CHAPTER 51: 51

Back at home, Lan Tian headed straight to the vegetable patch in the backyard, planting the Gathering Spirit Grass near her window so that she could see it whenever she opened the window. After planting, she also took the opportunity to pull out all the weeds around, clearing a space for the Gathering Spirit Grass. Lan Tian looked left and right, feeling a bit uneasy.

The weeds near the edge of the vegetable patch were all pulled out by Lan Tian. Her Gathering Spirit Grass, planted amidst other plants, somewhat stood out like a crane among chickens. She worried that one day, her aunt or grandma might weed the patch and accidentally pull out her Gathering Spirit Grass. Lan Tian would have nowhere to cry. She needed to think of a solution.

"Old Five, what’s up with the girl? As soon as she came back, she rushed to the backyard," Grandma Sun asked Mo Yuanle, who came in after her. The two of them had gone out together, and Mo Yuanle would know if something was up with the girl.

Mo Yuanle put down his basket and washed his face, "She dug up a plant in the mountains and said she wanted to bring it back to plant. The girl treasures it a lot, wouldn’t let me touch it, said she was afraid of damaging it."

Grandma laughed, "Really, what kind of plant needs to be brought back and planted? If she likes it, there’s plenty of them in the mountains. If she wants, she can pull heaps back and plant them in the backyard vegetable patch. Even if they get pulled out one day, she wouldn’t even know. This girl, her enthusiasm only lasts a few days. After a few days, she’ll forget all about planting. She’s been interested in farming these days, she even told me last time she wants to learn how to plant vegetables!" Grandma Sun chuckled as she reminisced about that day.

Mo Yuanle felt that the plant wasn’t so simple, perhaps something taught by his second uncle. He didn’t understand these mysterious matters, and since the girl hadn’t mentioned it, Mo Yuanle didn’t ask and just kept it in mind.

In the Medicine House, Yanhua came out hearing the noise outside and saw Mo Yuanle taking off his basket, coming over to sort the herbs. Having studied for some days, she knew a bit about the common herbs and their effects.

Lifting the burlap cover off the basket, there was a rabbit inside. Its brown-yellow fur was sleek and shiny. She picked it up, weighing it—about four to five pounds—a really fat rabbit.

Yanhua, having not touched meat for almost a month, suddenly seeing such a big piece of rabbit meat, her eyes lit up, and she licked the corners of her mouth greedily.

"Second Grandmother, Uncle caught a big rabbit," Yanhua showed the rabbit to Grandma Sun. Grandma Sun glanced at it, a smile flowering across her face, planning an extra meal to satisfy their cravings.

Grandma Sun stopped sewing the sole of her shoe, picked it up, and began sharpening the knife, preparing to butcher the rabbit for its skin and meat.

Lan Tian came out from the backyard, seeing Yanhua holding the rabbit and talking to grandma, she went to the yard to rummage around, trying to find some bamboo. She wanted to make a cover to protect the Gathering Spirit Grass.

Lan Tian remembered last time when they were making a fence at home, the leftover bamboo seemed to be piled up in this corner of the wall, but now she couldn’t find it. The thickness was about the same as her little finger, perfect for making a cover.

"Uncle, where did you put the leftover bamboo from when you made the fence last time? I saw it a few days ago, but now I can’t find it."

"What do you need the bamboo for?"

"I want to make a cover to protect it, so grandma and auntie don’t pick it as weeds when they weed. It’s this big, it won’t take up much space in the vegetable patch." Lan Tian gestured the size of the cover, slightly bigger than the bowl she used for eating.

Grandma Sun was indeed surprised, it seemed that the grass the girl had brought back was not ordinary after all, wanting to make a cover to protect it from being picked out.

Grandma Sun didn’t think much of it, girls are just curious and love beauty, wanting to plant any beautiful flower or grass they see.

Yanhua felt that Lan Tian was always shunning her duties. Ever since she came to Second Grandmother’s house to study medicine, she had never seen Lan Tian help with the household chores.

Washing clothes, sweeping floors, cooking, washing dishes, untouched by any, either sleeping in or out playing with Shitou and the others. Studying medicine is also sporadic, three days fishing and two days drying the nets, and Second Grandmother and the others just let her be.

Raised as delicate and tender as a city girl, Yanhua waits to see her downfall, wondering what kind of in-laws she will find in the future.

In the countryside, no matter what kind of in-laws one finds, a daughter-in-law who can’t cook or do laundry is disliked by every mother-in-law, she’ll have a hard time enduring it, thinking this, the jealousy and envy also seemed trivial.

Mo Yuanle remembered, it seemed that yesterday he had picked up a bundle of firewood from the corner.

"Yesterday, I took it to the kitchen, go check if it’s still there, it’s the one bundled up, probably at the bottom, if your aunt didn’t use it this morning, it should still be there."

Grandma Sun added, "It wasn’t used, it’s still there."

Lan Tian ran back to the kitchen to look for it, in the highest stack of firewood, under it were two bundles of dry wood, one of which was the bamboo Lan Tian was looking for. Estimating how many sticks she would need to make a cover, she pulled out fourteen or fifteen sticks and came to the courtyard to weave.

Lan Tian sat on the stool, holding two bamboo sticks in each hand, figuring out where to start without making headway.

In her past life, Lan Tian had watched old people in the village weave baskets, it seemed very simple, flipping the bamboo sticks left and right, but when it came to her turn, she was clueless as she had never done it before!

Lan Tian was distressed, and looked up to call Mo Yuanle, "Uncle."

Mo Yuanle was slaughtering rabbits, he glanced over to Lan Tian and saw her puzzled look and laughed, "Wait a bit, I’ll come to weave after I’m done with the rabbits, just leave it there, be careful not to cut your hand."

Lan Tian happily dropped the bamboo sticks and ran to watch Mo Yuanle kill the rabbits.

Yanhua was distractedly cleaning the herbs, her eyes frequently drifting towards Mo Yuanle, thinking about how much meat such a big rabbit would yield, her mouth watering at the thought, she swallowed her saliva in secret.

When Yanhua came to learn medicine with Mo Yuanle, it was agreed beforehand that she would go home for meals.

Hui Li studied for a while and found it uninteresting, showing up sporadically, even more lazy than Lan Tian, and eventually stopped coming altogether. Mo Yuanle didn’t mind, if you come he teaches, if you don’t come he won’t ask.

Mo Yuanle finished with the rabbit and came to help Lan Tian weave the small cover. Lan Tian had many requirements, the holes had to be large enough, but not so large that small birds could get in and suffocate, and not too small as to affect the grass’s growth. Yanhua, listening from the side, felt like beating someone.

The covers Mo Yuanle wove had holes as big as thumbs and the rim even had a decorative edge. Lan Tian was very satisfied, took the cover to the backyard, and placed it over the Gathering Spirit Grass, looking around, it felt much safer.

This Gathering Spirit Grass was only an inch tall, only a few years old at most, no knowing how long before one could taste Spiritual Vegetables. Lan Tian looked towards the front yard gate, no one was coming, and surreptitiously infused some Spiritual Energy into the little plant.

As it was almost mealtime, Yanhua tidied up and prepared to go home to eat. Grandma Sun specifically asked her to stay for the meal, Yanhua refused several times, but couldn’t stand against Grandma Sun and Zhao Li’s enthusiasm, and stayed, she really craved some meat.

Half of the rabbit meat was cooked, and half was left. The remaining half, Grandma Sun planned to use for cooking when inviting people over for dinner in the next few days, when Lan Tian was abducted by human traffickers and several villagers helped in searching. This half, Grandma Sun made a dish of braised potatoes with rabbit, over two kilos of rabbit filling two bowls to the brim.