Chapter 389: Greed Provokes Trouble, Xiao Hua Injures Someone (Part 5)
Chapter 389: Greed Provokes Trouble, Xiao Hua Injures Someone (Part 5)
Arriving at Liuyang Village, after finishing her embroidery work each day, Xin'er would go out to play with Yanzi and had made a few girlfriends. Her temperament had become much more cheerful, which was exactly what Mo Yan hoped for.
Upon hearing this, Xin'er immediately became excited and hugged Mo Yan's arm, saying, "Her name is Tang Xin, and she's about my age. She's always so busy, with tasks that never seem to end. I worry that her stepmother will scold her, so I only dare to secretly play with her."
Mo Yan's heart stirred. Pretending to be curious, she asked, "How did you two meet?"
Xin'er didn't think much about it and shyly stuck out her tongue. "The first time was at the door. I mistook her for a beggar and gave her a few buns and last year's cotton coat. Later, when she came back from the mountains carrying firewood past our door, I found out she was from the village. After that, we met a few more times, and she started talking to me first. That's how we got to know each other."
Mo Yan frowned slightly, calmly saying, "Next time you see her, invite her to our house to sit for a while. Such a strong-willed girl, I'd like to meet her too."
"Okay!" Xin'er was very happy that her sister approved of her friend and readily agreed.
Mo Yan pinched her cute little cheek, lit a fire to warm up the buns in the pot, and wrapped them in oiled paper for Xin'er to take to Tang Xin.
Watching Xin'er's cheerful figure leave, Mo Yan's smile gradually faded. Although she encouraged Xin'er to make more friends, she didn't want people with ulterior motives to approach her.
It wasn't that she had a dark mindset, always assuming the worst about people. It was just that Tang Xin, at such a young age, was already living under the harsh rule of a stepmother. Who knew what kind of impact it had on her psyche or character? If Tang Xin genuinely wanted to be friends with Xin'er, Mo Yan wouldn't object, but she needed to see for herself.
...
Xiao Hua led the village dogs into the mountains and hunted rabbits, earning unprecedented respect from the dogs. At night, Xiao Hua, with its thirteen "little brothers," went into the mountains full of fighting spirit to hunt. Unexpectedly, both Da Bai and Mao Tuan followed, evidently preparing to capture large wild animals.
Mo Yan paid them no mind, soaking her feet in hot water when she returned to her room, then entering her space.
Looking at the plate piled high beside the Spirit Pool, resembling a small mountain, Mo Yan quickly walked over to check on the Lingzhi mushroom. Seeing it intact, not eaten by the snake, she breathed a sigh of relief.
When she had first put the python in, it had drooled over the Lingzhi, and had it not been for repeated warnings not to touch it, the snake might have swallowed it whole.
Sure enough, the Lingzhi was beginning to change color as Mo Yan had predicted. A fingernail-sized black dot appeared in the center, not a pure black like ink, but with a magnificent silver-black hue.
Mo Yan had a premonition that this silver-black color was the Lingzhi's ultimate hue, indicating it was fully mature. She wasn't sure of its specific benefits yet, but it was certain to be beneficial to humans or animals, otherwise Da Bai and M Tuan wouldn't have gone mad wanting to eat it.
Since the python couldn't eat the Lingzhi, it had nestled up to it and gone back into hibernation. Mo Yan could faintly smell the Lingzhi's pleasant aroma, perhaps benefiting the python, which insisted on sleeping beside it.
Removing her thick fur coat and cotton clothes, Mo Yan began another day's work, harvesting ripe rice.
There was still plenty of grain stored in the space, and she harvested daily without any shortage at the store. Especially with eggs, even if thousands were sold daily at the store, the stockpile only grew. Fortunately, the space preserved them, or they would have spoiled long ago.
Mo Yan's work speed had increased significantly. Spending a day in the space, she could harvest an acre of rice and thresh and clean it thoroughly, exhausting herself. Sometimes, if she was too tired to sleep outside, she would sleep in the space. Once, she had slept for a whole day and night and woke up feeling exceptionally refreshed, experiencing firsthand the advantage of the time difference between inside and outside.
After finishing the rice harvest and collecting the eggs, Mo Yan leaned against the jade platform and rested for a while. Looking at the fifty or sixty fine red lines on the Merit Bead, she couldn't help but reach out and touch them. These lines represented the merits accumulated from sheltering villagers whose houses had collapsed from snow last time and the vat of free rice meals in the shop. Although not many, they were still flesh-and-blood!
Mo Yan didn't care much about whether the space would upgrade. It was already large enough that she couldn't keep up with its use. The time difference was sufficient, so not upgrading wouldn't affect much. At most, after upgrading, the time difference between inside and outside would be greater, and the Spirit Spring water might gain some new functions.
However, she still needed to accumulate merits, dedicating them to her family from this life and the last, wishing them a lifetime of peace!
She used the Spirit Spring water water to bathe, then left the space and lay down on the bed. Without Mao Tuan in the quilt, it was very cold. She curled up for a while before falling into a deep sleep.
She didn't know how long she had slept. Half-awake, half-asleep, Mo Yan heard knocking at the door and, in a daze, realized it wasn't a dream. She distinctly heard Li Xiu's voice, tinged with urgency. Mo Yan sat up abruptly, pulled on her cotton coat, and threw off the covers.
A rush of cold air hit her, making Mo Yan shiver. She quickly put on her shoes, opened the door, and Li Xiu hurriedly approached, her voice trembling as she said, "Yan, Yan, Xiao Hua, Xiao Hua bit someone! Hurry, you must hurry..."
"Impossible!" Mo Yan interrupted her without thinking. "It clearly took those dogs into the mountains. How could it have bitten someone?"
Li Xiu was so frantic that her voice changed, "Yan, it's true! Several people were bitten, and the most severely injured one has been carried back. They're all waiting in the hall, clamoring for justice. You must go and see!"
Mo Yan finally believed that someone was indeed injured, but she simply couldn't believe Xiao Hua had bitten anyone. Unless Xiao Hua had gone mad and returned to the village at night, broken into those people's homes, and bitten them for no reason? Could Xiao Hua have gone mad?
Comments
Post a Comment