Ch 1 — Flower Boy Yue

Chirp~ Chirp~

Cock-a-doodle-doo!!!

"Tsk! That damned bird!! Someday, I will twist it neck like a screw!!"

"…"

"Get up, boy! How long are you planning on sleeping!"

Bam!

"Ouch! There's no need to kick me, ugh~" I let out a groan of pain as I wriggled in my bed. Then there was silence for a while but the moment, I felt granny Feng pulling her leg back in order to give a devastating kick to my side, I shot up. "Look, I'm up. There is no need to kick me, okay?" The leg that was being slowly arched back and tensing up for a kick, relaxed. Granny Feng's snores resumed a moment later and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I looked around for a moment, there was still darkness abound outside and not even the first rays of dawn had penetrated the thick clouds of the mountains. If I had to take a guess, it was still a quarter to five. And for the normal people, that would be still quite early and they would take another hour of sleep but not for me. I took a moment to reorganize my head before I moved slowly toward the door and slowly lifted it open.

Creak~

The door made the most dreadfully loud noise I had ever heard and for a moment I closed my eyes and waited for Granny Feng's irritated scolding but none came today. The only thing that came were her reverberating snores. Letting out the second sigh of relief, I exited the room and closed the door behind me. And as soon as I did, I was blasted by a cold gale. I looked around and just like I had predicted before, the sun had not come up the mountains and mist was still covering the peaks but I had no time to waste.

I lived along with granny Feng in a shanty of two rooms, of which one room was our bedroom while the other was a kitchen-cum-bathroom-cum-storage room. I entered the later and very first thing that I did was clean the toilet for it was soiled and the only culprit was snoring loudly in the room next to me. The next thing I did was brew a simple cup of tea with some mountain herbs to soothe my throat and warm my body, after all, in this cold and wet climate, one must take ample precaution to ward off diseases for even a single misfortune would lead to one's demise in these cold and hostile mountains.

And the last thing that I did was wear some padded clothing, a stuffed leather boot and a large basket on my back. All of these, except the basket, were hand-me-downs that I had collected from some of the villagers who had no use for them while the basket was something that I had made in my spare time. Binding a tight scarf over my head, I was ready to head down when something hit me.

"Ah! How could I forget those!"

Slapping my head, I rushed outside and towards a more remote part of the village. Over there, on the edge of the village where it seamlessly melded into the woods beyond, I had placed a marker. A simple marker in the shape of a moon made with a knife on a the bark of a pine tree. And after digging around the roots of the tree, I found what I was looking for. Three jade boxes and an exquisite knife.

My eyes glittered when I saw the greenish-hue of the jade boxes. There was a magical quality to these boxes because each of them were made of jade that was at least a few centimeters thick but they were extremely light, so light that I barely had to use any strength to lift them. Not to mention, they glowed under the dim light with a mysterious glow and when I touched them, I felt a little light-headed and warm. But I did not relish in the experience for long for time was short and sun would come up quick.

I placed the three boxes securely in a leather pouch before tying my knife around my side. The knife was a gift and it was an exquisite one too, slicing thick wood like butter, it was a lifesaving tool for someone like me who traveled up-and-down the mountains everyday.

After making sure I had everything, I patted down the hiding spot before finally making my way towards the mountain.

…

The trek up the mountains were arduous to say the least but after years of doing it, it became a habit. A good habit, by all means. When I first started collecting flowers, I would heave up and down and gasp for breath after only a few minutes of trekking but now, it is completely different. Now, I take long strides and deep breaths, I walk with a rhythm and follow that rhythm all the time and even when I take breaks, I do not sit still for even a moment. After all, I have learnt with experience that once you take rest, it gets exponentially harder to get back into the rhythm and starting the long trek.

All of these lessons, taught by the heavens itself, were more precious to me even than the three jade boxes in my possession. And as such, I adhered to them with all my heart.

"Finally!" I exclaimed when I reached a more remote part of the mountain—to be fair, the entire mountain except the village is remote but this place was seldom visited by even the other pickers. The place I had reached was darker than anywhere else and consisted of a steep slope that was filled with wet moss and dotted with bushes which sprouted the most beautiful flowers one had ever seen.

But before I could pluck those flowers, I tied a long rope around a large rock. I tied a tight knot on the other end and wove myself into it, followed by which I wounded the rope around the trunk of a tree and used it as a pulley. Only after that, I had the confidence to slowly descend the steep slope. The way was treacherous for the mosses were soaking wet with morning dew and mist and a single misstep would result in me breaking a bone or two. So, I took my time, slowly and steadily I lowered myself and followed a familiar path—a path that I had carved over countless days and months, as I made my way towards the bushes. The very first bush I encountered was small and contained few flowers for I had regularly plucked from it while the others in the distance were more lush and contained more flowers but were more dangerous to reach.

"Hmm… I cannot pluck these today," I concluded when I saw the pitiful state of the bush. There were a few flowers today, red and small with a white border along it's five petals. It was a pretty flower and was known as the Red Damsel in the village because of how small and petite the flower looks but these flowers were even smaller, it's length was merely a fingernail while normal flowers were generally a little bigger than that. Not to mention, it had no scent and as such, it attracted few butterflies or bees.

"The bush is dying?" I scanned the bush and indeed it looked less greener than the others. Unfortunately, I had no manure to apply so I left it and slowly moved towards the next.

My slow and steady flower picking went on and on and only stopped when I saw that the rays of sun just creeping up the steep slopes of the mountain. 'An hour? Or an hour and half?' I had no idea how much time had passed but when I saw that my basket was nearly half-filled, I felt satisfied.

"I should stop for today. Picking the slope clean would do me no good." This was another valuable lesson taught to me by the heavens, for when I was younger, I had plucked many slopes bare of flowers but this had the adverse effect of disrupting the local ecosystem but far worse, my actions angered the heavens. The earth's punishment was swift as the local chieftain had punished me with a dozen lashes for destroying the nature and disrupting the livelihood of other flower-pickers but the heaven's punishment were far worse. For a week or two, there were little flowers on the slopes I visited while the slopes belonging to the other pickers were closed to me. I had to sleep countless nights on a starving stomach and I had learned my lesson.

The above slope though was not completely bare. But before leaving, I had another job to do. I lowered the rope until I reached a shady area where I saw a large herb sticking out of the ground.

'Twin-Phantom Lily' I smiled when I noticed that the flower that I had been tending for so long had finally blossomed. Only, there was one problem... 'There is only two lily. Dammit. I thought there would be at least five. I have been scammed!' Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done now and as such, with no option left than to scour the market for some other spiritual herbs, I slowly took out my exquisite knife and slowly sliced at the base of the flower. A sweet, almost intoxicating scent washed over my nose making me feel a little ticklish but I steeled myself.

'Twin-Phantom Lily is known to have hallucigenic properties. I must be careful.' I stopped doing what I was doing and wrapped the wet towel, wetted by my own sweat, around my nose and mouth before finally slicing the flower off the stem and placing it gently in the jade box. I placed the flower in the jade box instead of the basket because that way, the essence of the spiritual flower would be more easily and more wholly preserved and would also not be contaminated. I had to leave at least one lily back on the plant so that other pollinators could pollinate so that I may get some seeds for the next season. Which meant that I could only harvest a single spiritual herb instead of three, as I was required to do so.

'This is gonna be bad...' But there was nothing that could be done. I had to leave something for the ecosystem and for the pollinators like bees and butterflies, who fortunately started to flock to them as the day unfolded onto the mountains. A little smile floated on my lips.

'Another fruitful day…'

…