Chapter 17 Liu Changping goes to the Jiang family to support Liu Xihua
"Xihua, where's the Ganoderma lucidum? Let us see it." The three women quickly gathered around.

Liu Xihua pointed at the bamboo basket in front of her excitedly, and said with great joy: "Here, isn't this it! Look at the size, isn't it big enough? There are three of them."

She had a big smile on her face.

However, faced with such a rare Ganoderma lucidum, the other three women did not show the expected surprise and envy. Instead, they looked at each other with jealousy on their faces.

One of them responded calmly: "Well, it's just so-so."

Another person said, "I have a relative who once dug up a Ganoderma lucidum that was much bigger than this one."

The last woman also said: "The market for Ganoderma lucidum is not very good this year. I heard that many people in other communes have dug it up, and the pharmacies in town are not very willing to buy it."

After hearing these words, Liu Xihua's originally happy mood instantly cooled down.

She widened her eyes and muttered to herself in disbelief: "Not accepting? Then all my hard work would be in vain..."

Thinking of this, a feeling of disappointment surged in her heart, making her feel a little depressed.

Seeing Liu Xihua's depressed and sad face, the oldest of the three said, "Xihua, why don't you give me your Ganoderma lucidum? I have an acquaintance in City A who can help me sell it."

Liu Xihua bit her lip tightly, and after a moment of silence, she replied, "No, I'll just sell it myself."

The woman raised her eyebrows and continued to persuade: "Don't you trust me? We are from the same village team. How could I possibly deceive you?"

The other two were this man's followers, and they echoed him, "Exactly. You look as if you think Sister Zhen will cheat you out of your Lingzhi."

However, in the face of the persuasion and temptation of these three people, Liu Xihua's heart did not waver at all.

She shook her head gently. "My daughter is in need of milk powder. I need to exchange this Ganoderma lucidum for money immediately. I won't bother Sister Zhen."

Liu Xihua carried the basket and held the shovel and went somewhere else.

The three women glanced at Liu Xihua and started looking for herbs in the place where Liu Xihua had just dug up the Ganoderma lucidum. However, they dug up the loose ground several feet around the pine tree and did not find any valuable herbs.

"That Liu Xihua is so stupid, how could she have picked up the Ganoderma lucidum? God is so unfair." The three women were all indignant.
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Liu Xihua dug some Ganoderma lucidum and looked for some other herbs in the woods. As it was getting late, she carried the basket and returned to the Liu family.

Liu's mother was holding Jiang Xiaoxiao, standing by the village road in front of the gate, chatting with the neighbors.

Seeing Liu Xihua coming back, she patted Jiang Xiaoxiao's feet, pointed at Liu Xihua and said with a smile, "Xiaoxiao, look who's back?"

Jiang Xiaoxiao's eyesight is not good enough to distinguish distant objects, and she only sees a blurry shadow.

But she could sense that it was Liu Xihua who came back. She turned her head towards the direction of the footsteps and waved her little hand.

Liu Xihua wanted to hug her, but then she remembered that she had not washed her hands, so she just patted Jiang Xiaoxiao's shoes.

"Mom, I dug some herbs and brought them back to replace Xiaoxiao's milk powder." Liu Xihua raised the basket in her hand and said with a smile.

Liu Changping's wife, who was cooking in the kitchen, heard Liu Xihua's voice and hurried to the kitchen door, teasing, "Wow, Xihua is really capable, what valuable herbs did you dig up?"

The third brother Liu Changfa's wife also came over and said with a deliberate smile, "You dug a lot of ginseng, right? Second sister?"

The two women who were chatting with Liu's mother also looked at Liu Xihua. Liu's mother understood the meaning of the two daughters-in-law's words and said coldly, "You make it sound like ginseng can be found everywhere. How much ginseng have you dug?"

Liu Changping's wife and Liu Changfa's wife looked unhappy. They glanced at Liu Xihua and turned to go to the kitchen. At this time, they heard Liu Xihua say, "I didn't find any ginseng, but I did find three Ganoderma lucidum."

The two looked at each other and ran towards Liu Xihua together.

Liu Xihua opened the basket of herbs and took out the Ganoderma lucidum at the bottom to show everyone, "Is it okay? I wonder if I can exchange it for two cans of milk powder."

Mother Liu looked at the Ganoderma and praised, "These three Ganoderma must weigh half a pound, of course they can be exchanged for two cans of milk powder, maybe even three cans."

Liu Xihua smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."

The two neighbors who were chatting with Liu's mother smiled and praised Liu Xihua for her good luck.

The two daughters-in-law of the Liu family, however, looked long-faced, their hearts bubbling with jealousy.
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After having lunch at Liu's house, Liu's mother asked her eldest son Liu Changping to see Liu Xihua off.

Liu Changping put the potatoes and cabbages into the basket brought by Liu Xihua, put the herbs and Ganoderma lucidum on the top, and covered them with an old straw hat, telling everyone that it was to cover the herbs to prevent them from being damaged by the wind.

His wife sneered, "Herbs must be air-dried to be sold, but you don't allow it to be dried. Isn't it Lingzhi? How come it has become like a gold nugget?"

Liu Changping knew that she liked to be sarcastic, so he pretended not to hear and accompanied Liu Xihua to Jiang's house.

The brother and sister chatted as they walked, and the ten-minute journey took them nearly an hour.

Jiang's mother looked at the sky and said to Liu Xihua with a cold face, "The sun is setting before it comes back. You don't work, and your eldest brother from your mother's family doesn't work? Why do you still want him to send you off?"

Liu Changping could tell that Jiang's mother was blaming Liu Xihua for taking too long to go back to her parents' home, and he snorted heavily, "The last time Xihua went back to her parents' home was on the second day of the Chinese New Year. It's already the third month of the lunar calendar. Can't she go back to her parents' home?"

Jiang's mother's eyes widened with anger. "She hasn't even given birth to a baby yet, how dare she go back to her parents' home?"

Jiang Xiaoxiao was angry, [Uncle, grandma scolded mom again, please speak up for mom]

Liu Changping looked at Jiang Xiaoxiao in surprise. He actually heard his niece's thoughts?

"Brother..." Liu Xihua was afraid of a quarrel, so she quietly pulled Liu Changping's sleeve.

Liu Changping glanced at Jiang Xiaoxiao, pushed away Liu Xihua's hand, and said coldly, "Aunt Jiang, she's been pregnant with many babies, but she hasn't given birth yet. How did your family treat her? We in the Liu family never asked a single question. Today, she came back late from digging herbs, and you said something sarcastic about her. You, as a mother-in-law, are really going too far!"

He spoke so loudly that passers-by stopped and looked over.

Jiang's mother was embarrassed and said, "Brother Xihua, can you come in and talk?"

"No, let's make it clear here today!" Liu Changping put his hands on his hips and continued, "When Xihua was pregnant with her first child, your family didn't let her rest for a single day, and even made her carry loads, saying that she could earn more work points, but she ended up miscarrying. Later, when she got pregnant again, you didn't let her rest, and she miscarried again. Aunt Jiang, I think your family deliberately didn't want her to have a baby, right?"

The passerby shook his head and pointed at Jiang's mother and said, "You are wrong, old lady. It's a big deal for your daughter-in-law to be pregnant. Why do you ask her to carry the burden?"

Jiang's mother looked even more embarrassed, "She wanted to carry the burden herself, it's not my family's fault."

(End of this chapter)