Chapter 655 - 340: Selfish Human Nature

Chapter 655: Chapter 340: Selfish Human Nature

Juhua quickly whispered to him, "Yun Ying gave me a pill, and Doctor Qin has been treating me with acupuncture. These past few days, my appetite’s been great and I’ve been sleeping soundly, not like before when I was always panicky and short of breath. Huai Zi, you have to thank them properly. Help them out more whenever you can, and get that pharmacy of theirs up and running. I wanted to pay them, but I’m afraid we could never afford medicine like that, so it would be pointless to argue over it."

Zhang Huai listened and thought seriously for a moment, then nodded. "I get it. We don’t have to repay them all at once; there’s plenty of time. It’s not like they’re leaving anytime soon. After we’re done planting the rice seedlings, we can help them build a house with a courtyard by the mountain. For one, it’ll give them peace of mind—living in someone else’s home is never truly comfortable. For another, they won’t want to be disturbed when they’re drying and preparing their herbs. And third, if they have a permanent place to settle down and get used to it, they might not want to leave."

Juhua said approvingly, "That’s a wonderful idea. I’ve been thinking about the same thing, but we’re just too busy right now to do anything about it."

The two of them discussed it a little longer before dropping the subject. Then, with Juhua giving directions, Zhang Huai started washing the vegetables and preparing the meal.

At noon, when Zhang Dashuan and his wife came home and heard that Zhang Yang had once again done well on his exam, they burst into delighted smiles.

Zhang Dashuan said cheerfully, "That boy... look how capable he is. He’s going to be so full of himself when he gets home. He, we can’t praise him, or he’ll get a big head." Even as he said it, he was grinning from ear to ear, probably not even tasting the food he was eating.

He tapped her bowl with her chopsticks, making a DING DING sound, and huffed impatiently. "Who has time to worry about his business? I’m more concerned that Juhua here never gets a moment’s rest! Juhua, don’t worry about eating a little extra today. Zhang Huai is back, so have him go with you to pick peaches this afternoon. You can get some light exercise, and I’ll feel better with him watching over you. Take a nap after lunch. Didn’t Yun Ying say she’d help us make dried peaches? Otherwise, all these peaches will be hard to sell, and it would be a shame to let them go to waste. If we make them into dried fruit, they’ll last a long time. They’re a real treat to snack on when you’re tired and hungry!"

Juhua and Zhang Huai suppressed their smiles and nodded. The old couple were obviously overjoyed, but they were putting on an act as if it were no big deal. They looked just like little children, which was quite adorable.

Zhang Huai asked, "Doctor Yun knows how to make dried peaches?"

Juhua nodded. "Mhm, she knows how to make lots of things. She’s a great cook, too. Once these peaches ripen, we can harvest several hundred pounds from our own yard, let alone from all the trees outside. But they’re hard to sell—who around here doesn’t have their own peach trees? So she offered to help me make them into dried fruit to store in the cellar. We can eat them ourselves or sell them, either way is good. After the peaches come the plums and apricots. We didn’t have as many Yingtao cherries, so we ate all of those fresh."

He’s face suddenly fell. "What do you mean, ’outside’? There are only a few trees left by the main path that people are too embarrassed to pick from. Juhua, from now on, don’t plant any more peach trees out there. Look at those people, they’re like bandits! They don’t even wait for the peaches to ripen before picking them and hauling them home by the basketful, acting more comfortable than if they were in their own gardens. And picking them is one thing, but they also spout all sorts of half-hearted justifications, saying things like their sons and grandsons worked hard planting trees by the river back in the day. They should stop and think—how many trees did *they* plant? Weren’t they mostly willows? Aren’t you the ones who planted all the peach trees? They’re so afraid of being called out that they make up excuses to shut everyone up. You’re the one who planted the trees, and you haven’t said a single word, yet you’re the one who gets no appreciation for it."

Zhang Huai frowned. "No wonder all the peaches on those trees were picked clean. We’ve never said people can’t pick from the trees outside the yard, so what’s their hurry? Wouldn’t it be better to wait until they’re ripe? Are they picking all those unripe ones to feed their pigs?"

He said resentfully, "What else could it be? They’re afraid of losing out if they go too late. It’s a free-for-all—one person starts picking, so the next one does too. If they pick more than they can eat, they give them to relatives and friends. Some even haul them off to sell. Such good peaches, all gone before they’re even ripe. It’s heartbreaking. Some of the branches were even torn right off the trees. They deserve to be struck by lightning! And now they’ve got their eyes on the next grove of trees—the peaches on those are even better than the first batch."

A few days ago, she’d run into Liu’er’s mother and a few other women picking peaches, filling up big baskets. When they saw her walking by, Liu’er’s mother had deliberately declared in a loud voice that her Tie Zhu had planted a lot of these trees back in the day. She’d also added that trees growing in the fields, by the river, or on the mountainside were basically wild, so everyone should feel free to pick as they pleased. It was as if she was purposely trying to provoke He—after all, who didn’t know that Juhua had planted the vast majority of these trees? The other women, at least, had the decency to look embarrassed, greeting He with awkward expressions.

Seeing that woman acting so high and mighty again, He was filled with an unspeakable loathing. She even started to wonder if Juhua had been right to help Liu’er in the first place. Not bothering to engage with them, she had simply turned around and gone home by herself.