The thin vines that had been flat on the ground suddenly shot upward as if pulled by an unseen force.
With a sharp swish, several vines instantly lashed out and wrapped around the target.
The rabbit had barely taken a single leap when its hind legs were suddenly tripped up by the wild vines.
Thud!
The entire rabbit tumbled face-first into the grass, its hind legs bound tight by the vines. It kicked its legs frantically, but the more it struggled, the tighter the knots became.
Seeing this, Su He was overcome with pure joy.
“It worked!”
She didn’t even have time to celebrate the new development in her superpower—her mind and eyes were entirely focused on the meat!
She immediately lunged forward and pinned the rabbit down.
As the rabbit kept struggling, Su He quickly untied the cloth cord from her waist and bound its two hind legs securely.
Only when the rabbit stopped moving entirely did she finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Looking at the gray rabbit in her hands, she couldn’t help but smile.
“Talk about luck today.”
Su He hung the rabbit from her bamboo backpack and took a deep, lingering look at the dense forest. Suddenly, a wave of excitement washed over her.
As it turned out, her wood-element superpower could do more than just accelerate plant growth; she could also sense and control them.
Now, this was getting interesting.
She glanced back in the direction she came from. The sun was already dipping toward the west; it was time to head back. Otherwise, when the others returned and couldn’t find her, they would start worrying and overthinking.
This trip had yielded an incredible harvest!
She had dug up five or six different kinds of medicinal herbs alone. Although she hadn’t collected a massive quantity of each kind, the superpower’s buff would absolutely skyrocket their quality.
This time, she fully applied the lessons she had learned and didn’t bother taking them back to plant and nurture further. To get a good price for these herbs as quickly as possible, she used her superpower to give all the herbs in her backpack a growth boost as she walked down the mountain.
Not only did they grow taller and develop thicker roots, but the inherent medicinal properties of the herbs were also enhanced.
Safe to say, the herbs in her hands were now top-tier quality!
Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered under the large scholar tree in the center of the military village, mostly consisting of women and older children.
They stood together in small groups of twos and threes, laughing and chatting merrily.
Standing right in the center of the crowd were two people.
One was Shen Feng’s mother, Liu Cuihua. The other, naturally, was the newlywed bride who had just joined the family—Su Lan.
Today, Liu Cuihua wore a blue cloth coat she had kept packed away at the bottom of her chest. Her hair was combed impeccably, and she smiled so wide her teeth showed and her eyes crinkled. She was absolutely beaming.
She wished she could shout it so the entire village knew: their Shen family had married an excellent bride!
This time, her son had truly brought honor to the family. She could finally hold her head high in the village!
She was incredibly pleased with the daughter-in-law her son had brought home. Right now, she was happily singing her praises to everyone.
“Our A-Lan is exactly what you’d expect from someone raised in a high-ranking official’s household—she’s got a whole court of talents.”
“The imperial court is truly wonderful. Which other household in our military village could marry a bride with this kind of capability?”
Hearing Liu Cuihua’s words, the crowd felt a bit uncomfortable.
The way she put it made it sound like the other wives in the military village were total garbage, even though they all managed households and worked for a living just the same.
However, Shen Feng was now a Company Commander. In the military village, he was considered a prominent figure. Even if they felt annoyed, it wasn’t wise to show it on their faces.
So, everyone chimed in with agreement.
“Auntie Shen is truly blessed.”
“Commander Shen has great taste.”
“This bride looks like she’ll manage a household beautifully!”
Hearing these compliments made Liu Cuihua feel even more on top of the world. She straightened her back, her voice growing even louder.
“Of course!”
“You have no idea, I was completely blown away yesterday. My daughter-in-law not only does needlework, but she can also use an abacus, and she can even read and write!!”
As soon as she said this, it expectedly triggered a wave of gasps and surprises from the crowd.
“She can read and write?!”
“Oh my, that’s really something.”
“Not many people in our military village can read. Even some of the men only recognize a few words.”
“Tsk, tsk—someone from a wealthy household really is different.”
Liu Cuihua was overjoyed by what she heard, feeling completely on cloud nine.
The Shen family’s conditions were not considered good in the military village. The whole family relied on Shen Feng’s military pay, plus the few acres of poor land cultivated by the old man. On top of that, there were five mouths waiting to be fed at home, making life very tight. Because of this, Shen Feng was already twenty-four and had never been able to arrange a match with a girl from a well-off background.
But now, things were looking up! Not only had he earned military merit, but he had also brought back a girl from a wealthy capital household to be his wife! She wanted to see who in the village would dare look down on their Shen family from now on!
Standing nearby, Su Lan maintained her perfect posture and smile. She lowered her eyes slightly and stood beside Liu Cuihua with great docility. Listening to everyone’s compliments, she felt an indescribable sense of pride in her heart. However, she maintained a humble look on her face.
“Everyone overpraises me! I have served by my young mistress’s side since childhood, managing her external affairs. Accompanying the young mistress to banquets, socializing, and receiving guests on ordinary days naturally required me to know a bit more. But it was all just scratching the surface.”
These words sounded modest, but they only made the crowd even more envious.
“Oh my, you could even accompany the young mistress to banquets!”
“Then she must have seen quite a bit of the world. This has got to be the only one of its kind in our village.”
“The Shen family’s bride is truly capable!”
Su Lan’s sense of superiority grew even stronger, and she instinctively straightened her slightly aching waist. Last night, she and Shen Feng had consummated their marriage, and they were now a legitimate, proper couple. Furthermore, because she could read, keep accounts, and came from a wealthy capital household, Shen Feng clearly thought highly of her. Right after entering the household, her mother-in-law hadn’t given her any hard times either. She had now firmly established her footing in the Shen family.
Therefore, at this moment, she was more than happy to cooperate with her mother-in-law and satisfy her desire to show off. This suited her own wishes perfectly as well.
Right then, someone suddenly shouted from outside the crowd.
“Guixiang is here!”
Everyone turned around and indeed saw Wang Guixiang walking over with a basket in her hand. She had just returned from trading for some vegetables with a few households in the village. Seeing everyone gathered together, she originally wanted to go straight home, but someone called out to stop her.
“Guixiang!”
“I heard your family brought home a bride too?”
“How is she?” someone asked with a smile.
“I heard your bride and the Shen family’s bride came from the same place.”
“They were both first-class maids serving by their masters’ sides~”
“Then she should be pretty capable too, right?”
Hearing this, Wang Guixiang secretly rolled her eyes. How was she supposed to know what Su He used to do in her master’s house? Right now, her whole heart was anxious over the upcoming banquet the day after tomorrow. She didn’t have the spare time to ask about Su He’s past.
“What kind of question is that? If she managed to become a first-class maid, how bad could she be?” She gave the basket in her hand a little lift, then continued. “Besides, what does it matter what life used to be like? Being able to live the present life well—now that is real capability.”
Whether a woman’s fate was good or bad didn’t depend on the first half of her life, but on the second half after she married! No matter how good a reputation was, it wasn’t as practical as filling one’s stomach.
As soon as these words came out, many people nodded in agreement. This was indeed the honest truth. Life on the border was hard; no matter how well someone could read, it was useless if they didn’t know how to farm.