The two people inside were being affectionate when they heard the noise and quickly separated and went to the yard.
"I've come at an inopportune time. Is Second Brother Shen heading out?" Although Gu Fengyan had never experienced this before, he knew what was wrong as soon as he saw the couple's faces flushed unnaturally.
Shen Zhuo said awkwardly, "Ahem... I'm going to work in the county."
"Brother Yan, come in and sit down first," Jiang Xuerui said, blushing.
He had already told Shen Zhuo about gathering herbs the night before. The mountain roads were difficult to travel, and Shen Zhuo felt sorry for him, so he didn't want him to go. He used a combination of persuasion and coaxing until he finally got Shen Zhuo to reluctantly agree, only repeatedly reminding them not to go deep into the forest and to be careful.
Gu Fengyan sat for a while, watching Jiang Xuerui see Shen Zhuo out the door, the two of them so close their eyes were practically glued to each other...
In this situation, besides lamenting that he had come at the wrong time, he actually thought of Huo Duan.
He's never seen Huo Duan off before... Maybe he should see him off next time?
"Yan-ge'er?" Jiang Xuerui called out twice, but Gu Fengyan didn't react. She could only wave her hand in front of his eyes a few times.
"Oh, sorry, I was thinking about something..." Gu Fengyan came back to his senses and smiled. "Second Brother Shen is gone?"
Jiang Xuerui nodded, took out a sickle, a basket, and two straw hats from the house, and closed the door.
"Let's go while it's still cool," he said, handing a straw hat to Gu Fengyan.
Gu Fengyan admired Jiang Xuerui's thoughtfulness and took out a bamboo tube of homemade mint tea from his basket and gave it to him.
The two of them then leisurely strolled into the mountains before sunrise...
On their way up the mountain, Gu Fengyan and Jiang Xuerui encountered many villagers cutting grass, gathering firewood, and picking wild vegetables. They greeted and chatted with those they knew, and nodded to those they didn't.
Soon, a patch of patchouli was discovered, growing lush and green. Patchouli is pungent and slightly warm, and enters the spleen, stomach, and lung meridians. It can stop coughing, eliminate phlegm, and relieve asthma.
The villagers call this "green lotus," and it's easy to prepare. Simply harvest it when the branches and leaves are lush, and then dry it in the sun and at night, repeating this process until it's completely dry.
Gu Fengyan called out to Jiang Xuerui, and the two began harvesting.
As I was picking, I heard voices coming from behind the bushes.
"Isn't this Rui-ge'er? What are you doing here? Where's your second brother?" Turning around, she saw two women carrying baskets, one of whom was a woman in her thirties. She glanced at Jiang Xue-rui and said.
Gu Fengyan was still wondering who this person was when Jiang Xuerui called out, "Sister-in-law."
But that was all; his expression remained indifferent.
When chatting with Uncle Huo, Gu Fengyan had heard plenty of gossip. As soon as he heard Jiang Xuerui call him "sister-in-law," he immediately realized that this person was Yu Shi, the wife of Shen Zhuo's elder brother, Shen Dingshan.
This is probably a real problem for me. Gu Fengyan was filled with bitterness.
Yu Shi had a bad reputation in Heqing Village. Even the dogs at the village entrance knew that she was lazy, gluttonous, and mean-spirited. In the early years, before the family divided their property, she would torment Shen Zhuo and his wife, often beating and scolding them.
"What, you've separated the family and now you don't recognize me as your sister-in-law? Is it so rude of you to say hello?" Sure enough, Madam Yu frowned, and a contemptuous smile squeezed out of her nose. "Don't forget who raised Zhuozi with her own hands and feet, and you still dare to give me attitude... I'll have that good-for-nothing Shen Dingshan come and see his good brother and good sister-in-law one of these days!"
Clearly, Jiang Xuerui was no match for her; her face flushed red, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Rui'er has been married for over a year now, how come he's still so quiet and doesn't even greet his sister-in-law..." The woman next to Yu, from the Zhao family at the east end of the village, was no pushover either, stirring up trouble as if she wanted to stir up more discord. "Tian'er, the second son of the Xue family at the village entrance, seems to be from the same village as you. He's got such a sweet tongue! Even though they've separated their households, he always sends any good stuff he gets to his older brother's family. Last time I saw that huge piece of pork; it all went to his older brother's family..."
Upon hearing this, Madam Yu became even angrier.
She's not much different from that Xue family's eldest sister-in-law. How come she's so lucky? She's been married for over ten years and hasn't gotten anything. Not to mention, even a guy from another village dares to ride roughshod over her!
“Sister-in-law, you’re wrong about that. What kind of person is he… He has a carpenter, so naturally he looks down on us peasants. How could people like us possibly have the chance to eat pork? If you sent it to me, I’d probably shorten my lifespan.” Madam Yu said sarcastically, her eyes narrowed.
"Sister-in-law, what do you mean by that..." Jiang Xuerui clutched the hem of her clothes tightly, almost crying.
"Sister-in-law? I don't deserve to be called sister-in-law!" Madam Yu was most annoyed by his mournful manner after just a few scoldings and beatings, and she snorted coldly.
Gu Fengyan realized that the fire could not be allowed to continue burning.
“It’s not even summer yet, why is my sister-in-law so irritable? Pork isn’t anything precious, but like you said, we need to be alive to eat it, right?” he said. “I heard from my father that Sister-in-law Xue at the village entrance is a virtuous woman. Years ago, Uncle Xue and Aunt Xue passed away, leaving behind Xue’s second brother who was only eight years old. He and Sister-in-law Xue cherished him like a treasure. Now that Xue’s second brother has married, even if it’s not pork, it would be only right to give him gold and silver… Don’t you think so?”
What a joke! He's been in a wealthy and powerful family for over twenty years. What kind of weirdos haven't he seen?
I can't handle you anymore.
Upon hearing this, Madam Yu realized that the young man was subtly criticizing her for not being virtuous.
"And who are you? What business is it of yours if I discipline my own sister-in-law?!" Madam Yu looked Gu Fengyan up and down, then said angrily.
Zhao, standing nearby, sneered, "Sister-in-law, don't you know? This is the husband of Huo Erdan, the fool from the Huo family... For him, Erdan even fought with the son of the county magistrate in the next county and almost lost his head..."
Upon hearing the word "idiot," Gu Fengyan suddenly became inexplicably angry, and his gaze towards Zhao Shi turned icy, frightening Zhao Shi into quickly shutting up.
"So he's Erdan's husband..." Madam Yu's eyes were filled with mockery.
Who did she think it was? It turned out to be that vixen... She had a face that looked quite alluring, but unfortunately she married a useless fool.
She continued, "Yan-ge'er still has the leisure to meddle in other people's business? I'm afraid he doesn't know that your 'good reputation' has spread throughout the whole village..."
The young man and his wife value their reputation most, so they used these words to provoke him; I don't believe he wouldn't be angry.
Unexpectedly, Gu Fengyan was no ordinary man; he said nonchalantly, "Sister-in-law, you care about this? I didn't realize. But aren't our reputations about the same..."
He smiled and shifted the blame onto Zhao, saying, "If you don't believe me, ask Sister-in-law Zhao."
Yu looked at Zhao.
Zhao was surprised that this seemingly delicate boy was so capable. She laughed awkwardly and said, "Sister-in-law, don't listen to his nonsense... It's getting late. You still need to make lunch for the child when you get back. Let's go quickly."
When the child was mentioned, Ms. Yu forgot everything else... He was her precious darling.
He glared at Jiang Xuerui fiercely, then followed Zhao Shi away.
Jiang Xuerui thanked Gu Fengyan before continuing to collect medicinal herbs.
...
Yu and Zhao walked along the woods towards the village.
Gu Fengyan's last words, which seemed to incite trouble, had an effect. Yu Shi's face was ashen the whole way, and she didn't say a word to Zhao Shi.
The two were no longer chatting and laughing as they had before.
Zhao was worried. Yu had already agreed to lend her the money, but after being persuaded by that vixen with just a few words, things were probably in jeopardy now.
“Sister-in-law, not to be rude, but even though Rui-ge’er doesn’t know the rules, he’s still a member of your Shen family.” Fortunately, Madam Yu was simple-minded and easy to control. Madam Zhao thought for a moment and decided to shift all the blame onto Gu Fengyan. “He doesn’t know the rules, you can teach him. You mustn’t hurt the harmony of the family… especially, make sure he doesn’t get involved with that vixen again!”
As Madam Yu was pondering Gu Fengyan's words, she became angry again upon hearing Jiang Xuerui mentioned. "Who he gets involved with is none of my business! Didn't you see his face? Anyone who didn't know better would think he was my sister-in-law!"
Seeing that it had an effect, Zhao quickly continued, "Sister-in-law, you can't say that. I think that Rui-ge used to be a very obedient boy, but now he dares to disobey you... I'm afraid he probably learned it from that vixen! You should talk to Xiao Zhuo and tell him to keep his husband away from her, so he doesn't learn bad things every day."
After thinking about it for a long time, Madam Yu felt that it made a lot of sense. "If it makes sense, I'll go talk to Zhuozi about it tomorrow..."
She started gossiping with Zhao again, "Do you think Erdan's son is really that good? Besides his good looks, I see his skinny arms and legs... His butt is perky, but too small, I'm afraid he won't be able to have children! Why do all those men fawn over him like they're under a spell..."
“Our daughter-in-law’s family certainly wouldn’t understand. A young man has his own kind of charm…” Seeing that things were settled, Zhao felt relieved enough to gossip with Yu, “I think he has a slender waist, long and strong legs, plus that face, which man could resist him! Judging from his appearance, he probably knows even more than that behind closed doors…”
Ms. Yu thought it made sense and nodded repeatedly, but then she remembered that the two people seemed to be cutting something... Could it be something valuable?
Thinking of this, fearing she had been taken advantage of, she quickly asked Zhao, "Hey, sister-in-law, what were they cutting just now? I didn't hear anything about what it was used for. Could it be something that can make money?"
"What money can you make from that!" Zhao scoffed. "That grass is called Green Lotus, even animals don't eat it. What use is it? They've probably never worked in the fields before and didn't recognize it, so they just cut the wrong thing!"
Thinking that Zhao was knowledgeable and experienced, Madam Yu didn't suspect anything and quickly put the matter out of her mind. She only planned to wait for Shen Zhuo to come back and teach her husband a lesson, so that he wouldn't keep learning bad things and getting involved with the vixen from the Huo family.
The author says: "Paeonia lactiflora is pungent and slightly warm. It enters the spleen, stomach, and lung meridians and can stop coughing, eliminate phlegm, and relieve asthma."
Harvest when the branches and leaves are lush, then dry them in the sun and cover them at night, repeating this process until they are completely dry.
—Yue Guihua and Yang Gaohua, *Illustrated Complete Guide to Chinese Herbal Medicines*
Good luck on the college entrance exam! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 23:04:29 on June 4, 2022 and 19:42:42 on June 6, 2022!
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter Fourteen
Gu Feng was collecting medicinal herbs by the eaves, sneezing repeatedly.
That's strange. Is someone talking badly about him behind his back?
Jiang Xuerui packed the neatly arranged patchouli into her basket, saying, "I'm afraid you caught a chill last night. I'll bring you some loquat syrup when I get back tonight; it's the one I made last year."
"Oh, thank you." Gu Fengyan rubbed his nose.
It was definitely the right decision to find Jiang Xuerui. He carefully collected the medicinal herbs, arranging each one neatly and without any other weeds, so there was no need to sort them when we got home.
Seeing that they had almost finished collecting the items, Gu Fengyan looked around and said, "There are many people on the mountain today, so we don't have to worry about encountering wild animals. Let's go further in."
"Okay, I think this is about right."
After packing everything up, the two drank some water before heading back into the woods.
...
Huo Duan arrived at the market early in an oxcart. Gu Fengyan gave him five hundred coins. After buying a large pot, bowls, and ladles, he still had more than two hundred coins left.
Thinking that his cousin Ye Bao was still lying in the apricot grove, Huo Duan didn't eat himself. He found a pastry shop, bought some pine nut candy for Ye Bao to take with him, and also bought some steamed cakes from a stall selling steamed cakes.
My aunt and uncle have been taking turns looking after Ye Bao, and the Xinglin Hospital is also spending money, so they probably haven't had a proper meal in the past few days.
Steamed buns can be used to fill your stomach.
He didn't use the money Gu Fengyan gave him to buy these things; he used the money he earned a few days ago while working with Ye Shan in the county... a total of more than three hundred coins. He gave one hundred coins to Gu Fengyan and kept the remaining two hundred coins for himself.
He had intended to hand it all over, but Gu Fengyan insisted that it was his hard-earned money and refused to take any more.
I had no choice but to keep it.
He spent fifty coins on these odds and ends, and with the remaining one hundred and fifty coins, he wanted to buy something for Gu Fengyan...
He had helped him so much, and Huo Duan always wanted to give him the best of everything.
It was midday when I came out of Xinglinyuan. The sun was high in the sky, and everyone who had bought breakfast snacks had packed up and gone home. Only the shops selling ordinary items were still open.
Huo Duan walked along the street and saw colorful signs and banners, with shouts filling the air—
"Jewelry and earrings, I guarantee you'll like them, sir..."
Gu Fengyan will definitely beat him if he buys it back.
"Rouge, the finest rose gold flower rouge..."
Gu Fengyan might chop him up.
"Rose dew, perfumed powder, scented soap, bath powder..."