Chapter 30: Learning to Let Go

"Leading the entire village out of poverty and toward prosperity..."

The words of Village Chief He lingered in Li Tian'er's mind, refusing to fade.

Little Wu Village was destitute. Girls married out, and young men struggled to find wives. Bachelors were abundant, and families with daughters often traded them off to bring in a bride for their sons. A household was considered wealthy if they could afford a new set of clothes for their children during the Lunar New Year or manage to eat pork a few times. If not for the money Chen Yunchao sent home every month, life for the Chen family would have been incredibly difficult.

Li Tian'er tossed and turned, staring at the deep, dark night sky outside the window, unable to make up her mind.

Fan Lihua had been bragging to everyone that her daughter-in-law had taught herself medicine, understood pharmacology, and could find rare herbs in the mountains. As the village women embellished the story, by the time it reached the ears of the new village chief, Li Taohua had become a legendary figure, as knowledgeable about herbs as Li Shizhen himself. But Li Tian'er knew her medical knowledge was merely superficial.

Every time she treated a patient, the medicine was automatically matched and retrieved from the Wealth System's pharmacy. How could she lead the villagers in cultivating medicinal herbs? No matter how she refused the village chief's request, he insisted she was merely making excuses to avoid responsibility.

"Comrade Li Taohua, I understand your concerns, but one should never fear failure on the road to success. As long as you are willing to work, I will support you with everything I have. The village committee will mobilize all resources to assist you. Let's strive to make this herbal cultivation project the hallmark of Little Wu Village."

Village Chief He’s voice had been resonant and firm, and he had even bowed to her before leaving.

Should she forgo the chance to do business in the county seat and stay in Little Wu Village to lead the villagers in reclaiming wasteland to grow herbs?

Li Tian'er bit her lip, attempting to enter the Wealth System to search for medicinal seeds. Even if she didn't know the technology for cultivation, seeds from the Wealth Base would surely be superior to anything bought outside.

She remembered that when she was Li Jixiang, the technician at the agricultural station had successfully cultivated rice seedlings using grains produced by the Wealth Base. Surely, medicinal herbs could be cultivated too.

As this thought crossed her mind, a ginseng root suddenly appeared in her hand. Looking at the pale, intact roots, she couldn't help but smile. The Wealth System was truly formidable. For a place like Little Wu Village, surrounded by mountains on three sides with pitifully little arable land, what could be more suitable than growing ginseng?

A hand rested on her side, its palm scorching hot.

Li Tian'er hurriedly tucked the ginseng under her pillow. She had forgotten that Chen Yunchao was squeezed onto the *kang* with her.

The visit from the new village chief had made Chen Yunchao and Fan Lihua nervous. After seeing the chief off, Chen Yunchao had pestered her, demanding to know the purpose of the visit. The more Li Tian'er ignored him, the more neurotic and suspicious he became.

As Chen Yunchao’s hand slowly slid toward her arm, Li Tian'er realized she could no longer pretend to be asleep. She snapped around to face him.

Chen Yunchao’s hand froze, then retracted as he gave a sheepish laugh.

"I thought you were asleep..."

"I was, until you woke me up! Get away from me. This *kang* is narrow enough as it is, yet you insist on crowding me. Your brother isn't home; there's plenty of space in the main room for you to sleep."

As she spoke, Li Tian'er shifted the quilt, drawing a clear line between them. It had been over two months since she had become Li Taohua, and she felt as if she hadn't accomplished a single thing—she was simply wasting her life away. Because of her presence, Li Taohua’s marriage hadn't improved; Chen Yunchao remained indecisive and lacked any real loyalty to their marriage.

Li Tian'er had spotted a used tube of Vaseline lip balm in Chen Yunchao’s briefcase—clearly planted by some woman in the inner pocket, intended for his wife to find. Li Tian'er had taken it out to look, then put it back exactly as it was. Perhaps if Chen Yunchao had a mistress, their marriage would come to an end all the sooner.

"If you go sleep in the main room, I’ll go. I have to be where you are. I’m keeping you company—aren't you happy?"

Chen Yunchao recalled a line from a movie he’d watched recently, imitating the tone with practiced ease.

"Spare me. Nobody asked for your company. I’ve made up my mind: I’m not going to the county seat with you. I’ve promised Village Chief He that I’ll stay in the village to work."

"What work could you possibly do in the village? Plowing fields or scraping tree bark? Have you lost your mind? Giving up an easy job in the county to do manual labor?"

Chen Yunchao sat up. He had thought his strategy of "gentle persuasion" earlier that evening was working—if he took her to the county to live, he would have more time for leisure and wouldn't have to worry about laundry or meals. Now, she was rejecting his "favor."

"Whatever work the village assigns, I will do. Go to sleep; don't bother me."

Li Tian'er turned over, ignoring his rambling. Sometimes she felt that Chen Yunchao’s personality was just a carbon copy of Fan Lihua’s—both could drone on about a single thing endlessly.

She didn't know when Chen Yunchao finally fell silent, but when she woke up the next morning, he was already gone.

"Spring plowing is almost here, and Yunchao said the agricultural station is busy, so he headed back early. Honestly, he’s a university graduate, yet he’s still busy with spring plowing like a common farmer!"

Fan Lihua grumbled as she cleared the breakfast table, pained that her second son had left for the county without eating. Li Tian'er didn't believe for a second that he had gone for work; he was probably off to return that lip balm to his mistress.

Most wives would be terrified of their husbands having affairs, but at the thought that Chen Yunchao might have a mistress, Li Tian'er felt elated. The marriage had bound the original owner hand and foot; only by breaking the cage of this marriage could Li Taohua live a better life.

Donning the thin polyester suit she had bought at the county department store, Li Tian'er told Fan Lihua she was heading to the village committee for a meeting. Fan Lihua thought she had misheard. "A what meeting?"

"I'm going to the village office for a meeting. I won't be back for lunch."

Li Tian'er patted her new small lambskin bag and walked out of the courtyard.

She planned to go to the county seat after the meeting to find clients to wholesale some rice, flour, and fruit, and then stop by the Xinhua Bookstore to buy books on herbal cultivation. While the herbs from the Wealth Base were excellent, she needed to learn professional knowledge to package herself—or at least to speak with sound, logical reasons in public without revealing any flaws.

"Where are you going if you're not coming back? Is the village office going to feed you?" Fan Lihua shouted at her back from across the picket fence.

"I’m going to the county. I might not be back tonight," Li Tian'er replied brightly, raising her voice.

"Going to the county? To find Yunchao? Then why didn't you go with him..."

Fan Lihua muttered as she leaned against the fence. A jingling bicycle bell reached her ears. The village mailman appeared on his green bicycle. Before she could greet him, Old Ma the mailman waved, calling out that there was a letter from Chen Haichao.

"Haichao still remembers to write home! I didn't raise him in vain!"

Fan Lihua was thrilled, taking the letter and rushing back toward the house. She was barely literate; in the past, when her second son wrote home from college, she would have her youngest read the letters to her. Realizing there was no one home to read it for her now, she turned, opened the courtyard gate, and headed toward the An Changlin residence nearby.