CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER 67: EARN YOUR OWN MONEY AND SPEND IT YOURSELF

Sun Daqing looked bewildered. "Isn’t this just a copper coin? Who wouldn’t recognize it?"

The other little ones nodded in agreement.

Then, Sun Daqing exclaimed in horror, "Oh! Little cousin, you went to the county town and came back silly?"

Sun Daqing dared to call her silly, so Zhao Zhitong raised her little hand and tapped Sun Daqing on the head. "Idiot, you’re the one who’s silly."

Then she proudly boasted, "I earned these copper coins myself! They’re all mine, and I can use them however I want."

Seeing Zhao Zhitong pull out a handful of copper coins from her pocket, the little ones all showed envious expressions.

"Wow, little cousin, you’re amazing!"

"Little cousin, can I touch them?"

Zhao Zhitong generously handed the copper coins to them. "Of course, you can all touch them."

So, the little ones all enviously touched the copper coins. Sun Daqing went straight to counting them but got confused after reaching ten.

Sun Daji laughed at him. "Sun Daqing, you’re so dense! You still haven’t learned the numbers little cousin taught you. Watch, I’ll count for you: one, two..."

With stars in their eyes, the little ones followed Sun Daji as he counted. Afterward, they all exclaimed enviously, "Wow, little cousin, you’re amazing! You earned twelve copper coins today."

Zhao Zhitong’s eyes sparkled, her little face full of pride. She waved her little hand, affecting the air of a grown-up. "Ah, let’s be low-key, low-key."

In the space, Grandpa Bai watched this scene, speechless. He really couldn’t see any intention on her part to keep a low profile.

Once the boasting was done, Zhao Zhitong asked her older cousins, "Do you want to earn money by yourselves too?"

Her older cousins looked at each other, and Sun Daqing was the first to speak. "Little cousin, we’re still too young to earn money now. When we grow up, we’ll naturally be able to earn money."

Zhao Zhitong gave Sun Daqing a disdainful look. "How embarrassing! I’m younger than you, and look, I’ve already started earning money myself."

Sun Daqing said with righteous indignation, "That’s because little cousin is smarter than us, so she can earn money. We can’t. We have to wait until we grow up. Only when we’re grown up and have the strength to work can we earn money."

Zhao Zhitong retorted with a pout, "That’s not it at all! You can become smart too! And, you can start earning money yourselves right now."

Then, Zhao Zhitong explained the various benefits of earning and spending their own money. She told them that money they earned themselves was truly their own, allowing them to buy whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and spend it with confidence. Even if they got separated from their parents one day, they would still have money to buy steamed buns to eat.

And so, the little companions were successfully persuaded.

Sun Daji, who was the oldest and the same age as Zhao Cheng at ten years old, had a relatively clear concept of money.

Thus, he was the first to say, "Little cousin, your big cousin will listen to you. Tell us, how do we earn money?"

The other little ones all stared at her eagerly.

Zhao Zhitong puffed out her small chest and said confidently, "We can dig medicinal herbs to earn money!"

The little ones looked at each other in confusion. "Huh? Dig medicinal herbs?"

Zhao Zhitong nodded. "Yes! Grandpa said that if I dig the herbs myself, process them, and sell them, the money I make is all mine. But I have to go to school on weekdays, so I don’t have time to dig herbs. You can help me dig them, then I’ll process them. After we sell them, we’ll all get a share of the money."

Sun Daqing then asked doubtfully, "But we don’t recognize any medicinal herbs. How are we supposed to dig them?"

Zhao Zhitong tapped her small chin, thought for a moment, and said, "I’ve got it! We don’t have to dig many varieties. If we just dig one kind of herb, but lots and lots of it, we’ll still make a lot of money."

Hearing this, her older cousins nodded in agreement. "Alright, we’ll all listen to our little cousin."

Zhao Zhitong thought for a moment and continued, "You can dig for one-point red. It’s everywhere in the fields and by the roadside. It’s easy to find and recognize. I heard from a shop assistant at the pharmacy that one-point red can sell for twenty coins per catty. If we collect a lot of it, we can make a great deal of money."

The little ones’ eyes all lit up upon hearing this.

At this point, Sun Daqing suddenly asked sheepishly, "Little cousin, what does one-point red look like?"

Zhao Zhitong’s almond-shaped eyes widened. "Second cousin, didn’t I show you before?"

Her older cousins all laughed awkwardly, admitting they didn’t remember.

So, Zhao Zhitong decided to show them again. She looked around but didn’t find any in the alley, so she said, "Let’s go outside. I’ll find some for you to see."

Then, in a flurry, a line of little children burst from the alley, and with another rush, they streamed out of the courtyard gate.

Once outside, it was just as Zhao Zhitong had said; the herb was very common.

They didn’t have to search hard before finding a plant by the roadside. Zhao Zhitong pointed at it and said, "See? This is it. This plant with the purple flower spike, that’s one-point red."

Two of her older female cousins went over and looked at the flower, which was about the thickness of a thumb. "This flower is too small. When I’m picking flowers, I don’t pick this kind."

Zhao Zhitong tilted her head, looking at it for a few moments, then blinked. "The flower is tiny, yes, but if you chew it in your mouth, your mouth will turn as red as if it were bleeding."

"Wow, really?" Sun Daqing, ever curious, ran over upon hearing this novel idea, immediately picked a flower, and put it in his mouth.

A moment later, the little ones shouted, "Look, you guys! Look! Second Brother’s mouth is bleeding!"

Then, the group of little ones crouched down around the single flower and played with it for a long time.

They had returned from the county town just around noon. At that time, as lunch approached, many children were playing in front of their homes while waiting for their meal.

Just then, some neighborhood children were drawn over by Zhao Zhitong and her group.

Among them were two grandsons from their neighbor Sun Ma’s family. They ran over, curious to see what the group was playing with. When they saw they were just looking at a plant and seemed so happy about it, they thought the group was silly.

Sun Goudan sneered, "You guys are so silly. It’s just a worthless plant. What’s so fun about it?"

Sun Daqing immediately glared, his eyes wide with anger. "It’s none of your business what we want to play with!"

Just as the two sides were about to argue, Sun Ma’s wife, Mrs. Guan, came out of her house.

As soon as she reached the doorway, she started shouting at her two grandsons, "Gou Dan, Tie Zhu, get back here! What are you playing at? Don’t you see who you’re with? Playing with them... be careful they don’t jinx you!"

Sun Goudan and Sun Tiezhu rolled their eyes at Sun Daqing and the others before running back.

Then, Mrs. Guan could be heard scolding loudly, "You troublesome things, all you know is how to play! Don’t you even see where the sun is? Still out here playing! Every one of you, you never give me a moment’s peace! Hurry back, eat your meal, then all of you go gather pigweed! Don’t go following certain people and learning all sorts of nonsense."

Her voice was very loud, and Sun Ma’s house was separated from their grandfather’s house by only a narrow lane, less than a meter wide.

Consequently, their grandmother, Zhao Guifen, who was in the courtyard, had heard Mrs. Guan’s veiled accusations long before. With an unhappy expression, she walked out, stood at the doorway, and with a smile, called Zhao Zhitong and the others to come back.