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墨書 Inktalez
"That's natural."
Ziyan confidently responded to Zhou, then her eyes scanned the grass on the Hill like a radar, carefully looking around.
Suddenly, she exclaimed, "Wow, isn't that Tianqi, commonly known as Blood Ginseng?"
She noticed a few plants about two meters ahead, standing forty to fifty centimeters tall, with green leaves spread open, cradling a barely blooming light pink bud in the center.
Ziyan took a few steps closer, crouched down, and examined it carefully. Finally, she confirmed that this was indeed one of the precious traditional Chinese medicines that could treat all kinds of injuries and bleeding—Tianqi.
Excitedly covering her mouth, Ziyan felt overjoyed. She then went to Zhou to borrow a small hoe and carefully began to dig. Eventually, she unearthed a beautiful Tianqi with many small heads and continued digging to find more than ten others.
Seeing the smaller seedlings, Ziyan couldn't bear to dig them up any further. She thought to herself: I'll leave them be and come back next year or later to dig them out.
After making up her mind, she stood up straight and looked further afield. Not far ahead, but outside the bamboo grove, there were still plenty of Tianqi growing.
However, Ziyan did not plan to dig them up today since her main task was to prepare ingredients.
Reluctant to toss the Tianqi into the bamboo basket for fear of bruising them, she used her skirt to hold the more than ten Tianqi, cradling it in her arms as she walked towards Zhou. She even discovered that besides Bamboo Shoots, there were also many Fiddlehead Ferns growing in the bamboo grove.
So she called out to Zhou, "Mom, do you recognize these?"
While busy picking up the Bamboo Shoots that Ziying had missed earlier, Zhou looked up at her little daughter whose forehead was covered in sweat. Following her daughter's pointing finger towards a cluster of Fiddlehead Ferns, she asked, "What is this?"
"Mom, this is edible."
Without waiting for Zhou to respond, Ziyan lowered her head and began to reach for the Fiddlehead Fern.
"Oh—you're such a greedy girl, there's nothing you can't eat," Zhou shook her head helplessly at her daughter's antics.
...
Before long, the three women had gathered plenty. Looking at the hillside bamboo grove, they noticed many freshly sprouted Bamboo Shoots. Remembering that they had pickled quite a few Sour Bamboo Shoots at home, Ziyan recalled that the shelf life of Sour Bamboo Shoots was relatively short.
Ziyan thought about drying the bamboo shoots, but of course, that would have to wait a day or two. She looked at her mother and sister and came up with an idea: she would teach them how to do it when she had some free time. Yes, that was the plan.
When the three women returned home, they set down their things. After each had a drink of water, they noticed it was still early and heated up some leftover Pig Offal Soup from the previous day, slicing some smoked meat to enjoy a hearty meal.
After finishing their simple breakfast, they began to divide their tasks.
Ziyan instructed Zhou to stay home and handle the Bamboo Shoots while picking and washing the wild vegetables they already had. She also asked her to pick some newly sprouted chili peppers, Purslane, chives, ginger, and Chinese Toon from the vegetable garden on the right side of their yard for use as side dishes.
Then she and Ziying each took a basket and walked toward the riverbank not far from their home. They spotted two Sophora Trees blooming with vibrant light pink flowers.
The clusters of light pink Sophora Flowers sparkled brilliantly in the morning sunlight and emitted waves of rich fragrance that made one’s mouth water.
Ziyan envisioned a cold dish dessert in her mind and pulled her sister to a stop. While asking her sister to join in on the plan to pick Sophora Flowers, she rolled up her sleeves and eagerly began to gather the flowers from the lower branches.
Her sister had heard from their grandmother that during times of famine, people relied on Sophora Flowers to stave off hunger, so she knew these flowers were edible; however, their family had never eaten them before.
Fuming, Ziyan gritted her teeth and felt like cursing. While she was still stubbornly bending over, focused entirely on the water's surface searching for fish, suddenly a large hand reached from behind and snatched her spear away. Another hand grabbed her entire body, and then with a leap, she was lifted and placed back on the shore.
When she regained her senses and looked up while struggling, she realized that the person was none other than her future husband, Ling Yuxuan.
Seeing him felt like seeing a savior. "I... I can't catch any fish. Now that you're here, you must have a way. Last time you caught two huge Azure Fish, right? Is this spear the one you left behind after catching those two Azure Fish? If we’re using the same spear, why can’t I catch any fish?"
"Because you're foolish," Ling Yuxuan replied, rolling his eyes at her and giving her a light smack on the forehead.
"Ouch! You jerk, you actually flicked me."
Ziyan covered her forehead and glared at him angrily while shouting, then kicked him in retaliation.
Ling Yuxuan elegantly dodged with a smile.
"You—go catch me some fish." Realizing the urgency of the matter, Ziyan reluctantly stopped causing trouble.
However, Ling Yuxuan was also perceptive enough to obediently take his homemade spear and wade into the river.
Meanwhile, Ziyan called Ziying from the riverbank in the distance and instructed her to pick some fresh wild vegetables. She then stood on her tiptoes, stretching her neck along the riverbank to closely watch Ling Yuxuan's figure as he caught fish.
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