Lin Wanning just smiled without saying a word. Since their concepts were different, it was useless to explain more.
Moreover, in Lin Wanning's eyes, her parents were priceless.
"If this ginseng is taken to the city and sold, it can fetch at least 500 yuan. If it's kept at home for a few years, it'll be worth at least a thousand," said another worker, swallowing hard and exclaiming with red - rimmed eyes.
"Does that mean this ginseng can make someone an instant thousandaire?"
"Not just a thousandaire. The longer the time, the higher the price. It might even be priceless in the future."
Seeing everyone getting so excited about the discussion, Lin Wanning calmly said, "No matter how much it's worth, it'll truly be priceless once it's in my family members' stomachs."
Everyone present almost spat out a mouthful of blood. They had to saw a tree for a whole morning to earn about three yuan, yet this Lin Wanning thought that a few hundred yuan was less important than eating?
Wasn't this just nonsense?
"Forget it, forget it. It's normal for a young girl not to know how to manage a household. You don't know the cost of daily necessities until you run a family."
"Exactly. Alas, squandering money is like sand being washed away by the waves."
"Zhiyuan, you're really something. Talk to your sister. If she's so bad at managing a household, how can she get married in the future?"
Lin Zhiyuan smiled indifferently. "As long as my sister is happy, that's enough."
Everyone present was shocked again by the siblings' words. What were they up to? This intellectual family was, to put it bluntly, not in their right minds.
Under everyone's incomprehension, Lin Zhiyuan carried the bag of chestnuts on his back. "Let's go. We're going home."
"Okay."
...
Along the way, the siblings didn't mention selling the ginseng for money.
In their upbringing, their father's health was definitely more important than material possessions.
When Chen Shufen saw Lin Wanning and Lin Zhiyuan coming back with a big bag on their backs, she walked up with a smile to greet them. "What are you doing bringing back so many pinecones?"
"There are still a lot at home that haven't been used. These pinecones aren't dry enough yet. We'll go and pick some later. They'll burn easily when we use them for cooking then."
Lin Wanning and Lin Zhiyuan exchanged a knowing look and then pursed their lips to hold back their laughter.
But before Lin Zhiyuan could open the bag in his hand, Liu Xiaohui rushed over after hearing the news. "Humph, carrying a sack to pick pinecones? Isn't this a joke?"
"By the way, didn't you say you were going to pick chestnuts? Oh! There are no chestnuts. Only pinecones for burning."
Seeing Liu Xiaohui still being so mean, Lin Wanning really wanted to slap her across the face.
"Open your dog eyes and take a good look. See if this is a chestnut or something else."
After saying that, Lin Wanning curled up the corner of her mouth and folded her arms across her chest naturally. "But then again, whatever it is, what does it matter to you? Anyway, we won't give you any."
After retorting to Liu Xiaohui, Lin Wanning deliberately shouted at the top of her voice, "We're having sugar - coated chestnuts for dinner tonight. I'll fry them myself."
This shout made Liu Xiaohui half - dead with anger. Even Song Chunlan next door was so shocked that her eyes widened. The bun and pickles in her hand stopped in mid - air instantly.
Sugar - coated chestnuts? Did that mean the family next door had gone up the mountain to steal chestnuts today?
She immediately put down her chopsticks, grabbed the bun, and ran out of the door even before she could put on one of her shoes.
She crouched down beside the wall and peeked through the hole she had laboriously dug recently. Her eye darted up and down like a shuttle until she found that the sack on the ground was indeed full of chestnuts.
She couldn't hold it in any longer and rushed straight to the team leader's house.
She had dug this hole just to monitor if the Lin family was doing anything illegal. The Lin family had been smelling of meat or chicken soup recently, which had made her whole family extremely envious.
Her family ate pickles and salted beans every day. They couldn't stand it anymore. If the Lin family was still like before, it would be okay, but now the gap made the Song family quite dissatisfied.
The Song family had suspected from the very beginning that Lin Wanning must have used improper means to feed her whole family sumptuously. Otherwise, how could a widow like her have so much money?
For her, this was a once - in - a - lifetime opportunity.
But when she excitedly told the team leader with shining eyes, the team leader calmly sipped his tea and said unhurriedly, "Impossible. The chestnut trees on the mountain have been stripped bare. How could there still be chestnuts?"
"And a whole sack of them. Come on, use your head and think. It's impossible."
"It's really true. Come with me and take a look. Let me tell you, the nature of this matter is quite serious."
"These are the collective properties of our brigade. It's fine that she didn't tell you when she found so many chestnuts. She even carried them back in a sack to make sugar - coated chestnuts."
Song Chunlan was so excited that there were red streaks in her eyes. Her face was distorted with envy.
Before the team leader could reply, a soft female voice came. "Team leader, do you still have any hens? I dug up some ginseng on the mountain today. My father is not in good health, so I want to buy a hen to cook for him to nourish his body."
As soon as these words were spoken, Song Chunlan almost fainted. Were these even human words?
She wished she was having a hallucination, but she found that not only was it not a hallucination, but the team leader also seemed really happy for Lin Wanning.
"Just now your neighbor said you picked a lot of chestnuts on the mountain. You're really lucky. Where did you pick them? Take me there next time, okay?"
"Sure, but I've already picked them all there. Come to my house. I'll share some with you."
Lin Wanning was very generous. After all, it was beneficial to have a good relationship with the team leader.
But she slightly raised her cold eyes and looked at Song Chunlan. It was obvious that she had come to report them. Fortunately, she had won over the team leader from the start.
Otherwise, there would have been a real commotion.
"I'll go and catch a hen for you right now. But where did you dig up that ginseng? The medicinal herbs on our mountain are planted by the brigade. You didn't dig it on our mountain, did you?"
The team leader completely believed that Lin Wanning wouldn't do such a thing, but due to his position, he still had to remind her as the team leader.
"I dug it in the forest farm. Don't worry, team leader. My brother has told me all about the demarcated areas."
"We definitely won't take what belongs to the masses. It's just that my father is not well, so I just want to buy a hen to nourish his body."
Seeing how filial Lin Wanning was, the team leader couldn't stop smiling.
"Okay, wait here. I'll go and catch one for you."
Song Chunlan stood there stunned, watching Lin Wanning and the team leader chatting and laughing. She was so angry that her face turned green. This was completely different from what she had imagined.
"Team leader, where did she get the chestnuts and ginseng? Are we just going to believe what she says?"
"Aren't you being too unfair? Does that mean we don't need to report what we get to you in the future?"