Chapter 36: The Monster

When Tian Mi arrived in the valley, she saw that everyone was busy. Her uncle and the others were drying various herbs, while the others were gathering wild vegetables. Tian Mi went to inform the women from Fengqiu Village and a few aunts about picking loquats.

They all agreed to go pick loquats with them in the afternoon. Soon after, Tian Dabiao and Uncle Xu arrived, bringing with them a wild deer and two goats. A group of people carried the catch back, looking like victorious warriors, while the children surrounded them, cheerfully celebrating their return.

These children had been attending classes with Huang Yuanying, but now they couldn’t resist the temptation to join in and had run out. Huang Yuanying came along as well, and Xu Yunfei had been learning from him recently. Once he was done, he needed to rush off to take an exam.

The atmosphere became lively. Aunt Feng and a few other aunts immediately burst into smiles, some boiling water and others preparing tools.

Tian Mi remembered that there was a bamboo grove in a depression nearby, and bamboo shoots were delicious this season. Gathering some to stew with meat would be much tastier than wild vegetables, so she called Xu Feiyan. One carried a saber, and the other took an axe as they headed over.

Xu Feiyan asked, “Sister Tian Mi, are the bamboo shoots really good? I heard from the people in Fengqiu Village that they’re too bitter and not tasty at all.”

Tian Mi replied, “They just don’t know how to prepare them. I’ll teach them how to do it in a bit!”

When they reached the bamboo grove, Tian Mi quickly dug up some bamboo shoots and also found a pile of bamboo fungi, which were great treasures. She and Xu Feiyan explored the entire grove, gathering everything they could. Everyone would have a treat today.

Back in the valley, Tian Mi first processed the bamboo shoots, cutting them into small pieces, blanching them, soaking and washing them, then blanching again and soaking again. Xu Feiyan washed the bamboo fungi while Aunt Feng took care of the internal organs. After Tian Mi stir-fried the organs and seasoning to bring out their aroma, she added spring water and bamboo shoots to stew together. Soon, a wonderful fragrance filled the air. Everyone had been healthy and hadn’t felt unwell for a long time, all thanks to Tian Mi’s regular meals made with spring water.

After simmering the bamboo fungi together, the wild vegetables that had been blanched were added just before serving, releasing a delightful aroma.

The steamed buns from Auntie’s side were also ready, which was the taste of spring. As soon as the lid was lifted, the little ones shouted, “Auntie, it smells good, meat, it smells good!”

Aunt Feng looked at the joyful children and said, “Mi’er, the dishes you make are truly fragrant!”

Tian Mi served each little one a piece, making them jump with joy!

Tian Mi laughed, “I found bamboo fungi today, and we stewed them together.”

Sister Minghui came over holding the crying Linlin and said, “Mi’er, Linlin is hungry!”

Having not fed the baby for half a day, Tian Mi felt a bit full herself. She quickly went to hold   Tian Lin, who drank spring water every day, making his milk especially nutritious. The child’s eyes sparkled brightly, and when he smiled, it was as if the stars filled his eyes—he was incredibly well-behaved.

He smiled at Tian Mi while eating! This made Tian Mi beam with a proud auntie smile. After feeding the eldest, she had to feed the younger one. She loved to chat with him, making “ah! ah! ah!” sounds as if they were having a conversation. It would be impolite not to chat with him for a while. He was so chubby and adorable.

Tian Mi enjoyed the delicious flavors of spring, with Aunt Feng leaving her a lot of food, including plenty of bamboo fungi. She was so full that she could hardly move. A few aunts and sisters went with Xu Feiyan to pick loquats, while the men went to smoke meat and hunt.

In the afternoon, Tian Mi found an opportunity to go out. By evening, she returned with several large bags of grain. The ready rice and flour in the storage were all taken, leaving only grains and wheat, which required processing, but they knew how to handle it.

When Tian Mi got home, the courtyard was filled with loquats. She asked her two aunts, her cousin, Xu Feiyan, and Chen Miaomiao to come the next day to make loquat syrup together. It wasn’t difficult to make, just a bit time-consuming.

The next day, everyone washed, removed seeds, cleaned herbs, and boiled juice. Tian Dabiao took people to cut bamboo for making tubes, and once the syrup was ready, it would be filled into the bamboo tubes.

Tian Mi took out the white sugar she had brought a few days ago. In this era, white sugar was a precious commodity, and once the syrup was ready, she would add some white sugar—just a little, since she had already added some spring water earlier.

Her eldest aunt said, “Mi’er, you can’t sell this loquat syrup cheap if you add sugar.”

Tian Mi smiled and replied, “Yes! Such good stuff definitely can’t be sold cheap.”

When the loquat syrup was finished, the entire valley was filled with its sweet aroma. When the first batch was served for everyone to taste, the sweet flavor made everyone, from the elderly grandmother to Village Chief Zhou and the three-year-old Xiao Hua, as well as the twin daughters of her cousin, cry out in delight, “Sweet, sweet, delicious, we want more!”

The grandmother said, “Of course it’s sweet, it has white sugar in it, which is a precious thing. It’s meant to be sold.”

It took everyone five days to pick all the loquats from that mountainous area, and they spent over ten days boiling the loquat syrup. Then, each family in the valley received a portion, with larger families receiving two portions.

They all said that the fresh food they were eating was bought with the money from Tian Mi selling herbs, so it was only right for them to help pick loquats and not take any loquat syrup. However, Tian Mi insisted they keep it for later to drink with water, as she had plenty.

Tian Mi also sent two portions to Huang Yuanying, while Zuo Zhengfeng had not visited the valley for quite a while. Tian Mi’s main room was filled with bamboo tubes for storing loquat syrup, and she had secretly stored quite a bit in her space.

While making the loquat syrup, Tian Mi thought about how good honey was in this season, and she decided to venture into the mountains to gather some. Afraid that Xu Feiyan would insist on going with her, she fed her two little treasures, informed Sister Minghui, and set out just as the sky began to brighten.

Tian Mi found a place with plenty of wild flowers and sprayed some spring water on them. Before long, a swarm of bees arrived. Once they started collecting nectar, Tian Mi followed them as they flew, running after them.

It was tough! The mountain paths were uneven and overgrown with vines. Tian Mi nearly tripped and fell, her heart racing. In the end, she lost track of the bees; while honey was great, getting it was not that easy.

She had no choice but to keep heading in that direction. After a while, she noticed more bees gathering in the sky, so it seemed she hadn’t gone off course.

Continuing another couple of miles, she finally spotted a beehive, but it was perched high on a sheer cliff. Goodness! If she wanted the honey, it seemed the bees wanted her life in return.

Was it really worth risking her life like this? First, she climbed up the cliff from the back. Although it was steep, there were tree roots and grass to grab onto, but it was still exhausting to climb.

The cliff was high and steep, and looking down from the top gave a true sense of soaring to great heights, especially when a cool breeze blew—it felt refreshing!

In the sky, an eagle spread its wings, while a group of sheep grazed in the valley, looking harmonious and natural.

Tian Mi soaked a piece of meat in spring water and took it out. The eagle flew over to her, and she tossed the meat to it. The eagle caught it in its beak and landed beside Tian Mi to eat. After finishing, it stared at her as if asking, “Is there more?”

Tian Mi smiled! She took out another piece for it. Once it finished, it stayed close to her. Tian Mi ignored it and admired the magnificent landscape around her; then she had to get to business.

Tian Mi took out some rope from her space and tied it securely to a rock. Next, she put on her hat, covered her face with a sandbag, and began to slide down the cliff toward the beehive little by little. Oh my! It was indeed frightening; she didn’t dare to look down—this cliff was over twenty meters high.

Once she reached the beehive, she stretched out her hand and pulled the beehive into her space. However, there were too many bees, and they got startled, resulting in two of them stinging her face. Ah! She endured the pain and climbed back up to the top.

Hastily, she used spring water to rinse the stung areas, but it still hurt a lot. When she looked in the mirror, one of her eyes was swollen, and one corner of her mouth was puffy. What was once a beautiful young woman had turned her into a frightful sight! Tian Mi felt like crying but had no tears.

As soon as she entered her space, she fainted from the bee stings. Damn those bees! Just for a bit of honey, they ruined my looks.

After coming down the mountain, that old eagle was still following Tian Mi, but she ignored it.

She tried hard to open her eyes wide, but she felt like she couldn’t see clearly anymore and had completely lost her sense of distance. She touched her eyelids, which were swollen to a considerable degree.

She couldn’t even imagine how ugly she must look right now.

Waaah! Thankfully, this was a deep mountain, and no one could see her! Otherwise, she wouldn’t want to live anymore!

She soaked some wild vegetables in spring water, and before long, a group of wild sheep and rabbits came by. Among them were two mother sheep with their lambs, and it looked like they were in the midst of nursing. Tian Mi collected them all into her space.

The others were prey, but she would keep the mother sheep and lambs. If Tian Mi went out, she could milk the sheep to feed her two little treasures, and the lambs would be kept to entertain them.

Today’s harvest was pretty good, and Tian Mi was satisfied as she continued on her way, but unexpectedly, she ran into the last person she wanted to see.

Zuo Zhengfeng and Mo Chen were preparing to encircle Dong Yuan with 800 cavalry.

They happened to see a monstrous woman with one eye swollen like a light bulb and one corner of her mouth swollen like a sausage, and an old eagle was perched above her head. It gave them quite a fright. Tian Mi was just jumping down from a big rock when she collided directly with them.

Tian Mi was also startled by Mo Chen. What the heck! How did I run into him? Stay calm! Stay calm! He definitely won’t recognize her!