Chapter 57: The Osmanthus Tree Offers Treasures Again

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The next day, Tang Ailian used all the spiritual herbs given to her by her master to save the workers, and the news of her actions spread throughout the village. Some praised her for being kind-hearted, some scolded her for being foolish, and others took pleasure in her misfortune because Tang Ailian had used up the life-saving herbs.

"Did you hear? Tang Ailian used spiritual herbs to save more than a dozen workers."

"I heard about it earlier. They say her family has a lot of good stuff."

"I told you, Tang Ailian is just a fool. Those were life-saving herbs, and she used them all on those workers in exchange for a bit of food."

"That's right. If it were me, I'd save someone wealthy, let them give me all their money, and make a fortune."

"If it were me, I'd use it to save a government official, have them help me move my household registration to the city, and become a city dweller."

"I want to go to university. If I had spiritual herbs, I'd use them to save a university president and have them admit me to university."

"It's even better to save a factory director. I want to work in a factory as a laborer."

"Being a laborer is not as good as being a cadre. If I had spiritual herbs, I'd definitely save a high-ranking official and become one myself."

"You're dreaming. How could someone like you become an official?"

"Don't underestimate me—"

The discussion had deviated into "if I had the spiritual herbs" scenarios.

Tang Ailian couldn't help but smile wryly as she overheard these conversations. However, despite what others thought, she didn't feel like she had come out on the losing end. That night, she checked her spiritual light, and she noticed that the yellow light had transformed into orange.

This indicated that her actions had accumulated some merit. While the effects of this merit might not be apparent in ordinary circumstances, they would come in handy during times of need or tribulation.

A few days later, Tang Ailian went to the market with her sister to sell goods. When they reached the entrance of the Agricultural Bank, she pretended to be tired and gave her sister two yuan, asking her to buy some tangerines. Her sister, who loved food, immediately rushed off with the money.

Once her sister was gone, Tang Ailian took out a red bankbook and approached the bank counter. She stood on her tiptoes and placed the bankbook on the counter, saying, "Auntie, please help me update this bankbook."

"Is this your family's bankbook?" The bank teller only noticed the small child behind the counter when she stood up.

"Of course, Auntie. If it wasn't ours, why would it be in my hands?" Tang Ailian replied confidently.

"Why didn't your parents come?"

"Auntie, I'm just here to update the passbook, not withdraw money. Why would my parents need to come?"

The bank teller thought it made sense. After all, Tang Ailian was just updating the passbook, not withdrawing money. "Alright, I'll help you update it."

However, when she finished updating it, she was shocked. How could there be so much money? She gave Tang Ailian a suspicious look, double-checked, and then handed the passbook back to her.

At this time, passbooks didn't require personal identification like they do today. Anyone holding the passbook and knowing the password could update it.

Although Tang Ailian had prepared for this, seeing so much money on the passbook still shocked her.

Tang Ailian had thought that White Old Man might give her an additional thousand yuan as medicine expenses, but she never expected him to transfer 120,000 yuan!

The 20,000 should be the price of the two millennium ginseng roots. One had already been used to save Zhao Lu, and she still owed White Old Man one. The remaining 100,000 should be the money for the Life-Extending Pill.

Even though 100,000 yuan couldn't buy a Life-Extending Pill, White Old Man probably thought it was too little and didn't want to give Tang Ailian too much.

Suddenly, Tang Ailian felt cautious. Why did White Old Man give her so much money? Could there be ulterior motives behind it?

It seemed that she would have to be careful around White Old Man in the future.

During the New Year, it was time to visit relatives and friends.

In her previous life, Tang Ailian loved visiting relatives during the New Year because she could receive red envelopes. However, in this life, she wasn't interested in visiting relatives, especially when she had only 900 yuan with her, which made the few cents in red envelopes seem insignificant.

Moreover, her relatives were not the ones she liked. Her maternal uncle, who had deceived her mother of her cat's eye ring and then stopped inviting her mother back, was not someone she wanted to see. Her maternal uncle had also alienated her mother from her three sisters, and they no longer interacted with each other. Even though her three aunts were not very nice, they stopped communicating with her mother after they divided the family property. Their family had the largest deficit after the division.

Her mother had been heartbroken about this for half her life, so Tang Ailian really didn't like her maternal uncle.

Her mother's close friend, Liu Meilan, had sucked her mother's marrow dry in her previous life and even kicked her out of the house after her mother's death. These kinds of relatives and friends were not people she wanted to visit. However, she couldn't refuse to visit because her grandfather had always been good to her.

On New Year's Day, her father didn't come home again, so it was her mother and Liu Xiujian who took Tang Ailian to visit relatives. When they arrived at Liu Meilan's house, the most welcoming thing for Tang Ailian was the osmanthus tree in their yard.

When Tang Ailian came two years ago, she had brought spiritual water to this tree, and it had been eagerly anticipating her return. However, Tang Ailian had taken two years to come back, and it was finally overjoyed.

It extended its consciousness and playfully called out to Tang Ailian, "Little one, I want spiritual water, I want spiritual water." It even gently rustled its leaves.

Tang Ailian couldn't help but roll her eyes and said, "Don't call me 'little one,' or I won't give you spiritual water." She released her consciousness and gave the osmanthus tree a little spiritual water.

"Big sister, big sister, I have something good for you." The osmanthus tree was very cheerful.

"What? What good thing?" Tang Ailian hadn't forgotten that last time she came, she received a jar of gold and a turtle with a bird on its back.

(End of this chapter)