Chapter 2 Part I

    The next morning, Miss Wang did not go out to collect herbs. Instead, she followed her daughter to the stream behind their house, with the help of He Ming carrying the buckets, leaving He Yu to look after their father and the house. The He family planned to catch a large number of fish to sell and use the money to buy vegetable seeds and farming tools.

    Even though their two mu size of land were a mix of sandy and loamy soil, not of the best quality, they could still cultivate certain crops. Additionally, with the spiritual energized water, they intended to try growing some herbs. If these herbs turned into spiritual herbs as expected, they could bring in a significant income.

    When Zhenzhu dipped the golden fish scale into the water, the fish and aquatic animals were truly attracted to it. 

    "Wow, there are so many fish indeed!" He Ming exclaimed excitedly, having never seen so many fish before. 

    "Should we sell about ten fish today, Mother? We could use the money to buy gardening tools." 

    "That's a good idea. Old Man You is going to the city to sell herbs today. We can ask him to exchange the tools for us." 

    "Mother, catch that big crab over there, too," Zhenzhu suggested, recalling the large crab she had seen emerging from under a rock the day before. But because it was too big with large claws, she didn't dare to catch it. 

    "Come on, I'll catch it myself. I know how to do it," He Ming said, dipping his hands into the water to press down on both sides of the crab's claws before scooping it up from underneath. 

    "Wow, it's so big! What meal should we use it to cook today?"

    They caught a total of ten fish, all is a large fish, and also caught six crabs. Once the bucket was full, they walked back home. He Ming kept two fish and two crabs for the family to eat; the rest were taken to Old Man You's house. By noon, Old Man You was preparing to leave for the city to sell the herbs and would return in the evening. 

    "Old Man You, we've brought fish to sell today," Miss Wang announced. 

    "Oh, you went fishing today? Wow, such big fish, and so many! How did you manage to catch them? You're really skilled!" Old Man You was astonished as he peered into the bucket. 

    "Oh, it was He Ming and Zhenzhu who went to play in the stream yesterday and then told me there were plenty of big fish. Normally, they don't come out for people to see. So, I tried fishing today and managed to catch some," Miss Wang lied smoothly. 

    "Lucky indeed. Let me take them to the big restaurant in the city. You'll make good money. Do you want me to sell them for you, or will you go together?" 

    "I'll have to trouble you as usual, Old Man You. I'd also like to ask you to exchange some for farming tools and a few vegetable seeds." 

    "Oh, you're going to plant vegetables? But the soil at He’s house isn't that good. Will the crops grow, or would it be a waste?" 

    "It's alright. Zhenzhu wants to try gardening, so I just let her play along," Miss Wang pretended to be concerned. 

    "Alright, then. Put the fish in this bucket and load it onto the cart. I'll be leaving shortly." Old Man You thought it was just the whimsy of an eight-year-old, wanting to do the gardening after seeing others do so.

    The journey from Dongshan Village to Fengfu City was about 8 li (approximately 4 kilometers), taking half an hour by bullock cart. Villagers wishing to ride the cart had to pay 1 brass coin for the fare. Walking to the city took at least a shichen and a half. Besides buying herbs and hunted meat to sell in the city, Old Man You also offered to purchase items for the villagers, charging a service fee of 1 to 3 brass coins depending on the size and quantity of the items. He also bought some food, dried meats, and essential goods to sell from his home, catering to the villagers' needs.

    A gentle cold breeze whistled through the bamboo slats, playing a melody of the wind. The chill teased Zhenzhu's cheeks, causing her eyelids to flutter open. The faint golden sunlight streamed through the gaps, warming the room. If it weren't for the rough blankets her mother had bought, she wouldn't have been able to sleep so soundly until the sun was high in the sky.

    In the past few days, the He family had worked together to shovel and dig the plot preparing for vegetable plots on their two mu size of land. They didn't plant extensively, just a plot for each type of vegetable. In the late winter, they could grow various vegetables like Chinese leeks, bok choy, cabbage, radishes, and even pumpkins.

    Miss Wang also went up the mountain to collect small medicinal herbs with their roots. Normally, mountain herbs couldn't be cultivated because no one knew how to do it. Some villagers tried planting them, but they would wither and die in less than two days. The He family experimented with planting one plot of these herbs and watered them with spiritual energized water daily. After seven days, not only did the plants not die, but they also grew slowly and even emitted a faint spirit energy.

    "Look, sister, the vegetables are growing so fast!" the young boy exclaimed eagerly. It was exciting; normally, their land could barely grow any vegetables. Despite numerous attempts, the lack of nutrients always led to the death. But now, they are able to grow vegetables.

    "They are growing quickly indeed," Miss Wang said, puzzled. The bok choy, the fastest growing among all their vegetables, typically required 30-40 days to harvest. But in just seven days, they had already grown significantly. Continuous watering for another ten days might make them ready for consumption. The spiritual energized water was truly miraculous.

    "Mother, aren't we going to catch fish today?" He Yu asked.

    Today, we will not go fishing," decided Miss Wang. In the past few days, the He family had been catching fish to sell every day. On the days when they caught more than enough, they would make dried fish for later consumption. They always caught big fish to sell, which eventually made the villagers, who sold herbs to Old Man You, envious. They tried fishing themselves but could only catch small fish and in small quantities. They wondered how the He family could catch the fast-swimming big fish, which usually hid among rocks and mud.

    Some even secretly followed the He family to the stream, wanting to learn their fishing technique. Fortunately, Zhenzhu spotted them first, and the He family pretended just to be collecting water in their buckets. The villagers returned home disappointed. This situation posed a dilemma: selling too many fish would arouse suspicion. Therefore, Miss Wang decided they would alternate between collecting herbs in the mountains and fishing on different days.

    "Why, mother? Those fish could sell for a better price than herbs. Old Man You said the big restaurants in the city really like them," young He Yu expressed his confusion. Fishing was easier than collecting herbs and even more profitable.

    "But Old Man You said if we sell too many, the price will drop. It's better to sell them occasionally to keep the prices high," Miss Wang fibbed. In reality, the big restaurants in the city were very fond of the fish, and Old Man You had said they would buy as many as they had at a fair price.

    "Oh," He Yu nodded, somewhat disappointed.

    Today, the He family worked together to weave bamboo fences to protect the vegetables they had planted. This was because some families in the area kept chickens for food, and the hens liked to bring their chicks to peck at their vegetable plots. The He family took turns guarding their vegetables from the chickens.

    The fences also protected their privacy from the villagers. It must be said that these vegetables are watered with water containing spiritual energy, and as they grow, they become plants imbued with spiritual energy. If the villagers knew that the He family could grow spiritual plants, they wouldn't be able to explain how they managed it.

    One adult and three children worked diligently on the bamboo fences, with He Lei, helped by He Ming and Miss Wang, lying on a bed in the sun, watching happily. His legs could move a little.

    He Lei once was a cultivator of spirit energy of the blue tier. Although the blue tier was the lowest, when he was still serving as a city guard, he was a squad leader. Elder Zhang, who was not wealthy, had given an eldest son his hard earn money to buy medicine for cultivating spirit energy. Zhang Lei was the only peddler's son in town to cultivate spirit energy, which was the main reason his stepmother despised him. She thought Zhang Lei was wasting the money her husband earned. After an accident left him disabled, her disdain only grew.

    With the body of a cultivator, had he not been a blue-tier cultivator before, he might have died long time ago and wouldn't have been able to live until this day.

    He Lei watched the sprouting vegetables, the faint glow of spirit energy slowly becoming visible. If they grew more, the blue spirit energy would become denser, visible even to the naked eye. He was still excited; even the children of nobles didn't eat spiritual food every meal because spiritual plants were extremely expensive.

    Cultivators, mostly from the upper class, would serve in the royal courts, as city guards, or in other prestigious jobs like calligraphers, teachers, doctors, or alchemists. Only a few cultivators took up farming because nourishing plants with spirit energy was challenging. Each nourishment session exhausted them as if they had run up a hill ten li long and could only cultivate a small number of plants.

    "Da Lei!" a voice called from the front of the house.

    Miss Zhou, a neighbor He Yu liked to help with gardening, knocked on the wooden fence, peeking into the courtyard.

    "What's up, Miss Zhou?"

    "I've brought some mantou for you. I went into the city to sell vegetables today, so I bought some mantou for little He Yu and the kids," Miss Zhou said, holding a basket with five mantous and a packet of sweets, offering it to Miss Wang, who was weaving a bamboo fence.

    "Oh, Miss Zhou, why spend the money? The kids aren't picky eaters. I feel bad," Miss Wang was genuinely embarrassed.

    Aunt Zhou was the best neighbor one could ask for. Whenever Miss He ran short on money, she often borrowed from Miss Zhou. Miss Zhou and her husband, having been married for 20 years without children of their own, had a unique ability to assist with animal births or even human ones in emergencies. Miss Zhou had even helped deliver He Yu, which made her particularly fond of him. With five mu in size of fertile land two li away from the village, they could grow vegetables all year round, selling them for a living. Occasionally, He Yu would toddle along with Miss Zhou to water the vegetables, endearing him further to the couple. Whenever they sold their produce in town, they always brought back sweets, candies, or small toys for the children.

    "Don’t be so considerate! I saw He Yu since he was a baby as small as a puppy, he has been like my own child. Are you that possessive?" Miss Zhou feigned anger affectionately.

    "Oh, that's not what I meant," Miss Wang replied softly, always be the one to back down whenever Miss Zhou pretended to be upset over her reluctance to accept gifts due to politeness.

    Miss Zhou knew how impoverished the He family was, the most destitute in the village with only one adult to earn for the whole family and another bedridden. She felt sorry for the children, particularly the three-year-old He Yu.

    "Aunt Zhou, I want some candy, hee-hee!" He Yu approached Miss Zhou cheerily, knowing her visits always meant delicious treats.

    "Come here, my good boy, Yu’er. Hurry, come have some sweets with Auntie," everyone chuckled at their interaction, questioning whose child he really was.

    "Eh! Why do these vegetables seem to have spirit energy?" Miss Zhou exclaimed upon noticing the vegetable plot from a distance, shocked yet uncertain if it was really spirit energy she sensed—it wasn't intense but subtly perceptible.

    "Oh, Aunt Zhou, you must be seeing things in this heat. Let's go inside where it's cooler. Mother, let's help father get inside," Zhenzhu quickly diverted Miss Zhou's attention, worried that their secret might be exposed. They needed to build a fence around their vegetable plot as soon as possible to protect their secret.

    Zhenzhu hurriedly escorted Miss Zhou inside, followed by Miss Wang and He Ming, who were carrying the bedridden family member. The entire He family, except for the oblivious He Yu, was nervous about the close call. He Yu was too young to grasp the situation, thus only interested in the sweets in the basket.

    If Miss Zhou discovered they were growing plants with spirit energy, the secret could cause a significant uproar. Not just the village, but even the town's governor might pay them a visit, and explaining how they came to grow such plants would be impossible without revealing the truth. If more people learned about it, they might covet the golden fish scale for themselves, putting the entire He family in grave danger, possibly ending up as nameless graves somewhere in the mountains.

    "Aunt Zhou, will you be going to town tomorrow to sell vegetables?" Zhenzhu inquired.

    "Yes, I will. The shopkeeper has ordered a load of vegetables, and I need to deliver them tomorrow," Miss Zhou replied.

    "Aunt Zhou, may I come with you?" Zhenzhu asked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. Since her arrival, she had never seen the town, having ventured only as far as the foot of the mountain. She longed to see the town for herself.

    "How can you, Zhu’er? Walking to the town is quite a distance. How will you manage, being so small?" He Lei, lying on the bed, protested. His daughter was frail, and Fengfu City was 8 li away, requiring at least a shichen and a half to reach. How could she manage to go on such a distance?

    "I can make it! Please, Aunt Zhou, I won't be a burden. I'll even help you sell the vegetables," Zhenzhu pleaded, taking Miss Zhou's hand and shaking it gently, her voice full of entreaty.

    "You'd only be a burden to Miss Zhou. No, absolutely not," Miss Wang supported her husband, insisting that their daughter was too young to undertake such a long journey.

    "Mother, I promise I won't be a burden.”

    "Mother, please," she said as she hugged her mother's arm, resting her small face against Miss Wang's arm with a pleading look that made Miss Wang relent.

    "Alright, alright, it's fine. Da Lei and Sister Wang, I'll take care of her," Miss Zhou intervened.

    "But Sister Zhou, she'll be a burden to you," Miss Wang still objected.

    "It's okay. She's just a child; she probably just wanted to see the town. Zhu’er, prepare yourself. We'll leave early before dawn so we can reach the town early," Miss Zhou said, showing understanding towards the child's eagerness.

    "Thank you so much, Aunt Zhou! You're the best!" Zhenzhu exclaimed joyfully.

    "Sister Zhou, you really shouldn't spoil her so much," Miss Wang reprimanded.

    "Let her be. It will be good for her to broaden her horizons. I'm heading back now to pick some vegetables," Miss Zhou said, making her departure.

    "Zhenzhu, you used to not be this stubborn," Miss Wang turned to scold her daughter after failing to dissuade Miss Zhou. It wasn't that she didn't want her daughter to go, but Zhenzhu was still young and frail, and the journey was long.

    "Oh, mother, I'm much stronger now! You don’t need to worry,” Zhenzhu wasn't lying. Ever since she recovered, she’s been getting healthier, especially after eating better from the money she got from selling those three spiritual herbs. Plus, she’s been eating fish and crab meat, not skipping meals like the original body's owner. And drinking spiritual energized water every day has made her stronger. Her health had indeed improved significantly.

    "Well, with Miss Zhou looking after her, it should be fine. If you get tired, you can always stop to rest," He Lei finally conceded, seeing no way to resist his daughter's wishes.

    "Yay, father is the best!" Zhenzhu cheered.