You are unlucky and I am tough

Half an hour ago, one of the men who went up the mountain with Wei Qinglang during the day ran to Wei's house when it got dark to ask Wei Qinglang if they had returned.

When I learned that neither of them had returned yet, I immediately felt that my premonition was right and something bad was going to happen.

Soon the news spread throughout the village. More and more people gathered in front of the Wei family's door, chattering and talking about all kinds of things.

"It's so late, he must be stuck in the mountains."

"What kind of place is that old forest? Even the old hunters in the village don't dare to enter it. How old is Wei Laosan, and he dares to go there? I know that something bad will happen sooner or later."

"My husband saw him go in and tried to dissuade him, but he refused to listen and insisted on going in.

"I'm so poor I'm willing to sacrifice my life just to hunt."

"My son also saw him running into the old forest in the mountains. I heard that he has been there several times and nothing happened. He must be very capable."

"It was fine when I went in alone before, but today I brought Cheng Shuang with me. Everyone knows that she is unlucky for her husband."

"Why did she insist on going with us? Isn't that just causing more trouble?"

"This Wei Lao San is going to be in big trouble. He might end up crippled."

"Even if you're crippled, you're still alive. But I heard there are tigers in the old forest, and you might lose your life."

Wei Nanxing was very angry when he heard those people talking about his brother and sister-in-law. He wanted to argue but hated himself for being tongue-tied. Finally, the village head came and stopped those voices.

Hu Chunhua and Boss Cheng were also among the crowd, already thinking with glee about where to sell Cheng Shuang and how much she would be sold for if Wei Qinglang divorced her.

Wei Nanxing was anxious and asked the headman to ask some villagers to go up the mountain with him to look for the missing person. After the headman gave the order, seven or eight kind-hearted villagers came out and were willing to help. After some discussion, they prepared torches and set off.

It was dark and the mountain road was difficult to walk on. Cheng Shuang finally couldn't walk anymore and was thrown into the space by Wei Qinglang. He ran forward in the woods alone with a flashlight, and his speed increased immediately.

Only when scattered lights could be seen at the foot of the mountain did they bring people out of the space.

Cheng Shuang had sharp eyes. After walking for a while, she saw a fire coming up the mountain from the bottom. "Wei Qinglang, look quickly. It looks like someone is climbing up the mountain from below."

Wei Qinglang also looked around and said, "It should be someone from the village."

"They must be coming to find us."

The two looked at each other, quickly put away their flashlights, and quickened their pace down the mountain. From a distance, they saw Wei Nanxing walking in front with a torch.

"Nanxing." Wei Qinglang called out.

"elder brother."

Wei Nanxing cried out in surprise when he heard the familiar voice, ran forward for a while, and saw two familiar figures in the light of the fire.

"Brother, sister-in-law, are you okay?" Wei Nanxing was frightened by what the villagers said. His heart was tense, and when he saw his brother and sister-in-law, he almost cried.

"It's okay." Wei Qinglang patted his brother's shoulder. "We just forgot the time and came back late. It was dark when we were halfway there."

Cheng Shuang felt embarrassed when she saw Wei Nanxing's anxious expression change. She said softly, "Don't worry, we'll be fine. Where are the others at home?"

Wei Nanxing: "Pan'er is waiting at home with them."

Soon the villagers behind also caught up. Cheng Lizheng’s second son, Cheng Zhengyi, was holding a torch and was relieved to see that both of them were safe and sound.

"Thank goodness everything is alright. You guys were really messing around. The old forest is such a dangerous place. You didn't even come back after dark."

He glanced at Cheng Shuang and said, "You're really brave, bringing your wife with you."

Wei Qinglang was quite touched that these villagers came up the mountain to look for them at night. He nodded and said, "Uncle Cheng is right. We won't do it again in the future."

Cheng Shuang also stepped forward, with a well-behaved look on her face, "Thank you all for your hard work, uncles and brothers. We will remember all your kindness to us."

"We're all from the same village, why are we saying this?" Cheng Xiaoguo's father, Cheng Daming, said, "As long as everyone is alright, go down the mountain. The villagers are waiting for you."

Cheng Li was sitting in the yard waiting for news, and some villagers continued to gather outside the Wei family yard.

Suddenly, Cheng Xiaoguo's clear and pleasant voice suddenly rang out throughout the village.

The child's voice was crystal clear. He ran as hard as he could, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Grandpa Lizheng, my father and the others are back. Brother Wei San is fine, and so is Sister-in-law Wei San."

As soon as Cheng Shuang and his friends arrived at the door of their home, they were surrounded by a group of villagers. The scene was in chaos and everyone was asking them why they came back so late.

I was curious about what was in the basket and how they got out of the old forest when it was so dark.

Finally, Cheng Lizheng, leaning on his slightly worn cane, squeezed in with great effort and said loudly, "It's getting late, everyone should go home."

After the villagers dispersed, only the village head and his second son were left. Cheng Pan ran out of the house with his younger brother and sister-in-law.

Two of the three little ones pounced on Cheng Shuang and one pounced on Wei Qinglang, all with pouting mouths as if they were about to cry. It seemed that they were frightened after hearing a lot of alarmist talk.

After the two of them coaxed their younger brother and sister-in-law, they invited Cheng Lizheng into the main hall. Cheng Lizheng said earnestly, "Qinglang, you are an adult now. You are the head of the family after you marry a wife. The whole family depends on you for support. For the sake of your wife and younger brother and sister-in-law, you must take care of your own safety. If anything happens to you, how will your whole family survive?"

Wei Qinglang stood by and nodded, "Yes, Grandpa Lizheng, you are right."

Cheng Lizheng sighed, "You and Cheng Shuang are both children with miserable lives. I have seen all the hard times you had in the past. So I sincerely hope that you can live a good life in the future if you separate from the family. But you can't ignore your own safety for the sake of making money. Don't go to the old forest in the future. It's too dangerous."

"The good farmland in the village is worth two and a half taels of silver per mu. Mr. Cheng has a lot of farmland and he said he wanted to sell some. He's celebrating his sixtieth birthday tomorrow and he's inviting the villagers to a banquet. I have some good connections with him, so I'll go talk to him tomorrow and sell you five mu of good farmland at two taels of silver per mu. You can plant something else after the spring planting.

Don't worry about the money for buying the land; you can give me two taels a year, which will be enough for a few years."

Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang didn't know that the village head had thought so much about them. They looked at each other and saw the touch of emotion in each other's eyes.

The old man is really a nice person. No wonder he has such high prestige in the village and has been the head of the village for more than 40 years.

"Grandpa Lizheng."

Cheng Shuang stepped forward and said, "Don't worry about buying the land. We dug up a ginseng in the mountains today. It can be sold for more than ten taels of silver, enough to buy the land."

Actually it was Gastrodia elata, which was worth at least two or three hundred taels. However, most people didn't know Gastrodia elata and it was difficult for her to explain, so she just said it was ginseng.

Anyway, given the character of the village head, he would definitely not let them take out the ginseng.

Upon hearing this, Li Zheng Cheng looked at Wei Qinglang in surprise. Wei Qinglang nodded, "Yes, Li Zheng, if we sell the ginseng, we will have enough money to buy land."

Cheng Lizheng had no doubt that ginseng could be dug in the mountains, because he knew that Wei Qinglang had previously dug up Ganoderma lucidum and sold it for eighty taels.

There are many good things in the old forest, but the villagers don’t have the courage to go there. It’s not like they can’t make ends meet, so there’s no need to risk their lives.

He nodded with satisfaction. "Okay, you can keep the money this time. Buy some land and renovate the house. Just live a peaceful life. Although there are many good things in the old forest, it's spring now, which is the season when wild animals come out to hunt for food. Don't go if you can avoid it."

Wei Qinglang nodded obediently, "I'll do as you say."

He still had to go to the old forest. With the space, he was not afraid of any ferocious beasts he encountered. It was just for the sake of old man An.