Early the next morning, Ling Xi set out with a basket on her back right after breakfast.
The little gray rabbit she had raised had run out of food, so she needed to cut some grass, and on the way she would check whether the traps on North Mountain had caught anything.
The weather was getting colder and colder, and the prey didn’t like to come out and move around anymore. Ling Xi cut a full basket of grass, but not a single trap had anything in it.
She sighed. Winter hadn’t even arrived yet—if she waited until it snowed, she’d probably be eating potatoes and cabbage all winter. No meat meant no nutrition, and no nutrition meant her body wouldn’t recover properly. It was enough to worry her to death!
She was walking back with some disappointment when a rustling sound suddenly came from the forest, as if a bird were passing through the trees.
Experience told Ling Xi that it was a bird—quite possibly a plump wild pheasant.
She walked toward the direction of the sound, only to see a dark mass descend like a curtain, swooshing past above her head and landing on the branch nearest to her.
Looking closely, it was the very same crow she had seen just yesterday.
Before Ling Xi could figure out why she had run into it again, something suddenly bumped against her foot.
She looked down—it was a fluffy, silly-looking white rabbit.
Ling Xi understood at once. Apparently the crow had been chasing this rabbit and had happened to run into her.
No wonder it had grown so big and imposing. While other crows were still eating carrion and rotting flesh, it had already learned to hunt on its own. How could it not be strong?
Although she knew she was well liked by birds, Ling Xi wasn’t so conceited as to think that, in this crow’s eyes, she was more important than food. After all, no matter how clever it was, it was still just an ordinary bird.
So she took two steps back and raised her hands to show she wouldn’t steal the rabbit, trying to set it at ease.
Who would have thought that even as she backed away, the crow showed no intention of hunting the rabbit. Instead, while flying, it used its calls and beak to threaten the rabbit into moving forward, until it bumped into her foot again.
“What does this mean… it’s for me?” Ling Xi was a little bewildered.
The crow seemed to answer her with a loud “Caw—”
Not understanding, she quickly called out to Cai Yu in her Divine Sense, asking if it understood what the crow was saying.
Cai Yu: “I am a Five-Colored Divine Sparrow, born able to speak. How would I understand the language of ordinary birds?”
Ling Xi: “…” What good are you, then?
She tentatively bent down to touch the rabbit and found that the crow showed no sign of attacking, just quietly watching her from its perch on the branch.
She picked up the rabbit, and the crow still didn’t move.
Only after she put the rabbit into her basket did the crow spread its wings and fly off with a flourish.
It took Ling Xi quite a while to come back to her senses. “Good heavens, that bird has become a spirit!”
“This world is a rigorous modern scientific society. There will absolutely be no phenomena that science cannot explain,” Cai Yu stated firmly.
“So it’s just plain smart?” Ling Xi murmured to herself. “That’s too smart.”
Crows are among the very few animals besides humans that use tools, with intelligence comparable to that of a seven- or eight-year-old child. That one just now clearly had exceptional intelligence—probably standing at the very top of the crow pyramid.
Before she had even finished marveling, the familiar rustling sound appeared in the forest again. This time, the crow drove a wild pheasant over to Ling Xi’s feet.
Understanding its meaning, Ling Xi was no longer scared. She grabbed the wild pheasant and stuffed it into her back basket, smiling with her eyes curved into crescents. “Thank you~ Ya Ya, you really are the cutest, smartest crow in the whole world!”
Caw caw—the crow called out twice more.
Ling Xi marveled. “Ya Ya, don’t tell me you can actually understand what I’m saying?”
Caw—
The girl and the bird chatted away happily, slowly making their way down the mountain. Ling Xi walked slowly, and Ya Ya would often land on tree branches to wait for her, never showing the slightest impatience.
It wasn’t until she left the North Mountain area that the crow stopped following, watching her off as she headed home.
That evening, after the Su family finished dinner, the second branch’s family hid in their room early, shutting the doors and windows tight, then pulled the wild pheasant out of the stove pit to stew into soup.
Ling Xi carried a covered winnowing basket outside, planning to destroy the evidence of the pheasant’s feathers and innards. When she looked up, she saw Ya Ya perched on the poplar tree, eyes gleaming bright.
“Ya Ya~” she called softly, opening the basket a little. “Come quick—do you want to eat these?”
She snuck out the door, with Ya Ya following close behind. Girl and bird quietly made their way to the back of the house. While Ling Xi dug a hole, Ya Ya pecked at the pheasant innards in the basket.
By the time the hole was dug, the innards had been eaten clean. Ling Xi swiftly buried the remaining feathers and chicken blood, and only after making sure no one would discover anything did she return to the Su family home, thoroughly satisfied.
A rich chicken soup aroma wafted from the second branch’s room. A bowl of it would warm you from head to toe—nothing better.
Su Changhe was dozing off with his wife in his arms when Ling Xi, sitting at the foot of the kang, suddenly said, as if remembering something, “Dad, I want to go back to school.”
The original owner had poor grades and frequently skipped class. She didn’t get along with her classmates, and with Su Xinghui deliberately spreading rumors that she was a jinx, everyone avoided her except Maomao.
The more they avoided her, the more she resisted going to school, and her grades never improved.
But Ling Xi wasn’t the original owner. She knew that in any era, knowledge was a vital ladder for human progress and social development. Not to mention, judging from the original plot, the country would reinstate the college entrance examinations in three years—the best path for her to completely change her fate.
She wasn’t just going to study; she had to be the best.
His daughter, who had always hated school, suddenly wanting to go back surprised Su Changhe greatly. He asked hesitantly, “Sweetheart, do you really want to go to school? If you haven’t fully recovered, we can wait a bit longer.”
He had actually discussed it with his wife before—if their daughter truly didn’t want to go, they wouldn’t force her. As long as she could grow up happy, that was enough.
But Ling Xi nodded quickly, beyond his expectations. “Really. School is nice, and studying is pretty interesting—more interesting than staying home.”
Come to think of it, she had been on sick leave for almost a month. Though her grades had never been anything special, if she didn’t go back soon, she really would forget everything.
Seeing that she didn’t seem to be forcing herself, Su Changhe had no reason to refuse. So the next day, under Su Xinghui’s envious and jealous gaze, Ling Xi shouldered her schoolbag and headed off to school.
As luck would have it, today was Chen Tianjun’s day off.
Mindful of the task Xiao Jue had given him, he bought daily necessities in the county town as fast as he could, then headed straight for the old Su family home in Huaixing Village.
Only to find it empty.
“Little Xi went to school?” He looked at the girl before him—decent-looking, but far less interesting than Ling Xi—his tone somewhat irritated. “Then when will she be back?”
“That’s hard to say. The town middle school is quite far—it takes over an hour just to walk there. And Little Xi likes to play around, so it might take her even longer.” Su Xinghui put on a gracious front while softly twisting the knife into Ling Xi.
Chen Tianjun was oblivious to a girl’s petty schemes—and even if he had known, he wouldn’t have cared. He never liked this type who put on airs all day, so no matter how Su Xinghui disparaged her, he still loved the lively spirit in that girl Little Xi.
He was simply growing impatient. Military regulations required him to be back at camp by six o’clock, or it would count as a violation of military discipline, and he would be punished.
He glanced at his watch. The hands already pointed to four-thirty; he probably wouldn’t be able to wait for Little Xi any longer.
Noticing his anxiety, Su Xinghui asked with a smile, “Comrade, do you have something you need to tell Little Xi? How about… I pass the message along for you?”
Chen Tianjun sighed and pulled a rather large package out of his backpack. “I suppose that’s the only way. Please give this to Little Xi for me, and tell her I’ll come see her again next time.”
“Of course, I’ll be sure to tell her.”
Watching his departing figure, Su Xinghui clutched the package tightly with jealousy and resentment, her eyes darkening.