A Beauty in the 80s Goes on a Blind Date with Her Child, Captivating the Military Compound - Chapter 61

Zhang Xiuhong stood there, waving her sickle in one hand and clutching a few stalks of wild chrysanthemum in the other. The cloth bag on her back was stuffed so full that flowers were practically overflowing from the top.

Shen Sisi’s eyes widened. So, she’s the one who picked all the wild chrysanthemums on this mountain…

Seeing Zhang Xiuhong coming down from the peak, Shen Sisi felt a visible wave of disappointment. Well, there was no point in going up now; the flowers were all gone. She would have to look elsewhere.

“Oh, it’s you… what a coincidence. You’re out picking flowers too,” Shen Sisi said, forcing a smile.

The last time Zhang Xiuhong was here, she had been ready to end it all. Now that she was in the mood to pick flowers, it seemed her spirits had recovered well. At that thought, seventy to eighty percent of Sisi’s disappointment faded away.

Zhang Xiuhong rolled up her sleeves and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “It’s a stroke of luck running into you here; saves me an extra trip.”

She scurried over to Shen Sisi’s side, set the heavy bag on the ground, and began grabbing handfuls of wild chrysanthemums, stuffing them into Sisi’s back-basket.

“What are you…” Shen Sisi instinctively took half a step back, but she quickly realized that Zhang Xiuhong meant no harm. On the contrary, she seemed to be helping.

“Did you pick these for me?” Shen Sisi asked, stunned.

“Yep!” Zhang Xiuhong huffed and puffed, shoving five large handfuls into the basket until the chrysanthemums were packed tight.

“I saw you picking flowers in the woods last time. I figured you might be suffering from a bit of ‘internal heat.’ I reckoned your chrysanthemum tea would be running low by now, so I came out to gather some for you…”

Shen Sisi couldn’t help but chuckle. Zhang Xiuhong sure can tell a story. Based on a few small wild flowers, she had concluded Sisi had internal heat and was making tea—she truly had the soul of a natural gossip.

However, Sisi didn’t bother to correct her. The more one explains, the more trouble follows. Rather than telling people she was manufacturing medicinal oil, it was better to let them believe she was just a very “heated” individual.

“I see…” Shen Sisi had been worried about where to find herbs, and now Zhang Xiuhong had solved her urgent problem. Sisi didn’t act coy and accepted the gift graciously. “Well then, Sister Xiuhong, thank you!”

Zhang Xiuhong had been worried Sisi wouldn’t accept her kindness, so she was relieved by her straightforwardness. She looked up; under the dappled shadows of the trees, Shen Sisi’s sweet smile was brighter than the sun. It was as if the unpleasantness between them had never happened.

If it were Zhang Xiuhong herself, she would have cut ties forever over such a deep grudge. Yet Shen Sisi had not only saved her but helped her, letting go of past grievances completely. This level of magnanimity was wider than the sea.

“Aren’t you… afraid I’m trying to harm you?” Zhang Xiuhong asked playfully.

Shen Sisi smiled. “If you wanted to harm me, you could just hide in a dark corner and plot against me. Why would you bother coming out in the early morning dew to cut grass?”

Zhang Xiuhong thought about it. True enough!

“Besides, what good does it do you to harm me?” Sisi added.

Zhang Xiuhong slapped the dirt off her hands. “Ha! I knew I couldn’t fool you. You’re a sharp one…”

“I wouldn’t call myself sharp. It’s just that your acting skills, Sister Xiuhong, are honestly quite terrible.”

“You…” Zhang Xiuhong flushed with embarrassment, not daring to tease her further.

Since Zhang Xiuhong had already done all the work Sisi had planned for the day, this “repayment of kindness” was actually quite effective. They walked back together, their bodies warming up under the morning sun.

Along the way, Sisi heard so many “thank yous” that her ears were practically growing calluses.

“Sister Sisi, you really are a miracle worker… I listened to you that day and did some deep soul-searching. I stopped fighting with my husband and stopped running my mouth. After a few days, his attitude toward me really changed.”

“The matter of the divorce hasn’t been brought up again!” Zhang Xiuhong breathed a sigh of relief. Otherwise, if she were forced to divorce and return to the countryside, she would have been worked to death. “I, Zhang Xiuhong, will never forget your great kindness!”

Shen Sisi never looked for rewards when doing good deeds, nor did she expect others to be grateful; she only hoped she wouldn’t encounter a “Farmer and the Viper” situation. It turned out Zhang Xiuhong was actually quite sentimental. She wasn’t rotten to the core.

“It’s fine, just a small thing,” Shen Sisi said, not taking it to heart.

“It’s small to you, but to me, it was my life—my whole family’s life. Anyway, I’ll remember this. I don’t have many skills, but I have the strength of an ox. From now on, I’ll handle all the chrysanthemum tea for your house!”

She puffed out her chest with an earnest, solemn look that made both Shen Sisi and Niuniu laugh.

The remark was made casually, but Sisi took it seriously. Her second order was for over a hundred bottles of oil; she couldn’t handle it all alone and truly needed some reliable help.

She thought for a moment. “Alright, it’s a deal then. If I need any herbs in the future, I’ll count on you.”

Zhang Xiuhong was delighted, feeling a sense of being needed. “Of course! Don’t you dare be polite with me…”

“However, I can’t let you work for free,” Shen Sisi said with a smile. “I’ll pay you a wage.”

“A wage?” Zhang Xiuhong waved her hand in annoyance, her face clouding over. “Sister Sisi, who are you looking down on? This is just a simple favor; how could I take your money?”

Shen Sisi didn’t get angry. Instead, she let out a long, exaggerated sigh of regret. “Sigh… in that case, I won’t dare trouble you next time. Since I have to pay someone to do it anyway, I suppose I’ll just have to find someone else.”

As expected, Zhang Xiuhong fell for it. “What? You’re hiring people?”

Shen Sisi gave a small hum of affirmation. “I was thinking of collaborating with you so you could earn some money while taking care of your home. What a pity…”

The arm Zhang Xiuhong had just pulled away quickly hooked back into Sisi’s. “Good sister, what on earth are you doing that requires hiring people?”

Shen Sisi saw that she was being sincere. Since the whole neighborhood would eventually find out about the business anyway, she stopped hiding it. “I’m making medicinal oil. I need certain herbs, and some of them can be found right here in the mountains.”

“I thought if you could help me harvest the herbs, I could rest easy and have more time for production. But, alas…” Sisi sighed deeply, making herself sound years older than she was.

Now Zhang Xiuhong was the anxious one, her grip on Sisi’s hand tightening. “How was I supposed to know you were making medicinal oil? I thought you were just drying chrysanthemums for tea. I didn’t realize… you were that amazing!”

Shen Sisi blinked her clever, large eyes. “So?”

Zhang Xiuhong’s tongue was practically tripping over itself. “I’ll do it! Of course I’ll do it! If you’re going to hire someone anyway, better me than a stranger. At least I can guarantee I’ll pick the freshest ones for you.”

“Great!” Shen Sisi and her reached a perfect agreement. Then, as they began to discuss the specific wage… Shen Sisi fell into a thoughtful silence.