Chapter 21: Chapter 21: The Self-Employed

Chen Qiaoqin, who had lived through hard times, would never allow something like this to happen.

She fetched a bamboo basket, lined it thickly with strawberry leaves, and then carefully placed the strawberries inside one by one.

Half a bed’s worth of strawberries ended up filling two whole baskets.

Looking at the two brimming baskets of strawberries, Chen Qiaoqin gritted her teeth, slid them under the bed, and only then walked to the door and called out loudly, “Wei Zi!”

Wei Zi was Yu Wei.

Yu Wei was seven years old. Although he couldn’t really help out with chores yet, he had no problem looking after his younger siblings.

Even though the summer harvest was the hottest time of the year, the kids didn’t mind. They were still outside laughing and playing.

Yu Wei was outside the gate, playing with his five younger brothers and some other village kids. When Chen Qiaoqin called out, he immediately ran inside.

After playing outside for a while, Yu Wei’s face was slick with sweat, but his eyes sparkled and his face was all smiles—he was clearly having a great time. “Fourth Aunt, what’s up?”

“Wei Zi, go to the fields and get your grandma. Tell her I need to talk to her—something urgent. Just tell her to come back by herself.”

Yu Wei didn’t know what was going on, but he didn’t ask any questions. He just agreed and dashed off.

About twenty minutes later, Xu Shuhua came hurrying in, out of breath.

Chen Qiaoqin glanced behind Xu Shuhua to make sure Yu Wei hadn’t followed, then quickly grabbed Xu Shuhua’s hand and led her over to the bed.

Xu Shuhua was still anxious. “Qiaoqin, what’s wrong? You had Wei Zi call me back—did something happen?”

As she spoke, Xu Shuhua’s eyes were glued to Yu Nuannuan, worried that something might have happened to her.

At the bedside, Chen Qiaoqin let go of Xu Shuhua, bent down, and pulled the two baskets out from under the bed, showing Xu Shuhua the strawberries inside.

“Mom, look!”

Both baskets were filled with bright red strawberries, each one as big as Yu Nuannuan’s fist. The sight was truly overwhelming.

Xu Shuhua stared in disbelief. “Wha…where did these come from?”

Chen Qiaoqin nodded toward Yu Nuannuan. “Where else? Our little fairy made them appear!”

With that, she explained what had happened.

When Xu Shuhua heard that Gu Mo had brought over a single seed, and that’s how they ended up with two whole baskets of strawberries, she was so shocked she could barely speak.

She’d always heard the old folks who believed in Daoism say things like, “One begets two, two beget three, three beget all things.” She used to scoff at that.

Now, she believed it!

Wasn’t this exactly “one begets two, two beget three, three beget all things”?

If one seed could yield so many strawberries, what if Yu Nuannuan was given a single wheat seed? Would their family ever have to worry about food again?

They could have steamed buns made from white flour at every meal!

“Mom, with so many strawberries, do you think we should take them to the county town to sell?”

Xu Shuhua was still lost in her daydream when Chen Qiaoqin’s words startled her so much she nearly bit her tongue. “Wha…what did you say? Sell things in the county? What if we get caught?”

“How would we get caught! Mom, it’s been two years since the Reform and Opening Up. Doing business is allowed now. Doesn’t the village loudspeaker go on and on about supporting self-employed businesses?”

Of course Xu Shuhua knew that; she’d just blurted it out without thinking. But she was still a little unsure. “But…will anyone actually buy them?”"

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