Chapter 61: Two Drops of Saliva

At night, after Dabao fell asleep, Chen Feng took some candy and snacks to the space. The Golden Swallow was picky, so the things from Tangyuan must be good, so she brought some in.

When she came in, she saw the Golden Swallow lying on the ground, laughing foolishly, with the tips of its two wings stuck into its little beak. Around it, the jewelry had been taken off and scattered.

Chen Feng squatted down and asked, “Golden Treasure, what’s so funny?”

The Golden Swallow gave her a flirtatious look, took the tips of its wings out of its beak, and said, “Mommy, you sing such beautiful songs, why didn’t you sing for others earlier? They love listening to it, love it so much, so much.”

The soft murmuring made Chen Feng sit down on the ground.

She never expected a nursery rhyme to excite the little thing like this. Chen Feng picked it up and held it in her palm, singing to it again.

“Little swallow, dressed in floral clothes, comes here every spring…”

As Chen Feng sang, the Golden Swallow gently flapped its wings, its small body swaying rhythmically, and unconsciously, two drops of saliva dripped from its little beak.

Looking at those two crystal-clear drops of saliva, Chen Feng endured her excitement, finished singing, and then placed the Golden Swallow on the ground, holding the saliva carefully in her hand.

She had to protect these two precious drops of saliva; they were more nourishing than thousand-year-old ginseng.

The Golden Swallow didn’t notice Chen Feng’s subtle movements. It rolled around and coquettishly made a fuss, even generously pushing several dismantled pearls and gemstones in front of Chen Feng, saying, “Mommy, these are all for you, take them out and sell them for more silver.”

If she dared to take these things out to sell, she would immediately be mistaken for a gold thief or an accomplice and be arrested.

Chen Feng shook her head and suggested, “Goldie, Mommy thinks that the leaves of Swallow Agarwood Tree can clear one’s mind. Can you take a little bit of leaf residue out and sew it into a swallow doll for Miss Chu? Dabao said she’s very pitiful, and one of her elders is also very kind. I want to help her. Also, sew a bit into Dabao and A’Lu’s pillows, so they can become smarter and have a better future, maybe even become high-ranking officials. Then our days will be better too.”

The Golden Swallow was delighted and said, “Okay. Beautiful Sister Yan is very good, and smelly Dabao, and Uncle Alu are also good. I want to help them have a better life. The leaves of Swallow Agarwood Tree can indeed make people clearer and more focused. However, the beautiful sister’s illness can’t be completely cured just by smelling it for a long time, it can only make her a little better than before. But the leaves are too fragrant, you can only take a tiny bit the size of my eye booger and put it in the doll or pillow, so others won’t easily smell it.”

Having a little is better than having non, and Chen Feng was overjoyed, but it sure will be difficult.

However, if its eye booger was that small, then how big were the leaves?

Chen Feng said she would go out to get scissors. Without waiting for the Golden Swallow to say it could handle it with its little beak, she disappeared from the space. She first used a teacup to scrape the two drops of saliva into the cup, added some warm water from the teapot, and covered it with a lid. Then, she went into the space with the scissors.

When Chen Feng came out of the space, she pinched a tiny bit of Swallow Agarwood Tree leaf residue, to give to Dabao and A’Lu when she made their pillows. She held onto the small green speck tightly, not daring to let out a breath, fearing it might blow away and she wouldn’t find it again.

Chen Feng put the bit of leaf residue in the middle of a large pile of cotton, which was to be used for making an extra-large swallow doll. This doll had to be fancy, with a stark color contrast, to attract the little girl, preferably to be used as a pillow when she slept.

Chen Feng decided that the back and tail of this large swallow would be red, the wings a bright blue, the belly a crimson color, with some additional embroidery on the wings and a band around the neck. This swallow also had to smile particularly brightly, with its eyes forming a narrow line and the muscles at the corners of its mouth curving even more.

She worked late into the night before going to bed.

The next day, Chen Feng got up early to prepare breakfast in the old courtyard. She took a teacup, poured the water into the pot, rinsed the teacup, and then poured the water back into it.

Today, she made fine rice porridge, so fragrant that the whole family was too busy eating to talk much, and even the bottom of the pot was scraped clean by Chen Dabao.

Smacking his lips, he said, “Why is the porridge so fragrant today?”

Chen Feng chuckled to herself, thinking that saliva could be so popular, no one else but the Golden Swallow would have such an effect.

Chasing the scent belatedly, Zhui Feng ran over to find that all the delicious food had been eaten, and he felt so upset that he shed tears. Chen Lu laughed and quickly promised to have his mother make meat buns for him at noon.

Dabao smiled and said, “We’ll have lunch at Tangyuan today, they have plenty of meat. It’s enough to eat there.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Feng said that Mrs. Hu wouldn’t just let things go, and it wouldn’t be surprising if she secretly brought Dahua and Daya to have Dabao take them to Tangyuan.

Upon hearing this, everyone agreed that this was indeed something Mrs. Hu could do.

After washing the dishes, Chen Feng went back to the house and busied herself. She asked Dabao to take Qiqi, Gray, and Zhui Feng to the old courtyard to wait until the appointed time before going to Tangyuan. Yesterday, steward Luo, came at this time to pick up Dabao, and by this time, Miss Chu should be awake.

She also admonished Dabao that if Mrs. Hu arrived with Dahua and Daya, he should stay in the courtyard and wait for Steward Luo to come and take them. If she did bring them, Tangyuan wouldn’t allow them to scare Miss Chu, and they definitely wouldn’t be allowed inside. Daya was still young and pampered, if something happened to her, it would be hard to explain, and it wouldn’t be fair to Chen Gui and Mrs. Gao.

If Steward Luo came, whether to take them or not would depend on him.

Originally, Dabao wanted to go on his own today, but after this incident, he had to sit inside the courtyard and wait.

After finishing her work, Mrs. Wang hurried to the east room of the new courtyard to help Chen Feng. She cleverly closed the side door, during the day, this door was usually left open. She was afraid that when Mrs. Hu brought Dahua and Daya over, they might run into the new courtyard. If she saw this satin, she would definitely try to snatch it.

When Mrs. Wang arrived at the east room, she saw that although the room was spacious, it was extremely clean. There was a small porcelain vase on the kang cabinet with a few chrysanthemum flowers, and there was a refreshing yet faint fragrance in the room. Outside the window, the larks were singing beautiful songs, making it extremely pleasant.

She smiled and said, “The bedroom should indeed be like this, clean and fresh, without any food or other odors.”

Chen Feng smiled and said, “When we have money in the future, I’ll separate the bedroom from the hall and dining room.”

Mrs. Wang smiled and said, “Wait a few years, when A’Lu grows up and gets married, then we’ll build a big courtyard.”

Chen Feng remained silent, thinking that with more money, she’d build two large courtyards.

When Mrs. Wang saw the already cut satin and learned about the kind of swallow being made, she was astonished, her mouth gaping, “Heavens, swallows can even wear floral clothes, headpieces, and scarves? Only my A’Feng could come up with this.”

^[1]“Goldie” is Golden Treasure’s nickname, and “Yan or Yanyan” is Chu Hanyan’s nickname.