After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

Lin Qianqian stood on the mountainside.

The hillsides of Qinghe Village were filled with people digging for poisonous potatoes, young and old alike, all bent over digging in the fields.

The children stopped playing and instead carried bamboo baskets taller than themselves, stumbling and scrambling down the mountain to transport things.

The people of Qinghe Village have gone mad.

This stuff is everywhere in the mountains. It used to be avoided like the plague, and even livestock ate it. Now it can actually be sold for money? A family of several people can easily dig up thirty or forty kilograms a day by working from dawn till dusk.

Some families can dig up fifty or sixty kilograms a day, and there are many such people.

That's a huge amount of money! It was real copper coins! After exchanging them for grain, our family of several people ate for several days.

In previous years, planting one season of rice would not save much money in the end.

You also have to pay taxes. If you can eat your fill for the next year, that's considered good. It's even harder for families with many members.

Among the crowd were her second grandfather's family members. This was the first time she had met them. Rumor had it that her grandfather and second grandfather had a falling out over something and no longer kept in touch.

That's why they haven't had any contact for so long.

It seemed that her second grandfather's family had also noticed her, and Lin Qianqian exchanged a smile with them.

I remember my second grandfather's family was nice, but they didn't look much like my grandfather's. When my mother was alive, she took her there, and my second grandmother even gave her a piece of candy.

Grandma's family wasn't well-off either, and they had many children: three sons and two daughters.

That candy was probably saved up.

Lin Qianqian was recalling the original owner's memories.

"Sister Qianqian! Sister Qianqian!"

A boy, barely out of school, ran up, covered in sweat, his face smeared with mud like a cat's, but he was laughing so hard his eyes were almost invisible.

"What's wrong, Little Stone?" Lin Qianqian asked.

"More people are coming down the mountain! From Phoenix Village next door, they say they're from your great-aunt's cousin's uncle's side, some distant relative, and they want to dig for poisonous potatoes too!"

Lin Qianqian frowned.

Several groups have already come in the past few days. The news spread quickly, and people from all around heard that Qinghe Village had produced a treasure that could be exchanged for money, and everyone wanted to get a piece of the pie.

Before she could even speak, several women from Qinghe Village nearby had already started arguing.

"Why should we? This is our Qinghe Village's land!"

"Exactly, what does something that grows on our mountain have to do with Phoenix Village?"

"Qianqian, you can't back down. You're from our village, so you have to side with us."

Lin Qianqian is neither the village chief nor the clan chief, but the villagers are willing to listen to what she says.

It's strange, really.

This must be what money power is all about!

Lin Qianqian doesn't take advantage of anyone or bully anyone.

Several elderly people in the village gossiped privately: "This girl is more capable than a man. If her father had half her skills, things wouldn't have come to this..."

It's nothing serious; everyone knows the truth, but no one says it out loud.

Lin Qianqian slung the hoe over her shoulder and said to Xiao Shitou, "Let's go down and take a look."

Lin Qianqian walked down the mountain, her mind still replaying the faces she had just seen.

People from my second grandfather's family.

A crowd had already gathered at the foot of the mountain.

Seven or eight people, men, women, and children, arrived from Phoenix Village. The leader was a woman in her fifties, wearing a faded blue cotton jacket, her face etched with deep wrinkles. The moment she saw Lin Qianqian, her eyes lit up, and she grabbed her hand.

"You must be Qianqian? I'm your great-aunt—"

"I know who you are." Lin Qianqian calmly withdrew her hand. "But the matter of the poisoned potatoes is non-negotiable."

My great-aunt was taken aback; she hadn't expected this girl to be so direct.

"Qianqian, there's so much stuff all over the mountains, your Qinghe Village can't possibly dig it all up. We're all related, so please help me out. Your great-aunt is getting old, and I'm thinking of earning some money for my funeral..."

"Aunt," Lin Qianqian's voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear, "These poisonous potatoes grow on Qinghe Village's land, they belong to Qinghe Village. If you're coming to visit relatives, you're welcome. But if you're coming to dig up poisonous potatoes, that won't do. I'm the one who decides this."

My great-aunt's face fell immediately.

A young woman next to Lin Qianqian tugged at her sleeve and said in a low voice, "Qianqian, I'm your sister Guihua. I married into Fenghuang Village, but my family is from Qinghe Village. Could you please make an exception? I'll only dig a little bit; I won't compete with you..."

Lin Qianqian looked at her and sighed.

"Sister Guihua, it's not that I'm being unreasonable. If I let you go today, ten more people like you will come begging for your life tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, people from other villages will come to rob us. At that point, the people of Qinghe Village won't even be able to keep their own share."

Guihua's eyes reddened, and she wanted to say something, but her great-aunt pulled her away.

"Let's go! They've made it big now, they don't care about our poor relatives anymore! Why should we ask them for help?"

The group left, grumbling and cursing.

The villagers of Qinghe Village breathed a sigh of relief and praised Lin Qianqian: "Qianqian is fair!" "It's only right to keep the good stuff in the family!"

But Lin Qianqian stood there, watching those figures from behind, a shallow knot furrowed between her brows.

She remembered the piece of candy her second grandmother had given her.

If her second grandfather's family also came to ask her for help, could she refuse so readily?