Chapter Twenty-Six: Resting in the Woods
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“What a wicked man! Liu Fugui abused his wife and daughters for years. Whenever he got drunk, which was often, he would beat and curse all three of them. Now he has fallen off a cliff and died a miserable death. Perhaps this is Heaven’s punishment!”
One of the village elders sighed.
The remaining members of Liu Fugui’s household were nearly scared out of their wits. Without a word, they began throwing away all their bulky possessions. No matter how precious their belongings were, they were not worth more than their lives.
Liu Fugui had fallen into an unfathomably deep ravine, and everyone believed he was certainly dead.
“Mrs. Fugui, try to put this behind you. You still have to hold on for the sake of your two daughters!” the villagers earnestly comforted Zhao Yingniang.
Most of the people in the village were simple and kindhearted. Seeing Zhao Yingniang suddenly widowed, they all felt sorry for her. In this era, life was hard enough for a woman without a husband, let alone one who had to raise two children.
Chen Shulan’s palms kept sweating from lingering fear. Su Jinyu noticed her aunt’s unease and calmly patted her on the back. Her younger cousin Jinxiao was also so frightened that he seemed dazed.
“Have some water, all of you. Take a moment to steady yourselves.”
Su Jinyu brought out her own water flask and gave her aunt and little cousin several sips each.
The nourishing water from her interspatial realm not only restored strength but also soothed the heart and calmed the nerves. After drinking it, the two gradually regained their composure, and the panic vanished from their eyes.
Chen Shulan felt somewhat embarrassed.
“Jinyu, your aunt is useless. I cannot even compare with a child like you. I must have made a fool of myself.”
“Auntie, your body is weak, so you cannot withstand sudden fright. Once a person’s constitution becomes stronger, they will not be so easily frightened. The old immortal in my dreams taught me all of this.”
Chen Shulan nodded in sudden understanding.
Ever since giving birth to her two children, she had always felt that her body was not as strong as it had been in her youth. She was easily startled awake at night and often slept poorly. Even the slightest sound would make her heart pound. Only now, after hearing her niece’s words, did she realize that her poor health was the reason.
“Don’t worry, Auntie. Later, I’ll find some herbs and nurse your health back to normal,” Su Jinyu said.
“Mm. Your aunt believes in you!” Chen Shulan replied with a smile.
Her niece truly was a considerate little darling, unlike those two troublesome boys who were forever making her angry. Chen Shulan almost wanted to give all her love to her niece.
Li Zhean and Li Chuxiu inexplicably received their mother’s pointed glares and looked utterly bewildered.
Su Jinyu’s family continued climbing the mountain. At last, they reached the summit and hurriedly sat down to rest.
They had been climbing for more than an hour and had not dared pause even long enough to catch their breath.
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The villagers behind them gradually reached the mountaintop as well.
Yang the Elder and Yang the Second often went into the mountains to hunt and knew the terrain well. However, in the pitch-black night, finding the cave mentioned by the clan elder would be far too difficult. They could only find a place to rest for the time being and search for it after daybreak. Fortunately, there was a suitable campsite not far ahead.
Everyone hurried over with their belongings to claim a spot. Yang the Elder led those who needed to find water in search of a source. The men went into the woods to gather firewood, while the women busied themselves preparing the meal.
Li Tianhe and Li Chuxiu followed Yang the Elder with two buckets to fetch water. Li Zhean went into the woods to gather firewood. Chen Shulan took a large sheet of oilcloth from the carrying basket and spread it flat on the ground with Su Jinyu.
The weeds and stones had already been cleared away. Once the oilcloth was laid smooth, they spread a layer of dry grass over it, then placed two quilts on top. That would serve as their bed for the night.
The remaining three quilts would have to be shared among the family. It should be enough to get them through the chill of the night.
Chen Shulan brought out white rice and sweet potatoes to cook porridge. At the sight of the sweet-potato porridge, Su Jinyu frowned. Her aunt’s porridge was indeed sweet and delicious, but even the tastiest food became unbearable when eaten every day. She was thoroughly sick of it.
No, she had to find a way to take something else out of her interspatial realm.
The villagers had only just reached the summit when Village Head Yang ordered everyone not to hunt, lest they provoke the wild beasts in the woods. It was nighttime, when the beasts most often appeared, so everyone tried to keep the sounds of gathering firewood, fetching water, and moving about as quiet as possible.
Wang Qiaohui happened to be exhausted, with an aching lower back. Su Jinyu told her to lie down and rest, then used the opportunity to say that she would go into the woods to look for medicinal herbs for her grandmother’s back.
Naturally, Wang Qiaohui was unwilling to let her granddaughter enter the woods alone.
“Jinyu, take your grandfather with you!”
“Grandmother, Grandfather has been traveling all day, and he is no longer a young man. Let him rest for a while. I will not go far and will be back soon. Besides, there are people from our village all around the woods. I promise I will be safe!”
With that, Su Jinyu slipped away as quickly as a greased weasel.
Wang Qiaohui and Li Yongzhi were left staring at each other.
Old Master Li took out his wine gourd and leisurely sipped his wine with a smile. He had even wanted to explain to his granddaughter that he was still hale and hearty despite his age.
Su Jinyu went deep into the woods, looking around as she avoided the villagers’ eyes.
Once she was certain no one was nearby, she slipped into her interspatial realm.
She first searched the marketplace system for medicinal plasters to treat lower-back pain and bought five patches, keeping extras in case her grandmother’s back hurt again later. Medicine was fairly inexpensive in the marketplace system; the five patches cost a total of 158 marketplace coins.
Su Jinyu checked her remaining balance. She had only 60 marketplace coins left. She had spent nearly everything earlier on grain, coarse cloth, and other supplies.
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There was too little she could buy with that amount, so she had no choice but to purchase on credit. Whenever she selected an item from the shelves, she only needed to confirm the order on the transaction panel, then choose credit payment. Whatever she bought would be charged to her account.
She bought two free-range hens from the fresh-food counter for 200 marketplace coins, as well as five pounds of shiitake mushrooms for 60 coins. Since she had supposedly caught wild chickens, it would not seem strange for them to have eggs, so she bought five eggs too.
Eggs were not expensive—two marketplace coins each, ten coins in total. She would have liked to buy one for every member of the family, but she was afraid that buying too many would arouse suspicion.
She found some withered vines and tied the hens’ feet together. Then she placed the mushrooms and eggs beneath the contents of her carrying basket and hurried back.
“Jinyu, you finally came back!”
Wang Qiaohui had been worried sick about her granddaughter. Even while lying down, she could not settle her mind. Every so often, she would turn over and sit up, peering anxiously into the woods.
“Grandmother, you do not need to worry about me. Your granddaughter is blessed with a great destiny, and Heaven is watching over me!” Su Jinyu began spinning her tales again.
Just then, Li Chuxiu returned with an armful of firewood. He dropped it on the ground and hurriedly took the basket from his sister’s back.
“Little sister, where did you get these wild chickens? And there are two of them! Hmm? What else is underneath? Wild vegetables? I have never seen these mushrooms before!”
At his words, Old Master Li, Chen Shulan, and Su Jinxiao all gathered around. The entire family stared in delighted astonishment.
The family of Zhao Ergou happened to be resting nearby as well. Hearing this, Zhao Ergou came over curiously and exclaimed, “What fat wild chickens! Uncle Li, your Jinyu is truly something else! She was gone for such a short time, yet she came back with two wild chickens! She is even more capable than the Village Head’s eldest and second sons!”
Everyone in the Li family immediately puffed out their chests with pride. Old Master Li wore an exceedingly smug smile.
“My Jinyu is destined for great things!”
“Thank you for the praise, Uncle Zhao. I was simply lucky!” Su Jinyu hurriedly laughed it off, then explained to Li Chuxiu, “Second Brother, these mushrooms are called shiitake mushrooms. I read about them in a book. They taste even better when stewed with chicken, and they are good for the body.”
As she spoke, she took the medicinal plasters from the carrying basket.
She had chosen ordinary gauze plasters. She asked Wang Qiaohui to lie facedown, then stuck one onto her lower back.
“Jinyu, what did you put on Grandmother’s back? It feels so cool and tingly.” Curious, Wang Qiaohui tried to reach back and touch the gauze stuck to her skin.
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