Hearing this, Li Mai immediately turned her head to look. When she realized it was her “younger brother,” Li Shu, she withdrew her gaze at once and continued eating the ground cherries in large mouthfuls.
She paid no attention to the suspicious look Li Shu cast her way. For greater comfort, she even leaned back in her chair, reclining as she admired the scenery of the Immortal Realm while enjoying the delicious fruit.
Seeing his eldest sister’s behavior, Li Shu’s pupils contracted. His steps paused, and the hand holding the bamboo basket tightened unconsciously before quickly returning to normal.
He then shifted his gaze toward his younger sister, who was busy in the kitchen. His steps became lighter as he quickly entered.
Li Shu first set down the kudzu roots in his hand, then asked in a gentle tone,
“Little sister, what are we having for lunch today?”
“Second Brother, you’re back! And you dug up so much kudzu root!”
Li Qiao’s delighted voice rang out. Her gaze instinctively fell on the full basket of kudzu roots on the ground, and she thought, at last, there was something that could fill their stomachs.
Only then did she remember Second Brother’s question and hurriedly replied,
“We’re having water celery. Eldest Sister picked all of this! I think her body must have almost recovered, otherwise how would she remember where the water celery grows? From now on, our lives will definitely keep getting better.”
As she said the latter part, Li Qiao leaned close to Li Shu’s ear, speaking softly. From time to time, she glanced at Li Mai, who was reclining leisurely in the yard.
Hearing this, Li Shu cast a glance at the seemingly oblivious Li Mai, who in reality was observing every movement in the kitchen. The pent-up frustration in his chest continued to build, as if it might erupt at any moment.
He turned to look at his smiling younger sister, tugged at the corners of his mouth, and comforted her,
“It will. Our lives will get better and better.”
“Hehe!”
Feeling the warmth as his hand brushed over her head, Li Qiao smiled shyly and quickly urged,
“Second Brother, hurry and wash the kudzu roots. There’s no time. We’ll eat them raw at noon today, and have them cooked tonight. They’re even tastier when they’re soft and powdery.”
“Alright.”
Li Shu nodded, took a few pieces of kudzu root from the basket, and went to the well.
As he washed the roots, he kept observing Li Mai’s movements, trying to find traces of her former self.
With such an intense gaze, there was no way Li Mai would not notice.
But faced with someone harmless, and someone the original owner had asked her to protect, she chose to ignore him. In any case, he could not do anything to her.
Thus, for the next stretch of time, one person in the yard happily ate ground cherries, while another diligently washed kudzu roots.
After Li Qiao finished stir-frying all the water celery, what she saw was this “harmonious” scene.
The corners of her lips lifted unconsciously, and her sweet voice rang out,
“Eldest Sister! Second Brother! Time to eat.”
As she spoke, she placed the bowls on the table and tried to carry both the dishes and the table outside at once.
But it was clear that Li Qiao had overestimated her strength. She nearly toppled over along with the table and dishes.
Seeing that her food was about to get dirty, Li Mai immediately sprang up and caught the table at an unbelievable speed.
“I’ll do it.”
Her cold voice rang out, making Li Qiao’s body tremble instinctively.
Li Qiao looked up at the still familiar eldest sister, slowly released her hands, and said awkwardly,
“Eldest Sister, I… I…”
At this moment, Li Mai’s entire focus was on the food before her. She completely ignored Li Qiao, who remained behind trying to apologize.
Li Mai placed the table under the tree, then brought her chair over, preparing to eat.
Li Shu finished washing the kudzu roots. Seeing his younger sister standing there in a daze, he immediately called out,
“Come eat!”
Soon, the two of them sat at the table and looked at the clearly divided portions of stir-fried water celery, one bowl in front of Li Qiao, nothing in front of Li Shu, and all the rest piled in front of Li Mai.
Li Mai’s possessiveness over food filled Li Qiao’s eyes with confusion, while Li Shu’s eyes showed pain.
Unable to bear it, Li Shu glanced at his innocent younger sister, then split the kudzu roots in his hands into two halves, placing one half in front of her.
From his remaining half, he took out one piece and handed it to Li Mai.
“This is for you.”
Li Mai never refused food. No matter the reason, if it was given to her, then it was hers.
She quickly took it, raised her chin slightly at Li Shu, then glanced at the naïve Li Qiao.
Reluctantly, she separated a small portion from her own food and pushed it toward Li Shu.
No matter his intentions, she repaid kindness. Exchanging this strange root for a small bowl of greens did not seem like a bad deal.
After thinking it through, Li Mai saw no reason to wait any longer. She picked up the bowl in front of her and began stuffing food into her mouth.
Though the action was quite rough, in Li Shu’s eyes, it carried an air of superiority.
He turned to glance at his stunned younger sister and reminded her,
“Hurry and eat.”
“Oh… okay.”
Although it was not the first time Li Qiao had seen her eldest sister eat in such an unrestrained manner, she was still shocked.
For a while, the only sounds in the yard were the clinking of bowls and chopsticks and the noise of chewing.
Li Mai devoured the water celery at an astonishing speed.
Then, with a serious expression, she observed the movements of the other two and mimicked them, peeling off the yellow-brown outer skin of the kudzu root to reveal the snow-white, juicy flesh inside.
The stark contrast in colors made Li Mai’s expression shift in surprise. She could not wait to take a bite.
“Crunch!”
A crisp sound rang out instantly, and the refreshing, sweet juice burst from the broken section.
Li Mai was caught slightly off guard. She looked at the juice that had splashed onto the table with a hint of regret, yet her chewing did not slow down in the slightest.
As she felt more and more sweet juice fill her mouth, along with the increasingly rich, powdery texture, her eyes widened in astonishment. She could not stop marveling inwardly, how could such a magical plant exist in the world, crisp, sweet, and powdery, with an indescribably wonderful texture.
By the end, Li Mai even swallowed the remaining fibers in her mouth.
Li Shu had been paying close attention to her every move. Seeing that she did not spit out the residue and was already eager to bite into another piece, he could not help but remind her,
“The residue at the end of the kudzu root can be spat out.”
Hearing this, Li Mai paused briefly in her biting motion. The next moment, she bit through it again and continued chewing in large mouthfuls.
She swallowed the residue as well, then raised her eyebrows at Li Shu and replied, “It tastes pretty good.”
At this answer, Li Shu’s brow twitched sharply. He did not know what to say.
He found himself increasingly unable to understand the eldest sister before him. Her behavior suggested someone of high standing, yet when faced with coarse food, she treated it as though it were a delicacy. The contradictions she displayed made him unable to resist probing further.
After finishing the last bite of kudzu root, Li Mai licked her lips reluctantly and thought to herself, sweet food was still the best. She also wanted to go dig for kudzu roots.
She sized up Li Shu and concluded that he would not easily reveal where the food was found.
After some thought, she suddenly remembered the person she had met that morning, and a glint flashed through her eyes.
“Xiao Shu, do you know about the Ancestors Hall?”
The sudden use of a familiar form of address made Li Shu’s heart skip a beat. The softness in his features instantly tensed, and his dark eyes fixed firmly on Li Mai.
Only when a green leaf drifted down before him did his lips tremble as he asked,
“Why are you asking about that?”
Hearing this, the corner of Li Mai’s lips lifted ever so slightly before quickly falling. She pressed further,
“Where did you dig the kudzu roots?”
For some reason, hearing this question finally grounded Li Shu.
He understood that this was the price he had to pay. But the patch of kudzu roots was too large for one person to dig up alone anyway.
He did not mind telling her, “On the mountain behind us. Under the vines with large heart-shaped leaves, that’s where the kudzu roots grow.”
Upon learning the location of the food, Li Mai wished she could start digging immediately and stash all the food away as supplies.
But remembering that her current life was somewhat different, she restrained her excitement and said,
“When I was picking wild fruit this morning, I met someone who said the whole village had gathered at the Ancestors Hall. They asked whether you had gone.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Mai saw Li Shu’s face turn pale, as if something major had happened.
She carefully thought over what she had said, and it did not seem like anything significant.
However, Li Shu could not comfort himself with such reasoning. He clearly understood that whenever the villagers gathered together, it meant that something important was happening in the village, something that would affect everyone without exception.
Yet the Village Chief had deliberately not informed their family, outsiders as they were. And he did not dare to barge into the Ancestors Hall directly.
The more he thought about it, the more his brows knitted tightly together.
Li Mai had no interest in wasting more time with the two of them. It was better to go search for food. Seeing that Li Shu had nothing more to say, she immediately walked away.
Recalling how Li Shu had looked when he returned earlier, she decisively grabbed a hoe and a bamboo basket and set off.
On the way up the mountain, Li Mai deliberately avoided the green grass and ran forward excitedly.
Before long, she spotted traces that seemed to have been left by Li Shu digging.
Based on the plants beside the pits, she quickly confirmed what kind of plant the kudzu roots grew under.
The next moment, she started digging without hesitation.
Under the blazing sun, among the green mountains and grass, a thin yet resilient figure stood, clumps of soil flying off to the side at an increasing speed.
Before long, a large mound of earth had accumulated, covering the original greenery.
Li Mai continued to swing the hoe enthusiastically, working nonstop until the evening glow appeared.
When she turned around and saw such a beautiful scene, she could not help but stop and take it in.
But the next moment, a voice that ruined the mood sounded,
“Li Qiao is worried about you. Come home and eat.”
At the mention of food, all thoughts of leisurely appreciating the scenery vanished from Li Mai’s mind. She immediately gathered her afternoon’s harvest and headed down the mountain.
Li Shu stood waiting in place. At first, he assumed Li Mai had only dug a basket of kudzu roots like the one hanging from his arm, and had no intention of helping.
But as Li Mai drew closer, illuminated by the evening glow, he clearly saw that as she descended, a large swath of grass behind her had been flattened, far beyond what a single pair of feet could cause.
When Li Mai finally stood before him, Li Shu’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the mound of bundled kudzu roots behind her, as large as a small hill.
“How much did you dig?”
“I saw that half of the mountain is still untouched. I’ll continue tomorrow.”
Li Mai said reluctantly, thinking that if Li Shu had not reminded her about dinner, she would have continued digging under the moonlight until every last root on the mountain was gone.
She had no idea how shocking her words were to Li Shu.
Looking at the pile of kudzu roots like a small hill, Li Shu could not help but say,
“I’ll help you carry some.”
“No need.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Mai dragged all the kudzu roots forward as if walking on flat ground, heading toward home.
However, she did not expect that, due to the uneven terrain, quite a few roots fell off along the way.
Just as Li Mai turned around to pick them up, she saw Li Shu already gathering them.
Before she could speak, Li Shu said first, assuring her,
“I’ll help you carry them. They’re all yours.”
Hearing this, Li Mai agreed to his request, mainly because she was eager to eat dinner.
While digging earlier, her excitement had kept her from noticing her hunger.
But now her stomach was growling loudly. With someone picking up the fallen roots behind her, she could get to dinner faster, and she could not be bothered with anything else.
Under the urgency of Li Mai’s pace, the two quickly returned home, eating the meal prepared by Li Qiao along with the freshly dug kudzu roots.
Out of consideration for the cooking and the help, she generously gave them a few pieces.
Early the next morning, before dawn had even broken, Li Mai climbed out of bed, grabbed her tools in excitement, and ran up the mountain again.
As she dug, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps and rapid breathing.
She instantly recognized it as a stranger, and her mind quickly assessed that the person posed no threat.
She turned around at once and met the pale-faced Village Chief, who had run all the way there, locking eyes with her.