Chapter 2: I Believe You

"Don't be afraid, dear. I'm just scaring them; I won't actually do anything," Lin Heng said, holding his wife Chen Xiulan's hand with a smile.

Looking at his wife's beautiful, rosy face, even without makeup, Lin Heng felt warmth in his heart.

Even though he was irresponsible and later ended up in debt, she never despised him and silently supported the family.

Such a woman, who silently endured and worked hard without complaint, he didn't know how many lifetimes of good fortune he had accumulated to deserve her. In his previous life, he didn't cherish her at all.

Thinking of this, he wanted to slap himself. In this life, no matter what, he couldn't let her suffer anymore.

He had to work hard and let her live like a woman should.

When Lin Heng suddenly held her hand in public, Chen Xiulan's cheeks turned red, and she quickly pulled away. "It's good that you won't."

"Second son, you were actually useful today!" After Lin Heng's eldest uncle's family left, his father Lin Xuan glanced at him and said.

The second son was idle all day, making him furious, but today he was somewhat useful.

Looking at the man in his forties, with a face like yellow earth and many wrinkles from years of hard work, Lin Heng couldn't help but smile. "Dad, I've come to my senses. From now on, I'll live well and support the family."

Father Lin Xuan sneered at these words. "You've said this at least five times before. When have you ever lasted more than three days?"

Lin Heng: "..."

Looking again, his mother Lu Hongmei also had a look of disdain, as if his words were no different from farting.

Lin Heng thought carefully and remembered that in his previous life, he often said this, but never lasted more than three days before going out to fool around.

"This time it's true. Please believe me," Lin Heng said solemnly.

"Can a dog stop eating shit?" Mother Lu Hongmei looked at him with disdain.

"I believe you. Hurry up and eat. After eating, let's go pick mushrooms together. It rained heavily yesterday," Chen Xiulan said, looking at Lin Heng. She believed that as long as she treated him well, her husband would settle down and live with her, just like he promised when they first got married.

After speaking, she carried their one-year-old daughter to the kitchen to scoop rice for him.

Mother Lu Hongmei shook her head at this scene, wondering how much virtue Lin Heng had accumulated in his previous life to marry such a hardworking and uncomplaining woman. If it were someone else, they would have kicked him out and scolded him every day.

"Dad, who are you planning to sell the ginseng to?" At this moment, the eldest brother asked, and Lin Heng saw his sister-in-law Liu Juan poke him twice from behind while holding the child.

"Sell it to the Liu family in town who buy medicinal herbs. It should fetch about four hundred yuan. With the money saved over the years, we can build two more houses. You two should also split up the family," Father Lin Xuan said, looking at his second son Lin Heng and eldest son Lin Yue.

Previously, due to lack of money, they had to live together. Now that both sons had children, the house was getting crowded, and they needed to split up and build houses.

Hearing this, sister-in-law Liu Juan's eyes lit up, and eldest brother Lin Yue was also a bit excited. It was certainly happy to have their own small family.

"Then... Dad, who do you plan to live with?" Sister-in-law Liu Juan asked softly. Splitting up the family involved taking care of the elderly, which was not an easy task. Her sharp eyes revealed excessive shrewdness.

"Dad, you can decide who you want to live with," eldest brother Lin Yue said, ignoring his wife's warning look, but he didn't take on the task of caring for the elderly outright.

"Live with me. I'll earn money to support you!" Lin Heng said, patting his chest.

"Do you want us to beg with you?" Father retorted, but he felt a bit comforted inside. Although irresponsible, the second son's heart was good and not bad.

The eldest son was also very filial, much better than his own elder brother Lin Xuping, whose two sons shirked the responsibility of caring for the elderly when they split up the family.

Father Lin Xuan felt very pleased, thinking he hadn't raised his two sons in vain.

"You don't need to support us. Your mother and I are not even forty yet; we can take care of ourselves. After splitting up the family, just take care of yourselves," Lin Xuan shook his head and continued, "Today is the first of April. On the third, there's a market. I'll sell the ginseng then."

"Dad, four hundred is too cheap. When I went to the city before, the pharmacies there bought such large wild ginseng for at least eight hundred yuan," Lin Heng said. The town's buyers took advantage of the farmers' ignorance of the market and made a lot of money.

In this era, going to the city was very difficult. There were no cement roads, and walking the mountain roads took seventy to eighty kilometers, a round trip of two days. Information was very closed, so many things were priced arbitrarily by the town's buyers. He only knew this after going to the city a few times later.

"Is it that expensive in the city?" Father Lin was surprised and a bit skeptical. "Did you hear this from some drunken friend?"

Lin Heng: "…Definitely not. I went to the city a few months ago and saw people selling ginseng at the state-run pharmacy. Many things are much more expensive than here. If you don't believe me, you can sell it yourself once."

"Or if you don't want to go to the city, I can negotiate the price with the town's buyers," Lin Heng added.

"Let's try negotiating first. If it doesn't work, we'll go to the city," Father Lin said after thinking for a while. He had never been to the city and instinctively didn't want to go there.

After deciding, Father Lin wrapped the ginseng in moss. Lin Heng also looked at it; it was very complete, with all the roots intact and in excellent condition. He shook his head, thinking that if this thing could be sold thirty years later, it would be worth at least a million.

"Dinner's ready!" Wife Chen Xiulan handed him a large bowl of cornmeal mixed with potatoes and rice. The dish was spicy fried potato strips. In this era, rice was often mixed with potatoes, pumpkins, and cornmeal. Only well-off families could eat pure rice every meal.

Lin Heng took the bowl and looked at the almost oil-free food with some emotion. After taking a few bites, he found it hard to swallow. He couldn't help it; his taste buds had been spoiled by memories of rich food.

But he didn't say anything, just ate quietly, thinking about how to make his family live a good life. In his previous life, he was best at farming. The money he earned came from farming and orchards. He had a modern farm, familiar with orchard management and farming operations, which was the best way to go.

Especially now, in 1983, this era was the period of reform dividends. As long as you didn't just farm, you could make a lot of money doing any business. After all, at the forefront of the trend, even a pig could fly, and he had modern planting and farming techniques and experience from 2023.

The only thing missing now was the initial capital. He had to find a way to get some startup funds to start farming and open an orchard.

But what troubled him was that he had no quick way to make money in his memory. The fastest way was to go up the mountain to gather goods and hunt

(End of Chapter 2)