Back to the 1980s: Transmigrated as the Bigshot's Pampered Wife-Chapter 40: Sis Is a Legend

Mr. Zeng had already taken his leg to be examined at Tongji Hall. The doctors there said it was a miracle his leg had any hope of making a full recovery.

Mrs. Zeng was moved to tears with gratitude for Su Shuochi and his wife, but Gu Jiaojiao didn’t have time to listen to her praises.

She examined Mr. Zeng’s leg and found that the medicine Tongji Hall was using wasn’t half-bad—even better than she’d expected.

Su Shuochi gave the rice, flour, and soap bars to Houzi, then took Gu Jiaojiao to the black market to source medicinal herbs.

They came across someone selling ginseng. Gu Jiaojiao could tell it was wild; the oldest root was a hundred years old, while the youngest was at least twenty.

She casually asked for the price. Seeing Su Shuochi in a wheelchair, the seller assumed they were buying it for personal use.

The seller had bought the ginseng from a remote mountain village. He’d only paid two hundred yuan for the hundred-year-old root.

"I’ll sell you this oldest one for a thousand. The others, you can have for a hundred each. For anyone else, I’d have to ask for two thousand for this one alone."

"Sir, I can tell you’re an honest merchant. Next time you get something good, just find Houzi. My husband here isn’t in the best of health..."

Gu Jiaojiao chattered on, showering him with compliments. The merchant was so pleased he was practically floating and readily agreed to everything.

He had been knocking around the black market for many years and had received nothing but scornful looks. He’d never been treated with respect.

He even sold Gu Jiaojiao the less valuable herbs he had on hand at cost, without marking them up.

He had made a full thousand yuan from just a few ginseng roots, and they sold almost as soon as he had set up.

The transaction was a pleasant one for both sides. Gu Jiaojiao had acquired precious wild ginseng, but now she was out of money again.

She had no choice but to ask the ginseng seller if he wanted to buy any rice. To the seller, this was a fantastic stroke of luck, and he was overjoyed.

He was also from one of the large residential compounds. He had been sent to the Northwest as an "educated youth" at seventeen, and because he had a sharp eye for opportunity.

Every time he returned home to visit family, he would buy local specialties from the countryside to sell in the city, then buy grain in the city to sell back in the countryside.

Even as an "educated youth," he lived a very comfortable life. In those poor, remote mountains, the old saying held true: ’The heavens are high, and the emperor is far away.’ The outside world had little to do with life there.

As a cultured and educated man, he was highly respected in the mountains. He ate meat every day and never once went hungry.

In the two years since returning to the city, he had also made a fortune. It was only recently that the markets had started to open up more.

With more people jumping on the bandwagon, it wasn’t as easy to make money as it used to be.

He bought a thousand pounds of rice and eight hundred pounds of flour from Gu Jiaojiao. This flour wasn’t the standard high-quality brand they usually traded, but a premium product from the Overseas Chinese Store.

He wouldn’t even need to take this to the countryside; he could sell it for a high price right here in the city. "If you get any more," he said, "you can sell it to me."

"Mhm," Gu Jiaojiao agreed, bobbing her head like a chick pecking at grain. She was asking for ten cents more per pound than Houzi did.

For a thousand pounds of rice, that was an extra hundred yuan. Once again, the transaction was a pleasant one for both parties.

"My name is Song Zijie, and I live at..." Song Zijie turned out to be quite the talker.

From his detailed self-introduction, Gu Jiaojiao learned he was the son of the Song Family’s second-oldest son.

He was Song Zijin’s paternal cousin, twenty-five years old this year—the same age as Su Shuochi and seven years older than Gu Jiaojiao.

Gu Jiaojiao had only been ten when he left for the Northwest. In the two years since his return, he’d spent all his time either at his official job or doing business in the black market.

So, it was perfectly normal that he didn’t recognize Su Shuochi and Gu Jiaojiao.

Su Shuochi was more farsighted. ’We live in the same compound, so we’re bound to run into each other eventually,’ he thought, and so he introduced himself as well.

"We live in the same compound. I’m Su Shuochi, and this is my wife, Gu Jiaojiao..."

"You’re *that* Su Shuochi and Gu Jiaojiao?" Song Zijie was so shocked his jaw nearly hit the floor.

Song Zijie was very familiar with those names; his mother and sister had been gossiping about them with great relish over dinner lately.

’Based on what they said, Su Shuochi was supposed to be a listless, moody cripple.’

’And Gu Jiaojiao was supposed to be a weepy, unreasonable drama queen. But the couple in front of him... ’

’...didn’t match that description at all, aside from Su Shuochi being in a wheelchair.’

Even in a wheelchair, it was obvious the man was tall and handsome—even better looking than a movie star, especially with that big smile on his face.

The woman had delicate, willow-leaf brows over an oval face, complemented by a pert nose and thin lips. She looked like a lovely maiden from the southern riverlands.

Right now, her smile was radiant as she gazed at the man beside her, her expression holding all the charming coyness of a young girl in love.

The girl’s smile was pure and sweet, like a cool breeze on an early summer morning, carrying an intoxicating charm.

Perhaps because he stood to profit from buying their rice, Song Zijie thought the two of them looked like an Immortal couple.

While Song Zijie was sizing up the couple, Gu Jiaojiao was sizing him up as well. He bore a slight resemblance to Song Zijin.

He was tall with a round face, and when he smiled, a small dimple appeared and he flashed two prominent canine teeth. His baby face made him look much younger than he was.

He’d said he was the same age as Su Shuochi, but even knowing that, Gu Jiaojiao thought he looked no older than Song Zijin.

Su Shuochi had a commanding presence, while Song Zijie looked boyish. Despite being the same age, their auras were worlds apart. If they stood together, they’d look like an uncle with his nephew.

Gu Jiaojiao’s smile widened. "So surprised? You must have heard some gossip about us. But don’t be shocked. Your girl here is a legend."

Song Zijie: ...

"So, how about we trade in a quiet corner of the compound from now on?"

’It must be so difficult for them to come all the way to the black market with a wheelchair,’ Song Zijie thought, but he was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

"Sure! On a dark and stormy night, just come knock on our window," Gu Jiaojiao said, her bright eyes twinkling.

They agreed on a place to make their trades, and Song Zijie didn’t ask where Su Shuochi got his rice.

Likewise, Gu Jiaojiao didn’t ask him why he was involved in black market profiteering. Seeing how practiced he was, it clearly wasn’t his first time.

After they parted ways, Gu Jiaojiao bought a large, wriggling grass carp, two chickens, and some pork at the black market.

She didn’t see anyone selling rabbits today, but she wasn’t disappointed. ’If I see them, I’ll buy some. If not, chicken and fish are perfectly fine,’ she thought.

She happily pushed Su Shuochi’s wheelchair on their way back, wondering if their steamed bun business was booming.

Just as they were leaving the alley of the black market, they heard an old woman nearby yelling and pointing at a young woman.

The old woman wasn’t tall, and she had bound feet and a stooped back, but her scolding voice was surprisingly powerful.

Cowering to the side was her son. ’They look well-dressed,’ Gu Jiaojiao thought, ’but his character is garbage. He doesn’t even dare to say a word while his own wife is getting screamed at.’

Gu Jiaojiao recognized the young woman—or rather, the original owner of her body had. She was the older sister of one of her former classmates and came from a good family.

The old woman’s tirade was all about her daughter-in-law’s failure to have a child after several years of marriage.

’They must have come to the black market looking for fertility remedies,’ Gu Jiaojiao deduced. ’And it looks like they bought something, but who knows if it’s genuine.’

Gu Jiaojiao despised the man. His mother was tearing into his wife, and he just stood there without saying a single word.

’Infertility... I can probably treat that. And if all else fails, there’s always in vitro fertilization,’ Gu Jiaojiao thought.

But she wasn’t about to rashly meddle in a stranger’s affairs. All she could do was cast a sympathetic glance at the woman enduring her mother-in-law’s verbal abuse.

Su Shuochi saw his wife glancing back repeatedly. "If you’re fated to meet, you will," he said gently. "Besides, if we just go up to them now, they’d have no reason to believe you."