Chapter 146: Planting Fruit Seedlings (1)

Xiao Hua was too heavily injured to walk, so Mo Yan had to put it into her space, planning to take it to the medical hall in the city after returning.

Coming out of the space and seeing the wolf with similar injuries, Mo Yan fetched half a bucket of spiritual spring water for it to drink. Although this grade of spirit spring water had little effect on wounds, it could enhance the body's resistance and prevent the wounds from worsening.

After drinking a bucket of water, Mo Yan pointed to its wounds and then to the palm of her right hand, asking, "Do you want to come with me and come back when your wounds heal?"

Although this wolf hadn't reached the point where it couldn't walk due to its injuries, its combat power was still significantly affected. If they encountered trouble from other beasts and it got injured again, it might even die under the compounded injuries.

The wolf stared silently at her for a while. Just when Mo Yan thought it wouldn't agree, it lifted its paw and gently placed it on her right hand.

This surprised Mo Yan. She knew how high this guy's vigilance was. Although it had shown kindness to her a few times before, it was only because she had no malicious intent. This time, its willingness to accompany her was based on trust, although she didn't know why it would trust her.

But being trusted by a wolf was something to be proud of. Mo Yan happily put it into the space and walked out of the cave.

Seeing only her coming out, Mo Qingze asked about Xiao Hua. Mo Yan just said that Xiao Hua wanted to play with the wolf for a while and didn't want to come with her.

Mo Qingze didn't doubt his daughter's words. After all, Xiao Hua was a wolf and needed companionship.

The father and daughter spent nearly two hours to finally exit Mount Yuhua, with the sun about to set.

Mo Yan bid farewell to Mo Qingze and, along with Li Zhong, boarded the carriage they had come in. When they arrived at the alley, Mo Yan made an excuse that she needed to buy something and took the carriage to a deserted place on the street where she released Little Flower. As for the other wolf, its characteristics as a wolf were too obvious. Releasing it would definitely cause a commotion. Mo Yan planned to let the doctor prepare some good medicine for it later.

Outside, only half an hour had passed, but inside the space, almost four days had gone by. Perhaps nourished by the spiritual energy, Xiao Hua was no longer feverish at this moment, and its spirits had improved quite a bit. It could slowly move around, but just by looking at the few chicken feathers stuck to its body, Mo Yan knew that these two troublemakers had caused trouble for quite a few chickens inside the space.

Having treated pets from other households before, the doctor at the medical hall wasn't surprised to see Mo Yan bringing in a big dog for treatment.

However, Xiao Hua didn't like anyone other than Mo Yan touching it. When the doctor approached, it instinctively wanted to bite, but Mo Yan slapped it back.

Seeing Xiao Hua calm down, the doctor stepped forward to examine the wounds. When he saw the deep wounds on Xiao Hua's body, he was very surprised. "These wounds are clearly scratched by large animals, and not just one. Your dog is lucky to be alive!"

What, large animals? Turns out it was a tiger!

Mo Yan was shocked. She had thought these two had only encountered other wolf packs, never imagining that they had encountered tigers, let alone more than one. No wonder Xiao Hua was so heavily injured, even the powerful wolves had been seriously injured.

But wild beasts would divide their territories and not interfere with each other. How could they encounter tigers?

At this moment, Mo Yan didn't know that one of the wolves in front of her, in order to avenge its previous humiliation and feeling that ordinary wolves were not strong enough to enhance its combat power, deliberately provoked the tiger by running into its territory. If it hadn't coincidentally met the wolf patrolling the territory inside the space, it would have been bitten to death by the tiger couple long ago!

After examining the wounds, the doctor prescribed a medicine. This medicine would turn into a paste when brewed. Mo Yan asked the doctor to prepare a few more, and finally, the medicine boy brewed a full pottery jar of medicine for Mo Yan.

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  Chapter 145: Serious Injury (2)

As she spoke, she hurried forward, feeling the sound getting closer and closer.

Mo Qingze listened carefully for a moment after hearing her words. Indeed, it was the sound of birds being startled. Seeing Mo Yan running ahead quickly, he hurriedly followed.

As he rounded a dense thicket, about to catch up, he witnessed a scene that made his eyes widen in horror: "Yan'er—"

Mo Qingze tightened the shovel in his hand and rushed forward without hesitation, with only one thought in his mind: to protect Yan'er and prevent her from being harmed by the wolf, which was as big as a calf.

Mo Yan, disappointed that it wasn't Little Flower who had come, was about to ask the big wolf if it had seen Xiao Hua, when she was suddenly startled by her father's shout.

She turned to look and saw her father swiftly approaching with a shovel. At that moment, a dark shadow flashed before her eyes, and the large wolf lunged towards her father...

Mo Yan's eyes widened, and she didn't even know how she acted. When she came to her senses, she had already pushed the wolf aside. All she could think about was that she didn't want her father to be hurt by the wolf.

With this collision, both the man and the wolf deviated from their original direction, and the shovel Mo Qingze held high fell to a point less than an inch away from Mo Yan.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Mo Yan looked at the shovel deeply embedded in the ground, sweat forming on her back, while Mo Qingze, still holding the shovel handle, was petrified with shock.

...

"How much further is it? Is Xiao Hua badly injured?"

Mo Yan anxiously asked the wolf walking beside her, forgetting that humans and wolves didn't share a common language. Even if the wolf told her, she wouldn't understand.

The wolf glanced at her and let out a low growl.

Mo Yan: "..."

She sighed silently. In fact, there was no need to ask. Just by looking at the deep bite marks and scratches on the wolf's body, she knew that Xiao Hua, who was not very good at fighting, must be even more seriously injured.

Even though Xiao Hua was useless in a fight, it could effortlessly kill a spotted deer. But this wolf, which was bigger than Xiao Hua, had even stronger combat power. She couldn't imagine what kind of battle they had encountered to be injured like this, and even prevent Xiao Hua from returning home.

Mo Qingze never expected his daughter to know this wolf. Moreover, the wolf showed no hostility towards his daughter, and even thought that Mo Qingze wanted to harm it, which led to the attack.

Initially, he was amazed by Xiao Hua's cleverness and obedience, but after all, it grew up with humans, so it was normal for it to get along well with his daughter. But he couldn't understand why this bigger creature was so friendly to his daughter.

Mo Yan was unaware of her father's inner turmoil and wished she could grow two more legs to move faster.

After about half an hour of walking, the wolf finally slowed down in front of a mountain wall. It cautiously sniffed around to make sure there were no traces of other wild animals before leading Mo Yan and her father into a cave.

The cave had a long passage. It was not high and quite narrow. Mo Yan had to lower her head and squeeze her body to continue forward. Mo Qingze, being big in size, couldn't enter, so he could only instruct Mo Yan and wait outside.

With the wolf leading the way, Mo Yan followed for less than a moment before reaching a very spacious place. This place was about two hundred square meters in size, with a cliff on the left side. The sunlight shining in from outside made it bright, and this was the wolf's old den.

"Xiao Hua—"

Mo Yan saw the bundle of white fur lying on a pile of dry grass and hurried over, only to find Xiao Hua motionless, as if dead.

At this moment, Xiao Huar's body was curled up, its once big and bright eyes tightly closed. Its silver and soft fur was tangled, and its body was covered with deep wounds, with not a single patch of intact skin.

Mo Yan tremblingly touched Xiao Hua's head with her right hand. The warmth of its touch proved that Little Flower was still alive. However, the heat radiating from Xiao Hua's body was abnormal, carrying a hint of burning sensation. Looking at its dry nose, everything indicated that it was running a fever!

Mo Yan sat down on the ground, carefully placing Xiao Hua's head on her lap, and took out a ladle of spirit spring water from her space, feeding it to Xiao Hua.

Perhaps smelling the familiar scent, Xiao Hua's eyelids twitched, and it let out a weak whimper.

Mo Yan had been watching it closely. When it showed signs of movement, she rejoiced and quickly called its name.

Encouraged by Mo Yan, Xiao Hua slowly opened its eyes. Its originally dull eyes brightened instantly when it saw Mo Yan.

It laboriously rubbed its big head against Mo Yan, regaining some sense of smell, and easily smelled the scent of the spirit spring water, eagerly shaking its head in an attempt to drink.

Mo Yan quickly brought the ladle to its mouth and carefully fed it. Xiao Hua drank all the spirit spring water in one gulp, emitting a faint whimper. Its gaze towards Mo Yan was extremely gentle, with a hint of affection that wasn't there before.

This scene was witnessed completely by the other wolf. It gazed at Mo Yan, and a complex light flashed in its human-like eyes...

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  Chapter 144: Serious Injury (1)

Mo Yan's heart was racing, despite the carriage already moving quickly, she felt it was too slow and kept urging the coachman to speed up.

Finally arriving at Liuyang Village, Mo Yan hurriedly got off the carriage and headed straight for the construction site.

Mo Qingze was waiting for Mo Yan at the construction site. Seeing her approach, he quickly went up to her. "Yan'er, you're finally here. Mount Yuhua is too vast, and without a direction, we have no idea where to start searching! You've taken Xiao Hua into Mount Yuhua before, do you think it might have gone there?"

"Dad, I can't be sure about that. Are you certain it went into the mountains yesterday?" Seeing her father more anxious than herself, Mo Yan suppressed her own anxiety and asked. Although she often complained about that fellow being greedy and foolish, she had already regarded it as an important companion. Now that Xiao Hua was missing, she was genuinely worried that something might have happened to it.

"It did go into the mountains! It didn't return yesterday evening, so I went to look for it. Someone saw it in the mountains, but despite searching with the villagers, we couldn't find it." Mo Qingze said anxiously.

Mo Yan thought for a moment and asked again, "Has Xiao Hua shown any unusual behavior these past few days?" Although she knew it was playful, she didn't think it would forget to come home. But just in case.

Mo Qingze thought carefully, then shook his head. "It's been the same as usual. It goes out in the morning and comes back in the evening. But recently, it hasn't brought back any prey, although its appetite is still good. It even ate the chicken you sent over and could still eat a small bowl of rice soup."

Mo Yan frowned. She knew Xiao Hua was picky, but it usually wouldn't touch the food from the kitchen. Now it was willing to eat, which was abnormal.

"Dad, I'm going into the mountains now. I'll be back before it gets dark." Mo Yan said, then headed towards the mountain.

Mo Qingze couldn't bear to let her go alone and insisted on following her. Mo Yan couldn't refuse, so she agreed.

With people still working at the construction site, Mo Qingze asked Li Zhong to watch over them. Li Zhong was worried that they might encounter wild animals, so he gave them two shovels.

Mo Yan followed the path she had taken last time into the mountains, calling Xiao Hua's name as she walked. However, apart from the birds that were startled by her voice, the silent forest echoed only with her own voice.

Mo Qingze also called out as he followed along. As the trees became denser, and they still couldn't see any trace of Xiao Hua, his anxiety grew.

Xiao Hua was smart and obedient, and he liked it very much, especially since it was the one who found Mo Yan in the first place. Now that it was missing, he was genuinely worried that something might have happened to it. If they couldn't find it, how would he explain to its owner?

Mo Yan was also anxious. Although the forest was vast, their voices echoed far and wide. But it had already been an hour, and Xiao Hua hadn't shown up. It couldn't have gone too far, so something must have happened to it.

"Yan'er, do you think Xiao Hua is in trouble?" Mo Qingze also thought of this possibility and stopped to ask Mo Yan.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Mo Yan gasped for breath and shook her head. "Whatever happens, we must find it."

Mo Qingze looked at the endless forest, sighing.

The two of them rested for a while before continuing their search. When they reached the place where they had encountered the wolf before, Mo Yan suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Mo Qingze asked, puzzled.

Mo Yan put her index finger to her lips, making a 'shh' gesture, and listened carefully. Sure enough, she heard unusual sounds in the distance.

Her heart leaped with joy, and she excitedly said, "Dad, there are a lot of birds being startled in the distance. It must be Xiao Hua hearing our voices and coming towards us."

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  Chapter 143: Selling Themselves (2)

"Sister Yan, your family has helped mine so much, and I've always been at a loss for how to repay you. I enjoy being with your family, and I'm willing to sell myself to your family willingly." Li Yan held Mo Yan's hand, her smile warm and genuine, showing no signs of reluctance.

Li Xiu looked straight at Mo Yan without speaking, but her gentle eyes emitted the same determined light as Li Zhong's.

Seeing this family of three, Mo Yan felt utterly powerless! She knew that even if she outright refused, this family would likely still treat her as a servant of the Mo family.

With a headache, Mo Yan quickly came up with an idea: "Grandpa Li, my father is the head of our family. You should discuss this with him." Her father, being honorable and righteous, would surely not agree.

"Well, indeed, I should let your father know. I'll go to Liuyang Village tomorrow to talk to your father about this." Li Zhong knew Mo Yan was making excuses, but his family owed the Mo family too much. Unable to repay it, all he could do was to repay them with his own body.

...

With Li Xiu in the house, sleeping arrangements became a problem at night, but fortunately, Mo Qingze wasn't around, so there was no need to avoid suspicion.

The belongings from the small room were moved to the large room, and before moving to Liuyang Village, Li Zhong and Zhen'er slept in the small room.

There were two beds in the large room, Mo Yan and Xin'er slept on the east bed, while Li Xiu and her niece slept on the west bed. A thick curtain separated them, giving each their own small space but without soundproofing. Before going to bed at night, the four of them chatted animatedly.

Once they fell asleep, Mo Yan slipped into the space.

Seeing the lush greenery beside the Spirit Pool and the thriving medicinal herbs, her mood improved. Even the blood-red Lingzhi, which had previously had a lighter red edge, now seemed more vibrant, with a faint tendency towards purple in the center.

Mo Yan found it peculiar and increasingly felt that this Lingzhi was extraordinary. However, she had visited a bookstore a few days ago and looked through several books on medicinal herbs but couldn't identify it. Worried that this item might draw too much attention if she asked a doctor at the clinic, she didn't dare to inquire further.

After watering all the medicinal herbs with Spirit Spring water, Mo Yan went to the edge of the space to check the wild persimmon tree and chestnut tree.

Seeing that several trees had grown taller and thicker, she felt that it wouldn't be long before they could enjoy sweet persimmons and delicious chestnuts.

The next day, Li Zhong went to Liuyang Village. Mo Yan was confident that her father would decisively refuse, but to her surprise, Li Zhong returned in the evening, happily informing her that her father had agreed.

Seeing Li Zhong's relieved expression, Mo Yan suddenly understood why her father had agreed, but she still felt uncomfortable and went to Liuyang Village again.

"Yan'er, the Li family is too straightforward. Our family's kindness to them has become a burden. If your father didn't agree, it might have become a worry for Zhong," Mo Qingze said meaningfully, not hiding his admiration for the Li family in his words.

Although the answer was expected, Mo Yan still couldn't understand, and her inner conflict was evident on her face.

Mo Qingze found it amusing and tapped her head with his index finger. "Despite usually showing such intelligence, why are you confused about this matter? Let's temporarily accept it to put Grandpa at ease. When he's no longer so insistent on repaying the favor, it'll be easy to free them from servitude, won't it?"

Mo Yan suddenly realized, looking at her father's smiling face, feeling that her father had changed...

For now, the Mo family was busy building houses and clearing land, and the matter of the Li family selling themselves was temporarily put on hold.

Although they hadn't officially sold themselves, Li Zhong had already taken on their duties. Every day, he went to Liuyang Village to help the Mo family manage the construction site and the wilderness. With his previous experience as a steward in a wealthy family, these tasks weren't too difficult for him, making Mo Qingze's burden much lighter.

Li Xiu and her niece were also occupied, with one diligently teaching Xin'er embroidery while the other eagerly helped with the household chores. Mo Yan was uncomfortable with Li Yan's insistence and had to speak up a few times before Li Yan improved.

One day, Li Zhong went to Liuyang Village, but before noon, he hurried back anxiously to inform Mo Yan, "Xiao Hua is missing. Your father and the others have searched Liuyang Village and even ventured into the mountains, but they couldn't find her."

Mo Yan, hearing this, felt a sense of urgency. "When did she go missing? Was it in the mountains or in the village?"

"Xiao Hua hasn't returned since yesterday morning. Your father didn't notice where she went, but he suspects she's most likely lost in the mountains."

Without further delay, Mo Yan rushed out of the yard to personally search Liuyang Village. Seeing this, Li Zhong quickly informed Li Xiu and followed suit.

On the street, Mo Yan immediately called for a fast carriage, with Li Zhong sitting beside the driver, urging him to drive quickly towards Liuyang Village...

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  Chapter 142: Selling Themselves (1)

"What, selling ourselves?" After listening to Li Zhong's words, Mo Yan's voice trembled: "Grandpa Li, please don't joke about this!"

"Yan'er, Grandpa Li never jokes about such matters!" Li Zhong's expression was serious, indicating that this decision was made after careful consideration.

"But Grandpa Li, why? Now that Aunt Li has been found, your family's days will only get better in the future. Why would you have such thoughts?" Mo Yan couldn't understand why Grandpa Li, who was doing fine, would think of selling himself, especially along with his family to them. It wasn't like they couldn't make ends meet; there was absolutely no need for such a drastic measure!

"Yan'er, Grandpa Li also won't hide it from you. Grandpa Li has some selfish motives in making this decision! Grandpa Li is already halfway into the grave and can't take care of Xiu'er and them for the rest of their lives. Making this decision is just to ensure they have someone to rely on in the future!"

Speaking up to here, Li Zhong's aged face was filled with helplessness. "Xiu'er, forget it, she can only live like this in her life; as for Yanzi, she'll have to marry in the future, but without parents or siblings to support her, if she encounters any troubles, there won't be anyone to stand up for her. You are a good child. Let them follow you, Yan'er, Grandpa Li can rest assured, even if I die now, I can close my eyes in peace."

After hearing these words, Mo Yan was moved to understand his difficulties to some extent, but understanding aside, she still couldn't accept it!

"Grandpa Li, you say I'm a good child, but you don't trust me in your heart. After getting along for so long, I already treat Yanzi as my own younger sister. Even if she encounters difficulties in the future, do you think I would stand idly by? Besides, Aunt Li, with us around, even if she doesn't want to remarry, staying in Liuyang Village, nobody will dare to bully her. You really don't need to do this!"

Li Zhong shook his head with a bitter smile. "Yan'er, my Li family already owes you three lives. Grandpa Li can't repay it, nor does he have the face to continue letting your family worry about us!"

The Mo family's kindness to them was too heavy, so heavy that he couldn't repay it in his lifetime! Now, let alone selling themselves, even if it meant giving up their lives, he wouldn't have any complaints, let alone harboring such selfish thoughts.

Mo Yan was stunned. She had never thought that helping the Li family would burden Grandpa Li with such heavy psychological pressure. Although the saying "do good without expecting anything in return" sounded hypocritical, she really hadn't thought of seeking repayment when she helped them in the first place. Now that Grandpa Li wanted to sell his family to them, she truly couldn't accept it!

Perhaps sensing Mo Yan's thoughts, a kind smile appeared on Li Zhong's face. "Yan'er, you are a kind-hearted girl. Grandpa Li believes that you will continue to protect Xiu'er and Yanzi, but Grandpa Li can't take your kindness for granted. Selling ourselves to your family, Grandpa Li will only be happy!"

Seeing Li Zhong's determined expression, Mo Yan knew he was sincere, and for a moment, she couldn't change his mind. However, this matter was not something they could decide between the two of them.

"Grandpa Li, have you consulted Aunt Li and Yanzi's opinions? Would they agree to this?" 

Li Zhong was taken aback, obviously not having asked: "They, they will agree."

Mo Yan shook her head helplessly. "Grandpa Li, I think you should ask Aunt Li and Yanzi's opinions on this matter."

Selling oneself into slavery was a miserable thing, and no one would willingly do it unless it was a matter of life and death. As long as Aunt Li and Yanzi didn't agree, Mo Yan believed Grandpa Li wouldn't force them. Then, she wouldn't even need to find an excuse to refuse.

However, what she didn't expect was that shortly after, Li Zhong brought Aunt Li and her niece to her, and both of them actually agreed.

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 Chapter 54: Making a Decision

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 Chapter 402: The Effect of Rice Grains

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 Chapter 401: Gift

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 Chapter 971: The Acquisition of the Manor

Of course, Shu Yu wouldn't be at a disadvantage. The next day, she and Da Niu went to the manor to meet Jiang Kuanyu and finalize the purchase.

Jiang Kuanyu didn't see Xiao Ya'er and became worried. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine now. The doctor said she ate something unclean and suffered mild poisoning. I went to check on her this morning, and although she was still asleep, her complexion looked much better than yesterday, and her fever has subsided. Resting for a couple of days will be fine," Shu Yu explained.

Jiang Kuan Yu was surprised. "Poisoning?"

Shu Yu nodded. "It's probably because she was hiding in that forest and ate some wild fruits, mushrooms, or other things when her hunger got unbearable."

Jiang Kuanyu recalled seeing some fruit pits on the ground when he went down the hill.

In his heart, he felt a sense of relief. Fortunately, village lord Lu came to buy the manor and proposed to visit the tenant households. Otherwise, they wouldn't have known about the two killings by the Tang family.

If they had discovered it later, even if the people were long gone, they would have assumed that Xiao Ya'er had been taken away, sold, or killed by the Tang family. They wouldn't have been able to find her in time and save her life.

Knowing that Xiao Ya'er was safe, Jiang Kuanyu's worries eased.

Only then did the two of them discuss the matter of the manor. Jiang Kuan Yu handed over the deeds and wrote a contract.

When Shu Yu took a look at it, she was somewhat stunned. "Twelve hundred taels?"

The price had dropped even further?

Jiang Kuanyu explained, "After yesterday's incident, if it were an ordinary person, they wouldn't consider this manor anymore. Since village lord Lu is still interested, I naturally wanted to offer a discount. Besides, village lord Lu actions have shown me that you are a kind-hearted and benevolent person who will take care of this manor in the future and treat the remaining tenant households well."

Shu Yu...

Well, how should she put it? Wasn't this good karma? She had earned another two hundred taels of silver?

Shu Yu felt delighted in her heart. How could she disappoint someone who was so generous with money? Without hesitation, she took out the silver notes, signed her name neatly, and kept the deeds and contracts.

"In that case, I thank Young Master Jiang."

Jiang Kuanyu smiled openly. "Actually, I also feel relieved now that the manor has been sold."

With this matter settled, both sides felt a weight lifted off their shoulders.

Jiang Kuan Yu asked Shu Yu to wait for a moment while he called his attendants to bring the tenant households over to meet their new landlord.

This time, Shu Yu didn't refuse. She had already seen all the tenant households and had an idea in her mind.

She sat in the main hall and drank a few cups of tea while the tenant households gradually arrived, each wearing a puzzled expression in the front courtyard.

Jiang Kuanyu quickly scanned the crowd and saw that most of them had arrived.

He then stepped onto the platform, looked at the people who were quietly murmuring to each other, and spoke loudly, "Everyone, please be quiet."

When the noise subsided, Jiang Kuanyu continued, "Over the past few years, all of you have been diligently working on my land as tenants. I have witnessed your hard work. Unfortunately, the harvests haven't been good, and I couldn't do anything about it, so I had to sell the manor and the land. I believe you all know about this. Now, I have found a suitable buyer, and from now on, there will be a new owner for the entire manor and its land."

A thunderous uproar erupted from the crowd, even more intense than the previous discussions.

Some people even burst into tears, realizing that with the sale of the land, they would have no future.