Money on the Ground

She raised her foot and looked down. She closed her eyes and shook her head, thinking that she was seeing things.

Were her eyes playing tricks on her?

A shiny silver ingot.

Luck has really come knocking.

She picked it up to confirm it.

There was no mistake. It's one tael of silver.

Who dropped it?

She had never encountered such good luck in his life.

Though she was happy, she didn't lose her senses.

Jiang Xinghua did not leave immediately after picking it up. Instead, she waited for a while on the same spot, wondering if its owner might come back and claim it.

After all, one tael of silver was not a small amount of money. It was equivalent to half a year of food expenses for ordinary families.

The people who lost it would surely be very anxious.

However, nobody came even after she had waited a long time. Thinking that she still had chores to do at home, Jiang Xinghua could only leave first.

As soon as she left, Fatty Li came rushing onto the same path.

She was lowering her head the entire way, her eyes widened like an ox's. She was panting heavily as she walked, like she had walked a long way. .

"Why am I so unlucky today? Even losing my money." After searching for so long, she still couldn't find it. Fatty Li felt like tearing the ground apart.

One tael of silver was enough for her to eat a few pigeons.

Especially to a stingy miser like Fatty Li, losing it was equivalent to cutting off a big piece of her flesh.

"Damn the Fu family. Those damn pigeons of the Fu family are responsible for my bad luck today."

After Liu Guimei had taken the pigeons back from her, Fatty Li decided to buy some pigeons for herself to eat in a fit of pique.

Who said that she can't afford pigeons? She could have them any time she wanted.

Only that Fu family, who was poor and had never seen the world, would be this particular about pigeons.

Unexpectedly, upon reaching the market where she had intended to purchase some pigeons, she discovered that she had lost her tael of silver.

What luck. Not only had she failed to buy any pigeon, she had also lost her money and her pride. Fatty Li went home dejectedly.

She had been carefully keeping a look out of it throughout the whole journey from town to home, thinking that it was most likely that she dropped it in the village. However, even after staring at the ground till she was almost cross-eyed, that silver was nowhere to be found.

Her heart ached so much.

Now that the sky was dark, it was impossible to find it. Perhaps it had already been picked up by someone.

"Damn the Fu Family." Fatty Li muttered as she searched on.

She accidentally tripped over a rock and fell flat on her face.

At the Fu's

It was getting late and Jiang Xinghua had still yet to come home.

Hence, Liu Guimei was called to cook. She couldn't slack off even if she wanted to.

Jiang Xinghua went to the central room as soon as she reached home. She told Mdm Fu, "Mother, Aunt Wang only accepted the pigeon and fortune candies. She refused to accept anything else. She even asked me to bring back these things for you to nourish your body."

Mdm Fu took a glance at the basket bursting with a variety of items. Many of them were expensive. All of them were beneficial for her confinement.

There was nothing she could do about her best friend's generosity.

She kept coming up with creative ways to send her things, ways that did not give any room for her to refuse.

"Your Aunt Wang is too kind. Xinghua, we have to remember this kindness in our hearts." Mdm Fu said to Jiang Xinghua. Though her relationship with her elder Daughter-in-law was not one that was completely free of conflicts, they had gotten closer through the years.

Jiang Xinghua nodded and responded, "Mother, I will."

After saying that, she took out the remaining copper coins from her pocket and took the initiative to report the transactions one-by-one without waiting for Mdm Fu to ask. She was very honest. "Mother… this is the remaining five copper coins."

Mdm Fu was completely trusting of Jiang Xinghua. She was honest and never the type to be scheming.

Completely unlike Liu Guimei, who would easily develop ulterior motives if not kept in check.

Jiang Xinghua did not hide the one tael of silver that she had picked up and reported it as well. "Mother, there's still one tael of silver."

Mdm Fu looked incredulous. "Xinghua, how did you get this one tael? Did your Aunt Wang give it to you?!"

She said in an affronted tone.

What did her best friend mean by this?

Was she using money to "insult" her?

"No, it's not, Mother. It's not from Aunt Wang." Even if Aunt Wang gave it to her, she wouldn't have dared to take it. Jiang Xinghua knew her mother-in-law's personality very well.

"Then how did you get it?"

Other than Wang Hua, she could not think of anyone else who was this generous.

"Mother, I picked it up from the ground."

It sounded unbelievable. After picking up the money, she was still in a daze. It felt too good to be truel.

Second Fu, who was playing with Fu Xing'er, was also surprised when he heard it. "Picked it up? Really?"

He had never chanced upon anything valuable in his entire life.

Mdm Fu didn't believe it either.

The only luck that the family ever had was the luck of stepping on dog poop.

"Xinghua, tell me honestly. Did your Aunt Wang give it to you? And deliberately asked you to say that to me so that I would accept it?"

One tael of silver!

That was a large amount of money.

There were not many rich people in the village. But who would be rich enough to lose this much money on the road?

Needless to say, it must have been one of her best friend's creative ways to give something to her.

Jiang Xinghua shook her head and reiterated the truth, "No, Mother. It's not from Aunt Wang. I really picked it up from the ground."

If it weren't for the fact that she was holding it in her hand right now, she would have thought that she was dreaming too.

She really did pick it up.

Mdm Fu and Second Fu stared at Jiang Xinghua. She did not seem to be lying.

Throughout the years that Jiang Xinghua had been married into the family, she had never lied.

Could it be that she really picked it up?

"Xinghua, where did you pick it up?"

"Under that big tree in the village."

"Then did you wait there until someone came looking for it?"

Picking up silver was a good thing for them, but it would be the opposite for the owner who lost it.

If this money was meant to be some sort of emergency cash of the owner, it would have been terrible to lose it.

Although her family was poor, Mdm Fu was not a greedy person.

"Yes I did. But nobody came. So, I brought it back. Mother, can you safe-keep this temporarily? I'll try to find out who in the village has lost money in the next few days. Then, we'll make further plans."

If they announce this lost-and-found money now, it would very likely attract a crowd of greedy people claiming that it's theirs.

Moreover, news spread fast in the village.

It would not take long to hear and confirm who had lost the money.

"Sure. Xinghua, that was good thinking." Mdm Fu stored the silver away.

Actually, Jiang Xinghua did not have to tell anyone about this. Even if she were to hide it, nobody would have known.

She was so honest that it was easy to trust her.

"Fubao, you're indeed a blessing to us. Your eldest brother and second brother picked up pigeons, saved a minister and were given goodies. They even sold them for money. And your elder sister-in-law even found money on the ground." Second Fu said happily as he played with his daughter.

Fubao was just born, and already so many good things had happened one after another.

"Father, I think so too."

Jiang Xinghua also felt that Fu Xing'er was indeed bringing more and more blessings to the family.

"Fubao, wait a moment. I'll go and warm some goat milk for you to drink."

Fu Xing'er blinked her big sparkling eyes.

She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

How did she get the credit for even that?

Oh well, maybe she was indeed starting to get lucky.

In the kitchen.

Liu Guimei was cooking and cursing at the same time.

She scooped two large spoonfuls of lard into the wok, as if they were free-of-charge.

"Why is she taking so long just to deliver things? I wonder if she's slacking off."

She's so tired from cooking.

She was sweaty and her clothes reeked of oil and smoke.

It was extremely unpleasant.

"Guimei, are you cooking?"

"Of course. If we wait for you to do it, our entire family will be starving," Liu Guimei snapped.

Jiang Xinghua smiled good-naturedly and shared that she was delayed in her journey. She carried the basket over and placed the eggs and various supplements into the kitchen cabinet.

Liu Guimei stretched her neck and glanced at the cabinet. "Aunt Wang didn't accept them? What about the pigeon?"

She was still thinking about that pigeon.

Since she refused those eggs, she would probably send back the pigeon too, right?

"Aunt Wang accepted the pigeons and fortune candies."

When she heard that the pigeon was gone, Liu Guimei's expression hardened. She muttered, "She knows what the valuable stuff is."

Of all the things that were offered, she chose to accept the most expensive one–the pigeon, that was worth loads of eggs and candies.

Wasn't she usually generous? Didn't she usually refuse to accept the items that were returned to her?

"Aunt Wang even gave Mother some supplements."

Liu Guimei glanced at the expensive medicinal herbs and stopped saying anything else.

Seeing that Jiang Xinghua was back, she wanted to slack off again. "Xinghua, help me finish cooking the last dish. My stomach hurts. Got to go!"

After finishing her sentence, she ran off quickly while clutching her stomach.

Jiang Xinghua scratched her head. Guimei tended to have several stomach aches throughout any day.

Could she be seriously ill?