RYEY – Chapter 103 Strange Seeds

Uncle Niu turned around suspiciously. He didn’t understand why Chen Dazhu would deliver firewood to the educated youth spot so early, but thinking about how country folks always got up early, maybe Chen Dazhu had other business to do, so dropping off the firewood first wasn’t unusual.

The ox cart slowly arrived at the county hospital. Chen Dazhu pulled out a dime from his pocket and handed it to Uncle Niu. Uncle Niu frowned in distaste—getting up this early and only receiving a dime, this Chen Dazhu was indeed stingy.

But then again, normally carrying one passenger only earned five cents. Two passengers giving ten cents was fair enough, so he didn’t say anything. After spending two cents to have someone watch over the ox, he too went into the hospital.

He remembered that little girl Cheng Qiao was also hospitalized here. If she wanted to return, she could ride his ox cart back, so this trip wouldn’t be for nothing.

After asking several people, he finally found Cheng Qiao’s ward. Cheng Qiao was already dressed and about to leave. When she saw Uncle Niu, she couldn’t help but be puzzled.

“Uncle Niu, why are you here?”

Uncle Niu sighed and recounted what had happened early in the morning. Cheng Qiao’s eyes flickered—so Wang Qin had actually gotten carbon monoxide poisoning, and it was Chen Dazhu who brought her in.

Li Huan raised his eyebrows. He had come early today, and hadn’t yet heard about what happened in the village. He certainly hadn’t expected Chen Dazhu to be tangled up with Wang Qin. Looked like there was going to be another good show to watch.

He glanced at old Uncle Niu, feeling that he had come at just the right time. He had been worrying about Cheng Qiao riding on the back of a bicycle being unsafe, especially since the baby in her belly was important.

“I’ll give you twenty cents for the ride, or two large meat buns—you pick.”

“Large meat buns.”

Uncle Niu chose without hesitation. A meat bun cost ten cents each and needed ration tickets too. He didn’t have any ration tickets on him, so he wasn’t about to waste such a good chance.

Cheng Qiao took out a large enamel mug filled with hospital-bought meat buns. They were already a bit cold and would taste better after being reheated in a steamer at home.

“Thank you, little girl. Your Uncle Niu really likes these—soft and filling, comfortable in the stomach.”

Cheng Qiao laughed, hugging a small bundle as she prepared to leave. Li Huan quickly carried a big bundle behind her. During these two days in the hospital, the two had not only sent supplies to Cheng Liguo, but also secretly added many other things.

“Goodness, you two don’t plan to live frugally at all—spending money like water and buying so many things.”

“Uncle Niu, I’m going to be a father soon. It’s only right to buy some things for my son.”

At the mention of buying things for a son, Uncle Niu’s mood fell. Where had his own son gone, and when would he come home?

Of course Cheng Qiao knew why Uncle Niu suddenly became unhappy. She quickly changed the topic and asked about Miao Qing’s family. At this, Li Huan looked a little guilty.

Seeing his guilty look, Uncle Niu’s mood instantly lifted. He vividly recounted Li Huan’s craziness from yesterday, telling it in such detail that Cheng Qiao laughed so hard her eyes curved into crescents.

Uncle Niu: “…”

That was a mistake—he had forgotten that the two of them were husband and wife, sleeping under the same blanket.

“Wife, you can’t blame me. Mother was pushed to the ground by them and hurt her back. That Fenqiu even threatened my mother and Lele with a hatchet—how could I not fight back properly?”

“Well done. And the money? Did you get it?”

“Heh, although I didn’t get the money, Fenqiu wrote me an IOU. If he doesn’t repay it within three months, the two hundred will become three hundred.”

“What the—are you playing loan sharking now?”

“Loan what shark?”

“Forget it, let’s go home.”

In the end, Li Huan still gave Uncle Niu twenty cents. Money wasn’t easy to earn, and driving an ox cart only brought in a nickel or dime at a time—it was hard work. Li Huan didn’t care about such small sums.

This time, old Uncle Niu was after supplies, not money. He wanted Li Huan to get him some cloth and cotton. His trousers were new, but his padded coat was still old.

Li Huan rolled his eyes fiercely at Uncle Niu, ignored him, and pulled Cheng Qiao into the house. Cheng Qiao covered her mouth and laughed. These two looked like enemies, but in truth they cared for each other.

“Mother, I’m back.”

“Qiao, how are you? Is your stomach okay? You scared me to death.”

“I’m fine. How about you? Come, let’s go inside so I can check your back.”

“No need, no need. I knew you were coming back today, so I cooked something good for you. After eating, go and have a good sleep.”

“Thank you, Mother. Mother, I want to go to my master’s house and see if there’s anything that needs tidying up.”

“Ah, aren’t you tired? Rest a bit first. When Lele comes back from collecting firewood, let her go with you. That little girl can be a big help.”

“No need, Mother. Let Li Huan come with me.”

Seeing she couldn’t persuade Cheng Qiao, Mother Li didn’t insist, only told them to go and come back early.

The two went to Ye Jun’s house. It was extremely simple—just one bedroom, one living room, a firewood shed, a kitchen, and a latrine.

Cheng Qiao first replaced the stiff bedding on the kang, then added some cornmeal and rice to the kitchen’s grain jar, and even filled the oil jar halfway.

Li Huan picked up a broom and swept the whole house, then boiled some water in the kitchen and heated the kang, so Ye Jun wouldn’t feel the place was cold when he returned.

Seeing some unwashed clothes on a wooden stool, he also washed them and left a piece of soap before they were ready to leave.

Just as they were leaving, Cheng Qiao’s eyes fell on a packet of seeds on the windowsill. She picked it up without thinking, planning to plant them in her spatial black soil.

Back home, after dinner, she lay on the kang and flipped through books to identify the seeds she had taken from Ye Jun’s house. She realized she had picked up goji berries, honeysuckle, atractylodes, notoginseng, lingzhi, gastrodia…

But there was one seed that no book could identify. Instead, Li Huan recognized it at a glance—it was the seed of something called mandala flower.

When she heard the name, Cheng Qiao’s heart tightened. That was something that could be used to anesthetize people. If…

Dark thoughts flashed through her, and in the next moment, Cheng Qiao disappeared without a trace.

Li Huan sniffed the lingering fragrance in the air, his face breaking into a smile.

Cheng Qiao couldn’t wait to plant the mandala seeds first. The red-headed viper slithered toward her when she appeared in the black soil, but upon seeing the mandala seeds, it immediately retreated quickly.

Noticing its reaction, Cheng Qiao smiled in satisfaction. She deliberately planted the mandala seeds along the edge of the black soil so they wouldn’t affect the growth of other crops.

She planted the other seeds as well, but when she planted the lingzhi, the red-headed viper slithered closer, clearly liking the lingzhi.

“You really have a dark heart—always going for the good stuff. Once my baby is more stable, we’ll go into the mountains to look for ginseng.”

The red-headed viper’s eyes shone brightly as it looked at her. Cheng Qiao reached out to stroke its head, feeling a bit emotional. Other people raised puppies or kittens as pets, but she—she had ended up raising a snake.