Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 8: My Little Lucky Charm

Chapter 7

My Little Luck Charm

"Father, I want some Tanghulu," Xiaolin tugged on her father’s sleeve as they walked out of the fabric shop with a large bundle of cloth.

"Then let’s check the market. Maybe we can buy some vegetables and pork for your mother to cook. How’s that?"

"Sounds good, Father!" So, the four of them headed to the nearby market alley.

Xiaolin, excited and bouncing around, accidentally bumped into a burly man and fell. Thankfully, she didn’t land on her back, but her bottom hurt quite a bit. Looking up at the large man she bumped into, she saw his bright blue eyes looking back.

"Xiaolin! Are you okay?" Tianrong rushed to pick up his daughter with Tianchen brushing off her clothes.

"Just my bottom hurts a bit haha."

"Be more careful next time, child. I apologize on behalf of my daughter...uh," Tianrong quickly turned to apologize, only to be met with two towering, blond men.

"Little girl, are you hurt?"

The man she collided with asked, but not in the local Ta Qing dialect. His distinct hair color and tall stature drew the attention of many onlookers, causing a small crowd to form.

"As if she would understand us," commented the other tall man, looking at the curious little girl.

The villagers, seeing the Tang family’s confused faces, whispered and chuckled among themselves. Xiaolin frowned, displeased. She glanced back at her father and uncles, who looked utterly bewildered, and clenched her fists.

These people are unbearable!

"I’m sorry."

"Let’s go, Dad. The shop is over there," Xiaolin whispered to the tall man before cheerfully pulling her father away.

The two foreign men were left standing as they watched the little girl and the three men walk away.

After purchasing all their needed items, the group returned to their cart full of goods and prepared to head back, with the handcart tied to the back of their larger cart as they made their way to the city gate.

Because the cart traveled much faster, it only took them about twenty minutes to reach the village. They first stopped at the Liu residence to offload two bags of rice and a few other items before continuing to the Tang family’s home, not far away.

After unloading and paying the carriage owner, who originally charged only twenty Yi for the service but was given a whole string of cash by Tianrong who thought it fair due to the heavy load, Liu Hao also contributed half to the payment.

The carriage owner left for the city in a good mood, thankful for the generous pay.

"What did you buy so much for, honey?" Hui Ning asked, seeing the goods sprawled all over the platform, with Xiao Zhong happily wagging its tail around its young master.

"We’ve stocked up on rice to save for winter when prices soar. There are also spices, seasonings, grains, and fabric for you to sew new clothes for everyone."

"So the herbs sold for a good price then?" she asked with a smile, knowing her husband to be frugal and not one to spend lavishly without good reason.

"We got quite a lot indeed. If we manage it wisely, it could last us a decade."

"Really? That much?" Hui Ning’s eyes widened, not much different from Tianchen who was already agape in shock. No wonder his elder brother had bought so much.

"Yes, and if everything goes well, we might even build a new house so we won’t have to struggle through this winter," Tianrong said with a wide smile. Building a sturdy house wouldn’t cost more than ten strings of gold, as long as it was solid and not necessarily large or luxurious.

"Yay! If we get a new house, will I finally get a little sibling?" Xiaolin asked excitedly, causing Tianrong to choke on his saliva. The little girl covered her mouth, giggling as her father’s face turned beet red, spreading to his ears, and her mother blushed just as much.

Hui Ning, catching the sparkling gaze of her daughter, quickly grabbed the bundle of fabric and rushed into the house. Why did she feel that her little daughter was more than just a five-year-old girl?

Tianrong stood coughing several times. Once he felt cooler, he turned around, intending to store the goods properly, only to meet his daughter’s twinkling gaze again.

"Ahem! A’Chen, come help me carry the things. Xiaolin, you play with Xiao Zhong for now," Tianrong said, picking up a bag of rice and heading into the house swiftly.

"Uncle, hurry and help carry the things so we can start tilling the soil," Xiaolin nudged her younger uncle, smiling at the thought of their new house.

"Alright, Xiaolin, I’ll make sure to work hard today."

"That’s great!" She smiled cutely, her eyes turning into slits.

In the afternoon, after lunch and a rest, Xiaolin supervised the three men at work, holding a large lotus leaf as a sunshade.

This lotus leaf was one of many given to her by Grandma Liu through Uncle Liu Hao for her to play with. She opted to use it as an umbrella, with Xiao Zhong, the little cow, cheerfully following its young master around.

"Father, should we buy more land? Then we can plant lots of sweet potatoes. I heard you say that there might be a shortage of rice this year. Would it be a good idea to grow and sell sweet potatoes?"

"That’s a good idea, Brother Rong. We’re not fishing now, and I don’t have a job either," Liu Hao agreed, noting the increased difficulty in finding work due to more laborers coming into Jiangnan city.

"But we don’t have that many sweet potato vines."

Xiaolin also pondered; if they planned to grow sweet potatoes for seeds, it might be too late for the winter. She stroked her chin, deep in thought, while Tianchen couldn’t help but chuckle at her seriousness.

"Should we go into the forest again while the soil dries, or should I and mother go look for them?"

"I’ll go with A’Chen, and A’Hao. You stay home, dear. Today we’ll finish with our land, and Liu Hao’s only one mu1. It should be done in a day or two."

"But I want to go too," she said with a sad face, as Xiao Zhong, seeing his little master looking dejected, hurried over to nuzzle against her.

"Only Xiao Zhong understands me," she hugged the small cow. Seeing this, Tian Ching sighed, unlike Tianchen who laughed out loud.

"Brother, Xiaolin is our lucky charm. Without her, how could we find all the good stuff?"

"You’re the best, Uncle!" Xiaolin beamed, jumping up excitedly.

"Alright, if you want to go, then let’s go."

"Yay!"

Three days later,

After preparing and fertilizing the soil at both houses, the three men and the little girl, led by the only child who suggested they follow the same path they found the sweet potatoes before, headed into the forest with determination. Everyone agreed, for they had found treasures twice in that area of the forest.

The four of them arrived at the area where they had previously dug for sweet potatoes. Xiaolin led everyone inside with a serious demeanor. Seeing this, Tianchen couldn’t help but chuckle a little. Look at that, his little niece was truly adorable.

They wandered for a while until they reached a shallow old waterhole, likely a large pool during the rainy season. Fortunately, this shallow pool was full of sweet potatoes. If they dug it all up, they could probably fill more than ten bags.

Everyone stood in awe at the sight of so many sweet potatoes, realizing it would take days to dig and carry them all. Tianrong burst into laughter, echoing throughout the forest. It seemed like they were either incredibly lucky every day or struggling to survive. Fate seemed to play tricks on their lives!

"My little lucky charm," Tianchen picked up his little niece and hugged her tightly.

"Stop it, Uncle, hehe, I’m ticklish!" Her small hands pushed the young man’s face away, but he kept moving closer to kiss her cheek.

"What should we do, Brother Rong?" Liu Hao asked, looking puzzled. He turned to the little girl, still being playfully tormented by Tianchen, and it seemed that she indeed was the lucky charm Tianchen claimed her to be.

"Today, we’ve found the sweet potato vines we wanted. I’ll go back and buy several mus of land, hire villagers to prepare and fertilize the soil, which should take a couple of days. After that, we can come back to dig up the sweet potatoes and collect the vines. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good, I also plan to buy land for planting sweet potatoes," Liu Hao expressed his desire to cultivate a large quantity of sweet potatoes as well.

"Great, then today let’s each dig up a basketful of sweet potatoes to take back."

The two men led the way down the slope, followed by Tianchen who carried his little niece because the path was somewhat steep. He was worried she might tumble down if she walked by herself.

Tianchen set his niece down under the shade of a tree. He spread out an old cloth on the grass and placed a small box of baked treats on it. Xiaolin looked around, wondering if her uncle had prepared a picnic for her.

"Xiaolin, stay and play here," Tianchen patted her head. Xiaolin nodded vigorously, and he went off to work.

She dropped down onto the mat that was laid out and watched the three young men diligently digging for sweet potatoes. Looking down at her own chubby little hands, she let out a sigh. When would she finally grow up? There were still so many things she wanted to do. She sighed again and lay down, feeling weary.

Suddenly, her eyes caught sight of a decayed log not far away. It was covered with brown mushrooms. The little figure sprang up and ran over to take a closer look.

"These are shiitake mushrooms! There’s so many, they could be dried and then there will be enough to eat for a whole year," she grinned ear-to-ear. The little figure darted back to grab her small basket and returned to happily collect the shiitake mushrooms.

She nearly filled the basket. Leaving the old log as it was, she knew changing its location might not yield mushrooms again due to different environmental conditions. Reluctantly, she walked away.

Xiaolin returned to her picnic spot, covering the basket with leaves to keep the mushrooms from wilting before getting home. After arranging the mushrooms, she wandered around, hoping to find more treasures.

"These sweet potatoes seem darker than the ones we dug up last time," Liu Hao remarked. Hearing this, Xiaolin, who had just walked up, joined in to take a look.

"I thought so too," Tianchen added.

"May I see a small one, please?" The little figure walked up and stopped beside them. Hearing her, Tianchen handed her a small sweet potato.

Xiaolin broke it in half, revealing its beautiful purple flesh, drawing the men closer in curiosity. Xiaolin herself was thrilled. The previous sweet potatoes were orange, some even yellow, but now, they discovered multi-colored ones, which could be used in various desserts.

"There are such things as dark sweet potatoes too? It’s my first time seeing these," Tianrong remarked, the others nodding in agreement.

"Sweet potatoes come in many types, Father."

"Is that so? Xiaolin is really knowledgeable," Tianrong affectionately kissed his daughter’s cheek, making her giggle before letting the men return to their work while she explored further.

Walking around the shallow pond, she searched for anything worth collecting but found mostly grass and small, unknown trees. Eventually, she returned to her original spot, taking out a roasted sweet potato from her favorite uncle’s bag and began to eat contentedly.

"Are you hungry, Xiaolin?" Tianchen asked, noticing the sweet potato in his niece’s hands and swallowing his saliva.

Xiaolin looked up at the three men approaching and handed them water bottles, knowing exactly what to do, and the three young men took them and drank thirstily.

"Have we filled the basket already?"

"Yes, tomorrow we’ll bring the cart so we can take more back," Tianrong said, lying down next to his little daughter. The gentle breeze made them feel pleasantly cool.

"With so much to carry, it might take us several days. Should we make another cart, brother?" Liu Hao suggested, and Tianrong agreed

 “Let’s hire someone to do it. It might not last long if we made it ourselves. Look here, my little cart is even older than Xiaolin but it’s still quite strong.”

"Please order one for me too. If we have another cart, we can dig up the sweet potatoes faster and carry them all out in one go."

Xiaolin watched the two men discussing plans, while Tianchen lay waiting for her to feed him roasted sweet potatoes, his mouth agape like a baby bird waiting for its mother.

‘mu’ is a Chinese farm measurement unit equivalent to around 666 square meters.

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