Free Web NovelChapter 478: Chapter 170: That Fool Is Her (Part 3)
A soldier who disobeys orders is bound to compromise the mission plan on the battlefield.
"A strong general has no weak soldiers, so Ah Bing must be impressive." Qin Mei wanted to praise Jie Jingchen and offer him some comfort.
Jie Jingchen agreed with the first part. As for the second, he cast a complicated glance at Ah Bing’s retreating back. He wasn’t sure about Ah Bing’s other skills, but he definitely wasn’t cut out to be a soldier.
Qin Mei’s eyes flickered. ’What kind of look is that from Jie Jingchen? Did I just say the wrong thing?’
’Is Jie Jingchen not as strong as I thought, or is Ah Bing not that impressive?’
’Thinking back to what my brother told me about Jie Jingchen’s time in the military... he was an ace soldier! Jie Jingchen is genuinely skilled, which must mean Ah Bing isn’t.’
’People the neighbors remember are either at the very top or the very bottom.’
Just as Qin Mei was wondering, Ah Bing turned to face them and flashed a toothy grin. "Ma’am, I’m the exception."
"The weak soldier under a strong general?" Qin Mei looked Ah Bing up and down. ’With that outfit, his style is anything but mainstream.’
’Jing Wu likes to dress this way too, but he wouldn’t dare be as bold as Ah Bing and grow his hair out this long. He’d never get it past his mother-in-law.’
Qin Mei thought to herself, ’Since Jie Jingchen is a veteran, Ah Bing must be one too.’
A weak soldier is still a soldier. But at this, Ah Bing looked a little awkward. He rubbed his nose to cover his embarrassment. "I only served under the commander for a day."
’And that "one day" was rounding up. It wasn’t even a full twenty-four hours.’
Qin Mei shot a sidelong glance at Jie Jingchen but didn’t dwell on it. She said to Ah Bing, "Serving under him for one day still counts."
Jie Jingchen remained silent, but Ah Bing eagerly agreed. "Exactly! As the saying goes, ’A teacher for a day is a father for a lifetime.’"
Qin Mei smiled. "So which unit did you get transferred to?"
Ah Bing didn’t answer right away, trying to figure out how to phrase his response to save a little face.
Jie Jingchen cut in coldly. "He was sent back home."
Qin Mei was stunned. Jie Jingchen had ended Ah Bing’s military career, yet Ah Bing held no grudge. He had brought them home and even offered them a place to stay for the night. ’His capacity for forgiveness is incredible.’
"You don’t hate him?" Qin Mei couldn’t help but ask.
Ah Bing shook his head firmly. "More than serving my country, I wanted to be with my grandma."
It has always been a struggle to choose between loyalty to one’s country and duty to one’s family. In Ah Bing’s heart, family came first. He wasn’t bound by a sense of national duty. Qin Mei admired his honesty. "To each their own," she said.
A flicker of emotion crossed Ah Bing’s eyes. He had said something so "selfish," yet neither Qin Mei nor Jie Jingchen rebuked him the way the other villagers did. He was deeply touched.
’A man is supposed to devote himself to his country, but all I care about is my grandma.’
Ah Bing changed the subject. "Ma’am, what kind of herbs are you looking to dig up?"
Qin Mei answered, "Ginseng, lingzhi mushrooms..."
"I have some," Ah Bing cut in.
"You have what?" Qin Mei asked, surprised.
"Ginseng," Ah Bing answered. "I’ll go get it and show you."
Ah Bing left the kitchen and headed for his grandma’s room.
"Jie Jingsi, I need to use the bathroom," Qin Mei said to Jie Jingchen. She wasn’t getting her hopes up about the ginseng Ah Bing had mentioned.
"I’ll take you." Jie Jingchen took Qin Mei’s hand, and they walked toward the outhouse by the light of the moon.
The outhouse had no light. At night, his grandma wouldn’t come out; she used a chamber pot in her room instead. Ah Bing would come outside, relying on the moonlight when it was bright enough, or just a single match when it wasn’t.
Tonight’s moon was very bright. Qin Mei cautiously stepped into the outhouse, guided by its light, while Jie Jingchen waited outside. It was a rural dry latrine, and he worried she might fall in. He had wanted to go in with her, but a single sentence from Qin Mei filled him with guilt.
"I spent half a year with the Sun Family. Their place had a dry latrine too."
When she came out of the outhouse, Qin Mei saw a well in the courtyard. Understanding at once, Jie Jingchen lifted the cover, drew half a bucket of water, and poured it into a nearby wooden tub. Qin Mei washed her hands. She felt like taking a bath, but it was just a fleeting thought. ’This is someone else’s house, I don’t have a change of clothes, and I don’t want to be a bother.’
Ah Bing brought out a metal box and handed it directly to Qin Mei. "Ma’am, for you."
Qin Mei took the metal box, but she couldn’t get it open.
"Let me." Jie Jingchen took the box from her. He couldn’t open it on his first attempt, but managed to pry it open with more force on the second try.
Qin Mei’s eyes widened. This ginseng root was at least a hundred years old. Astonished, she looked at Ah Bing. "Where did you find this?"
"In the mountains," Ah Bing answered.
"Ginseng is hard to find, and a wild root over a hundred years old like this one is even rarer." Qin Mei was being completely upfront with him.
"A hundred years?" Ah Bing was stunned.
"Do you have any more?" Qin Mei asked.
"No." Ah Bing shook his head.
"Are you selling it?" Qin Mei asked. Century-old wild ginseng was incredibly rare; there was no guarantee she and Jie Jingchen would find any when they went into the mountains tomorrow.
’Sell it?’ Ah Bing glanced at Jie Jingchen beside him, then thought for a moment before smiling at Qin Mei. "Ma’am, if you like it, it’s yours. A gift."
Faced with Ah Bing’s generosity, Qin Mei suspected he didn’t understand the ginseng’s true value. ’How could he be willing to just give away something so precious? I couldn’t accept it with a clear conscience.’
’Right now, I’m penniless. I can’t afford to buy this ginseng.’
Qin Mei closed the lid on the metal box and handed it back to Ah Bing.
"Ma’am?" Ah Bing looked at Qin Mei, confused.
"Ah Bing, I can’t take advantage of you like that," Qin Mei said, her expression serious. "If you’re willing to sell it, I’ll buy it. If not, I won’t push you."
"Sell it? Of course, I’ll sell it." Ah Bing thought for a moment before adding, "I was thinking I’d take it to the black market one of these nights and try my luck. See if I can run into that sucker."
"What sucker?" Qin Mei asked casually. Inside, she was thinking, ’I can’t let him take this to the black market. If he’s unlucky, he’ll run into someone who knows what they’re looking at, while he doesn’t. They’ll swindle him, and it would be a terrible shame for him to sell it for a low price.’
Ah Bing glanced at Jie Jingchen. ’Considering his status, they wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like the black market.’ He then said, "People are saying a real sucker showed up at the black market—the ’more money than sense’ type. She bought up all of Old Zhang’s herbs. Super generous, didn’t even bargain. A fool to the core."
A wave of exasperation washed over Qin Mei. The "fool to the core" Ah Bing was talking about was her.
’The vendors at the black market only saw me give Old Zhang a lot of money; they had no idea his herbs were actually worth that much.’
’Of course, the herbs Old Zhang had on display weren’t worth much. He kept the valuable ones in a large woven sack, mixed in with the common stuff.’
The corner of Jie Jingchen’s mouth twitched. He lowered his gaze to Qin Mei, knowing full well that the "sucker" Ah Bing was describing was his own wife.
"Too bad she doesn’t go to the black market often. I’ve gone a few times but never ran into her. My luck’s been pretty bad. Who knows if I’ll catch her next time," Ah Bing said, his head hanging low.
"Ahem." Qin Mei cleared her throat. "That sort of thing is up to fate. It’s not something you can force."
Ah Bing didn’t argue. Qin Mei quickly made a decision. "Ah Bing, can you identify medicinal herbs?"
"I do," Ah Bing nodded. "Like dandelions..."
"I’m not talking about common herbs," Qin Mei cut in.
"I only know the common ones," Ah Bing admitted honestly. Then, a thought struck him. "But my grandma... she knows the rare ones."
"Your grandma?" Qin Mei’s eyes lit up. ’For precious herbs, you really have to rely on the older generation. Old Zhang had his leg amputated and will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, so he can’t forage anymore.’ Qin Mei pinned her hopes on Ah Bing and his grandmother. ’Grandma recognizes the herbs, and Ah Bing can go up the mountain to gather them. It’s the perfect combination.’ "Can your grandma read?"
"She can," Ah Bing said.
Qin Mei was even more pleased. She and Ah Bing chatted a while longer. Noticing that Jie Jingchen was getting drowsy, Qin Mei told the men to go to bed, and she returned to her room to sleep as well.
It was improper for a married couple to share a bed when staying in someone else’s home.
Ah Bing’s house only had two rooms: one for his grandma and one for him. Since Qin Mei had taken over Ah Bing’s room, he and Jie Jingchen had no choice but to spread some straw on the kitchen floor and make do for the night.
