13 All Kinds of Jealousy and Envy

"So, I will sow the seeds tomorrow and water them with ancient spring water. The chestnuts should also be harvested at the same time."

Wang Yao looked at the chestnuts that had matured. Some of them had dropped to the ground and Wang Yao picked up a lot under the tree. All of them were really big and were a dark purple in color.

"I should take them back and fry them."

At night, Zhang Xiuying put out a dish of fried chestnuts. It was so delicious. Wang Yao quickly ate one of the chestnuts. It smelled so good and it tasted so sweet.

"Yummy!"

"Yes. It is so delicious. Are these the chestnuts from the trees on the hill?" Zhang Xiuying asked.

"Yes."

"They weren't this delicious when we harvested them last year, but it's different this year?"

"Maybe the hill deity knows that I have been working hard for three years and it didn't want to disappoint me this year, so it made its presence known!" Wang Yao smiled.

"That's a possibility. We should burn something on the hill to worship it."

"Mom, you should not be that naive. I have never heard of any hill deity in the village. I was just joking." Wang Yao hurried to stop his mother. "It is autumn, so it is dry and windy during this season. You may set fire to the entire Nanshan hill and cause it to be barren."

The next morning, Wang Yao surprisingly found that the seeds of the antidote herbs he planted yesterday already had tiny buds with green leaves.

"The speed is so fast!"

Using the small shovel, Wang Yao planted the seeds that he had bought from county yesterday in the place he chose. Then, he mixed the ancient spring carefully to water them.

"I hope you'll bloom soon!"

After he planted the seeds, he knocked the chestnuts down from the trees with a stick. He spent a whole day picking the chestnuts down. He packed the chestnuts up and he was going to sell them in town the next day.

"These chestnuts should be exchanged for money."

Although he earned some money by selling jujubes and sealwort before, he had spent 400 thousand yuan to contract the hill. He had no money and he wanted to save up for a car since it was unsuitable to ride his motorbike during winter.

"San Xian, you must keep your eyes on the herbs that I plant. There must be no problems." Before he went down from the hill, Wang Yao looked at the dog sternly. These days, San Xian seemed to be stronger.

Woof! Woof! San Xian barked to show he understood.

When Wang Yao went to the hill the next day, he found that the seeds he planted yesterday were not sprouting while the antidote herb that he had planted the day before yesterday were growing well.

"What happened? Did I buy bad seeds?"

At this time, Wang Yao increased the concentration of ancient spring water when he watered the seeds. He then carried the pack of chestnuts to town on his motorbike. He went to the booth that he sold jujubes from before.

"Hey, kid. You're here again. What are you selling today? Jujubes?" The man from before was still there—Chen Kun was his name.

"No, chestnuts."

"Chestnuts, how much are you selling for?"

Wang Yao thought for a while and replied, "30 yuan each."

"Yep. You will have your customers for sure." Having witnessed the crazy scene from when Wang Yao sold his jujubes, the middle-aged man thought that the chestnuts could be sold for 50 yuan and there would be no complaining.

Soon, someone came to ask for the price of the chestnuts, but they left as soon as they heard that it was 60 yuan for 1 kilogram. They looked at Wang Yao as if he was crazy.

"Damn! You can leave if don't like it, but what the hell was that look supposed to mean?!" Wang Yao said after the person left.

"Ah. Are you the guy who sells jujubes? So what good stuff are you selling this time?" A man who had bought jujubes from Wang Yao before approached the booth. "Are those chestnuts? They're so big. How much for 1 kilogram?"

"60 yuan," Wang Yao responded.

"Give me 1 kilogram then." This man did not react the same way as those who had heard the price earlier.

"Here you are."

Wang Yao sold just one pack of chestnuts the entire morning, but he was not worried. He ate two baked wheaten cakes for lunch and then he read some tips for planting herbs on his cellphone.

In the afternoon, the crazy scene from last time happened again. Many people drove to Wang Yao's booth and bought his chestnuts. Soon, a large number of chestnuts had been purchased.

"Ah. I admire you so much!" The adjacent sellers were jealous.

"Take some and try it!" Wang Yao said to Chen Kun.

"How can I take them?" Chen Kun quickly replied. Just a couple kilograms of those chestnuts were worth the same as his income.

"Ah. All of these were planted in my herbal field. Take it."

"Okay. Thank you."

Wang Yao sang merrily as he rode his motorbike home.

Beep! A vehicle honked suddenly.

Wang Yao looked back and found that there was a white Audi A4 behind him. The window had been rolled down and there sat Yang Ming whom he had met several days before. He was in a suit and he looked very suave. Next to him was a girl wearing light makeup. She had red lips with white teeth and her eyebrows were as picturesque as a model's.

"Tong Wei?"

"Wang Yao!" The young girl was also surprised.

"Is that you? Didn't you study abroad?" Wang Yao asked.

"She came back this year," Yang Ming said. "Are you available tonight? Let's get together—I invited a couple of our classmates out."

"Maybe another day. I have something to do later," Wang Yao said after hesitating briefly.

"Okay, another day then."

"Goodbye." Tong Wei waved to Wang Yao with a smile. Her smile was if a beautiful flower bloomed right in front of him.

"Goodbye."

The car and the motorbike separated and continued on their respective paths.

One driver was in a suit with a good car and had a good job while the other was in casual clothing with a common second-hand motorbike and had a job at home. One used to be a bad student while the other was always at the top of his class. Still, there was a huge disparity between the two.

"What does Wang Yao do now?" In the car, Tong Wei looked out and asked.

"He's a farmer at home," Yang Ming said with a fake smile. "Several days before, I met him, and he was buying some seeds."

"A farmer? How can that be?" Tong Wei said surprisingly. The top student in the class whose grades were almost on par with the requirements needed to enter Qinghua and Peking University—both top colleges—chose to be a farmer at home? How could that be possible!

"Really. I'm not lying to you. He said so himself," Yang Ming said.

Tong Wei was silent as she looked out the window. This was the city that she had left for three years.

"Where do you want to celebrate for your welcome home party?"

"Up to you." Tong Wei seemed to be not interested in it.

"Let's go to Spring of Nanguo. The southern vegetables there are so good and original," Yang Ming said.

"Okay. Bring me home first."

…

It is a surprise that she is back! Wang Yao rode his motorbike but his mind was filled with that beauty, Tong Wei.