The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 755 - 754 I’ll go ask

Chapter 755: Chapter 754 I’ll go ask

Jinhoo had grown into a big child, his sense of self-respect was always strong, and being spoken to in such a way, especially by his own father, how could he show his face?

He became even more determined to avoid suspicion, to show that he had no such intentions.

But deep down, he still felt that he had let down his aunt and uncle, staying cooped up in his room, refusing to come out.

Upon hearing Wang Yongzhu calling for him, he immediately rolled off his k’ang, was about to rush to the door, his hand was already on the door latch, but after a moment’s thought, he slowed his pace, hesitantly pulled open the door, and asked softly, "Auntie, did you need me for something?"

There was a touch more deference in his tone, a departure from the ease of past days.

Wang Yongzhu gave Jinhoo another look before saying, "Come with me to the back courtyard, I have something I need to ask you."

With that, she turned and walked away, not bothering to check whether Jinhoo followed.

A jump in his heart, Jinhoo wondered, could it be that auntie also thought he was trying to butter them up with an ulterior motive? Perhaps today she was going to confront him about it?

His face paled, Jinhoo clenched his teeth but still followed behind Wang Yongzhu to the back courtyard.

Upon reaching the back courtyard and entering the main room, Old Granny Zhang unusually brought out a few types of deep-fried pastries, setting them on the table on the k’ang, "Jinhoo, quickly come sit on the k’ang and have some fruit."

Jinhoo had never been treated this way by Old Granny Zhang and was overwhelmed by the favor, completely unsure of where to place his hands and feet.

He tentatively climbed onto the k’ang and sat down near its edge, carefully placing his hands on his knees in the proper manner, looking like someone bearing guilt, not daring to lift his head.

It aggravated Old Granny Zhang to see her own people being timid and shrinking away, thinking it showed a lack of confidence and was petty.

She glared and snapped, "Is there someone in this room wanting to eat you? Or someone wanting to scold you? What are you doing making such a spectacle of yourself, for whom? A fine young man, yet behaving like a little girl, what kind of image is that?"

Upon hearing this, Jinhoo immediately stood up, thankful that he had only been sitting on the edge of the k’ang; had he been seated more firmly, he would have surely tumbled off.

Wang Yongzhu felt that Jinhoo was behaving rather oddly today and, always esteeming this nephew highly, hurriedly smoothed things over, "Perhaps he’s tired from yesterday and still has not fully woken up! Alright, sit down and let’s talk. I’ve called you here today because there is something I need to ask you. A few days ago, didn’t you trade a bag of molasses for a bag of wild tea?"

Jinhoo was taken aback for a moment, not expecting this to be the subject of inquiry. After recalling the event, he responded, "Yes, that did happen. These past days, as I’ve been delivering goods to the town, I’ve always heard those merchants talking about tea, saying how the early harvest of the year is the best and complaining how our area lacks good tea, not being accustomed to it and such."

"So I thought, wild tea is still tea, and it smells fragrant too, just having the semblance of tea might allow it to sell for some money. So I boldly traded the molasses for it."

"But is there something wrong with this wild tea? Last time, Chief Steward Guan also asked me about it?" Jinhoo said, his face betraying his anxiousness.

After all, he was only a half-grown child and hadn’t experienced much, his heart sinking in panic, he began to wonder what he could have done wrong, or whether he had caused some great trouble.

Otherwise, why would the Chief Steward have even come to see his aunt about it?

Seeing Jinhoo’s fear, Wang Yongzhu hastened to reassure him, "It’s nothing, no need to be scared! It’s not a bad thing; it’s a good thing actually!"

Realizing it was a good thing, Jinhoo finally eased a little and looked at Wang Yongzhu.

Wang Yongzhu just said, "That wild tea is indeed somewhat interesting, Chief Steward Guan wants to ask you, can you still find that little kid? He wants to buy some more."

Upon hearing this, Jinhoo completely let down his guard, and speaking of this, he couldn’t help but become animated again, "That child is from the neighboring Yang Family Village. His family is known there as a fallen household, very poor. After having five daughters, they finally had a precious little son."

"This family treats this youngest treasure like an ancestor, spoiling him the most. The three older sisters, once they grew up, were all sold by the family to become someone’s wife. As long as the bride price was high, regardless if the men were lame or fools—they sold them!"

"Their third daughter was sold last year to become a wife deep in the mountains. This year she came back to her parents’ house. Life in the mountains is hard; she didn’t have any nice things to bring back, aside from mountain goods, so she wrapped up some wild tea she had roasted herself, saying it was good for cooling off in the summer."

"The family thought the daughter and son-in-law were too stingy in their return visit, not bringing anything presentable and drove them away that very day. That packet of tea leaves was discarded by that little boy when he saw nobody wanted it, and he, being greedy, thought to mix it with his sugary dregs to sweeten his mouth."

In just a few words, everything was explained quite clearly.

Wang Yongzhu was delighted and quickly asked, "Where in the mountains was that third daughter married off to?"

Jinhoo scratched his head, "I’m not sure about that. If Old Granny wants to know, should I go and ask?"

Wang Yongzhu nodded, "Then you make a trip, pretend you’re collecting mountain goods, and just casually inquire about it, but don’t arouse any suspicion! If you do this well, it will be a great achievement!"

Upon hearing this, Jinhoo’s eyes lit up, and he stood up, ready to go outside.

He was stopped by Wang Yongzhu who wrapped up the fried pastries on the table in a handkerchief and tossed them to Jinhoo, "Take these with you, use them to draw out the kid’s story—"

Jinhoo took the pastries, understanding perfectly, and trotted off straight away.

After Jinhoo had walked a distance, Old Granny Zhang asked, "If you really find that tea tree, what do you plan to do?"

Wang Yongzhu pondered for a moment, "If this really works out, the first and foremost contributor will definitely be Jinhoo. Although he’s just trying it out, had he not had the initiative, this opportunity might have been missed!"

"Furthermore, there’s the family of the third daughter who was married off. If they can tell us the location of the wild tea, we must thank them. If it weren’t for the wild tea she brought back to her parents’ house, it might never have been discovered!"

Old Granny Zhang, still concerned, said, "Just don’t foolishly divide the tea garden with them when the time comes, understand? For the kid Jinhoo, give him more silver or something else, but the tea garden can’t be shared!"

Wang Yongzhu looked at Old Granny Zhang, "Why not?"

Old Granny Zhang snorted coldly, "That tea garden is for my future grandchildren. If you divide it now, Jinhoo is so much older than our grandchildren. By the time our grandchildren grow up, who knows to whom the tea garden will belong!"

"Although it’s said that one cannot make two ’Wangs’ in the character, even clear accounts make good friends. If you give the tea garden to Jinhoo and it makes money, good—we can share the profits. But if it doesn’t make money, even if he has good intentions now, what will we do if he starts to bear grudges later?"

After hearing Old Granny Zhang’s words, Wang Yongzhu truly felt an echo in her heart. After all, human nature is unpredictable, so she vaguely agreed for now, planning to see how things turn out later.

When Jinhoo came back, he gulped down two huge ladles of water before he felt alive again.

His trip today had gone rather smoothly, as they were just from the neighboring village and often saw each other.

Because Jinhoo went to Yang Family Village to barter mountain goods for needles, thread, and food, he had become a familiar face among the children, and as soon as they saw him, they would call out to their friends and crowd around.