"No really, I won't eat. I need to buy some things and head back this afternoon. Our place is far from the city, and staying another day just means paying for another day at the inn."
Lin Yuezhi felt a sudden, inexplicable wave of emotion. Five thousand yuan was handed over without a second thought, yet he begrudged spending a few yuan on a room.
"All right then."
Ning Jie nodded, and the two suddenly fell silent, neither knowing what else to say.
"Get your aunt's surgery scheduled as soon as you can, and send me word if the money runs short."
Lin Yuezhi glared at Ning Jie, thinking to herself that she didn't even know where he lived...
Ning Jie made a writing motion with his hand, and Lin Yuezhi trotted into the small room, fetched a piece of draft paper and a pen from the Forest Farm, and handed them to her visitor.
With a flurry of scribbles, the writing was done. Lin Yuezhi took it and looked, and she had to admit, Ning Jie's handwriting was remarkably neat.
[Ning Jie, Beigang Village, Xinchang Town, Baiyun County.]
Carefully putting the paper away, Lin Yuezhi looked at Ning Jie and bit her lip. "Let me write you an IOU."
Ning Jie smiled and shook his head. "No need. We'll talk about it later. Well, I'm heading back now, it's already noon."
Lin Yuezhi looked at Ning Jie, a sudden sense of loss welling up inside her. "Aren't you going to sit for a while?"
"No, I'll look you up the next time I come."
"Hmph."
Lin Yuezhi gave a light huff. Ning Jie couldn't help finding it amusing; this girl's habit of acting spoiled had never changed, even right up until his dying breath. In his eyes, she would always be a little girl who never grew up.
Standing up and putting on his bag, Ning Jie called into the room, "Auntie, I'm heading out now. Rest easy and focus on your recovery; I'll come see you again in a bit."
"Child, have a bite to eat before you go."
Rustling sounds came from inside the room, and Ning Jie hurriedly said, "Auntie, don't get up. Really, I'm not eating, I just ate on my way here. I'm off."
"Hey~! Wenwen, see your friend out."
"Okay, you just stay put, Mom."
The two of them stepped out of the room, and just as they neared the main gate, Lin Yuezhi suddenly grabbed Ning Jie's sleeve.
"What is it?"
Ning Jie turned back. Lin Yuezhi bit her lip, mustered her courage, and said, "Even though I still find it strange, I want to say thank you for lending me the money to save my mom."
"Is that all?"
Lin Yuezhi's face suddenly turned red, and she fidgeted. "Well... um, we've only just met, so you can't use money to coerce me into being with you. If you're going to do that, I'll give the money back and find another way."
Ning Jie reached out and rubbed Lin Yuezhi's head, earning an indignant glare from the pouting girl.
"Don't worry, I'm not that kind of person. All right, I won't chat anymore. Take good care of your mom, I'm leaving."
Watching Ning Jie disappear down the alley, Lin Yuezhi still had a faint flush on her cheeks. She reached out to touch her head, the corners of her mouth curling upward. "Pfft, jerk."
When he reached the city's department store, he spent ten yuan on four boxes of malted milk extract, bought two strips of Changbai ginseng for Second Uncle—since he couldn't find any third- or fifth-grade ones—and two buckets of barreled crackers. Stuffing everything into a bag, he slung it over his shoulder and clanked his way out of the urban area.
The journey was peaceful. No one waylaid him, nor did he manage to hitch a ride on any logging trucks.
Usually, once you cleared the city, the road led straight onto the Yalu River. In the 1980s, the ice on the river was exceptionally thick and smooth, making it much easier to walk on than a dirt road.
Around three in the morning, Ning Jie reached the entrance of Beigang Village. From afar, he heard the sound of barking, and moments later, Dahei appeared in the beam of his flashlight, its tongue hanging out as it panted heavily.
He stroked Dahei's head. Though the weather was bitter cold, Ning Jie felt a warmth deep in his heart.
Back home, Mother Ning draped a coat over her shoulders, took the bag from Ning Jie's back, and asked, "What did you buy? It was making all kinds of clanking noises."
"I bought crackers and malted milk extract. Tomorrow I'll take some over for Second Uncle to share."
Mother Ning nodded, looking at Ning Jie as she asked, "Did you really sell the ginseng?"
Ning Jie grinned, pulled the passbook from his pocket, and shoved it into Mother Ning's hands. By the dim light of the lamp, Mother Ning checked the figures one by one, repeating the check several times over.
"Goodness gracious, how did it sell for so much?!"
Ning Jie grinned broadly. "Yep, I told you it would fetch money."
"When Zhuzi comes to the village, you must treat him to a meal."
Ning Jie's face stiffened. What Zhuzi or no Zhuzi? He had just made up a random lie at the time.
"All right, I'll treat him to dinner when the time comes."
Footsteps approached, and immediately afterward, Second Uncle's voice sounded from outside the room: "Sister-in-law, is Xiaojie back?"
"Yes, Second Brother, come on in."
"Right."
Second Uncle pushed the door open, glanced at the stubble-faced Ning Jie, and said with mild annoyance, "I thought you'd gotten lost. Last night I even told your Second Aunt that if worse came to worst, we'd go into the city to look for you today."
A wave of warmth washed over Ning Jie. "Lost? Come on. Mom, show Second Uncle the passbook."
Mother Ning handed the passbook to Second Uncle. He held it with both hands, frowning as he peered closely at it under the light, even rubbing his eyes.
"Must be going blind. Why is it doubling up?" Second Uncle muttered under his breath.
"Doubling up my foot! Fifty thousand. It really sold for fifty thousand."
Second Uncle glanced at Ning Jie, then lowered his gaze back to the passbook, swallowing hard.
"Two roots of ginseng, and you sold them for fifty thousand?"
Ning Jie nodded. "We probably won't get a chance like this again. We just happened to run into a big spender."
Second Uncle's breathing grew a bit ragged. The two of them together couldn't even bag three wild boars that size in a whole year; all things considered, they made maybe six or seven hundred yuan a year between them. Factor in the daily consumption of bullets and dogs, and fifty thousand was by no means a small sum.
To make that much money, he would have to work for a hundred years and kill two hundred ancient boars!
Whether there were even two hundred eight-hundred-catty ancient boars left in the entire Changbai Mountain nowadays was a question in itself.
Second Uncle managed to calm his nerves, though his voice still trembled slightly. "So, uh, you... after the New Year, I'll help you find a wife. Yes, that's it, find a wife."
"Second Uncle, don't worry about it. I'll find a wife myself."
Second Uncle glared at Ning Jie and let out a heavy sigh. The boy had grown up in the blink of an eye and now had a mind of his own.
"Second Uncle, take these back with you. I couldn't find grade three or five ginseng, but I bought you two strips of Changbai ginseng, plus some malted milk extract. Brew it and drink it when you have time."
Second Uncle said with a look of distress, "You child! This stuff costs a fortune. What did you buy it for? You should keep the malted milk extract for your mother; your Second Aunt and I have no use for it."
"Second Uncle, just take it. There'll be plenty of this stuff in the future. This brand of malted milk extract is good—much better than the ones at our supply and marketing cooperative."
Second Uncle looked at the things in the bag, feeling a mix of emotions. The whole affair felt like a dream; even now, it hadn't quite sunk in.
"Oh right, Uncle, whenever you go to the county seat, take half the money and put it in your own passbook. We'll split it evenly."
Second Uncle glared at him. "I said if I gave it to you, it's yours. Don't pull this useless nonsense with me."
"All right, I'm heading back. Get some sleep early. It's snowing outside now; once it stops tomorrow, the two of us will go set some rabbit snares and check if that herd of red deer has come back."