46

The fire poker poked its head out, thinking it was hiding well. But it didn’t consider that the open roof, with the sun still high in the sky, was a perfect place for a shiny green object to appear on the beams…

It was obvious!

Bo Chuan instinctively thought the fire poker’s brain might not be working well.

Of course, if it were functioning properly, it wouldn’t have attacked those three experts.

Seeing that it had no intention of coming down, Bo Chuan left some food on the table and turned to head down the mountain for a meal.

The little snake, about the size of a human arm, waited for a while before cautiously coming down from the beams.

On the table were the offering fruits sent by the villagers. The little snake sniffed them, its eyes lighting up, and it tried to push a tomato back onto the beam. Halfway through, it realized it didn’t have enough strength.

The little snake paused for a moment, then tried with a smaller tomato. Stretching its body like a taut rubber band, it still couldn’t push it up. With no other choice, it curled up and started eating it.

After devouring two, a shadow suddenly passed by.

Before the little snake could react, a furry paw slammed it onto the offering table.

“Meow!”

Furball was furious. These offering fruits were all its! Where did this snake come from, daring to eat its food!

“Meow meow meow meow meow!”

Furball angrily swiped at the snake, ready to chew this intruder like a spicy snack.

At first, the little snake was dazed, but after a moment, it started to struggle, its green skin glowing faintly. However, despite the green light flashing a few times, it still couldn’t break free.

How could this be!

The little snake stared at the fat cat in disbelief, watching its every move.

Furball didn’t care about that, ready to take a bite.

Suddenly, Bo Chuan’s voice rang out.

“Furball, let go.”

“…Meow meow meow meow!” You know what it’s doing, and you’re telling me to let go? Those fruits are for me to snack on later! I won’t let go!

Bo Chuan: “…There’s chocolate.”

Furball tilted its head, giving a disgruntled glance at the seemingly lifeless little snake beside it, then mewed once.

Bo Chuan: “Three pieces won’t do… Two pieces.”

Two pieces were enough. Furball jumped off the offering table and grabbed the chocolate Bo Chuan had taken out, finding a clean spot to peel off the wrapper.

Bo Chuan picked up the snake from the table and checked it carefully. He found no injuries, but the snake seemed dazed, as if it had been struck by something.

Bo Chuan thought for a moment, then carried the snake out of the Taoist temple and walked down the mountain path toward the river. Before long, he arrived at Lin You’s lotus pond.

As a spirit snake and guardian of the mountain god’s tomb, it was naturally better for it to stay close to the tomb. Over the years, the mountain god’s presence had faded, and so had the spirit snake’s spiritual power. Bo Chuan didn’t expect the snake to be of much help, but he thought about how this little guardian had protected the tomb for thousands of years, even using its meager spiritual energy to take revenge on tomb robbers when it was discovered…

Even though the little mountain god hadn’t recovered, it shouldn’t be treated unfairly.

“This lotus pond is perfect for you. Don’t go back to the Taoist temple for now.”

Bo Chuan placed the snake down, only to be surprised when he saw tears flowing from its eyes.

Snakes don’t have tear glands, but spirit snakes do. This one seemed deeply hurt, and tears streamed down.

Bo Chuan didn’t know how to comfort it, so he awkwardly said, “The spiritual energy is scattered now, and the mountain god’s cultivation methods have long been lost. It’s normal for her to have lost her past memories. Don’t be too sad.”

Bo Chuan’s words only made the spirit snake even more upset.

Still grieving, the spirit snake leapt into the lotus pond from the edge.

Bo Chuan’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly leaned forward to look, afraid this stubborn little spirit snake might do something foolish.

In the darkened pond, the snake’s body was straight as a jade flute. Then…

It floated on the water…

Bo Chuan: …

On the third day after the spirit snake moved into the pond, Lin You noticed something strange.

She rubbed her eyes and pulled Yao Jiu aside, asking, “Xiao Jiu, do you think the lotus leaves are growing too fast?”

The seeds they planted this year were planted late, so it would have been a blessing if the first flower bloomed by the end of July. But now, the lotus leaves in the pond changed every day and were growing densely.

Yao Jiu yawned: “Really? Maybe those loaches you threw in are working.”

Lin You had originally planned to put crayfish in the pond, but since she didn’t have enough time this year, she caught a bunch of loaches from the river and placed them in the pond. The loaches ate insects and organic matter, providing nutrients for the lotus flowers. Besides, it was loach breeding season, and when they grew, they would also make a good dish.

Looking at the ever-growing lotus leaves, Lin You had an idea. She swiftly cut a few leaves with scissors from her basket.

The midday heat was intense, but with the lotus leaves above her head, and the refreshing scent of the flowers, it felt quite adventurous.

Lin You had gone up the mountain to check on her melon field.

The watermelons had been planted during the vegetable planting season, and now it was harvest time. The vines sprawled across the ground, with several watermelons the size of soccer balls hanging from them.

Lin You picked a few ripe ones and took them home. Before cutting them open, she could already smell the unique fragrance of watermelon. When she sliced them, the juicy fragrance burst forth, and the water-red juice dripped down the rind.

Yao Jiu could hardly wait. She had saved the first bite of the year’s watermelon for Lin You. She took a big bite, and the sweetness filled her mouth. Inside, a voice shouted: this is the taste!

Lin You ate a small half of one watermelon, while Yao Jiu devoured most of it. The remaining three were placed in the fridge. Lin You casually broke open one that wasn’t fully ripe and shared it with the family, big and small.

Mengmeng, after half a year of good food and drink, had bright eyes. When Lin You wasn’t home, it could even guard the door. When the little chickens wandered too long outside, Mengmeng would chase them back to the coop.

So, the watermelon went to the top of the list. Lin You generously gave Mengmeng half of the watermelon, divided the remaining third between the chickens and the two pigs, and the last third went to a snow-white lamb.

Speaking of this lamb, it had an interesting story. A few days ago, Lin You had gone to the town’s morning market and happened to see a lamb butcher at a meat stall. An old shepherd had brought a large and a small lamb to the market, intending to sell them.

That day, there were many tourists, and the lamb stall couldn’t keep up with demand, so the stall owner bought them both. They slaughtered the larger one, but the smaller one was a problem. Lamb meat was good, but it would be a loss to sell it that day. The owner considered raising it, but was too busy to care for it.

The owner didn’t think of this at the time and was scolded by his wife. Lin You happened to be passing by and found the little ewe very appealing, so she decided to buy it.

Thus, Lin You’s family had another new resident.

After eating seven tomatoes from Lin You, Mengmeng generously accepted the new resident. Every day, when it was time to herd the cows, Mengmeng would take the little lamb up the mountain, and occasionally they would get a second meal behind the Taoist temple.

Lin You named the little lamb Shaun.

“Mengmeng, Shaun, stay at home and don’t let the chickens run out.”

After giving them a few instructions, Lin You and Yao Jiu went to catch the car down the mountain.

Now, the two no longer had to rush early in the morning to catch the bus, there were several fresh delivery trucks from Huihe every day, so Lin You and Yao Jiu could hitch a ride.

They went down the mountain and headed to find Xiao Fengyun.

The reason? Of course, because the watermelons on the mountain were about to ripen.

Lin You didn’t plant many watermelons—only about two acres—but watermelons are heavy, and each one weighs several pounds, so even one acre produces a good amount.

Watermelons have a long harvest time, ripening all the way through to the end of August.

What’s to discuss? Even if all the people in Lianhua Village combined, they might not be able to consume this many.

Sending them down the mountain wasn’t a problem, but transportation was a key issue.

That’s why Lin You went to see Xiao Fengyun—to discuss transportation.

Xiao Fengyun was very straightforward and agreed after a bite of watermelon.

“Let’s do this, I’ll take 100 watermelons a day and pay you two yuan per kilogram. Don’t worry about transportation, I’ll handle it.”

A hundred watermelons a day—Xiao Fengyun could actually eat more, but Lin You didn’t agree. She only planned to send a portion to Huihe.

After finalizing the deal, Xiao Fengyun quickly took one watermelon and left for the day.

“Xiao Du, you guys should leave early too, don’t stay late.”

Xiao Fengyun was always lenient with her employees, but Xiao Du complained behind her back, “Whether it’s time to leave or not is another matter, but boss, how could you take the watermelon with you?”

In the past, she would always share something with everyone to taste!

Xiao Fengyun, dressed in formal business attire, was holding a watermelon that didn’t quite match her professional image.

With the watermelon in hand, she went home, cut it open, and put half in the fridge. The other half she took to her daughter.

Xiao Fengyun’s daughter was a teacher. Although she was raised by her mother, Xiao Qiao didn’t inherit her mother’s entrepreneurial talents.

She was naturally not fond of the back-and-forth of business dealings. Instead, she followed a more conventional path, attending university locally and opening a dance studio.

“Mom, what are you doing here?”

Xiao Fengyun placed the watermelon on her daughter’s desk. “If I didn’t come, would you have forgotten to eat again? You can’t keep skipping meals just because of work, can you?”

Every time Xiao Fengyun saw her daughter skipping meals to maintain her figure, she would get angry—angry at herself.

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have let you study dance. Look, after all these years of dancing, you haven’t properly eaten anything.”

Outside, Xiao Fengyun was a strong, decisive woman, but when it came to her daughter, she didn’t have the same commanding presence. Instead, she could only fuss and express her dissatisfaction.

Xiao Qiao knew her mother was just concerned for her, so she leaned on her mother’s shoulder, acting coy. “What should I do, then? I’m already in this field. Or, mom, help me find something that can help me lose weight, or something that won’t make me gain weight when I eat it. I promise I’ll eat lots of meat every day!”

Xiao Fengyun tapped her daughter’s forehead. “Where would such a thing exist? If it did, your old mom would already be rich!”

“Come on, try the first batch of melons from Yanxia Mountain. Have a couple of bites, they won’t make you gain too much weight.”

Xiao Qiao calculated her calorie intake for the day and, suppressing her saliva, said, “Okay, I’ll have just a few bites then!”

If it were anything else, it would have been fine, but she simply couldn’t resist the produce from Yanxia Mountain. The problem was that the food was so delicious that she had been restricting her diet so much lately.

After eating three bites of the watermelon, Xiao Qiao couldn’t bring herself to eat more. She stared longingly at her mother eating, and tried hard to distract herself.

“Hey, mom, is this lotus leaf?”

Xiao Fengyun looked at the lotus leaf in the bag used to cushion the melon. “Yes, I think it was just accidentally placed there.”

Xiao Qiao said, “Perfect, I’m getting a bit tired of what I’ve been eating lately. I’ll make some tea with this lotus leaf.”