu, the rest of the road is too bumpy. Just wait in the truck. There are mosquitoes outside, so roll up the windows and keep the air conditioning on.”
Sister Yu nodded in agreement.
Jian Xingxia got out of the vehicle and led the village official Uncle Hu, Wei Liang, and the big brother as they walked toward the old house. The small truck kept its high beams on, illuminating the path where there were no streetlights.
Before coming, the big brother had only thought about getting his wife something good to eat. Now, walking along the mountain path, his heart began to pound a bit nervously. Even though Jian Xingxia was just a young girl, Uncle Hu and Wei Liang were two grown men. The big brother rubbed his stomach, feeling a bit worried about whether he could take on three people by himself if anything happened.
Fortunately, they reached the old house smoothly.
When Jian Xingxia opened the courtyard gate, a flock of chickens, ducks, and the goose rushed over, crowding around her to beg for food. Jian Xingxia first grabbed two handfuls of the rice bran and wheat chaff left over from the last time she milled grain, along with a handful of wild greens, and threw them to the flock before heading inside to fetch the chestnuts.
The old house had electricity. The moment the lights turned on, the tense atmosphere was instantly dispelled by the warm glow.
Seeing the chickens, ducks, and the goose, the big brother felt a lot more at ease. This is definitely not a den of scammers. And the chestnuts really are completely natural.
Uncle Hu and Wei Liang helped Jian Xingxia carry the rock-solid frozen chestnuts out of the chest freezer. Jian Xingxia had pre-packaged them all into bags, exceptionally neat and orderly. There were also some in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator.
Looking at the chestnuts, the big brother smiled happily. “Wonderful, truly wonderful.”
Jian Xingxia felt a little self-conscious. “These are just wild chestnuts I picked from the mountains myself. The pot and stove used to boil them are just from my own home, and the refrigerator and freezer are…”
The sanitary conditions couldn’t compare to a proper food processing and retail facility, but there was absolutely no problem eating them.
The big brother chuckled. “It’s fine. Ever since my wife got pregnant, her nose, tongue, and stomach are more sensitive than a detector. If there’s even a hint of something un-fresh or any additives, she can smell it instantly, and it won’t even make it down to her stomach.”
Seeing that the big brother could accept it, things became much easier.
“Big Brother, there are one hundred and seventy-six bags here in total. It’s fifteen yuan for two bags, covering both the sweet and original flavors. The total comes to one thousand three hundred and twenty yuan, but you can just give me one thousand three hundred. I’ll throw in some homegrown peaches from my yard as a bonus.”
The big brother paid readily. “All right, I’ve transferred it to you.”
Jian Xingxia was absolutely delighted.
Adding the 1,282 yuan she had made earlier at the compound gate, she had earned a grand total of 2,582 yuan today. Several days’ worth of chestnut inventory had been completely cleared out.
Standing to the side, Uncle Hu and Wei Liang were filled with envy. Having worked in poverty alleviation for so many years, they naturally knew that chestnuts could fetch money. However, when the villagers took the chestnuts they sparsely grew to the major market every season, they could only sell them for three yuan a catty. Jian Xingxia’s original flavor fetched seven and a half yuan a catty, and the rock sugar flavor sold for the same price for just six mace. With just a little bit of processing, the price could double.
A bittersweet feeling welled up in both their hearts—relying on farming for poverty alleviation was just too slow. They still had to develop a commercial economy to catch up with the prices and wage levels of the outside world.
The three of them helped the big brother carry the hundred-plus catties of chestnuts to the truck.
Sister Yu let out a long sigh of relief and said, “Thank goodness there are streetlights further back. Otherwise, it’s pitch black ahead, which is quite terrifying.”
Wei Liang scratched his head. “Back then, we wanted to pave the road all the way to the old house in one go, but Xiaxia’s maternal grandmother wouldn’t allow it.”
In fact, half of the path leading from the village to the old house sat on land owned by Jian Xingxia’s grandmother. The villagers simply couldn’t understand why, when it was a matter of convenience and funded by state subsidies, her grandmother stubbornly insisted on leaving a section unpaved and refused to let them work on it.
The villagers didn’t understand, but Jian Xingxia did.
First, a paved concrete road would easily cause astonishment among the temporary workers who first arrived at the estate. Her grandmother had likely been too lazy to explain, so she simply left a few hundred meters unpaved.
Second, without the concrete road leading directly to the front door, anyone coming to the old house would have to walk an extra distance after getting out of their vehicle, or experience a bumpy ride on a bicycle or tricycle. Remaining in the old house, her grandmother could easily notice their approach. This was much more “secure” than having the villagers burst directly to the front door out of nowhere. At the very least, it bought time for the temporary workers to retreat.
Jian Xingxia rolled the tricycle down from the truck bed and rode the bumpy path back to the old house by herself. Uncle Hu and Wei Liang rode with the big brother back to the village.
Once they reached the village, the big brother and Sister Yu said their goodbyes and drove off with the chestnuts.
The villagers had finished their dinners and were currently out catching the breeze and chatting. They all began asking Uncle Hu and Wei Liang about the situation.
“Why did another truck go to Xiaxia’s place?” “What did they buy?” “Xiaxia didn’t buy anything. I heard her shout earlier; the people in the vehicle wanted to buy chestnuts.” “Chestnuts? At this time of year?”
Whether it was because it was July and chestnuts were still hanging on the branches, or because it was past six o’clock and the sun had already set, driving all the way into the mountains specifically to buy chestnuts was highly unusual.
Uncle Hu explained, “The people in the vehicle were a married couple. The woman just got pregnant and can’t keep anything down. Xiaxia went to town twice to sell chestnuts, and after trying them once, she loved eating them, so they came to buy them even in the dead of night.”
“Oh, that’s only right then. Carrying a child is truly rough.”
Aside from the kids, most people in the village had been through it and knew that pregnant women had it hard. Especially with morning sickness and vomiting—it was completely beyond human control. Sometimes everything would be perfectly fine, and in the middle of a sentence, they would suddenly open their mouths and throw up. Not being able to eat was an even more common occurrence.
It was only because conditions were better nowadays that people could drive around to buy things. Back in their day, some people had waded into the river in the middle of the night to catch fish and shrimp, or ventured into the mountains in winter to look for dried wild fruits left on the treetops. As long as the pregnant woman could eat it, what method hadn’t they tried?
Everyone began prying further: “Driving a truck to buy them, they must have bought quite a bit, right? How much did Xiaxia sell them for?”
Uncle Hu frowned. “They drove a truck because they needed to bring the tricycle back. Besides, how many chestnuts can a person actually eat? If it were you, even if you stuffed yourself to the brim, how many catties could you manage?”
“Two or three catties, I suppose…”
“Exactly. Even if they bought a bit extra to store, how much could it possibly be?”
“Hey, don’t lose your temper, it was just a casual question. In another two months, the chestnuts at my house will be ripe too, and I’ll head to town to sell them as well.”
As everyone chattered and discussed, someone noted, “It won’t work in another two months. By then, all the chestnuts will be ripe. It won’t be just your household, so you still won’t be able to fetch a good price.”
“Then how come Xiaxia can sell them?”
“She gathered them from the deep mountains. If you have the ability, you go into the mountains too.”
The man chickened out. “There are spirits and monsters in the mountains, I’m not going…”
“Exactly!”
As everyone talked, the conversation drifted back toward spirits and monsters.
