Chapter 8

Leaving the courtyard, Liu Wei returned home when it was already dark. His father wasn't there, and he was alone.

Looking at the empty house, Liu Wei couldn't help but feel a bit down.

The family's financial situation wasn't good. His mother worked outside all year round, and his father ran a transportation business, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night, working hard and tiring himself out but earning very little.

His younger sister was in her second year of college. She usually went out to work part-time on weekends, and she was very introverted, with few friends.

And in the past, Liu Wei had worked various jobs but hadn't saved much money, nor had he contributed much to the family.

Thinking about this, Liu Wei called his mother.

His mother was really too hardworking! She had been working at a large hotel for three years!

For three years, she had been washing dishes in the hotel kitchen! Her hands and feet were swollen, her back and legs ached, and she was exhausted, but her salary was low. She saved every penny, not even spending a single cent.

"Mom, are you off work?"

"Yes! Have you eaten?"

"Yes! I dug up a ginseng plant today and sold it for 180,000 yuan. Come home quickly! I'm planning to start a chicken farm, so you won't have to work outside anymore!"

"Really? When did this happen?"

"Really! The money is in my bank account! It happened today, and Dad doesn't even know yet!"

"Ah!" Liu Wei's mother was so surprised she didn't know what to say. She never thought her son would be so lucky.

"Come back! Quit your job tomorrow!" Liu Wei no longer wanted his mother to suffer and hoped she would return as soon as possible.

"Okay! I'll quit tomorrow, but there's a salary hold, and it will take at least half a month to complete the procedures."

"How much is the salary hold?"

"Half a month's salary!"

"Quit directly tomorrow and don't worry about the half-month salary. I'll buy you a plane ticket when the time comes!"

"Why so urgent! I'll quit tomorrow, but don't rush to buy the ticket! I'll just buy a hard sleeper ticket!"

"Okay! Try to come back as soon as possible!"

"Okay! That's it for now, Dad is back!"

Liu Wei hung up the phone. With the cave, he was confident that he could make his family live a happy life from now on, at least without worrying about money.

As soon as Liu Wei's father came in, he asked, "Why did you fight with Hu Jianjun?"

Liu Wei's relationship with his father was like that of many Chinese families, with little communication and a slight distance.

Liu Wei thought his father would blame him and calmly said, "He was looking for trouble. I was walking normally, and he came and bumped into me. I dodged, and he started cursing me."

Liu Wei's father asked, "Why did he pick on you?"

Liu Wei didn't want his father to know about his relationship with Li Jiaojiao and said, "How would I know? He must be crazy!"

After a moment of silence, Liu Wei's father asked, "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

Liu Wei felt a warm feeling in his heart, "I'm fine! Three against one, and they couldn't even beat me!"

"I heard he used a knife?"

"He didn't hurt me. I kicked him away with one foot!"

"That's good! Be careful these next few days. He won't let this go!"

"What's to be afraid of? Don't look at him just because he's a police officer!"

Liu Wei's father was silent for a while and then asked, "What are your plans for this year? Staying at home isn't a solution. Why don't you go back to your old job?"

Liu Wei knew his father was still a bit worried and wanted him to leave home quickly to avoid trouble.

If it were in the past, he might have left to avoid the wind, but now he was different.

Thinking about this, he said happily, "I dug up a ginseng plant today and sold it for 180,000 yuan at the county. Look, this is the bank message."

"This is also 50,000 yuan in cash. Look!" A thick stack of red bills was laid out in front of him, making it hard to disbelieve.

Liu Wei's father still didn't believe it, took the phone, and looked at it for a long time, counting "units, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands."

After counting several times, he finally believed the fact.

"Really! You really sold it for 180,000 yuan!" Liu Wei's father still felt like he was dreaming.

"Really, I'll go to the mountains again tomorrow to see if I can find another one." Liu Wei said happily, thinking about the hundreds of ginseng plants in the cave.

"Wow! You really have such good luck! How come I never found one even though I've been in the mountains every day?" Liu Wei's father seemed to believe the fact and said in surprise.

Good luck really can't be stopped when it comes, Liu Wei thought to himself. Today's encounter could only be attributed to luck.

Liu Wei's father was excited for a long time and then asked, "What do you plan to do with this money?"

Liu Wei had a preliminary plan: "First, let's pay off the family's debts. Then I plan to start a chicken farm and have Mom come back to raise chickens at home."

Liu Wei's father nodded in agreement, "We definitely need to pay off the debts first!"

A few years ago, his father used his savings to buy a 6.8-meter truck. The business was good for the first two years, and he earned a lot of money.

His father became more ambitious and took out a 200,000 yuan loan from the bank to buy a large excavator with a relative.

The excavator business was good for more than a year, but then people in the town followed suit, using connections and gifts to snatch away the limited work, causing the excavator business to plummet.

To make matters worse, his grandparents fell ill one after another. His father sold the excavator to raise money for their treatment. Although he managed to cure his grandparents, the money he had earned over the years was almost all spent.

His younger sister's college tuition was borrowed, and the family still owed the bank 100,000 yuan and a total of over 30,000 yuan to several relatives.

His father, who was only 50 years old, had half his hair turned white from worrying about money.

Liu Wei thought for a moment and said, "We'll leave the 100,000 yuan in the bank for now and pay off the 30,000 yuan to the relatives first."

"I also plan to use this money to start a chicken farm. Look at the two chicken farms in town; their business is pretty good."

Liu Wei's father paused and said, "It's okay to leave the bank loan for now, but starting a chicken farm isn't easy. If the market isn't good, it's better not to start."

Liu Wei thought about it and agreed. He didn't really see the chicken farm as a good idea. In the countryside, whenever someone made money, everyone followed suit.

Just like when his father bought the truck because his aunt's husband made money from it, and he bought the excavator because someone in town made a fortune from it.

The result was that everyone bought trucks and excavators, but there was only so much work to go around, and no one made money, making the business difficult.

He only wanted to start the chicken farm to get his mother back from Xinjiang.

The father and son talked late into the night, something they hadn't done in a long time.

Back in his room, Liu Wei locked the door and entered the cave with a thought.

He walked around the cave a few times, then squatted in the medicinal garden and started counting his ginseng plants.

After counting for a long time, he found he had 232 plants, most of which were over 10,000 years old. If he sold them, how much money would he make!

Of course, this was just a thought. He wouldn't be foolish enough to sell them!

Liu Wei then thought about the different time flow in the cave compared to the outside world. Could he grow ginseng in the cave and sell it?

He didn't know the exact time ratio yet, but he planned to conduct an experiment.