A jinx, me? But I bring good fortune to my whole family!

"Mommy, don't be scared," Nuannuan whispered. "Xiao Lü said that uncle has an air of nobility and isn't a bad person. Besides, he's in a hurry, and we have some good stuff; this is helping him!"

Su Xiulan composed herself; for the sake of her child, she had to give it a try.

She gave Liu Hongxia a wink, and Liu Hongxia immediately understood. The two of them, with the child in tow, pretended to be passing by and slowly walked to the vicinity of Comrade Hu.

"Mom, can that white leopard that Dad picked up really fetch a lot of money? Is it as old as 100 years old?"

Comrade Hu was deeply troubled. Since the medicinal herb station didn't have any, he could only try his luck on the black market. However, ginseng that was a hundred years old was always extremely rare and hard to come by.

Just as he was worrying, he suddenly heard a little girl's sweet, childlike voice. Comrade Hu quickly turned around and saw two female comrades with several children.

There's only one little girl here, so what she just said must have been her.

"Hey girl, wait a minute!"

Comrade Hu hurriedly called out, and Su Xiulan pretended to be startled, clutching the black cloth bag in her arms tightly, "What...what are you going to do?"

"Young lady, don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person." Comrade Hu tried to soften his tone, glanced at the surrounding pedestrians, and asked in a low voice, "Shall we find somewhere to talk?"

Su Xiulan hesitated for a moment, then looked at Sister-in-law Hongxia. Seeing the other woman nod, she softly hummed in agreement.

The group found a secluded corner, and Comrade Hu eagerly asked, "Young lady, I heard from your child that you have some rare, century-old items?"

Su Xiulan didn't beat around the bush; she carefully lifted the cloth bag, revealing the white ginseng skin inside.

"My husband found this in the mountains a long time ago. I'm just a woman and I don't know much about these things, so I don't know if it's worth anything. We're really struggling to make ends meet right now, so we came to the purchasing station to ask."

Comrade Hu glanced at it once, his eyes widened, and his breathing became rapid.

He's an expert; his family has been practicing medicine for generations, and he can tell at a glance whether something is good or bad.

"The texture, the pearl-like spots..." He raised his hand to touch it, but then hesitated, afraid of being impolite, and rubbed his hands together excitedly. "This is the outer skin of a ginseng root. Judging from its quality, it must be at least 150 years old. It's a good thing."

His father's illness required a ginseng root that was a hundred years old, but the one in front of him was at least one hundred and fifty years old, or even more. This was his father's good fortune; his life was not meant to end.

"Hey girl, I'll take this! Don't bother going to the recycling station, they won't give you a good price. I'll give you fifty yuan, how about that?"

Fifty yuan! Liu Hongxia's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Good heavens! She toiled away in the production team all year, only to receive twenty or thirty yuan in dividends. Could a single piece of leather be worth two years' worth of her work?

Su Xiulan was also stunned by the number; her heart was pounding. Fifty yuan was enough for the whole family to have a good New Year, and she could even buy supplements for Gu Jianguo. Just as she was about to nod, a small hand suddenly tugged at the hem of her clothes.

Nuannuan looked up at Comrade Hu with her little face raised. What she said startled all the adults present.

"Uncle's lying! Little Green, um, the book says this kind of hundred-year-old treasure can save lives! Is a life only worth fifty yuan?" The little girl counted on her fingers. "We need to buy meat, cloth, and food. Fifty yuan is too little!"

Comrade Hu was stunned for a moment. He looked at the little girl who was not even as tall as his thigh, and he laughed in anger.

"So, how much do you want?"

"Although yours is 150 years old, it's just a bit of root bark, not a whole plant."

Nuannuan stretched out two chubby fingers and shook them.

"Two hundred yuan!"

"What?" Liu Hongxia was so startled she almost screamed, and quickly covered her mouth.

Su Xiulan was also surprised and tried to pull her daughter, but Nuannuan's little hand held her down.

Comrade Hu's amiable expression vanished. "Little brat, you're robbing me! Fifty yuan is a high price. Go ask at the recycling station; they'll give you twenty at most!"

"Then Uncle can go to the recycling station to buy it." Nuannuan wasn't afraid of his change of expression and laughed carefree. "The recycling station doesn't have it. Uncle's grandpa won't get better without medicine." She paused, revealing two small dimples. "This is nearly two hundred years old ginseng skin. It's not ginseng meat, but boiling it in water and drinking the water can pull a person back from the brink of death. If Uncle thinks fifty yuan is more important than grandpa's life, then we won't sell it. Mom, let's go home and boil some water for Dad!"

As she spoke, she pulled Su Xiulan away, a trick that Xiao Lü had taught her.

[Well done! The old man is getting anxious! He's carrying a lot of money!]

Sure enough, the group had only taken two steps when they heard Comrade Hu's voice, gritting his teeth, from behind, "Wait!"

Comrade Hu was truly desperate; he had searched every pharmacy in the provincial capital but couldn't find the product. Having finally found hope in this impoverished place, how could he let it slip away? Just as the little girl said, compared to the old man's life, what is money!

"Fine! Two hundred it is!" Comrade Hu pulled a thick envelope from his pocket, his face serious. "But let me make this clear first, if this is fake, I won't let you off the hook!"

Su Xiulan's heart trembled. Two hundred yuan! That was a huge sum of money; she never dared to even think about it!

"I need tickets too!" Nuannuan turned around and opened her little hands. "Mommy said that you can't buy things with money, you need tickets!"

Comrade Hu, look at this little one, he's so smart!

"Here you go! It's all for you!" He pulled out another stack of coupons from his pocket, didn't even look at them, and shoved them into Su Xiulan's hands. "Two hundred yuan, three industrial coupons, ten jin of national grain coupons, and two six-foot cloth coupons, is that enough?"

"Alright, the money and goods are settled! I have to hurry back to save people, I'm off!" After saying that, he snatched the black cloth bag, stuffed it into his arms, tightened his coat collar, and left without looking back.

In the deserted alley, only Su Xiulan, Liu Hongxia, and their three children remained.

The two adults stared dumbfounded at the stack of banknotes in their hands. The wind was howling fiercely, but Su Xiulan felt burning hot all over.

"My God!" Liu Hongxia swallowed hard, her voice trembling. "Xiulan, am I dreaming? Two hundred yuan for a single hide? And industrial coupons too?"

In those days, industrial coupons were more valuable than money or gold; they were something only city workers could have. Three coupons could buy big-ticket items like bicycles and sewing machines!

As Su Xiulan clutched the large stack of "Taiyuan" banknotes, she looked at her daughter's rosy cheeks and almost burst into tears.

"Mommy, we have money!" Nuannuan hugged Su Xiulan's leg, happily whining, "Nuannuan wants to buy meat to eat!"

Su Xiulan wiped her face, bent down and picked up the little girl.

"Let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative! Today, we'll make up for everything we were missing before!"

With this money and tickets, let's see who dares to look down on the Gu family's third branch!

None of them noticed that there was a hoodlum hiding in the corner at the entrance of the alley.

The man stared intently at Su Xiulan's bulging pockets, swallowing greedily.