The manager on duty in the VIP room was a middle-aged man with powdered hair and a suit. Seeing the girl bringing Zhang Lisheng and Tao Lielin into his territory, he asked passionately, "Please take a seat, both of you.
Yao Di, what kind of service do these two gentlemen need? "
"Manager Zhang, these two guests are here to apply for the Gold Wheat Card at our bank. They have deposited 700,000 yuan in advance," The girl, Yao Di, smiled and answered.
The middle-aged man nodded and secretly gave Yao Di a thumbs up. He then said to Tao Lielin in a formal manner, "Sir, I'm Zhang Jiulin, the VIP manager of the China Agricultural Bank's Western Sichuan branch … Damu Town business hall. My work number is 09878. It's my honor to serve you today …"
"It's not me who wants to apply for a card, it's him. I don't have that much spare cash," Tao Lielin was stunned and said while pointing at Zhang Lisheng.
"Him," Zhang Jiulin said with his eyes wide open, "He's not 16 years old yet. He can't apply for such a consumer card."
"This gentleman has turned 16 in July this year," Yao Di answered on behalf of Zhang Lisheng.
Tao Lielin, who was standing aside, added immediately, "But Mountain Worm didn't apply for an ID card, neither did his father. I only brought his household register, the village's recommendation letter and official seal.
What do you think we should do, Manager Zhang? "
Zhang Jiulin said while smiling in relief, "Don't worry, sir. Our bank only requires the customer to show his or her ID card to apply for the Gold Wheat Card for high-end customers.
"Other documents and certificates are exempted.
"In other words, as long as you give me the 700,000 yuan in cash and the household register, I can apply for the card right away."
"Really? Why is it different from what I heard?" Tao Lielin said in doubt.
"Aren't we constantly improving the quality of our service?" Zhang Jiulin replied with a smile.
Just like that, Zhang Lisheng who was not 18 years old and had no ID card because he was applying for a 'high-end' service and had deposited a considerable amount of cash in advance, he received his first credit card in his life without going through any difficulties.
"Thank you," he said as he took the little silver card from Zhang Jiulin's hand. He touched it carefully and put it into his pocket carefully.
Zhang Lisheng felt relaxed as he walked out of the bank. He casually tossed the wooden money box that he brought with him into the dustbin by the roadside and said, "Uncle Ah Lie, can I go to the supermarket in town to buy some food, toothpaste, and soap?"
"Alright, I'll wait for you at the tea stall at the entrance of the town." Although Tao Lielin began to call Zhang Lisheng 'Mountain Worm' again, in reality, he had already regarded him as an adult that he had to look up to. He answered with a smile.
After Tao Lielin left, Zhang Lisheng walked on the bustling streets of Damu Town alone. However, he did not go to the supermarket in town directly. Instead, he walked into an old Miao Medicine Store.
The area of the shop was not big, the four walls were blackened by the medicine pot, the crude porcelain medicine pot that was used to store medicinal herbs according to the ancient Miao land method was placed in the middle of the medicine shop.
The medicine pot was as tall as a person and its mouth was more than a meter wide. Under the medicine pot, there was a Miaowei old man with white hair who looked like he was not in good spirits and was dozing off. He was fanning a charcoal stove with a cattail leaf fan from time to time.
A pot of herbs was boiling on the stove.
The old Miaowei man's eyes lit up when he saw that there were customers. He wanted to stand up.
However, he hung his head down in low spirits when he saw that the customer was a young man who looked very poor.
Zhang Lisheng did not mind the cold treatment from the medicine shop owner. He asked while sniffing the medicine fragrance in the shop, "Boss, do you have ginseng leaves, iron chopsticks, turmeric … Fruit Leaves?"
"Yes." The old Miaowei man put down his cattail leaf fan and looked at the young man carefully before saying, "I want authentic wild herbs."
"I want authentic wild herbs."
"Wild herbs are expensive."
"It doesn't matter if they're expensive as long as they're authentic.
I said I need two ounces of dried powder for each herb, how much would that cost? "
The old Miaowei man said after some calculation, "It'll cost 2,400 yuan."
"Wrap it up for me and give me ten fire chains." Zhang Lisheng nodded and pulled open the zipper of his work uniform's inner pocket. He took out 24 100 yuan bills and passed them to the old Miaowei man. He said, "You look like an old Miaowei man in the mountain, the herbs must be authentic wild herbs.
Otherwise, I won't forgive you if you ruin my plan. "
The old Miaowei man took the money and counted it. He checked the authenticity and said, "You're not one of those kids who come to play outside the mountain. Why would I coax you?"
He walked to the corner of the wall shakily and moved a dirty wooden stool over. He stepped on the wooden stool and opened the wooden lid of the huge medicine pot.
Using a long wooden spoon, he scooped out the powder from the bamboo tubes filled with herbs in the medicine pot and wrapped them in pieces of straw paper. Finally, together with the fire chains, he put them into a small yellow plastic bag.
The old Miaowei man passed the plastic bag to Zhang Lisheng and said in a drawn-out tone, "Wild ginseng leaves, lick chopsticks, turmeric … Two ounces of dried powder for each. Authentic mountain products, please keep it well."
The herbs that Zhang Lisheng bought this time were very important in his plan. He opened the plastic bag worriedly after he took it. He poked a paper bag randomly with his finger and dipped it into the dark brown powder that flowed out. He sniffed it and tasted it.
The powder did not taste good. There was a heavy bitterness in the sourness of the powder. It made Zhang Lisheng's face scrunch up.
"Kid, you don't believe in my medicine? What did you get by pretending to taste it?" The old Miaowei man mocked Zhang Lisheng with a smile when he saw that he was taken advantage of.
"I tasted the 15-year-old black pebbles. Good medicine," Zhang Lisheng spat a few mouthfuls of saliva and said with an inarticulate smile while tongue-tied.
"Sigh, sigh, you're an expert!"
"I can't say that I'm an expert. I just know a little about medicinal properties." Zhang Lisheng shook his head and said in a genteel manner. After that, he tied up the plastic bag that contained the medicinal herbs and turned around to leave the Miao medicine shop.
Zhang Lisheng walked another 300 to 400 meters to the west and arrived at a supermarket in town called Jiahe.
The name was not bad but this supermarket was actually just a few small grocery stores that were connected in the past. They put the goods on the shelves for the customers to choose from. It was completely different from the real large-scale supermarkets in the city.
However, the daily necessities were considered complete.
Zhang Lisheng picked over ten catties of raw beef jerky, a few bags of seasoning and some toiletries such as soap. After paying, the cashier from the Miao family gave him a bamboo basket.
It was much more convenient with the bamboo basket. Zhang Lisheng carried the bamboo basket and walked out of the supermarket after putting the rest of the items in the basket.
The antique stone road in town was filled with tourists with backpacks and travel hats of various colors. There were also some mountain people who wore bright Miaowei and Bai Yi costumes among the tourists. They looked like they had nothing to do as decorations.
In reality, the Miaowei and Bai Yi people had already abandoned these complicated and cumbersome ethnic costumes in their daily lives since the Red Revolution spread across Western Sichuan. They were only wearing them now for the government's subsidies.
Zhang Lisheng carried the bamboo basket and walked along the stone road to the town entrance. He saw Tao Lielin who was sitting in a tea stall on a field more than ten meters away.
The tea stall was very dirty and messy. The people who were resting and drinking tea were dressed similar to the ordinary farmers in the central provinces. They were making a lot of noise when they drank the big bowls of tea. They were shouting when they talked as if they were going to quarrel.
Ordinary tourists would think that the people sitting there were migrant workers from other provinces who came to this new town to work as construction teams and make a living. They would not even go near the tea stall.
It was almost noon. Tao Lielin who was feeling impatient after drinking two big pots of tea saw Zhang Lisheng walking over from far away. He went up to him immediately. "Mountain Worm, why did you buy so many groceries?"
"I bought more raw beef jerky so I don't have to come to town for the next month."
"Just tell your Uncle Ah Lie if you want to come to town in the future …"
"Uncle Ah Lie, I can't always trouble you.
Alright, let's go back to the village now that we've bought the goods. "
"Give me a minute." Tao Lielin walked to the tea stall and pushed his motorcycle out as he spoke.
He helped Zhang Lisheng who was carrying the bamboo basket to sit on the back seat. He then started the motorcycle and drove towards Guawo Village.
After returning to the mountain village, Zhang Lisheng carried the bamboo basket and went home first. Meanwhile, Tao Lielin ran to Ermu's house excitedly.
Ermu was quick-witted. He was the first person in Damu Town to drive a truck and sell mountain products. He also illegally took tourists to travel and made a lot of money. He built a three-story bamboo building made of steel at the outermost area of the mountain village and even enclosed a courtyard.
Unfortunately, he was addicted to gambling and went astray. Eventually, he walked on a path of no return. At that moment, the pillar of his family had collapsed. It was a miserable time.
What was more worrisome was that even though they had invited a few families for the funeral, not a single relative came to help. This meant that the entire Guawo Village no longer treated this family as a fellow villager. They might be completely isolated in the future.
One could imagine how shocked Ermu's family was when they saw Tao Lielin, one of the leaders of the village, barging into their own courtyard without knocking on the door.
After the whole family was stunned for a moment, Ermu's father, who was sitting on a wooden stool and smoking his tobacco pipe, stood up hurriedly and said, "Nephew Lin, no, no, Village Chief Tao is here. Come, have a seat.
"This kid is so disappointing, he offended our Miaowei land …"
"Uncle Doushu, don't worry. Ermu is Ermu, you're you, nobody's talking nonsense."
"I'm here for something urgent, let's cut the formalities. I remember there's a young mule at home. Bring it along, I'll bring it to the Zhang family's house for the funeral."
"What?!
To the Zhang family's house for the funeral? "He Doushu said in shock.
"That's right, let's not waste any more time. Bring the mule and we'll go."
"Yes, yes, I'll bring the animal now and ask Ermu's wife to bring the child to the Zhang family's house for the funeral."
"Nephew Lin, it must've been you who put in a lot of effort to persuade the Zhang family to do this. You've saved my family …"
Seeing He Doushu's tears rolling down his face, Tao Lielin waved his hand and said, "Uncle, it's not that important. I said Ermu is Ermu, you're …"
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