The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

Yingbao returned to the store the evening before.

By this time it was dark, the shops had closed, and there were few people on the streets.

Seeing no one around, she quickly took out several baskets of dried mushrooms and more than a dozen baskets of fruit from outside the shop.

There were various kinds such as lychee, papaya, longan, loquat, apple, etc, with two large baskets of each type.

Then, she called in, “Big brother, second brother! Come out and help bring in the goods!”

Jiang Cheng, who had not yet returned home after closing the shop, quickly came out. Seeing the baskets of fruit and mushrooms that his little cousin had brought, he asked in surprise, “Did you go back home?”

“No, I bought these from a travelling merchant.” Yingbao handed him a piece of paper. “I found them quite cheap, so I bought a bit more.”

Jiang Cheng was delighted and quickly went inside to open the door, saying, “Erquan has gone home to pick fruit. We were worried about not having enough stock for the shop, and your supplies are just in time.”

He removed two panels from the door and began moving the baskets of fruit and mushrooms inside.

Jiang Yunniang and Zhang Yuying, hearing the commotion, came to help and were surprised to see all the goods their niece had brought back.

Yingbao picked some fruits and handed them to Zhang Yuying and Hong Xiao, “Here, these are delicious.”

Zhang Yuying gratefully accepted and began to eat grapes with her sister.

After dinner, the whole family sat in the main room to package the mushrooms, and quickly finished packaging several tens of jins of mushrooms.

Jiang Cheng said with a smile, “Some customers had ordered golden ear mushrooms recently, asking us to deliver them as soon as we had them in stock. Your mushrooms, Yingbao, came at just the right time.”

Yingbao touched her nose.

Jiang Cheng continued, “Yingbao, I’ll pay you the principal for the mushrooms first. If you find more good quality ones next time, buy more.”

Golden ear and Xue’er mushrooms were always in short supply in the shop, usually sold out not long after they arrived, so when Jiang Cheng saw his little cousin bringing back so many mushrooms, he was overjoyed.

Yingbao nodded, “Alright.” The mushrooms freshly harvested from her grotto could be thoroughly dried in about ten days, so it would be apt to take the principal now and send the golden ear mushrooms directly back later. She could then say that she had found a mushroom grower who sent her mushrooms regularly.

After all, Huimin Pharmacy also purchased medicinal materials, and there were often herbal farmers who came to sell their products, so it would be normal for her to do some buying as well.

Jiang Cheng then handed over the principal for this batch of mushrooms to Yingbao, a total of more than nine hundred taels of silver.

He initially wanted to give his little cousin a silver note for convenience, but she just wanted cash.

This was also good, as he didn’t have to go to the silver shop for exchange, thus saving the interest that would have to be paid to the silver shop.

The next day, Yingbao asked her eldest cousin to send two baskets of fruit to the County Government. She didn’t go herself, but stayed in the shop to feel her sister-in-law’s pulse.

Chou Rong’s belly was already five months pregnant, with a slight bulge. Listening to the fetal breath, it seemed healthy.

“At this time, sister-in-law, you can eat more fruits. Grapes and loquats are good, apples can also be eaten. But lychees and longan have more heat, so don’t eat too much,” Yingbao advised. “Eat more thoroughly cooked fish and meat on regular days, don’t eat those stuff grilled.”

Chou Rong nodded repeatedly, “I will follow your advice.”

Yingbao continued, “Recently, big brother is busy. Sister-in-law, why don’t you stay here with us? When I’m not here, you can stay in my room with big brother. With auntie here, it will be more convenient.”

Chou Rong had already had this thought.

At home, there was nothing much for her to do, and her husband was busy looking after the shop and couldn’t accompany her all day.

Now that her junior cousin had suggested it, she was more than willing.

While the two sisters-in-law were talking, a three or four-year-old toddler suddenly ran into the shop, crying and calling for Zhang Yuying, “Brother.”

Zhang Yuying was taken aback and immediately pulled him aside to ask, “Xiaolang, how did you get here?”

Zhang Xiaolang burst into tears, hugged Yuying, and said, “Brother, I want to be with you, woo woo woo woo…”

Zhang Yuying wiped away Xiaolang’s tears, noticing the bruised face of his half-brother, she frowned, “Who hit you?”

“Auntie did.” Zhang Xiaolang sobbed, “She cursed me, calling me a traitor… I don’t want to live with Auntie, I want to live with brother…”

Zhang Yuying:…

“What happened?” Jiang Yunniang heard the noise and came in, a rolling pin still in her hand.

Zhang Yuying looked embarrassedly at her mother, “Mother, Xiaolang was beaten by that woman, he wants to live with us.”

Jiang Yunniang knit her brows, saying, “It was one thing when we were taking care of him before, but now that your father and I have divorced, why should he stay here?”

Zhang Yuying hung his head, gripping his brother tightly, he weakly suggested, “Mother, let him stay here for a while.”

Jiang Yunniang looked at her son for a moment, didn’t say anything else, turned around and left the shop, heading to the food stall to roll some pastries.

Seeing Zhang Xiaolang nestled tightly against Zhang Yuying, looking rather pitiful, Yingbao gave him an apple.

Zhang Xiaolang accepted the apple, said thanks, took a bite for Zhang Yuying first before he started eating it himself.

Chou Rong, who was expecting a child, couldn’t bear to see such a pitifully adorable child, so she hurriedly fetched a boiled egg from the stove for him, “Here, you haven’t had breakfast yet, Yuying, fetch a bowl of vegetable porridge.”

Zhang Yuying nodded, leading his brother to the food stall to fill up on vegetable porridge.

Almost noon, Jiang Yunniang closed the food stall and rushed to cook in the kitchen.

The eight-year-old Hong Xiao was sorting and washing vegetables, aiding her.

Jiang Cheng went to deliver goods early in the morning, and on the way, he also delivered fruits to the County Government, returning only at noon.

Yingbao and Datan sister-in-law were selling goods in the shop, with Zhang Yuying overlooking the proceedings and occasionally helping to weigh the goods.

Zhang Xiaolang was sitting quietly in the shop, playing with a board game in his hands.

It was a toy Yingbao had given him, and he hadn’t let go of it since.

After lunch, Yingbao leisurely returned to the hospital.

She bought a few things she liked along the way, including a small charcoal stove and a kettle.

Previously purchased charcoal stoves were all kept at home and it was not convenient to take one out from her dwelling.

Just as she was nearing the front gate of the hospital, Yingbao put some fruits into her basket before entering the courtyard.

The Yin Yang Department’s courtyard was secluded and the site was large, but had only a few trees, a few camphor trees, a few evergreens, and a clump of bamboo.

Walking and observing the empty courtyard, Yingbao decided to plant more fruit trees here, ideally creating a fruit tree forest to provide her master with a steady supply of fruit.

She acted immediately, taking advantage of her senior brother’s absence, and the master also being away somewhere, she decided to plant some fruit trees and grapes in the yard.

Yingbao sneaked over to her master’s room for a look around when they were not in, she immediately took out the seedlings.

She dug a few holes in the chosen spot, eventually planting the fruit trees and grapes.

The seedlings weren’t large so the holes didn’t have to be too deep, she would just need to water them more with Pupil Spring in the latter stage, which would ensure they would quickly take root and grow.

She hummed a tune while watering the fruit trees when she suddenly felt someone approaching her from behind.

Having consumed Wuding Mushroom for many years along with daily training, Yingbao’s senses were far more acute than an ordinary child.

She swiftly turned around and threw her water scoop at the intruder.

“Ouch!” The person behind her got hit and cried out in pain, clutching his forehead with both hands.

Having recognized the person, Yingbao’s temper flared, she swiftly kicked him, sending him sprawling a distance away, unable to get up for a while.

“What are you skulking around the Yin Yang Department for?” She stood with her hands on her hips, angrily glaring at the man sprawled on the ground.