The Fantastic Little Farmer

Chapter 246: Chapter 246: My Secret to Getting Rich

When Zhang Yun saw his older cousin, his first reaction was that he had come to borrow money—likely sneaking over without his uncle’s permission. But unlike the annoyance he felt when those other relatives visited before, he was willing to lend it. They had already paid back the money to all three families, but Zhang Yun felt that even adding a few thousand in interest wasn’t enough to repay the favor. Just based on the fact that his uncle had lent their family eighty thousand to build a house, he would absolutely lend money to his cousin if needed. Whether it was for building a house, medical bills, a child’s education, or starting a business, he wouldn’t refuse as long as the amount wasn’t too large, even if the chances of getting paid back were slim.

However, Zhang Yun never expected that his cousin wasn’t here for money—he was here to learn how to dig for ginseng!

This was a bit awkward to address. Normally, giving a man a fish was not as good as teaching him to fish, and teaching someone how to make money was better than just lending it to them. But wild ginseng was extremely rare, and the areas that produced it were limited. It truly was a case of ”teaching the apprentice starves the master.”

But that wasn’t even the main point. The crucial factor was that Zhang Yun didn’t rely on skill to dig for ginseng; he relied on his Golden Finger.

What was a Golden Finger? Legend had it that when Lü Dongbin wanted to take on a disciple, he tested people by turning stones into gold. Everyone who saw the gold happily accepted it. Only one person said he didn’t want the gold. Ancestor Lü was thrilled, thinking, ”This person has no worldly greed and possesses great spiritual wisdom!” But before he could express his intention to take the man as his disciple, the person said, ”I don’t want the gold. I want your finger that turns stones into gold!” Ancestor Lü could only leave in disappointment. So, could a Golden Finger really be given away or learned?

”Sure.” Although he had a lot going on in his mind, Zhang Yun didn’t show any change on his face and agreed with a smile. ”Haha, there’s no skill to digging for ginseng, only luck.”

”You brothers have a chat, I’ll go cook,” Zhang Fu said.

He was feeling complicated. The recent changes in their family were all because his son had dug up a centennial ginseng. Regardless of whether he had really found a secret area, this was definitely not something to be shared with outsiders! Even relatives were no exception; he wouldn’t even ask exactly where his son had dug it up himself. But when they were building the house before, he had gone to Wang Ronghua and Wang Fugui for help, and they had obliged. So right now, it was impossible to refuse Wang Changshun. Of course, he had already explained at length beforehand that Zhang Yun’s ability to dig up the centennial ginseng was purely based on luck.

Zhang Yun told Wang Changshun to drink some tea first while he went to feed the fish. Wang Changshun quickly followed him.

This made Zhang Yun feel helpless. If he had been alone, he could have just pulled a couple of fruits from the Peach Blossom Spring Space. With Wang Changshun tagging along, he had no choice but to honestly go cut some grass.

They chatted a bit along the way. Wang Changshun had originally been working on the coast, but his factory wasn’t doing well and had laid off workers. After searching for a long time without finding anything suitable, he had returned home. Upon hearing about Zhang Yun’s success, he decided to come over and join him. Zhang Yun agreed to it for the time being. At most, he would just provide him with food and drink without making any promises.

The two of them cut some grass together to feed the fish, and by the time they returned, it was already dark.

Normally, when the father and son ate together, they didn’t have much to talk about. Today, with a guest present, it was much livelier, just like when Zhang Long had eaten there the night before. However, Wang Changshun had brought his luggage along, preparing for a long-term stay. Still, Xu Jin and the others had stayed here before, so neither of them found it too unusual, and the room didn’t need much tidying up.

That night, Zhang Yun made the excuse of guarding the fish, saying he was going to sleep by the fish pond. Wang Changshun immediately insisted on coming along. It wasn’t like Zhang Yun could sneak off to dig for ginseng in the dead of night anyway. Wang Changshun just wanted to show some initiative, helping out with chores while he learned to dig for ginseng. Zhang Yun felt helpless and could only let him tag along.

The small wooden cabin was very crude. The bed inside was just a few wooden boards laid out with a straw mat on top. Blankets weren’t even needed right now; only when the weather turned cold would they spread straw for warmth and bring out the blankets, though naturally, they came here less often when it got cold. Seeing mosquito repellent incense in the corner, Wang Changshun hurriedly helped light it. The bites from the wild mountain mosquitoes were no joke.

”Zhang Yun, how much ginseng have you dug up? You must have sold it for quite a bit of money, right?” There was no TV to watch here, and the rechargeable lamp quickly died, leaving Wang Changshun with no choice but to find a topic of conversation.

Zhang Yun chuckled. ”Hehe, after hearing that I dug up a centennial ginseng, who knows how many people from our village and the neighboring ones went into the mountains to dig for ginseng. They didn’t find a single old ginseng.”

”Because none of them have your skill?” Wang Changshun’s spirits lifted.

”No. Because they don’t know my secret to getting rich.”

”A secret to getting rich?” Wang Changshun felt a surge of excitement. He had thought he would be tested for a period of time. Was his cousin really going to tell him on the very first night? What a great cousin!

”You should have heard that someone brought a suitcase full of cash to my house. The century-old ginseng I dug up sold for one million.”

”Yes, that’s what everyone says.” Wang Changshun secretly swallowed hard. If he could also sell a single ginseng for one million, he could go buy a house in the city!

”But they don’t know why those people gave me one million.”

Wang Changshun was taken aback. ”Wasn’t it because of the ginseng’s value?”

”You’ve probably heard about something else, too. My girlfriend from the big city drove a Maybach to the village to find me.” Zhang Yun figured he had definitely done his homework.

”Yeah, I heard. The news spread all over our area. Everyone is so envious of you! But what can they say when my cousin is so handsome?” Wang Changshun offered a compliment.

Zhang Yun laughed out loud. ”Now do you know my secret to getting rich?”

Wang Changshun froze, carefully pondering what he meant by those words. He had heard all of this information before and felt nothing but envy. But just now, Zhang Yun had specifically emphasized putting the two clues together, making the implication far too obvious.

”You mean... that one million was actually given by your girlfriend, and she deliberately brought a suitcase of cash just to boost your ego?” Wang Changshun’s expression turned a bit ugly.

Many people had taken short videos of Zhang Yun’s million in cash and spread them around. With video evidence, it had given everyone dreams of getting rich overnight. While others were merely envious, he felt he had a chance to get close and fulfill that dream for himself. But now, Zhang Yun had directly popped his bubble!

Damn it, the million was from his girlfriend! It was actually sugar mommy money, given to him under the guise of buying ginseng. Was this something just anyone could achieve? There were plenty of handsome guys out there—like the big shots who loved reading web novels—but not just anyone could find a sugar mommy!

”My girlfriend definitely wants to protect my pride. Even if she bought a house in the city and put my name on the deed, it would feel more comfortable than this. This was obviously her family’s idea.”

”Her family? ...I get it!”

”Bank transfers are so convenient nowadays, who would specifically withdraw a million in cash to pay someone? And have a top lawyer specially deliver it to my door?”

Wang Changshun smiled bitterly. ”They’re throwing money at you, making you take the cash and leave their daughter. Having a top lawyer deliver it was a warning to you.”

That was how it always played out on TV! This version of events was much more logical and reasonable than randomly digging up a ginseng and getting rich overnight.

”What did you think, otherwise? That a centennial ginseng can really just be dug up anywhere? That it can really easily sell for a million?”

Zhang Yun couldn’t let his cousin follow him around every day; he had to send him packing.

”But those other bosses...”

Wang Changshun had originally heard that other bosses had also bought Zhang Yun’s ginseng. But having accepted the narrative of the Maybach-driving girlfriend’s family throwing money at him, his imagination naturally linked the rest of the rumors together. It was either through the girlfriend’s connections or her family’s connections. In the end, it was all just them throwing money to humiliate Zhang Yun.

His cousin wept silently in his heart, ”I want to be humiliated with money by a rich family too!”

”Since you took the money, doesn’t that mean you’ve lost your dignity?”

Zhang Yun countered with a question, ”Is dignity more important, or is a million more important?”

”A million!” Wang Changshun didn’t hesitate for a single second. ”It’s just... can you still be with your girlfriend? And will your girlfriend look down on you?”

”If I don’t go looking for her, but she comes looking for me, then that doesn’t violate the agreement, right? As for my girlfriend, her family’s money is also her money. If she offered me money, I wouldn’t take it, but if her family gave me money and I took it, she should be pretty happy about it, right? As for the future, well, our social statuses don’t match anyway, so I might as well just secure the bag first.”

After listening to Zhang Yun’s half-truths, Wang Changshun remained silent for a while before finally forcing out a single sentence, ”You really are a scumbag...”