Needless to say, in the village, even the herbs that Doctor Liang at the village entrance dig up themselves from the mountains.
However, most medicinal herbs require processing, a technique he did not possess...
Gu Fengyan pondered this in his mind, then parted the bushes in front of him, his eyes lighting up instantly, and he immediately forgot about the medicinal herbs—
A large wild bamboo forest appeared, swaying gently, with one or two bamboo shoots as thick as a child's arm peeking out from beneath. Even more fortunately, it had never been set foot in the forest.
He quickly put down the wicker basket and started picking bamboo shoots, working up a sweat. In no time, he had a large pile of shoots. He would leave the rest to grow so he could harvest another batch next year.
Seeing that it was almost ready, Gu Fengyan began to put the items into the basket when he suddenly heard a rustling sound approaching from the bushes behind him...
Could there really be wolves in these mountains?
Gu Fengyan felt a chill run down his spine, but then he saw the bamboo branches being pushed aside. "Hey, isn't this Erdan's house? What are you doing here in the middle of nowhere?" A dark face peeked out from behind, wearing a lewd and malicious smile.
Gu Fengyan thought for a moment before remembering that this person was Liu Laosan, the lecherous man from the oxcart last time.
"You're following me?!" He instantly became alert.
Liu Laosan rubbed his hands together. "Hehe, how can you say it's stalking? The mountains are so big, meeting each other means we're destined to meet..."
Gu Fengyan knew perfectly well that this man had ill intentions, so he picked up the basket and started to leave, only to be blocked by Liu Laosan. "Hey, hey, where are you going?"
"Get lost!" Gu Fengyan disdained to waste time arguing with such a person, finding it unlucky.
Liu Laosan stroked his chin. "Get out of here? You haven't figured out the situation yet! This is the back mountain, do you think anyone's going to come and save you... If it weren't for the fact that you're prettier than those women, would I have stayed with you this long?!"
As he spoke, he reached out his hand towards Gu Fengyan, "You'd better know your place and not really piss me off!"
Gu Fengyan suddenly stopped and looked at Liu Laosan with a smile.
Liu Laosan laughed so hard he was dizzy and disoriented, thinking he had finally gotten his hands on this top-notch woman. "That's more like it. What's so good about following that idiot Erdan? He'd probably be better off with me behind closed doors... Hehe." He then leaned his face close to Gu Fengyan.
"My father? It's a pity my father died in a car accident when I was eight years old!" Gu Fengyan smiled ambiguously, and gently snapped the black claw that was reaching out to him.
"Ah—" Liu Laosan felt a sharp pain in his wrist, probably because the bone was broken.
Gu Fengyan kicked him, "You think you can be my father? Don't you know who I am!"
Young Master Gu is busy with work, and his hobby is Taekwondo... He has been practicing for seven or eight years and is only at a so-so black belt level.
Dealing with Liu Laosan, a nobody like him, is more than enough.
"Spare me! I was wrong, I was wrong..." Liu Laosan never expected that his lustful thoughts would lead to his death. He wailed and kept kowtowing to Gu Fengyan, begging for mercy... His lower body was dripping with urine, he was so scared that he peed himself.
Gu Fengyan's mysophobia kicked in again; he frowned and covered his nose. "Get out! Don't let me see you again!"
...
Huo Duan walked towards the back mountain and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Gu Fengyan, who was intact, at the bottom of the slope.
“Young Master Gu,” he slid down the slope, “are you lost? I’ve been looking for you for ages.”
Upon seeing Huo Duan, Gu Fengyan's eyes lit up, and he waved, "President Huo! I was worried about how to get back."
Huo Duan looked around but didn't see anyone suspicious. "Are you alright? Did you run into anyone?"
"No, it's just me." To avoid trouble, Gu Fengyan decided to keep Liu Laosan's matter a secret and smiled as he said:
"Oh, by the way, I found a bamboo forest over there." He held the basket up to Huo Duan, showing him the basket full of mushrooms, wild vegetables, and bamboo shoots.
Huo Duan looked at his basket, then at his own empty backpack.
Sure enough, Gu Fengyan is definitely a lucky charm!
“That’s good,” he said. “I think it’s about time. Let’s go down the mountain.”
With the delicate and frail Gu Fengyan in tow, the journey, which usually takes an hour, would take twice as long.
Gu Fengyan nodded and smiled, "Well... my hands and ankles are really sore, I can't lift anything. Can you carry the basket for me? I can have the backpack."
It wasn't an act; I had just beaten up Liu Laosan, and my palms were red and my ankles were aching terribly.
Huo Duanhun took the basket without a second thought, and someone broke off a branch for him to use as a walking stick. "You're welcome... Take this, watch your step, and stay close to me. I'll carry you back up that slope when we get back."
...
Gu Fengyan ultimately didn't let Huo Duan carry her down the mountain.
The main reason was that there were too many villagers rushing home from the mountain, and their eyes kept glancing at this famous young couple in the village.
Gu Fengyan felt somewhat embarrassed.
Among the group, Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan had the most to show for their efforts. When they returned home, even Huo's father was astonished.
The yard was piled high with plump bamboo shoots, and the baskets were full of various mushrooms. Toona sinensis, wild onions, wild peas, ferns, and other vegetables were also arranged in small piles.
There were even several wild gastrodia elata the size of a fist and a plump wild rabbit.
It is well known that wild gastrodia elata is extremely precious, and very few people in Heqing Village have ever found it.
Father Huo gathered the wild vegetables into the house with a winnowing basket to prevent them from wilting in the sun. "Oh my, Yan'er's luck is so good after going up the mountain. This pile of mountain produce will probably last us for more than ten days..."
Gu Fengyan also helped with the tidying up, saying, "I've already talked to Brother Duan. We'll pack these up and take them to the county market to sell tomorrow. Father, you have to help me."
Father Huo beamed with joy, "That's wonderful!"
Someone knocked on the courtyard gate. "Uncle Huo, are you home?"
Huo Duan opened the door and saw that it was Zhang's sister-in-law whom he had met on the mountain. He obediently greeted her, "Sister-in-law, come in and rest."
"Oh, you two are back." Aunt Zhang entered the yard, grabbed a handful of locust flowers from her basket, and said, "Erdan, quickly get a winnowing basket. Yan Ge'er has never eaten these before. The flowers aren't dirty, let him try them."
Father Huo hurriedly told Gu Fengyan to bring a winnowing basket over.
Gu Fengyan brought some bamboo shoots with her. "Thank you, sister-in-law. Please take these bamboo shoots back and try them. We can't possibly eat all of them."
After declining a few times, Aunt Zhang happily put the basket away, then remembered something and said with a gossipy look:
"By the way, did you run into Liu Laosan from the west end of the village when you came down the mountain?"
A note from the author:
When President Huo isn't around, Young Master Gu will be knocked out of your sight.
When President Huo was there, Young Master Gu said, "Oh dear, I'm so delicate. My palms hurt so much, and my ankles hurt so much too."
As expected of the "gentle and weak" Young Master Gu! (doge)
Chapter Seven
Gu Fengyan roughly knew what it was about as soon as he heard Liu Laosan mentioned, so he didn't say anything.
“No, not at all,” Huo Duan continued, picking up where Zhang A-sao left off. “What’s wrong, A-sao?”
Just then, several villagers carrying baskets passed by outside the courtyard. They had just come down from the mountain and were whispering among themselves, occasionally letting out low chuckles.
After Zhang A's wife and the others arrived, they spoke up, "Oh dear, you don't know, they say Liu Laosan went to the back mountain and encountered a wild wolf... his hand is broken! You didn't see him like that, he was terrified."
Because of what happened last time, Huo Duan didn't have a good impression of Liu Laosan.
He chuckled and said, "So that's what it is. We didn't run into him. What do you think he was doing going to the back mountain for no reason?"
The question stumped Aunt Zhang; she couldn't answer it for a moment.
Gu Fengyan, however, spoke up nonchalantly, "What could someone like him possibly do? He's probably up to something bad again."
Zhang A's wife was unaware of the feud between Gu Fengyan and Liu Laosan. Judging from his tone, her gossipy nature was piqued, and she immediately wanted to ask him.
"Sister-in-law, it's still early. Please come in and sit down so we can talk." Huo Duan interrupted the conversation, worried that it might go on and tire Gu Fengyan out.
Aunt Zhang looked at the sky and said, "Oh dear, it's already this late. My husband and the two little ones at home haven't eaten yet. I have to go back."
He gave Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan a few more instructions not to go to the back mountain unless necessary, before hurriedly leaving with his basket.
Gu Fengyan breathed a sigh of relief, thankfully she hadn't started arguing with him.
Huo Duan is a very shrewd and charming man, quite adept at getting along with people. He can chat with almost anyone, making him even more so than She Niu. He thought to himself.
“You really didn’t run into Liu Laosan? I forgot to warn you back then,” Huo Duan took the winnowing basket from Gu Fengyan and whispered, “I suspect he’s the one who’s been following you. Be careful.”
Gu Fengyan is handsome, the best-looking among the young men, and that old lecher Liu Laosan will not give him up easily.
“His hand is broken, it won’t be fully healed in at least two months,” Gu Fengyan said, tugging at Huo Duan’s sleeve and gently shoving him. “Don’t worry, if he dares to do anything to me, I’ll tell you, and you’ll beat him up for me!”
I'm afraid that even if Liu Laosan recovers, he'll be like a mouse seeing a cat when he sees him again, and his words will only be meant to coax Huo Duanwan.
He felt good about Huo Duan's concern, and that a little bit of scheming wouldn't hurt.
Huo Duan felt ticklish from his shoving. "Don't pull me, or I'll fall to the ground and pretend to be injured..."
Gu Fengyan laughed and continued to pull him.
Father Huo watched from a distance, his face beaming with a smile that resembled eighteen layers of steamed buns.
The young couple's good relationship makes him happier than any magic pill... He might finally have a grandchild!
It would be even better if they were twins, a boy and a girl.
The harvested greens, besides enough for our own consumption, were all tied into small bunches, and watered every half hour at night to keep them fresh and firm.
There were so many bamboo shoots that Father Huo asked the young couple to send some to Huo Xiuling and her husband. The rest were neatly stacked in a wicker basket without being peeled.
Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan got up very early, ate breakfast quickly, and went to the county.
It was market day, and many villagers from nearby villages brought their own seasonal fruits and vegetables to sell, but they were all common produce. Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan were the only ones selling mountain goods, which inevitably attracted a lot of attention.
Regardless, it certainly generated enough buzz.
As soon as the city gates opened, Huo Duan grabbed Gu Fengyan and took him to the East Market, which specialized in selling grains, vegetables, and fruits. They found a slightly conspicuous spot to set up their goods.
Although Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan both grew up with plenty of money, this was the first time they had ever personally gone to buy things. Amidst the constant shouts and calls of vendors, the two of them stared at each other, looking completely out of place.
"Mr. Huo, I see you have a loud voice, how about you give a shout or two?" Gu Fengyan smiled like a fox.
Huo Duan glanced at him and said, "Me? I can't do it. I might scare the customers away if I look like this. You'll have to do it, Young Master Gu."
"Hey, Mr. Huo, come here."
"No, no, no, I can't..."
The two were arguing about who should speak, and Huo Duan, seeing that this couldn't go on, finally spoke up:
"Rock, paper, scissors! Whoever loses has to play! One round decides the winner!"