Chapter 22

On July 15th, Xiao Fei and his brother set off early for the county town. Today, they were going to sell their first batch of dried tortoises. This batch weighed about 90 kilograms, the result of their first night's work. Each of them rode a bicycle, with a bulging jute bag tied securely to the back of each bike.

The Xiao family only had one old, dilapidated bicycle, which Xiao Fei used to ride to school. The other bicycle was borrowed from a neighbor.

Before they left, their mother gave them many instructions. "Be careful on the road, don't ride too fast, and keep an eye on the jute bags behind you to make sure they don't fall off. Sell the tortoises and come home quickly. Don't carry so much money, it's not safe. Watch out for thieves, or you might get robbed."

As they passed through the village, they naturally encountered the envious and jealous gazes of the villagers. Everyone knew that the brothers were going to the city to sell tortoises. Two full jute bags of dried tortoises—anyone could calculate their value. One bag must weigh about 40 to 50 kilograms (dried tortoises are much lighter than live ones but don't shrink much in size). Many people also knew the price per kilogram of dried tortoises in the city. The more they calculated, the more envious they became.

The two jute bags on the brothers' bikes contained over 3,000 yuan! And this wasn't even all of it. Many villagers who had visited the Xiao family in recent days knew that the backyard was full of tortoises. If they sold them all, it would easily amount to over 10,000 yuan.

By the late 1990s, even in a poor place like Xili Village, households with 10,000 yuan in assets were not uncommon (though very few had 10,000 yuan in bank deposits). However, no one in the village had ever seen 10,000 yuan in cash at once.

Especially in 1996, a year of great disaster, when every household in the village was struggling, the sudden rise of the Xiao family drew even more attention.

After passing through the village and the narrow pass on the hill, the brothers finally reached the main road. It took them an hour and a half to reach the county town.

Xiao Fei led the way to the Chinese herbal medicine acquisition point on East Street. The acquisition point had a large storefront, about three rooms wide. A large sunshade was set up at the entrance, under which a bamboo recliner was placed. A fat middle-aged man, wearing only shorts, lay on the recliner, fanning himself vigorously. Despite this, he was drenched in sweat, looking like a red, oily ham. The man weighed at least 300 pounds, and his weight was causing the recliner to creak as if it might collapse at any moment.

Xiao Fei stopped his bike, and the strong smell of Chinese herbal medicine filled the air. The fat man saw the brothers stop at the entrance and, noticing the jute bags on their bikes, quickly jumped up, his face breaking into a Buddha-like smile, with the flesh on his chin folding like the Hengduan Mountains.

His eyes remained fixed on the jute bag on Xiao Fei's bike. He sniffed and reached out with his plump hand to touch it. He knew exactly what was inside.

"Are you here to sell tortoises?" the fat man asked.

"Yes! Are you the owner of this shop?" Xiao Fei nodded. Xiao Yang, standing beside him, remained silent, his lips tightly pressed together. He had rarely come to the county town and was not used to dealing with strangers.

"Yes, I'm Hong Dajun. There are a few shops in the county that deal in Chinese herbal medicine, but I, Old Hong, am the best. Unload the jute bags, and let me see the goods."

"Sure."

The brothers parked their bikes, untied the ropes, and carried the jute bags off the bikes. Hong Dajun opened the jute bags, even reaching in to grab a dried tortoise, which he chewed for a while before swallowing it. This action made Xiao Fei's hair stand on end.

"Can tortoises be eaten as snacks?" Xiao Fei thought.

Hong Dajun wiped the salt from his hands and said, "Brother, these tortoises are of good quality. I'll give you 36 yuan per kilogram. Old Hong is fair to everyone, and I never cheat on weight. How about it, will you sell them to me?"

The price was right, Xiao Fei thought. It seemed the acquisition price for dried tortoises was quite transparent. The fat man also seemed honest.

"Sure! I'll sell them to Brother Hong." Xiao Fei was straightforward.

Hong Dajun called two of his men to carry the jute bags into the shop for weighing. Xiao Yang, with wide eyes, stood next to the scale, staring intently and saying, "Boss, we've already weighed them at home. You can't weigh them less here."

Hong Dajun took out a pack of Hongtashan cigarettes and offered them to the brothers, smiling. "Brother, don't worry. I'm in this for the long term. I can't afford to ruin my reputation."

The weighing result showed that the two jute bags weighed a total of 93 kilograms, minus the 2 kilograms for the jute bags themselves, making it 91 kilograms of dried tortoises.

Hong Dajun rattled the abacus and said to Xiao Fei, "It's 3,276 yuan in total. Brother, check the calculation, is it correct?"

Xiao Fei had already done the calculation in his head and nodded. Xiao Yang, however, squatted on the ground, using his fingers to write out the calculation repeatedly, trembling and blushing, afraid of making a mistake. He was so excited.

Growing up, Xiao Yang had never seen so much money. It was no wonder he was so agitated.

Seeing his brother in tattered clothes, muttering and slowly drawing on the ground, Xiao Fei felt a pang of sadness. To support his education, the family hadn't bought new clothes for years. Xiao Yang worked in the fields every day, and his clothes were always worn out. For this trip to the county town, Xiao Yang had even changed into his cleanest clothes, but they still had holes and patches.

Xiao Fei thought, "I'll buy two sets of clothes for everyone when we get back."

Hong Dajun, holding a stack of RMB, watched Xiao Yang persistently writing and erasing numbers on the ground without urging him.

"Brother, I've finished the calculation. Boss Hong's numbers are correct," Xiao Fei said, wiping his eyes. His voice was a bit hoarse.

"I've also calculated it. It's 3,276 yuan," Xiao Yang stood up from the ground.

"Here's the money. Brother, count it," Boss Hong handed the stack of money to Xiao Fei.

Xiao Fei passed it to Xiao Yang, "Brother, you count it."

Xiao Fei thought his brother should feel a sense of achievement. This money was earned through hard labor, and every cent was a testament to his brother's value. In the countryside at that time, farmers like his brother often felt their labor was cheap and never included its value when calculating their annual income.

"Brother, you count it. I'm afraid I might make a mistake," Xiao Yang declined, but his eyes remained fixed on the money.

As the eldest in the Xiao family, Xiao Yang had only completed third grade before returning home to work with his father, sacrificing much of his life for the family.

Xiao Fei said nothing and pushed the money into his brother's hands. In the herbal medicine acquisition station, the sound of Xiao Yang counting the money, nodding his head like a pilgrim, was deeply moving.

"Boss Hong, to be honest, we still have 300 to 400 kilograms of dried tortoises at home. Many people in our village catch tortoises. If you have time, you can drive to our village in a few days. I'm sure you'll have a good harvest," Xiao Fei chatted with Hong Dajun.

"Really?" Hong Dajun's eyes lit up.

"I won't lie to you," Xiao Fei said.

"Which village are you from? Thank you so much for this information," Hong Dajun was grateful.

Xiao Fei described the location of his village and his home, and Hong Dajun noted it down, thanking him repeatedly.

As the brothers left, Hong Dajun gave each of them a pack of Hongtashan cigarettes.