It was as if she was looking at something.
Li Fu'er wondered why he was looking at her like that.
"And you are?"
The other man suddenly took two steps back. "Are you Sister Fu?"
"Yes." Li Fu'er could tell that he hadn't recognized her earlier. She smiled. As for him retreating, that was normal. No matter how nice the villagers were to her, they wouldn't get close to her!
"Oh, you. I almost didn't recognize you."
The other party heaved a sigh of relief and did not retreat further. He stood still. "You look a little different from usual. Perhaps I haven't seen you in a long time. On closer inspection, you still have the same face, but you look a little better than usual."
"A little better?"
When Li Fu'er heard this, she knew that if she smeared herself again, the other party would still be able to tell who she was.
"Auntie," she called out as she went back inside.
"Hello."
Auntie Zhao sighed.
She felt that Sister Fu was really pitiful. She had never been liked by her family since she was born and had been ordered around since she was young. The Li family was clearly doing well, but what about Sister Fu?
It was not that there was no one in the village who had a worse life than her, but no matter how bad it was, it was not like the treatment she received!
It was her own bad luck that had jinxed her own mother to death at her birth.
When the second son of the Li family did not want to study anymore, they said he became like this because of her.
So this was the Li family!
Look at the second son of the Li family.
When Second Brother Li was young, he had also been glorious in the village. Not to mention the three scholars in the Li family, even the scholars in the nearby towns could not compare to him. If he had not married Sister Fu's mother and given birth to this daughter, he would not be like this!
She still remembered how the second son of the Li family had taken the countryside examination back then and almost became a scholar. What happened in the end?
He couldn't get close to Sister Fu either.
The villagers had always been pitiful towards Sister Fu and did not approach her.
"By the way, Sister Fu, where did you go? You looked like you were coming back from the village entrance. What were you doing outside the village? Look at you." She suddenly remembered something and whispered it.
Li Fu'er didn't reply.
She said again, "Sister Fu, you don't know, do you? Your family is looking for you early in the morning. They looked everywhere for you, and many people heard about it. Later, they asked your family and said that you left home with someone yesterday and didn't return until midnight. You disappeared early this morning. Your family said that you were fooling around with someone, but you don't look like you were fooling around! You're not really fooling around with someone, are you?"
She said it curiously.
"Auntie Zhao."
Li Fu'er didn't know what her family said, but she could guess. She knen it would be like this. She knew what she needed to say, so she said to Auntie Zhao very seriously, "I didn't. I've been alone. As for why I didn't go home, I went into hiding. I'll be beaten when I go home."
She looked down with a sad, pained expression.
Auntie Zhao could be said to be one of the few people in the village who treated her the best.
"Oh, I see. So you didn't? I understand." Auntie Zhao looked like she knew and was sorry.
"And as you said, Auntie Zhao, look at my appearance." Li Fu'er mocked herself. "Who am I fooling around with?"
"Yes, yes, yes. You're still young. I'm asking because I'm afraid something might happen to you!"
Auntie Zhao nodded. It was true that no one was with Sister Fu. She smiled awkwardly.
"I hope you can help me convey the message, Auntie."
"Okay."
"Is there anything else, Auntie Zhao?" Li Fu'er asked politely again.
"No, nothing else, Sister Fox. That's all. But you're going home as you see it? Be careful. I don't know what your family thinks. Everyone in the village is saying that it's a good thing you met me when you came back and found out first. There's more."
Auntie Zhao stopped after saying that.
"Why, Auntie?"
Li Fu'er asked.
"No one saw you come back. Only me but if you delay any longer, someone might come. Go back quickly!" Auntie Zhao didn't want to see everyone pointing fingers at Sister Fu. It was rare for her to have a conscience. She couldn't help if it were someone else.
At this moment, she happened to bump into Sister Fu in the fields. Her family lived at the entrance of the village, not far from here.
"Okay."
Li Fu'er nodded. She understood Auntie Zhao's thoughts. The villagers had always treated her like this. She was still very grateful. Before she left, she thanked Auntie Zhao.
"No, no, don't say that."
Auntie Zhao thought that she had not helped Sister Fu much. She smiled shyly and quickly waved her hand, a smile on her bitter face.
Li Fu'er left.
She walked very quickly. She kept an eye on her surroundings as she walked, releasing her psychic energy. Perhaps it was because of the time, or because she saw someone in the distance, but she avoided someone a step earlier. She did not encounter anyone from the village again.
After leaving Auntie Zhao far enough, she stopped in her tracks and went up a path.
Suddenly, she didn't want to go home.
I don't want to go home anymore.
No matter how dangerous the mountain was, it was better than going home. She could imagine what she would encounter when she went back. Anyway, there should still be a few hours before nightfall. At this time, it should be four or five in the afternoon. It would be better to go back when the sun set.
She was hungry.
She hadn't eaten much before this trip.
When she reached the old place where she had hidden the stone blades, she looked around, picked up her things, and headed into the mountains. Once inside, she didn't go any deeper, but circled around the mountain to reach the other side and find a place close to the water.
First she made a pit with the knife and lit the fire. She started to cook something to eat.
It was still roasted wild eggs. Then she took the pot out of the space. The pot had been bought in the county town.
She walked to the water and washed it. She poured water in it, took a little of the wild fruit out, washed it, and put it in the pot.
After that, she skinned the dead rabbit and washed the blood away with water. She cut a third of it and put it in the pot. She put the rest in the space. On the way back, she picked some wild fungi. There were a lot of them in the mountains where it had rained.
She also picked some before going to the county city. She didn't sell them and planned to eat them herself.
Just now, she was about to take them. She didn't want to see it on the ground, so she plucked them off.
She washed them and put them in the space.
She added the salt and other condiments together, covered the pot, and put it on the fire to cook.
Hearing the fire and water, she took out the mixed-grain steamed buns her father had given her last night and placed them on the pot to heat up. At the same time, she counted the things she had bought in her space.
There were all kinds of things piled up in the space, making it look very messy. She placed the things she had bought one by one in a corner.
She then planted the seeds she had bought.
Actually, she didn't buy many items. Just vegetable seeds and a few cheap dishes.
She glanced around and saw the wild fruit trees together.
The wild vegetables were planted on the other side, further away from the spiritual spring water.
The wild ginseng also planted and faced the fruit trees across the spiritual spring water!
The fresh and muddy herbs that were not sold were next to the wild ginseng. They were specially left behind. After planting them, the space became much greener, cleaner, and better.
A few rabbits or something ran around.
There was movement in the space too, and it was fainter than last night.
It should be because she lacked merit!
She had been thinking about how to plant something not long ago. There was no movement after she sprinkled the seeds.
Scanning the wild ginseng, she had a vague guess that she might not have been planted enough back then!
The space quickly stopped shaking.
Seeing that the vegetables and rabbit were not done cooking, she focused her attention on the spiritual spring water again. The spiritual spring seemed to be—
She entered the space and walked closer to the spiritual spring to take a look.
The spiritual spring bubbled a little faster.
She washed her face a little and left the space. After various fragrances filled the pot, she ate the roasted eggs and mixed grain steamed buns with rabbit meat with her chopsticks.
Thanks to the seasoning, everything tasted good.
After drinking some more soup from the bowl at home, she felt warm. She exhaled and felt ninety percent full. She buried the traces she had made and left.
At the bottom of the hill, the sun was down, but it was still a little warm. She washed herself by the river and walked home quietly alone.
She bumped into someone when she was almost home.
Li Fu'er looked over.
"Is this Sister Fu? You're back? Where did you go? Your cousin is back!" This person lived next door.