Chapter 35
◎Digging for Medicinal Herbs◎
At the end of June, the results of the commune’s primary school entrance exam were released. Tangtang ranked first in the entire commune, and Su Juesheng ranked eighteenth. The other four all got into junior high.
In July, Su Juexiao successfully got into Yuanlin Middle School and became a high school student. Wani was not admitted to the secondary school. Her grades ranked fifth in the grade, but because the spots were limited and she didn’t have an advantage in other aspects like mass evaluation, political performance, or sports and arts specialties, she was eliminated.
Every day, Wani would cling to Yu Yahong and beg with pleading eyes, “Mom, I want to study. Even if it’s high school, I want to study!”
“High school? Do you think going to school is that easy? Your dad and I work ourselves to death in the production team every day, carrying manure, shoveling ashes, weeding, plowing, and harvesting. At the end of the day, our two hands and two feet don’t feel like our own, and we only earn 24 cents. The family has no spare money at all. What can we use to support your schooling? In two years, your brother will be of marriageable age. Our family only has this one room and half a kang. How are we going to get your brother a wife? Where will the betrothal gifts come from?”
“Tuition, miscellaneous fees, textbook fees, stationery fees, and meal fees—don’t all these cost money? Besides, what’s the use of graduating from high school? You’ll still have to come back to the village to work, get married, and have children when you’re of age. What’s the use of studying for those three extra years?!”
“I know you have high aspirations, but you’ve already finished junior high. That’s already better than many girls in the village. Listen to Mom. Help out at home for a few years, learn needlework, and in a couple of years, I’ll find you a decent husband in our village or a neighboring village. The two of you can support each other and live a good life. That’s very good.”
“But that’s not the life I want to live!” As Wani said this, she suddenly took a step back, her lower back hitting the corner of the table, making her eyes sting with pain.
The sound of cicadas outside the window was deafening. Wani looked at Yu Yahong’s eyes, and tears streamed down her face. “Mom, I’ve never asked you for anything in my life, but I’m begging you to let me continue my studies.”
With a slap, Yu Yahong threw the shoe insole in her hand to the ground. “Study, study! I think you’ve been bewitched!”
Her voice was full of annoyance. “Look at which girl in the village is as dissatisfied as you? Axiu from Auntie Zhang’s family next door started working in the fields at the age of seven or eight and dropped out of school in the second grade. She got married and had a baby at sixteen! You’ve already finished junior high, you can read and write. In the future, you can find a good family, have children, and live a peaceful life. Isn’t that good?! Why do you have to be like those city girls, with your ambitions higher than the sky!”
Wani bit her lip tightly and said nothing, her face covered in tears and snot. Her silence was not an admission of Yu Yahong’s words, but a silent protest.
Yu Yahong turned her head away. She was her own daughter, after all. She was not one of those heartless women.
After a long while, she finally sighed. “If you really want to study, I won’t stop you. There are still more than two months until the start of school at Yuanlin High School. If you can earn your first semester’s tuition and living expenses, then you can go.”
The tuition for the county high school was fifteen yuan per semester. From the start of school in September to the winter break at the end of January, it was a total of five months. Even with the cheapest meals, it would cost six or seven yuan a month. That meant at least 45 yuan was needed for the first semester’s expenses.
Wani was a teenage girl who had just graduated from junior high. She couldn’t go to the production team to work and earn work points. It was impossible for her to conjure up this forty-five yuan out of thin air.
Yu Yahong was using this method to make Wani give up.
Hearing Yu Yahong’s words, Wani wiped away her tears. She also knew that the family really couldn’t afford this money. Wani gritted her teeth. “Alright, I’ll save money. If I can save enough money before the start of school, you absolutely cannot go back on your word.”
…
Su Huimin had been out and about for the past few days. It was the height of summer, and the sun was so hot it could almost dry a person out. Even an iron body couldn’t withstand being in the sun all day. After a few days, Su Huimin caught a summer cold. He felt weak all over, dizzy, and his nose wouldn’t stop running.
Yu Juanfang went to the commune pharmacy and got him two packs of medicine for summer colds.
“Mom, let me brew the medicine for Dad.”
Hearing this, Yu Juanfang handed her the medicine packet. “Add two bowls of water to the medicine pot. After it boils on high heat, simmer it on low heat for 20 minutes. Pour out the medicinal liquid, then add water and brew it again. The second time, 10 minutes is enough.”
Tangtang carefully memorized what her mother said.
As soon as she opened the medicine packet, a pungent medicinal smell hit her face. She couldn’t help but sneeze and almost dropped the herbs on the ground.
Tangtang fumbled to steady the medicine packet and couldn’t help but pick up one of the herbs to examine it closely. “Huh… isn’t this the dandelion we often eat in spring?”
Tangtang recognized this herb. It could be seen everywhere in the mountains and fields. Blanched dandelion was not bitter at all, but had a very refreshing taste. Sometimes, Yu Juanfang would even use dandelion to make dumplings, chopping it up and mixing it with pork. One bite felt so delicious it could make your eyebrows fall off.
“Dandelion is not only a wild vegetable but also a medicinal herb. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing swelling and dissipating nodules, and also promoting urination and relieving strangury.”
“Oh, oh.” Tangtang nodded seriously, her eyes sparkling like two clear springs. “Mom, you know so much!”
Seeing her like this, Yu Juanfang found it a little funny. “It’s just a little superficial knowledge I’ve accumulated over half a lifetime.”
“Are the dandelions at the pharmacy also dug up from the mountains by themselves?”
“No, many of these common medicinal herbs are purchased from the local people.” Yu Juanfang patted the child’s head. “I’ll leave your dad’s medicine to you. You don’t have to watch it by the stove. Just keep an eye on the time. I’m going to fetch water to water the vegetable patch.”
After Yu Juanfang went out, Tangtang took out the dark medicine pot from under the cupboard. As her mother had said, she soaked the herbs, washed them clean, and added two bowls of clean water to the medicine pot.
Although her mother said she didn’t have to watch it by the stove, Tangtang still squatted in front of the stove, fanning the fire vigorously with a fan, afraid that the medicine would not be brewed well and would not be effective.
After dinner, the Su family siblings were cooling off in the courtyard. The moon was bright enough that they didn’t need to light a lamp. Yu Juanfang took out a watermelon that had been soaking in the well water for half a day, cut it into pieces, and distributed them to the children.
Yu Juanfang handed a large piece of watermelon to Wani. “Wani, come and eat some watermelon. Tangtang, Juesheng, you can take your own.”
“Thank you, Third Aunt.”
The watermelon Yu Juanfang had chosen was red, sweet, and very juicy. With one bite, the clear and sweet juice flowed over the tongue. The watermelon flesh was soft and dense. The summer heat disappeared without a trace with this bite of icy sweet watermelon.
After distributing the watermelon to them, Yu Juanfang took another new piece of watermelon into the house. Su Huimin was writing a work summary in the room.
Although Wani was eating the watermelon, the corners of her mouth were clearly turned down.
She had thought for two days but couldn’t think of any way to earn money. She was not afraid of hardship, but no one wanted to hire her for odd jobs. Speculation… not to mention she had no capital, she was not the type for that. She didn’t have the brains or the courage.
“Sister Wani, are you worried about the tuition fee?” Tangtang already knew that her second aunt had told Sister Wani that she would only agree to let her continue her studies if she could raise the tuition fee within two months.
“Mhm.” Wani lowered her eyes.
Su Juexiao spoke up. “I’ve saved a little money from my living expenses, about four or five yuan. If you need it, I can lend it to you. I can also help you borrow some from my old classmates.”
She pursed her lips and shook her head. “Forget it. This is not a small sum. Even if I borrow it, it will be difficult to pay it back in the future.”
“Today, when I was brewing medicine for Dad, I found that one of the herbs inside was the common dandelion. Only then did I know that dandelion is also a medicinal herb, and its effects are not small. It can clear heat and detoxify, reduce swelling and dissipate nodules, and also promote urination and relieve strangury.”
Tangtang’s words were a bit out of the blue, and everyone wanted to hear her continue.
“Mom said that the medicinal herbs at the pharmacy are also purchased from the local villagers. There might be a lot of medicinal herbs on Dagu Mountain that we don’t know about. We can dig them up and sell them to the pharmacy. That way, Sister Wani will have a way to save up for her tuition.”
“Digging for medicinal herbs?”
Su Juesheng said with difficulty, “But we don’t know those medicinal herbs.”
He remembered that one year, Tangtang had dug up wild ginseng in the mountains, but neither of them recognized it and only thought it was a mountain radish.
“That is indeed a problem…” Obviously, Tangtang also remembered the embarrassing incident with the wild ginseng, but she quickly added, “I remember that Brother Shunian has a plant guide. It has a lot of herbs recorded in it, with pictures and detailed text explanations. I’ve seen several of them in the mountains.”
Su Juesheng also had an impression of Zhou Shunian’s plant guide. “As long as we can borrow the book, we can find them according to the pictures. It will definitely work!”
Hearing them say this, Su Juesheng immediately took on the task of borrowing the book. “Then I’ll go to the county town tomorrow to borrow the book from Zhou Shunian.”
Everyone felt that the idea of digging for medicinal herbs to earn money was indeed feasible, and their eyes were filled with a little more admiration for Tangtang, who had come up with the idea.
“I have another idea…”
“Brother Juesheng, Brother Juexiao, Brother Juesheng, Sister Wani, and me, there are five of us in total. But although there are five of us, we are actually two branches of the family. I think we can pool all the medicinal herbs we find together, and then divide the money from selling them into two shares. Sister Wani gets one share, and we get one share, just like when we sold tofu before.”
After hearing Tangtang’s words, Wani was stunned for a long while.
What Tangtang called a two-branch division meant that the three siblings of the third branch were four people, and she was alone. This proposal was clearly to give her a large part of the share that should have belonged to the third branch.
Su Juexiao nodded. “I have no objection.”
“I agree too,” Su Juesheng followed up.
Su Juesheng patted his chest. “I definitely have no problem.”
Wani’s eyes suddenly turned red. A warm current surged up from the bottom of her heart and spread to her limbs. She tried to hold back her emotions, but tears still uncontrollably rolled down from the corners of her eyes.
“Thank you all.”