Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 165 Fooling

Xinghua Village, under the paulownia tree at the entrance of the village.

"Xiaoxiang, come here and help your aunt take a look. Is this a ground beetle?" Xiaoxiang and her mother Zhang were stopped by Luo Yanxing's mother Wang as they came down the mountain carrying herbs and firewood.

Xiaoxiang glanced at Zhang, nodded, and walked towards Wang.

Wang sighed and said to Zhang, "Your Xiaoxiang is obedient, unlike my stupid girl who keeps secrets from her family members and keeps silent when asked."

Zhang walked to the stone platform, bent down and placed the backpack on the platform, with a satisfied smile on her face: "Children are all rebellious sometimes, they will be fine slowly."

Then he turned to Xiaoxiang and said, "Go and help your Aunt Wang."

Xiaoxiang didn't go over, but tilted her head to take a look and nodded, "It's the ground-grabbing tiger."

Wang smiled brightly, "Haha, it seems that my eyesight is not blurry yet. I still recognized it correctly."

"At your age, it's already a long time before your eyes become blurry." Zhang said with a smile.

Wang became even happier after hearing this. She also felt that she was still young and could still give birth to a son.

Once I give birth to a son and have him to rely on, I will teach that dead girl a lesson sooner or later.

"Then can you help me calculate how much I can sell this basket of herbs for?" She looked at Xiaoxiang eagerly with a smile on her face.

Xiaoxiang pursed her lips and said, "The clinic only accepts dried ones, and the price of ground tiger is very low, only one penny for two kilograms. Your half basket may not even weigh two kilograms after drying."

Wang was dumbfounded when she heard this, and said anxiously: "No, I have been digging for the whole afternoon, how come I can't make a penny? Didn't you make a lot of money before?

Xiaoxiang, you can't help Yanxing fool your aunt just because you have a good relationship with her."

Zhang also looked at Xiaoxiang seriously and scolded: "Girls, don't lie!"

"I'm not lying. There used to be more ground tigers in the village, so it was easier for us to make money. But at the beginning, it took us three or four days to collect two kilograms." Xiaoxiang explained quickly.

How come I can't earn a penny from this half basket of my belongings?" Wang still refused to believe it.

Seeing that Xiaoxiang didn't seem to be lying and that the weight of the dried grass was indeed much different from the fresh grass, Zhang advised Wang: "You only look a lot, but there won't be much after drying. Isn't it the same when we dry grain?"

"It shouldn't be so little, right?" Wang still couldn't accept it. She worked hard for an entire afternoon, but how could she not earn a penny.

That damn girl managed to save more than six taels of silver in a year. She was a person who was willing to spend money, so I don't know how much of it she spent.

Xiaoxiang reminded him, "Of the silver from Yanxing, four taels were the reward given by the government after we found the fugitive. The herbs didn't actually sell for a lot of money."

Wang said, "The two taels are just what she saved. You guys are so lavish with your money and even go out to eat. Who knows how much you actually spent?"

"We didn't spend much money, and we saved most of what we earned, which is why we have so much."

Xiaoxiang tried to defend herself weakly, but Wang was determined and refused to believe her.

At this time, Aunt Meihua and Zhao Xiaocui also came down from the mountain. She heard the conversation from afar. As soon as she put down her backpack, she waved to Xiaoxiang and said, "Xiaoxiang, come over here and let your aunt know how much this herb costs per pound."

As she spoke, she took out a piece of green grass from her backpack.

Xiaoxiang glanced at Zhao Xiaocui, who shrugged with a helpless look on her face.

Xiaoxiang knew that her aunt didn't believe her cousin and was asking her for confirmation.

She sighed secretly and said, "This should be ephedra. The price the clinic buys it for is quite high, right..."

Before he finished speaking, Luo Yanxing's voice came from the opposite mountain road: "That's not right, this is not ephedra, it's clearly knotweed."

Wang looked up and was immediately furious. She shouted, "Shut up, you troublemaker. It's not enough that you fooled me, you also want to fool your Aunt Meihua!"

Luo Yanxing was not afraid of her at all. She rolled her eyes and said, "I'm not kidding you. This is clearly knotweed. Think about it. There are a lot of them by the river. This is wild grass. Even cows won't eat it."

After she said that, Xiaoxiang became a little uncertain. Ephedra and knotweed are too similar, especially when only the nodes on the top are picked.

They distinguish these two kinds of herbs more based on the growing environment. Those that grow in dry places are mostly ephedra, while those that grow in dark and humid places such as by the water are mostly knotweed.

Of course there are exceptions, and in these cases, Song Ying is the one who makes the distinction.

Wang was now extremely distrustful of her daughter. She glared at Luo Yanxing and said to Aunt Meihua, "Don't listen to what that damn girl says. She's full of lies now, and not a single word of hers is true."

After the previous experience, Aunt Meihua didn't even trust Zhao Xiaocui, let alone the usually bold Luo Yanxing. She looked at Xiaoxiang and said, "Xiaoxiang, you say, Auntie will listen to you."

For a moment, everyone's eyes fell on Xiaoxiang, and Xiaoxiang suddenly felt pressured.

She glanced at Luo Yanxing on the opposite mountain road. Luo Yanxing was also looking at her with nervousness in his eyes.

Xiaoxiang knew that she was not so sure. She had already associated it with what she said about knotweed being a weed, so what was there to not understand?

Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Zhang next to her pushed her and said, "Your aunt is asking you a question, why are you looking at Yan Xing?"

Xiaoxiang secretly swallowed her saliva and stammered, "Ephedra and knotweed look very similar, I'm not too sure."

Hearing her say this, Luo Yanxing on the mountain path breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the road and continued walking down.

"Are they really that similar?" Zhang expressed her doubts, and her tone gradually became stern. "Are there any grasses in the world that look exactly the same?"

Xiaoxiang's scalp tingled and she nodded: "It really looks like it. When we were unsure before, it was Song Ying who came to identify it."

"She can tell the difference, why can't you?" Zhang asked.

"I..." Xiaoxiang didn't know what to say.

Zhao Xiaocui who was standing by said quickly, "Song Ying was taught by Doctor Lin from the clinic, so she naturally knows it more clearly.

Besides, we don’t have as good a memory as hers, and some things will be forgotten after a long time.”

Xiaoxiang breathed a sigh of relief and nodded in agreement.

At this time, Luo Yanxing came down the mountain path and walked to the paulownia tree. She put the backpack on the stone platform, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said, "Ephedra is a fever-reducing medicine. Last year, when you were almost dying, it was us who went to the mountain to dig ephedra to save you.

This is a life-saving medicine, you can't be careless. If you sell wild grass to a clinic as ephedra, and someone dies from it, you will be sued and sent to jail!"

Wang was so angry that she turned around, grabbed a handful of dirt, and threw it at Luo Yanxing: "I'm not afraid of being scared. You have so many tricks all day long, and you're in jail. I think the government should arrest you, an unfilial daughter, and put you in jail!"

It's not that she didn't want to catch something else, but there were no branches, sticks, or small stones around, so she could only throw a handful of dirt which had no deterrent effect.