"Hey, you're back! Your dad's waiting for you inside!"
When Daniel returned home, His mom was chopping firewood in the courtyard.
"Okay, Mom, let me help you!"
Daniel felt a pang of pain in his heart when he saw his mother's face, which looked much older than her peers. In his previous life, when he was admitted to a top-tier university, it caused quite a stir in the surrounding villages. His parents were proud but also worried, as university tuition was a huge sum for a farming family like theirs. In the end, his Father had to beg and plead with everyone he could, and even sold the family's pigs and chickens to scrape together enough for one semester's tuition.
"No, don't do these chores if you're tired from studying. Go inside, your father is waiting for you!"
His Mom smiled and waved her hand, saying she was already used to doing these ordinary farm chores! The couple was always proud of their son and daughter's studies, and they always spoiled their sensible children, not letting them do too much farm work unless it was harvest time.
"Dad, what's wrong!"
As soon as Daniel entered the house, he began to ponder how to get money from his father to trade wild vegetables.
His Father, George sat on the stool, puffing on his cigarette. When his son came in, a smile appeared on his weathered face: "Daniel, your Uncle Shan brought over some smoked meat today. I was thinking that your second aunt is also struggling financially, so take the rest to her later!"
"Okay, Auntie's family is indeed having a bit of a tight budget, Dad! I want to discuss something with you!" Daniel nodded.
His second aunt had been raising her two daughters alone, making a living off the two or three acres of land they owned. Although she was over thirty, she was still very attractive, and many people came to their door wanting to arrange another marriage for her. However, his second aunt always firmly stated that she wanted to raise her two daughters herself and refused.
Since his family [Daniel's], whose circumstances had improved slightly, would occasionally help them out.
"Oh, what is it? Tell me!"
George asked with a smile.
Daniel hesitated for a moment before saying, "Dad, can you lend me $500?"
Upon hearing this, George jumped up. $500 was an astronomical sum for these farmers living in the mountains. Although the Miller family was well-off and could afford it, it was almost all of their savings. After thinking about his son, who was always honest and steady, George started smoking faster. After a while, he asked, "Daniel, what do you need so much money for?"
"Dad, I'm thinking of getting into the wild vegetable business. I've noticed that a lot of people in the city have started to like our natural, high-quality produce. Think about it, these wild vegetables are rare in the city, but we can find them all around our house. If we just bring them to the city, we can make money. I've already calculated it, and even if we don't make a lot, we definitely won't lose money."
Daniel spoke with a serious expression.
George didn't understand the concept of "all-natural," but he was skeptical about the idea that wild vegetables growing all over the mountains could be sold for money.
He said earnestly, "Daniel, you're still in school, why are you thinking about these things? Look around, there are wild vegetables everywhere, and nobody seems to care about them. This money we have is for your and your sister's education. If we lose it all, we won't have any money for your schooling. Let's not think about this. Isn't it better to just farm honestly than anyone else?"
"Dad, please trust me this once! I can't stop thinking about this all day long, and I can't even concentrate on my studies. If I don't do it, I feel restless. I promise I won't lose out this time."
Daniel didn't want to miss out on a good opportunity to make money. Only with money could he live a good life and date more girls.
George took a few deep drags on his cigarette, his expression shifting. After a long while, he gritted his teeth, threw away the cigarette butt, and said, "Daniel, Dad knows you've grown up. You've never caused us any trouble since you were little, so Dad will trust you this once. I'll accept losing this money; at most, you can go out and do some odd jobs in the future. But you have to tell Dad what you're going to do. So that Dad will have a clear understanding."
Daniel finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Isn't it the students' holiday tomorrow? We'll spread the word that we'll start collecting wild vegetables like mountain roots tomorrow, one cent per half kg[500g], as many as we can get. I'll go to town and find a few trucks to take them to the city to sell. That'll be easy."
"One cent a Half-kg? That's more expensive than the vegetables we have at home! You're wasting money!"
George jumped up after hearing this.
Daniel then realized that prices hadn't skyrocketed yet; pork was at most two or Three dollor per ½ kg [500g]. He realized that saying One Dollor($1) per ½ kg was indeed too much and corrected himself: "I misspoke earlier. I said ($0.1) per ½ Kg. During holidays, the kids in the mountains run around like monkeys. They'll definitely come if they have this opportunity to earn some pocket money.
We only need to collect Material worth $300. The remaining $200 can be used to hire a Veichle to go to the provincial capital."
"Oh, you child! Always thinking of such wonderful things. I'll go borrow a balance scale from your Uncle Shan's house right now! If it's too late when you take the smoked meat over, you can sleep at your aunt's house! Come back early tomorrow morning."
George walked out as he spoke. He had always been in charge of the Miller family's affairs, and Jessica never interfered in anything.
Daniel immediately jumped up with joy. If this deal went well, he would earn at least 5 times the invesment. Once he got the first batch of gold, there would be many opportunities to make the money snowball. It was so exciting! After taking the smoked meat, he told his mother and headed towards his second aunt's house.
Daniel pondered as he walked, his second aunt Susan Clarke's home being located deep in the mountains. It took them over an hour to reach their house, which was more like a dilapidated cave dwelling than a house. After his second uncle passed away, his second aunt, a single woman raising two children, had a very difficult life. They were so frugal that they could barely afford oil unless it was a holiday.
"Second Aunt, open the door! It's me, Daniel!"
Daniel stood in front of the fence gate, which was so weak it could collapse with a single push, and shouted.
A moment later, the small wooden door opened and a middle-aged woman in her thirties, with a slightly weathered appearance, emerged. Upon seeing her nephew, her face lit up with a smile, though she couldn't express it. Her long, black hair was casually tied up behind her head, and her face was filled with a resilient and warm smile.
Rural women tend to become much more open after marriage. Underneath Auntie's thin short-sleeved shirt, two soft breasts could be vaguely seen bouncing without any restraint, and even the nipples were faintly visible. Daniel's heart itched at the sight. After following Auntie into the house, he sat down on the Chair and handed her the smoked meat he was carrying: "Auntie, this is smoked meat my dad asked me to bring. It weighs four or five pounds. Give it to my younger sister[cousins] to help them recover!"
My aunt accepted it with a smile. The family hadn't bought meat in a long time, and the children were craving it. This large bunch of smoked meat, if eaten sparingly, could last for over a half a months. She carefully cut a small piece of smoked meat and hung it from the rafters. She then gestured back, implying that they would eat there that evening!
"Auntie, you go ahead and get busy! It's getting late, I'll go back tomorrow. I haven't seen the two girls in a long time, I miss them terribly!"
Daniel said with a smile that his second aunt's house still didn't have electricity, and she was still using the old kerosene lamp.
Susan gestured for Daniel to sit for a while, then chuckled and took the sliced smoked meat to the kitchen. Daniel looked around; besides a table, the only other furniture in the room was a worn-out wardrobe. They were probably the poorest family in the area, but they kept the room exceptionally clean and it didn't look too shabby.
"Brother Dan, you're here!"
[Daniel = Dan]
The eldest daughter, Soya Miller, is 15 years old this year. Her face isn't particularly beautiful, but it's pleasing to the eye. Perhaps due to malnutrition, her face is always a little pale, and she's thin and small, even her lips are thin. At this moment, she was carrying a wood-chopping knife and a pile of dry branches on her back. After putting them down, she saw someone in the house and entered. Upon seeing her brother, she greeted him happily. The little girl is currently in the first year of junior high school in town, relying on her uncle's family's support[Daniel's family].
Every day, she gets up early to feed the chickens and pigs before going to school, and after school, she helps with watering the plants and chopping wood. However, this doesn't affect her academic performance or her optimistic outlook on life in the slightest.
"Hey, what good food did you bring us?"
Another little girl, around ten years old, ran in, her rosy cheeks beaming with joy, her voice sweet enough to make one cloy. She carried a basket full of wild berries. It was none other than the youngest daughter, Sofiya Miller.
"Look, my little butterfly has grown so tall!"
Daniel had always been the eldest brother since childhood, and he doted on his two little sisters who were poor but sensible. He laughed and picked up Sofia and swayed her around a few times.
"Wow, it's smoked meat! I want some!"
Sofiya snuggled happily against Daniel, and when she looked up, she saw the smoked meat on the roof beam and her mouth watered.
Soya washed the wild berries and brought them up, asking with a smile, "Brother Daniel, I heard you got into a fight at school today?"
The mere mention of this made Daniel's heart itch. He used to be simple-minded, but now he was like a different person.
"Go ahead and beat him up. That guy deserves it. You'd be doing everyone a favor."
Just now, when he saw his second aunt's breasts and buttocks swaying as she walked, he had an urge to go up and touch them.
Now, with Soya's mention: "Soya, how are your grades these days?" Daniel quickly straightened his posture and asked.
"It was alright! It's a pity I didn't have that much time, otherwise I really wanted to see if I could get first place in the whole grade."
When the topic of studying came up, Soya's pale face flushed slightly. The academic achievements of the four Miller children had always been a source of pride for the adults. Especially in rural areas where children were often quite wild, those who were willing to study usually came from families with limited means!