Chapter 44

“Old folks are the wisest,” Grandma Sheng had guessed the true intentions of Li Jian and his wife in one go.

Zhan Xinyue gave her grandmother a thumbs-up, praising her sharp observation, “You’re absolutely right, Grandma.”

The old lady was happy, her eyes narrowed into a slit. She quickly washed the lotus leaves clean and hung them on a winnowing basket to dry.

“I’ll go soak the glutinous rice.”

“Do we have glutinous rice at home?” Zhan Xinyue was surprised, “Lotus leaf rice is more fragrant with glutinous rice. I thought we didn’t have any, I was going to use regular rice instead.”

“Yes, Tunan bought it. He always buys a lot of things when he comes back. We have everything we need.”

The old lady was in a good mood now that she had someone to keep her company every day. Her spirits were good, and naturally, her health was good too. She smiled and went to the kitchen to wash the glutinous rice and soak it.

Zhan Xinyue started preparing the other ingredients for the lotus leaf rice. There was corn and peas in the vegetable garden, and she picked a few crisp cucumbers.

After Grandma finished soaking the glutinous rice, she helped to break the corn kernels. Zhan Xinyue took out a piece of cured chicken and cut it into small pieces.

With the ingredients ready, Zhan Xinyue massaged Grandma’s acupoints. According to traditional Chinese medicine, if the meridians are open, there will be no pain.

After an hour or so, the glutinous rice was soaked.

Zhan Xinyue scooped out the glutinous rice and drained the water. Grandma helped to light the fire. She heated the pan with cold oil, added the glutinous rice, and stir-fried it until the rice softened. She added a spoonful of salt for seasoning and stir-fried it again until it was soft and mushy. Then she put it in a plate and set it aside.

The stir-fried glutinous rice was incredibly fragrant, just smelling it made you want to eat it.

But it couldn’t be eaten yet, eating uncooked food would cause diarrhea.

She added oil again, then added ginger, garlic, and scallions for flavor. She put in the cured chicken pieces and stir-fried them until golden brown. Then she put them in a plate and set them aside.

Finally, she stir-fried the peas, corn, and cucumber until they were cooked through. Then she added the stir-fried cured chicken pieces and glutinous rice to the pan, stir-fried them together, and added some chopped scallions for decoration.

“Grandma, we can start wrapping them.” Zhan Xinyue put the mixed rice into a basin.

Grandma Sheng nodded and went to the courtyard to bring in the lotus leaves. She blanched them in hot water, and Zhan Xinyue used scissors to cut each lotus leaf into several pieces.

With all the preparations done, Zhan Xinyue and Grandma Sheng used spoons to put the glutinous rice onto the lotus leaves, wrapped them up, and finally placed them on the steamer. They steamed them for 30 minutes.

After half an hour, Zhan Xinyue lifted the lid of the pot. The fragrant aroma of the lotus leaves, the unique fragrance of glutinous rice, and the savory scent of the cured chicken wafted into the air. You didn’t need to open the lid to know it was delicious.

“Grandma, try my cooking.” Zhan Xinyue took one out and put it in a bowl, handing it to Grandma Sheng.

Grandma Sheng took it, used chopsticks to peel back the lotus leaf, revealing the bright yellow glutinous rice. The old lady couldn’t wait to pick up a piece and put it in her mouth.

After swallowing, the old lady’s eyes lit up, and she immediately took another bite. After finishing it, she said with satisfaction, “Delicious, so delicious, Xinyue, let’s take the lotus leaf rice to the courtyard, it’s cooler there. I want to eat five.”

Zhan Xinyue put two in a bowl for herself, and put the rest in a plate and kept them warm in the pot.

“Grandma, you can only eat one. Glutinous rice is hard to digest, you can eat one at noon and half at night.”

The old lady sighed in disappointment, but she listened to her granddaughter and took her small bowl into the courtyard with Zhan Xinyue. They sat under the grapefruit tree and continued to eat.

Because she could only eat one, the old lady chewed each bite many times, savoring the deliciousness of the lotus leaf rice.

Without any extreme disturbances, Zhan Xinyue and her grandmother lived a simple but comfortable life.

Three days passed in a flash. Under Zhan Xinyue’s careful care, Grandma’s head had recovered significantly.

Her eyes were also getting brighter, and she could clearly see people and things within ten meters.

Grandma’s health was fine, so Zhan Xinyue felt relieved to go to the mountain.

After breakfast, Zhan Xinyue took her backpack and sickle and prepared to go to the mountain to collect honey.

Grandma worriedly instructed, “Xinyue, don’t go deep into the mountains, there are a lot of snakes on the mountain now, be careful.”

Zhan Xinyue nodded and raised the sickle in her hand, “Grandma, don’t worry, if I encounter danger, I’ll use my weapon.”

After saying goodbye to Grandma, Zhan Xinyue went up the mountain alone.

There was still wild chicken meat at home, Zhan Xinyue wasn’t interested in hunting, her goal this time was linden honey.

Linden honey is recognized as the top-grade honey, it tastes good and can effectively treat constipation, high blood pressure, and insomnia.

It’s especially good for the elderly.

Zhan Xinyue wanted to get some for Grandma. As she walked along the forest path, she occasionally picked up a wild mushroom or two. She could distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous mushrooms, so she didn’t have to worry about picking poisonous ones.

When she had collected half a basket of mushrooms, Zhan Xinyue finally found the linden tree.

Worried about disturbing the bees nearby, Zhan Xinyue approached cautiously. When she could reach it, she stopped, raised her sickle, and prepared to cut it down with one stroke.

At that moment, Zhan Xinyue suddenly noticed something moving on the branch.

Taking a closer look, she saw a silver ring snake, only as thick as her thumb, raising its head and flicking its tongue at her.

Zhan Xinyue’s blood ran cold, her brain raced, and she suddenly remembered when she was five years old, she had also been bitten by a silver ring snake.

The terrifying memories of her childhood came back like an avalanche, and her instinctive fear made her unable to move.

The stress response made Zhan Xinyue unable to think clearly, she even trembled all over, as if she had lost all her strength.

Zhan Xinyue remembered everything, being bitten by a snake when she was five years old. She had almost died in the mountains, if it hadn’t been for Sheng Tunan arriving in time and unhesitantly sucking out the venom for her, she would have died that day.

Now, Sheng Tunan was still in the army. Facing the silver ring snake that had once hurt her, Zhan Xinyue couldn’t move. Was she going to die here today?