A Single Flower Of The Village - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

While the morning sun was not yet intense, Lu Shouqiu wrapped a scarf around her head and prepared to go out for a stroll.

Ever since A-Luo arrived, the number of times she ventured out during the day had gradually increased, though she still disliked the sunlight. She was a vengeful spirit now, after all; if she basked in the sun, her soul would dissipate.

Of course, this was what the Ten Yama Kings had said. They also told her that since she wanted to be a vengeful spirit, she should commit to the role and go through all the habits of a ghost.

Ruan Jingluo locked the front door of the Drum Tower, looked up at the couplets on both sides, and her face darkened again.

Lu Shouqiu, who was walking ahead, didn’t see anyone following and stopped to wait. “Stop staring at them. If you don’t like them, just change them. You have a sour face every day, like someone owes you eight million.”

Ruan Jingluo tucked the key back into her pocket and retorted irritably, “You are the one who owes me money.”

She was bringing up the salary issue again. She mentioned it countless times a day. Lu Shouqiu was already used to it. She spread her arms and closed her eyes, saying with the shamelessness of a dead pig not fearing boiling water: “I have no money, but I have one life. Come and take it, come on, take it…”

Ruan Jingluo didn’t bother with her; this person was a drama queen.

Lu Shouqiu returned to normal in a second. Seeing that she wasn’t taking the same path as her, she asked suspiciously, “What are you doing? Aren’t you coming to pick the choucai (stink vegetables) with me?”

Ruan Jingluo rolled her eyes. “My dear lady, you hired me to guard the front door. I’m going to work.”

Lu Shouqiu seemed to just realize it. She said, “Oh,” and then added happily, “Alright then. You work, I’ll pick choucai. How about we have choucai scrambled eggs for lunch? Grandma Hua sent a basket of green-shelled eggs last night.”

“…Whatever you want.” She was obsessed with eating all day long.

Lu Shouqiu didn’t care what kind of expression she had. After speaking, she skipped off in the other direction on her own.

Over there were hills, where the Immortal People grew fruit trees, and wild vegetables grew in patches.

Choucai was just one type, also known as Acacia pennata. It was a low shrub with thorns, and the tender buds at the top were edible. It had a pungent smell; people who weren’t used to it would find choucai even more terrifying than houttuynia (fish mint).

The Immortal Market had fresh choucai for sale, and some Immortal People who were good at making pickles would ferment the choucai in advance, which made the smell less intense.

Lu Shouqiu hadn’t brought a basket, so she borrowed one from Sister Pig on the way.

Sister Pig’s black-haired pigs were free-range on the hills. Unlike white pigs, which were plump and sturdy, they grew ruggedly like wild boars. They were very good at sniffing out good things, and following them could lead to finding high-quality truffles and ginseng.

Lu Shouqiu dug up a few plants and stopped. She didn’t really like the taste of ginseng; she would just take a few back to give to A-Luo.

“Qiuqiu, not sleeping during the day anymore?” Sister Pig was also picking vegetables on the hill today.

She ran over to look at Sister Pig’s basket, which already contained choucai, Acanthopanax (ciwujia), and lemongrass, with two handfuls of banana flowers at the bottom.

“Not anymore. There’s someone fun at home now; it’s a waste of time to keep sleeping. Sister Pig, where did you pick this lemongrass? I want some too.”

Sister Pig pointed her in a direction and added, “My family is slaughtering a pig today. Stop by on your way back to get some pork and fresh tilapia.”

Lemongrass-grilled meat and grilled tilapia were both delicious. Lu Shouqiu clutched the basket, her eyes sparkling. “That’s so embarrassing.”

Ghosts and Immortal People would give her things as offerings when they rented her territory. She received these items and would bestow blessings upon these ghosts and Immortal People in return, so she felt no pressure receiving them. These were all things she deserved. But whenever A-Luo saw her accepting offerings, she would always mock her for being a “Zhou Bapi” (a notoriously stingy landlord) and an unscrupulous landowner, which made her feel a bit of shame and led her to pretend to refuse appropriately.

Sister Pig had also heard that for the past two days, Lady Shouqiu hadn’t accepted the offerings as readily as before. How could that work? If she didn’t accept the offerings, how could she bestow blessings? “What’s there to be embarrassed about? It’s just a few pounds of pork and a few fish. Can’t I, your big sister, afford even this much?”

“How could that be? You are very wealthy.”

“Exactly. Be a good girl, Qiuqiu. Just take it since I’m telling you to.”

“Hey, alright then.” Lu Shouqiu happily made a big heart gesture at Sister Pig. “Love you~”

Sister Pig laughed heartily, secretly thinking that it was no wonder so many Immortal People in the depths wanted to apply to live on the outskirts. Who could resist Lady Shouqiu, who was like a little sweet bean? They all wanted to be closer to bathe in her blessings.

The lemongrass looked like ordinary thatch but had the fragrance of lemons. Lu Shouqiu cut a big bunch and put it in her basket, then clipped many choucai and tender Acanthopanax buds. She could make pickles if she couldn’t finish them.

By noon, she was carrying the pork and fish Sister Pig had given her back to the Drum Tower, and from afar, she saw someone sitting at the door.

“A-Luo!” She ran over, happily showing off the harvest in her basket.

Ruan Jingluo looked listless and put away her phone.

The phone call from Xue Caiyun made her feel very agitated. She rummaged through the wild vegetables in the basket and said with disdain, “There’s good food and good dishes to eat, but you insist on eating this stuff that’s fed to pigs. Are you bored or something?”

Knowing she would say that, Lu Shouqiu chose selective deafness. I can’t hear, I can’t hear…

She pushed the door open and went inside, asking excitedly, “Eating grilled meat?”

Ruan Jingluo lowered her eyelids. “You said choucai scrambled eggs again. How many dishes do you want to eat in one meal? You have so much nonsense.” She spoke with thorns because she was in a bad mood. Ruan Jingluo also knew this terrible habit of hers and had thought about changing it, thought about holding back, but she just couldn’t control this vile mouth of hers. After speaking, she went silent for a few seconds, took the basket from Lu Shouqiu’s hand, and her voice dropped, “What else do you want to eat besides grilled meat?”

Lu Shouqiu tilted her head to look at her and said with a grin, “Lemongrass-grilled tilapia.”

“…Got it. Just wait.”

Lu Shouqiu followed her into the kitchen. “Anything you need help with?”

“Not needed.” She didn’t want to feel like there were eight hundred ducks quacking in her ears while she was cooking.

It was a lifetime of being rejected, Lu Shouqiu thought, mourning for herself.

“Go outside. Don’t be in the way here.” Lu Shouqiu’s cooking skills weren’t bad; she didn’t want her staying there entirely because this disastrous woman was addicted to houttuynia and would throw a big handful into the pot the moment she wasn’t looking.

“Oh…” Lu Shouqiu retreated to the doorway, squatted down, and watched her A-Luo wash vegetables and cook.

The old phone that had been thrown on the parlor table by Ruan Jingluo lit up several times. The tabby cat, which had been napping on the roof beam, opened its eyes, stretched its fat waist to loosen its muscles, and then gracefully jumped onto the table. It stared closely at the note on the screen before using a paw to swipe the answer button.

Xue Caiyun on the other end was angry that her daughter hadn’t answered her video call. Suddenly connected, she saw a furry cat face, its glaze-like eyes staring at her curiously. Startled, Xue Caiyun screamed “Ah!” and nearly threw her phone.

The tabby cat squatted elegantly by the phone, its tail tip sweeping lightly across the screen. “Meow?”

It had heard A-Luo (that’s what Lady Shouqiu called her) arguing with this middle-aged woman and even crying. This was not allowed! Whether it was the Drum Tower or A-Luo, both were Lady Shouqiu’s private property. As Lady Shouqiu’s guardian beast, it had the duty to protect the “property’s” safety and absolutely could not let outsiders bully the “property.”

Xue Caiyun only heard cat meows and couldn’t see her daughter. “Big girl? What’s the matter with you? Why are you raising a cat? I’ve heard people say that raising cats in the city is very expensive. Tell me, you don’t send money home, but you spend money on these little beasts. By the way, what did you say about your brother’s matter? If you have connections, help your brother. It was so hard for him to talk to his girlfriend; this marriage cannot be ruined because of money. Big girl? Are you listening to Mom?”

The Tabby: This woman is saying what? Can’t understand. I am busy with work, no time to listen. Get on your knees and leave.

The video cut off suddenly before the words were finished. Xue Caiyun thought the signal was bad and called back, but no one would answer. She became angry, sending several voice messages in a row, crying and saying that Ruan Jingluo had no conscience and that she had raised her for nothing.

“As a mother, I ask you for a little money and you’re not willing to give it. You don’t think about who raised you with blood, sweat, and tears. Now that your wings are hardened and you’ve flown far away, you don’t want your mother anymore, right? Have you forgotten what you promised me before? You said that after you made money, you would take me out, take me traveling, and live a good life. I have been holding on all these years counting on you to be successful. Your father, that hateful man, doesn’t give me a good look because he doesn’t see money. And your grandparents… What kind of life is this? My daughter is unreliable, and I only have a son to rely on. My life, why is it so bitter!”

The old phone that had been used for many years leaked sound badly. Xue Caiyun’s tearful complaints were transmitted, only to be hurriedly muted by Ruan Jingluo.

She lifted her eyes to look at Lu Shouqiu, who was dismantling the grilled fish across from her, and found that she didn’t show any unusual expression, her eyes only on the grilled fish. She immediately breathed a sigh of relief; she didn’t want others to know about the messes at home at all.

The tilapia was scaled and the internal organs cleaned out, spread with sauce, stuffed with lemongrass inside the belly, and the fish body wrapped in lemongrass before being put on the charcoal fire to roast slowly. Both the inside and outside of the fish meat were soaked in the clear fragrance of lemongrass, covering the earthy fishy smell of the tilapia itself. The meat was tender and not fishy. Picking off a large chunk and dipping it in the chili sauce, wrapped in houttuynia, it was so delicious that Lu Shouqiu danced with joy.

For the grilled meat, fresh pork was cut into thick slices, spread with sauce, and wrapped in lemongrass. The oil from the fat meat was forced out by the charcoal fire, and it was roasted until it was charred and fragrant, very easy to eat and not greasy at all. Lu Shouqiu could finish more than half of it by herself, and then mix the choucai scrambled eggs into the rice. Not a single bit was left.

Putting down her bowl and chopsticks, she touched her full stomach in satisfaction and smiled brilliantly. “Same again tonight?”

She discovered that having A-Luo as a cook was better than guarding the gate.

Remembering those few ginseng roots, she ran in to rummage through the basket and stuffed the wild ginseng, which was as thick as a carrot, to the stunned Ruan Jingluo like it was a weed. “I dug them from the mountain, a gift for you.”

They all said the benefits for guarding her door were very good.

Ruan Jingluo held the ginseng and gasped, eyes wide and unable to speak. She had underestimated Lu Shouqiu’s wealth after all.

“You…” Ruan Jingluo found her voice, but still didn’t know what else to say.

Lu Shouqiu supported her chin with both hands. “Hmm?”

“Are you sure you’re giving it to me?” Ruan Jingluo held up the ginseng, still feeling like she was dreaming, very unreal.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Lu Shouqiu was instantly disdainful. “I told you to read the clauses on the employment contract clearly before signing. You didn’t look at it yourself, and now you’re confused and asking me. This is an employee benefit.”

Ruan Jingluo’s mouth twitched. She laughed twice and said without much sincerity, “Then thank you, boss.”

Since it was confirmed to be hers, then she would accept it. A poor person like her who only saw money wouldn’t have any psychological burden.

“You’re welcome, you’re welcome. If you cook more delicious food for me, the benefits will be even better.”

Lu Shouqiu was also happy. In the past, when she gave benefits to living people, they were all terrified at first, or after receiving them, their attitude toward her became very fawning. It wasn’t the perfunctory gratitude like A-Luo’s, but greed from the heart. They would fawn over her, wanting to gain more benefits from her.

In the afternoon, Ruan Jingluo went to guard the gate, while Lu Shouqiu pickled vegetables in the Drum Tower by herself.

There were many pickle jars in the small warehouse behind the kitchen, cleaned and then roasted with fire to sterilize them.

She wanted to make several kinds of pickles. The choucai she picked back today that she hadn’t finished eating was dried in the sun until withered, then mixed with salt, chili powder, star anise, fennel seed powder, and a little brown sugar, and rubbed. After the flavor entered, she added white liquor and glutinous rice porridge boiled until thick, then rubbed a second time. Choucai wasn’t as hard to rub soft as other vegetable stalks, so it didn’t require much strength. After rubbing a few times, it could be packed into a jar and sealed, then placed in a cool place to ferment for one or two months.

Additionally, she needed to make water-pickled vegetables and rose-turnips. The former was easy to do, but the latter had more troublesome procedures. The turnips she dug back were washed, peeled, and sliced into small pieces with a knife, then pickled with salt three to four times. Only after all the moisture was extracted could they be flavored and soaked in sauce. The key was the rose flower sugar; she had asked Aunt A-Mei for this, as the small shop had many edible roses. Aunt A-Mei had also given her an extra basket of autumn pears.

The pickled turnips had a deep brown color on the surface, and when cut open, the inside was the deep red of roses. The taste was salty with sweetness, very crispy and tender, with a rich rose fragrance. They could be eaten as a cold dish or stir-fried. The ones she had pickled before had been finished; if she didn’t make new ones, there would be no pickles for the New Year. There were also fermented chili paste and chive flower paste that had to be made.

To make fermented chili paste, fresh chilies had to be soaked in salt for two days, then taken out to dry in the sun, and then mixed with winter honey and pickled for another three to four days.

Today, she only soaked them in salt first. She wanted to find the winter honey she had collected last year, but she couldn’t find it no matter what. Even the jar for storing the honey had disappeared, leaving only an imprint there.

Lu Shouqiu stood with her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. She was old and couldn’t remember how old she was exactly, but she didn’t have dementia. She had indeed put the winter honey here, and had only taken it out a few times in between. Where did her big jar of honey go?

The tabby didn’t have a sweet tooth, and it wouldn’t even steal honey if it stole meat. Even if it stole, it wouldn’t be stupid enough to move the jar too. The owl was even less likely; this creature was also only focused on meat. Who exactly stole her winter honey!

“Tabby, Partridge,” she called the two permanent residents of the house to her, pointing at the empty little patch of ground. “Where did my honey go?”

Partridge was the owl. It slept during the day and was still confused and out of it when called up.

“Goo-goo~” It didn’t know anything at all.

The tabby flicked its tail, walked to the corner with an elegant cat step, and motioned for Lu Shouqiu to follow.

The Drum Tower wasn’t protected by a barrier, and small beasts running out from the depths of the farm would have some invisibility skills. If Lu Shouqiu didn’t search deliberately, it was hard to find them. The little red panda, believing itself to be hidden very well, had never thought it would be caught by a fat, earthy cat.

Hidden between a row of large wine jars that were not usually checked, there was a furry bottom connected by orange and black colors, topped with an equally furry tail. Believing it was fine just by hiding its head and half its body, Lu Shouqiu gave a ferocious smile, seized the back of its neck where the fur was very thick, and hoisted the little thing up.

The little red panda’s round eyes were filled with innocence, and the white fur on its mouth and the little white bean-like eyebrows above its eyes made it look even more adorable. Even after being grabbed, it wouldn’t put down the honey jar in its arms, holding onto it tightly. Looking closely, one could find the fear hidden beneath its innocence. It wasn’t a living creature of the human world; it had “smuggled” itself out from the depths. It had been able to hide its tracks without being discovered because it was too hungry and couldn’t find food, so it took the risk to crawl into the Drum Tower, sniffing the sweetness to find this jar of winter honey.

Lu Shouqiu wasn’t softened by its cuteness. She snatched back the jar and opened it to see that only a little bit remained at the bottom. Her beautiful phoenix eyes narrowed. She grabbed the little red panda’s fur and said angrily, “You bunch of thieves, what are you doing running to the outskirts, and even sneaking into my house to steal and eat my honey? If I don’t show my strength, you take me for a sick cat. I’ve been too indulgent with you lately, letting you run wild.”

“Zhi…” The little red panda shivered.

The tabby, seeing the fun and not afraid of chaos, jumped around gleefully, holding a broken gong-like voice to come up with bad ideas: Take back the red panda’s tribal territory and drive them to the deepest part to mine, quack, quack, quack…

Little red pandas were an endangered species in the human world, with high status, and because they looked cute, they were quite liked by living people. Those that came to the farm naturally also had preferential treatment. The territory provided for their survival was circled in the best part of the Immortal Mountain. The tabby was jealous to death. Its own clan worked diligently every day to catch mice, protect the home, and maintain order, yet in the end, the treatment was not as good as this bunch that did nothing. Why were they endangered? Just because they looked cute, they could run rampant? Our tabby clan is also very handsome and fierce!

Lu Shouqiu was annoyed by the tabby’s noise and turned her head to glare at it. “You’re quite happy, huh? You didn’t even know there was a thief in the house. What use are you? You only know how to run out to play every day. Since you like the depths so much, you can stay in the depths from now on and be responsible for catching manman (monsters).”

The tabby was terrified instantly. “Ow—”

Playing was playing, and making trouble was making trouble, but it didn’t want to live in the depths forever. But it had heard that Lady Shouqiu had distributed the manman that were rampant in the depths to undeveloped areas for land reclamation this time. If it was punished and sent to the depths, it would definitely be its fate to shovel manure.

“Meow~~” Gods above, there is no cat that wants to shovel manure.

Don’t look at how the tabby was a bully at the entrance of the village, and its claws were so cheap that it would go up and scratch any dog sleeping by the roadside, but in front of Lu Shouqiu, it knew how to bend and stretch. It had no backbone and would slap down on all fours, very tactfully. At first glance, it looked like an absolutely honest fellow.

Lu Shouqiu was too lazy to evaluate its exaggerated acting like a Golden Rooster/Hundred Flowers best actress. If the tabby were obedient and honest, she would wash her hair standing on her head.

Thinking back to when she had a whim and only fed the tabby cat food, the price was that her bedding was wet with the unspeakable smell of cat urine for several consecutive days. That set of four-piece bedding with exquisite patterns woven by the Weaver Fairy specifically for her was destroyed just like that—no matter how she washed it, it still smelled of cat urine, which made her dizzy and nauseated.

This glorious deed was enough for the tabby, which had fled to the depths to hide, to brag to other creatures for millions of years. In the three realms, besides it, who else dared to pee on Lady Shouqiu’s bed? No one!

The little red panda squeaked and twisted its fat, furry body, trying to break free, but all was in vain. There was no creature that could run away after falling into Lu Shouqiu’s hands yet. It had to act like a mascot, huddled in the corner, waiting to be sent back to the depths.

Lu Shouqiu had no time to deal with these matters now. Pickled vegetables were the most important thing to her, and there was also the tea she had brought back from Zhangwei last time. She wanted to make tea eggs, but she kept forgetting.

Look at this brain of hers. Sure enough, having lived too long, she was gradually getting a bit senile and couldn’t remember things.

“I don’t have money! How many times do you want me to say it before you believe me? Do you have to see me die to be satisfied!”

Inside the wooden house, Ruan Jingluo’s face was full of anger drawn out by grievances. She roared at Xue Caiyun on the other end of the phone. The ending tone was as sharp as a knife, but it was her own heart that was being stabbed. She was clearly in agony, but due to the instinct of blood ties, even after roaring, she couldn’t help but feel guilty toward Xue Caiyun.

There was a voice in her mind constantly hypnotizing her: Xue Caiyun is your own mother, who gave birth to you and raised you. Without her, there would be no you. She hasn’t had it easy either, married to a man who is not a human being—domestic violence, infidelity—these are things you have seen since you were a child. Xue Caiyun was beaten to the point she couldn’t stand up again and again. The only time she had the backbone to bring up divorce was because you promised that once you made money, you would take her away.

She took you as her reliance to have the courage to resist. Later, it didn’t succeed, and instead, it invited more beatings and curses. These were all your responsibilities because it was you who encouraged Xue Caiyun, gave her hope, but didn’t have the ability to take her away. You walked away, but Xue Caiyun is still there suffering. How can you have the heart? She is only asking you for living expenses; why not give it? You clearly have money now…

Ruan Jingluo’s gaze rested on the few ginseng roots Lu Shouqiu had given her. Yes, just a moment ago, she sold one. Added to the money from selling fresh products before, for the first time in her life, she saw that her bank card balance was so high. If she sold the remaining ones, she could pay in full for a four-wheeled vehicle with a good price-performance ratio.

Xue Caiyun on the other side, under the threatening stare of her husband Ruan Minglou, tearfully babbled on about how children are all debt collectors, raised with blood, sweat, and tears, only to be ungrateful wretches. After getting a job, she didn’t know how to respect her parents. No conscience, unfilial, making her lose face in front of relatives and friends.

Years of violent beatings made Xue Caiyun extremely fearful and afraid of Ruan Minglou. This man, who was incompetent and angry outside, only knew how to beat and scold his wife at home to vent his anger. Xue Caiyun knew how to resist when she was young, but now she had been controlled and brainwashed into a submissive sheep. She had already forgotten that she was a human being. What she thought about most every day was that her son, Ruan Yunfei, was the only root of the third generation of the Ruan family, the heart of the whole family, and he could not be wronged.

And Ruan Jingluo was a daughter who would sooner or later benefit others. Now that she was raised so big, she should earn money for the family, support her only younger brother, and in the future, buy a house for her brother and pay for the bride price to marry a wife. All of these were what she, the older sister, should do. Every household in the village was like this.

Ruan Jingluo had known since she could remember that she was born into a family that valued sons over daughters. Since she was a child, whether it was her own home or a relative’s home, women were not allowed to sit at the table to eat. They either set up a small table separately or stood in the kitchen to eat, while the men drank and ate big fish and meat on the other side.

She sat on the only chair in the wooden house, listening to the sound of Ruan Minglou beating and scolding Xue Caiyun for money through the receiver.

Her heart was grabbed by a hand and ripped up.

It didn’t know how long it had passed before the sound on the other side quieted down, followed by Ruan Minglou’s heavy breathing like an angry mad bull.

Ruan Jingluo’s numb expression finally came to life. Her eyeballs turned, and her gaze lifted to look into the void.

“Stop hitting her. I’ll transfer the money.”