37

The main effect of acacia honey is to calm the mind and soothe the nerves, with some antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties as well. Lin You listened to Yao Jiu praise the honey in a mystical way but didn’t think there was anything unusual about it.

Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory? It didn’t seem strange that it could help with mouth ulcers.

“Here you go, here you go, I’ll pack it for you in a moment!”

It was just right, as she also needed to send out the five bottles from the giveaway, so she decided to pack them all together.

Lin You washed a few glass bottles clean, dried them, and then filled each one. She packed five small bottles, each holding 200 milliliters, and one large bottle that could hold a pound.

Lin You gave the large bottle to Yao Jiu, then thought for a moment and packed two more large bottles.

Taking advantage of the time before the TV crew arrived, Lin You went to the town first to send out the packages.

Yao Hongxia, the owner of the courier shop, sighed when she saw Lin You, lamenting that she had missed the last live stream biscuit sale and regretting it deeply.

“Our town will open a biscuit shop soon, you can go buy from the shop when it opens.”

Yao Hongxia didn’t expect such a surprise. “Really?”

“The store is already under renovation, it should open next month.”

Lin You said as she handed Yao Hongxia a large bottle of honey.

Yao Hongxia widened her eyes in surprise. “Could this be the honeycomb I sent you last time…?”

Lin You nodded. “Yes, that’s the one, freshly harvested acacia honey. I haven’t even thanked you for the bees you sent.”

Yao Hongxia said, “…It hasn’t been that long, and the bees have already made honey?”

Unable to resist, Yao Hongxia opened the bottle cap. A burst of fragrance hit her, and the pale yellow, slightly white honey gleamed, clearly high-quality honey. Yao Hongxia’s son, who was a distance away, smelled it and rushed over, shouting that he wanted some candy.

Unable to refuse, Yao Hongxia grabbed a clean spoon from the table and scooped some out. The child gulped most of it down, smacking his lips and saying it was delicious.

“This kid, I’ve never had to worry about you before.”

Seeing her son enjoy it so much, Yao Hongxia secretly tasted a spoonful herself.

After tasting it, Yao Hongxia felt that all the honey she had eaten before seemed dull in comparison.

She closed the bottle and had a complicated look on her face. “I really don’t know whose family is actually the one keeping the bees.”

The honey her family sent was definitely pure, but even real honey can vary in flavor and taste. The honey Lin You sent, just the fragrance alone, surpassed her own by a lot. It wasn’t overly sweet, but it made you want to eat more after the first bite. The honey aroma lingered in her mind.

Yao Hongxia even wondered if Lin You had practiced some kind of mystical technique—how could the milk produced by the cows be so good, the vegetables so good, and even the honey from the bees be this exceptional?

Yao Hongxia put the honey away. Such good honey, she planned to save it and enjoy it slowly. Didn’t Lin You say that there was only this much acacia honey this year? She wouldn’t be selling it.

After Yao Hongxia put away the honey, she suddenly asked about something else. “Hey, do you know there’s an old immortal up the mountain? The one who sells the Five Emperors’ Coins?”

Lin You was a bit dazed. Last time Du Xun had asked about a great immortal, and now, just a short time later, the rumor had already turned into an old immortal?

“Yeah, I know. Why?”

Yao Hongxia had just casually asked and hadn’t expected Lin You to actually know. She quickly grabbed Lin You’s arm and asked for the address.

Lin You, cautious, asked, “What do you need the old immortal for?”

Last time, Du Xun had asked for help for his child, but Yao Hongxia’s child looked healthy and sturdy, and didn’t seem to have any problems.

Yao Hongxia quickly started to vent, and after listening for a while, Lin You understood. It turned out that Yao Hongxia’s cousin had returned to their hometown recently, but after coming back, strange things started happening to her. At first, no one thought much of it, but a few days ago, her cousin had a dream about something very bad, and since then, her mental state had worsened. She was even too scared to sleep.

“I was thinking, could this be some kind of evil influence? It might be best to find someone to break it. But we don’t have any decent temples up here, just a few people who claim to be good at reading fortune through birth dates, but they didn’t help. So I was wondering if I could get a string of Five Emperors’ Coins to suppress the evil.”

Lin You didn’t immediately promise on behalf of Bo Chuan but said she’d ask about it when she got back.

“What kind of dream did your cousin have to be so scared?”

Yao Hongxia looked terrified as she spoke. “It’s scary to talk about… She dreamt she was buried alive, and then some person came and married her…”

Yao Hongxia didn’t go into details, as when her cousin had cried and shared the full story, it had scared even her.

The suffocating feeling of being buried alive, and the image of being forced to marry a skeleton… Yao Hongxia’s hair stood on end just thinking about it.

Yao Hongxia made a promise for her cousin. “If the old immortal can help her, money will be no problem.”

Lin You replied, “It’s not really about the money… He’s busy right now, though, and I don’t know if he has time.”

“Whether it works or not, thank you for helping.”

Lin You, holding the matter in her mind, went back home, just in time to meet the crew from the television station.

The person the station sent this time was Gao He, who had volunteered to come.

Ever since she heard the station was doing a feature on the vegetables of Yanxia Mountain, Gao He had been incredibly eager. Her family could be said to be the most loyal customers of Yanxia Mountain’s vegetables. Gao’s parents woke up early every day to queue at Huihe Fresh, just waiting for the vegetables from Yanxia Mountain to arrive, so they could rush to buy them.

When they heard their daughter was going to interview the vegetable farmers, Gao’s parents even gave her a task, asking her to buy some fresh vegetables from the farmers. The vegetables at Huihe had been hard to get lately, sometimes selling out by 10 a.m., making it very inconvenient.

Gao He arrived in the station’s car, and along the way, she saw all sorts of vegetables from Lianhua Village, some covered by greenhouses, while others were clearly newly planted crops, their tender shoots swaying in the wind.

Gao He held a microphone and interviewed the villagers. The people who were interviewed had been selected in advance as those who weren’t shy in front of the camera.

“Why are our village’s vegetables so good? It’s because they’re grown with cow manure! The cows in our village are divine cows. The cows raised in the Taoist temple are divine cows, too!”

Yao Jiu, Xiao Ma, and Lin You: …

Well, even though they had prepared in advance, the villagers couldn’t help but blurt out what was on their minds.

Gao He smiled and maintained the high standards of a reporter. “So, what exactly makes this Taoist temple so divine?”

This question really got everyone excited, and regardless of where the topic was headed, they all began talking excitedly about the temple’s miraculous powers.

“Before, there was a child in our village who needed a substitute soul, and it was the young man from the Taoist temple who healed him!”

“Later, the child’s family donated a plaque, and we all went to worship when they hung it up.”

“I prayed for a bountiful harvest, and look, in such a short time, our village’s vegetables are growing so well!”

“I prayed to the goddess Yuanjun to help me make money, and look, not long after, our village’s vegetables were sold!”

“Our old sow gave birth to fifteen piglets!”

It was a coincidence that, just after everyone went to worship, the village’s vegetables started selling well. First it was Zhang Ji, and then Xiao Fengyun came to make a deal. The villagers, chatting among themselves, felt that the temple had something to do with it.

Didn’t they see? The cows were raised in the Taoist temple and produced good milk, and the land was fertilized with cow manure. Everyone’s money also seemed to have increased after they worshiped.

What does this show?

It shows that the goddess Yuanjun of Yanxia Mountain is truly divine!

Lin You and Yao Jiu had been busy recently, so this was the first time they heard such a story. Xiao Ma, as a materialist, felt his worldview crumble under the villagers’ beliefs.

He cautiously asked Yao Jiu, “Is that Taoist temple in your village… really that divine?”

Yao Jiu was not sure. If it was about divinity, there did seem to be some connection. But her own prayers hadn’t come true!

She had prayed several times, hoping the goddess Yuanjun would help her win the lottery.

“Could it be that my heart wasn’t sincere enough?”

Yao Jiu mumbled to herself, deciding to go again today and sincerely talk to the goddess.

Meanwhile, Gao He had already been led by excited villagers toward the Taoist temple. She nodded to the camera crew. Actually, the footage they had already gathered was enough, but following the villagers now couldn’t hurt—perhaps they’d uncover an extra highlight.

In front of the temple, the area no longer looked shabby or in disrepair. A large incense burner emitted curling white smoke, indicating that someone had come to offer incense earlier that day.

Fresh fruits and vegetables were placed in front of the incense burner, and there was also a sitting mat, likely from someone’s home, adding to the sense of solemnity.

Gao He had expected to find something like a cultural relics site, but instead, she saw that half of the house’s beams had collapsed. If it weren’t for the incense burner and plaque at the front, it looked more like an abandoned house than a temple.

The villagers, however, were very devout. They whispered to Gao He, introducing her to the place.

Seeing that the camera crew had already put down their equipment, seemingly not planning to film here, Gao He decided to follow the villagers and casually make a prayer.

Out of nowhere, a cat appeared, lying in front of the offerings. The villagers didn’t chase it away.

“This cat belongs to the temple. We often see it here. Who knows, it might be the goddess Yuanjun’s mount.”

Gao He: … I’ve heard of tigers being used as mounts, but I’ve never seen a cat being used as one.

The cat had a big round face, and it clearly lived a leisurely life. It was lying in front of the offerings, nibbling on a couple of tomatoes, then rolled over, exposing its belly, which was so fat that it almost touched the ground…

Gao He: Suddenly, I feel so foolish for praying earlier.

The villagers had a good impression of Gao He, and as she was leaving, they even gave her several bags of fresh vegetables.

Gao He assured them that the program would be ready in no more than three days, and they should watch the news then.

After the filming crew left, Yao Jiu took the opportunity to call everyone for a meeting.

This meeting was to discuss the land contracting issue in the village.

Xiao Ma had asked the leaders in the town, and the land in Lianhua Town was over a hundred acres in total. With such a large plot, the contract period was seventy years, with the payment due every ten years.

Lin You had money in her pocket. The annual cost to contract one acre of land was 400 yuan, so the total would be 400,000 yuan for a lump sum payment.

With only a dozen families left in the village, once Lin You signed the contract, each family could receive 10,000 to 20,000 yuan.

Lin You thought the villagers would definitely agree, but to her surprise, they were a bit shy.

“Youyou, you don’t have to contract it if you don’t want to. We won’t go up to the back mountain, so use it however you like.”

“Yeah, it’s a hassle if the government gets involved. Anyway, we’re all from the same village, no one minds.”

“Why spend all that money? It’s unnecessary.”

Lin You had helped everyone so much since returning home, and even her neighbor, that young man, had let everyone take cow manure for free. The villagers felt it was too much to take money from her.

Lin You thanked them for their kindness but insisted on paying to contract the land. It was such a large plot, and she wouldn’t feel at ease if it wasn’t contracted.

Under Lin You’s insistence, the villagers reluctantly signed the agreement. The village had always been poor, and when someone had tried to contract the lotus pond land years ago, everyone was excited, but it ended up falling through. The villagers had resigned themselves to living in the deep mountains, thinking they didn’t have the fortune to get rich.

But now, they had money, and a business was in the works.

The prospects of growing vegetables were good, and several families had already called their children working outside, asking them to come back to help grow vegetables. Didn’t you see Xiao Shitou’s parents? After losing money once, the couple was no longer willing to work outside, and now they stayed in the village to grow vegetables. Recently, they seemed to have listened to Yao Yun’s advice and decided to open a steamed bun stall in the town. They were busy buying equipment for it—steamers, carts, and such—and planned to go to the early market every morning.

It seemed like a good idea—growing vegetables at home and selling food at the early market. The morning markets had become busier recently, and breakfast stalls were thriving.

As the signing continued, someone slapped their thigh and said, “I should go offer incense to Yuanjun!”

They prayed to Yuanjun for wealth, and not only did Yuanjun help them make money, but also gave them cash!

“Yes, yes, we need to offer incense to Yuanjun!”

“While we’re at it, how about we fix up Yuanjun’s temple? I don’t think that young man can handle it on his own.”

“Of course, we should! Let’s all go back and help. We can’t repair the beams for now, but we can help build the walls!”

The topic once again spiraled hopelessly into feudal superstition. When Bo Chuan finally arrived, a group of people eagerly expressed their willingness to help fix the temple.

Bo Chuan had spent the whole day looking for the wooden beams, but to no avail, and was feeling troubled when he was surrounded by people.

The villagers unanimously insisted on helping to repair the walls. After listening to their words, Bo Chuan fell silent.

What was this about the blessing of Yuanjun…

Yuanjun was out front of the temple, eating tomatoes.

A fat cat blessing anyone? What a joke.

The recent prosperity in the village was purely coincidental.

“My old sow gave birth to fifteen piglets!”

Bo Chuan: … You feed the pigs with leftovers from your own meals, and the vegetables are homegrown. Don’t you know how good the village vegetables are? It’s not just that the pigs are multiplying, even cows would probably give birth to twins.

Bo Chuan never imagined that everything would ironically become a symbol of efficacy. But since the villagers were willing to attribute their good fortune to that fat cat, he reluctantly accepted it. After all, in the end, it did seem to have played some role.

Lin You had signed the land contract and was just waiting for Xiao Ma to take it to the town for the official stamp. Once that was done, she would proceed with the payment.

400,000 yuan wasn’t a small amount, but the land she was contracting was huge, with Bo Chuan’s temple and the lotus pond on it. It was clearly worth it.

Lin You went to check on the lotus pond. There were only a few scattered seedlings, so it was just in time to plant seeds before summer, and she could expect to see the lotus flowers bloom by then.

Bo Chuan thought for a moment, then picked up the fat cat, which was sprawled out and half asleep. He placed it beside the lotus pond and said clearly, “Lin You, how do you plan to manage the lotus pond you contracted?”

Lin You: “Oh, there’s a lot we can do. In the summer, we can enjoy the lotus flowers, and we can pick the lotus leaves to dry them and make lotus leaf tea. We could also raise some small crayfish under the flowers…”

Catching crayfish when there’s nothing to do—how fun!

The fat cat meowed, and Bo Chuan pressed its head down. It was just a pond—what was there to complain about?

“Then how about planting sweet potatoes in that large open space on the mountain?”

Sweet potatoes could still be planted in time. The best part was that they didn’t need much attention, and they would grow even better on the mountain. The sweet potato leaves could also be used to feed the cows.

Lin You: “How about planting some corn as well?”

Corn could be planted in a couple of months. It could feed both cows and pigs.

With the main points for the next few months decided, Lin You then brought up something that Yao Hongxia had mentioned.

“I heard from the other party that it’s serious. Her cousin has been forcing herself to stay awake by drinking coffee recently. She doesn’t know what’s going on.”

Bo Chuan: “What could it be? She’s probably been matched with someone for a ghost marriage because of her birth date.”