Xu Baoying patted her granddaughter on the back, glaring at the couple standing at the doorway. How could such a big incident happen and they didn’t report it to her immediately? “How can you two be parents? Do you think Sisi is just here for people to bully? Wait until your father comes back, he must go to their house to demand an explanation.”
Yan Sisi got up from her grandmother’s embrace and said, “Grandma, it’s fine. The engagement is already broken off, and I don’t want to bother with their family anymore.”
Once everything is out in the open, what more can be changed besides everyone feeling embarrassed?
Xu Baoying looked at the unusually silent couple. That wasn’t right, if they were in the wrong, they would have already jumped up to cause trouble. Them being this quiet today was not their usual behavior; something was definitely off.
Xu Baoying patted her granddaughter’s hand. “Alright, we’ll do as my granddaughter says. If she says it’s fine, then it’s fine. You’ve had a long afternoon, so go back to your room and rest. When dinner is ready, Grandma will call you to eat.”
Yan Sisi had been traveling by car in the morning, hiking up the mountain in the afternoon, and then arguing with people, it had really drained her physically and mentally. She nodded and, noticing her parents still standing there as if they had more to discuss with her grandmother, left the main room and returned to her own room. She climbed onto her single bed and closed her eyes to rest.
She had expected to have trouble falling asleep, but surprisingly, she slept straight through until nightfall.
When she got up from the bed, she saw her father and mother lying quietly behind the partition, whispering to each other. Yan Sisi leaned her head over and asked, “Mom, what are you talking about?”
Her mother was startled by the sudden voice, then relaxed when she saw her daughter’s delicate face. She patted her hand and said, “You scared me! Are you trying to give your mother a heart attack?”
Yan Sisi blinked innocently. “I didn’t! You two were just so focused. What were you talking about?”
By this time, Father Yan had gotten out of bed and walked to the door. Seeing their gazes, he said, “Grandma saved some food for you. I’ll bring it over.”
Yan Sisi turned her eyes to her mother. Her mother waved her off, saying, “Adult matters, you’re just a child. Don’t worry about it too much.”
Yan Sisi pouted, muttering under her breath, “Fine, don’t tell me then.” Adults were always so boring, keeping secrets from her only delayed the inevitable; she’d find out sooner or later anyway.
With a “click,” the door opened and then closed. Father Yan placed two warm enamel bowls on the wooden bedside cabinet. “Grandma steamed some egg custard especially for you. Get up and eat it!”
“Grandma is so good to me,” Yan Sisi said, seeing the egg custard she hadn’t eaten for days. Forgetting all about the secrets, she slipped on her shoes, sat by the bedside cabinet, and carefully scooped a spoonful into her mouth.
Her grandmother’s egg custard was still the best, smooth and tender, without a single air pocket. Yan Sisi ate while saying, “Mom, Grandma’s egg custard is just so delicious. You should learn how to make it.”
Her mother rolled her eyes at her happily eating daughter. “Grandma has been cooking for so many years, and I’ve only been cooking for a few. How could they even compare?”
This ungrateful little girl even complains about my cooking, after all these years of feeding her, and this is the thanks I get.
Yan Sisi noticed the unusual tone in her mother’s voice and thought: oh no, I mustn’t say anything bad about Mom, if she stops cooking for me, that would be terrible.
Fully aware of the situation, Yan Sisi lowered her head and quietly ate the egg custard and the dumpling soup in her bowls. Before long, she had eaten everything clean.
After eating and resting, Yan Sisi walked around a bit in the room, but her stomach still felt full. She remembered the seedlings she had dug up that afternoon hadn’t been planted yet, so she said goodbye to her parents and entered her space.
Inside, Yan Sisi saw a chaotic pile of small seedlings scattered around, and next to them on the ground were the shovels she hadn’t taken out yet, perfect for digging holes without having to go back outside.
Seeing the many seedlings with fairly large tops, she realized carrying them one by one would waste a lot of time. Focusing her mind, she made the seedlings slowly float and follow her footsteps toward the far edge of the space.
Once she reached the destination, she relaxed her focus, letting all the seedlings drop to the ground. Then she dug holes with the shovels, placed the seedlings in, and filled the soil back in. She buried her head in her work, losing track of time, until all the seedlings were planted.
After finishing, Yan Sisi still felt energetic and not sleepy at all. She turned to the open ground and used the tip of the shovel to draw small square grids. In each square, she dug long, narrow trenches. She took out the seeds her father had found for her and planted them one by one in each square, making sure that each square contained a different plant.
She hoped that in a few days they could harvest a variety of fruits, adding more diversity to their family’s table.
After planting the seeds, Yan Sisi used the spiritual spring water to thoroughly water each plant and seed. Each planting required a large amount of water, yet the water in the spiritual spring well did not decrease at all.
Yan Sisi then turned to the tall ancient tree, her gaze naturally drawn to the green fruits hanging at the treetop. Looking closely, she noticed that the gray at the base of the fruits seemed to have diminished compared to the first time she saw them, though she wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination.
The branches of the ancient tree had originally been half gray, half green. Now, the gray at the bottom was quietly turning slightly green, possibly due to the green smoke absorbed every time she harvested plants, gradually transforming it.
Sleepiness slowly crept into Yan Sisi’s mind. She yawned several times, even shedding a few tears. Shaking off her thoughts, she left the space. Outside, it was already completely dark, and without lighting a candle, it was impossible to see clearly.
Standing at the entrance, the room was silent except for her father’s loud snoring. She glanced toward them, relieved to see that her movement hadn’t woken anyone. She waited a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, then quietly climbed into her bed, drifting into sleep accompanied by the steady rhythm of her father’s snoring.
The next morning, Yan Sisi was woken by the glaring sunlight. When she left her room, only her mother was in the kitchen, rummaging through something.
Yan Sisi stood at the door and asked, “Mom, what are you doing?”
Her mother, having recovered from yesterday’s scare, calmly stood up upon hearing her voice. She said quietly, “Just looking for some things for you to plant in the Immortal’s Space. See, these potatoes have sprouted because it’s too warm in the kitchen. They can’t be eaten or planted, so throwing them away would be wasteful.”
Yan Sisi, still hungry from not having eaten, asked anxiously, “Mom, did you save me any food?”
“In the pot at the very back, there are also some miscellaneous grain buns.”
Yan Sisi took the mixed-grain buns in her hand and turned to see her mother holding a kitchen knife, cutting back and forth at the sprouting potatoes. She bit into a bun and mumbled, “Mom, can you still plant these potatoes after cutting them?”
“You don’t know, huh! Any part of a potato that has sprouted can grow into a new plant. After cutting, you have to dust the cut surfaces with a thin layer of wood ash, only then will they survive when planted,” her mother explained while continuing to slice. “Also, when you plant them, dig a long shallow trench, place the sprouts facing upward, cover with soil, and water them.”
Yan Sisi nodded in understanding. Planting crops was a serious science, though in her space, she usually just dug a hole, threw in the seeds, covered them lightly with soil, and watered them, everything seemed to grow fine anyway.
Curious but obedient, she kept eating while watching her mother work. After breakfast, the potatoes were all dusted with wood ash.
Yan Sisi carried the prepared potatoes back to their room. Once her mother had locked the door, she felt safe enough to enter her space. Following her mother’s instructions, she planted each potato from the basket one by one, watered them, and waited for them to sprout and grow.
When she came out of the space, her father had returned, bringing five or six stacked bamboo baskets, two bamboo boxes, and a long wooden barrel, clearly for her to raise fish.
In the mountains behind their village, there was a large bamboo grove. Every household made their small baskets and containers from the bamboo there. Every spring, villagers would go together to harvest bamboo shoots, crisp and delicious, perfect for soups.
Thinking of this, Yan Sisi said eagerly, “Dad, can we dig some bamboo shoots and plant them in the Immortal’s Space?”
The idea immediately earned her father’s foodie approval. Although tempted, he cautioned, “Bamboo shoots are usually planted in spring. It might not survive in winter.”
“No problem. The Immortal’s Space isn’t cold at all. Let’s plant a few as a test, what if they grow?” Yan Sisi insisted. She couldn’t let any plant that could become food go to waste.
Her father considered that the bamboo grove wasn’t far from the mountain spring they visited yesterday, and nodded in agreement. After discussing, Yan Sisi stored everything her father brought into the space under the ancient tree, arranging all the items she had brought from outside around it.
The small space suddenly felt lively with all the new items.
Once Yan Sisi came out, her father called her mother, who had been cleaning outside. The three of them, each holding a shovel, walked toward the mountains behind the village.
First, they arrived at the bamboo grove Yan Sisi wanted. Even in winter, it was full of green life, with bamboo trunks as thick as an arm, each one rising straight toward the sky.
Her mother spotted a small bamboo shoot poking out of the ground, carefully moved the gray bamboo leaves aside, and dug it up from the edge with a shovel. Yan Sisi watched closely, and after a long effort, her mother finally unearthed a shoot with roots attached.
The brown-skinned bamboo shoot was covered with fine fuzzy hairs. Yan Sisi held its base and placed it into the space before looking for the next one.
It was her first time seeing freshly dug bamboo shoots. Previously, she had only eaten sliced ones. Excited, she ran to other spots, digging more with her shovel. Soon, the family of three had unearthed six bamboo shoots of varying sizes.
Seeing the pile of shoots together, Yan Sisi called her parents to stop digging and stored the bamboo shoots in the space before moving on to the next destination.
The next destination was the mountain spring stream where they had caught fish yesterday. On the way, they stopped to dig up any wild seedlings that had long fruits along the path.
It took almost an hour to reach the stream. Yan Sisi first took out the long wooden barrel and placed it by the river. After washing it carefully with spring water, she added both spiritual spring water and mountain spring water into the barrel while her parents busily fished.
Yan’s parents worked as a team, casting and pulling in nets from both sides of the stream, while Yan Sisi sat by the water, taking fish and shrimp from the nets and placing them into the wooden barrel.
They took turns casting and retrieving the nets. After about an hour, they finished, and the barrel was already filled with many fish and shrimp. Since the area was rarely visited, the fish population was abundant. Each cast of the net could catch over a dozen small fish and two or three larger ones.
Before putting the fish into the space, Yan Sisi picked out the largest ones and asked, “Dad, let’s give half of these big ones to grandpa, and the other half to grandma and the others.”
Since they would probably head back in the afternoon, and they didn’t know when they would return next, it made sense to share.
Her father nodded. The three of them tidied up the thatched hut halfway up the mountain, helping grandpa’s place, patching the drafty spots, and adding some spiritual spring water to the water jar to dilute it.
After saying goodbye to grandpa and her cousins, the family of three carried two fish down the mountain. When they got home, third aunt looked displeased, but seeing the fish they had brought back, she surprisingly didn’t say anything.
No one at the table mentioned yesterday’s events. They quietly ate the rare fish, the only sound in the room being the clatter of eating.
After the meal, Yan Sisi’s family packed up to leave. At one point, her mother went out and returned with a jar of wild honey.
Xu Baoying also gave Yan Sisi some eggs and vegetables, saying, “Go home and don’t worry too much. If anything happens, come back and tell your grandma, she’ll stand up for you.”
Yan Sisi nodded.
The three of them rode the ox cart to the town and then took a vehicle to the county. By the time they reached the family compound, it was already dark.
Yan Sisi followed her parents, but before they even got close, she heard a sudden chorus of crying and shouting for “dad” and “mom,” which made her scalp tingle.